King Conan...sta vi ocekujete?

[DylanDog]

Script Review: KING CONAN: CROWN OF IRON
Written by John Milius

Reviewed by Christopher Wehner
(9/05/02)

MINOR SPOILERS!

NOTE: The screenplays we review are often in development and may experience many rewrites, some could end up being completely different than what is reviewed here. It is our hope that our reviews generate more interest in the film. Thank you.
I just recently read John Milius' King Conan: Crown of Iron script (5/24/01 draft) and felt compelled to write. I am a big fan of the original movie (though I sense that I am no longer the target audience for such a movie.) I've seen it dozens of times, maybe more than a hundred. Most of those viewings took place when I was a teenager.

When I first saw Conan the Barbarian I was twelve and it changed my impression of movies. Before then I was given a steady diet of the kinder-gentler movies (though good ones) like Grease, E.T. and Tootsie. Movies my older sister would drag me to as she was my sitter and I had to go.

But Conan the Barbarian showed me that movies could be edgy, dark, thrilling, and capture my imagination in ways I never knew. It was the first movie I went to see with the "guys," my friends. No sister, no parents, just me and the fellas. After the movie we went back home and stayed up all night in the basement playing D&D (Dungeons and Dragons)—everyone wanted to be "Conan."

So when I heard that King Conan was in the works I was pleased to hear Milius was the writer. How to describe Milius as a writer? Hmm... well, he's kind of the Miller High Life of screenwriters. He's not one of those wimpy beers like Heineken or Michalobe, he's a man's beer... I mean screenwriter. I could drink beer and smoke cigars with Milius and be enthralled by his stories.

Another Milius movie that I loved as a kid was Red Dawn. The guy spoke to me as a writer (and director) in my youth. But I'm older now and the machismo that I loved about movies isn't as appealing as it once was. I'm not that easily distracted. I want a good story, good characters, and if it's also got some exciting and action packed scenes, so much the better.

Conan the Barbarian was a story of mythic proportions. Red Dawn was an interesting story with great action. Apocalypse Now — Milius' masterpiece script written before Conan — is considered by some to be the best movie dealing with Vietnam ever made.

Before getting into the review, which will be very basic as the script has been rewritten, I want to say that Milius has a very distinct writing style and a unique voice. In an interview with Creative Screenwriting magazine he said that, "the world I admire was dead before I was born." Indeed, and much like Patton, Milius is a solider born of another era. His prose is lively, highly visual, he doesn't use sluglines in the traditional sense, and his stories are poignant and edgy. If there is a major complaint, it's that he tends to recycle character traits and mannerisms. But for the most part, he writes energy charged action-adventure stories that are usually crowd pleasing.

Milius' early draft of King Conan is a convoluted script that lacks focus. After an opening voiceover we find Conan alone in the woods. It's cold. He meets the Daughter of the Snows, wins the right to bed her, and she ultimately bares him a child that he can not have until he brings her the "jewels of an empire."

Conan eventually conquers many empires along with his mentor and Aquilonian friend Metallus, who shows the barbarians how to fight as an army, telling them they must be like a "chain" and that they must hold the line as one. Using metaphors such as "chain," "line," and "brotherhood," one of the themes of the story is presented.

Mettallus and the Aquilonians represent the "civilized" world (the empire). Their ideological rhetoric is the device they use to effectively brainwash their subordinates. They present the illusion that a greater good is being served and that the common soldier is a part of a "brotherhood." It's very reminiscent of the Romans, which of course was recently depicted in Gladiator.

For me, the script was workmanlike, which is common of most Milius' scripts. It's more utilitarian and anatomic than aesthetic, but visually the landscape and action is always par excellence.

Conan becomes a great general and is able to get his son back. The entire subplot involving the Daughter of the Snows only served to pull you out of the main narrative, as do other subplots. The relationship between Conan and Kon lacked detail and substance. However, the father-son relationship is eloquently handled by Milius, which was surprising to be honest. (I half expected the two to go down to the local tavern for arm-wrestling matches and ale drinking contests.) There are subtle moments between the two that I thought were well written. Especially when Kon is taken away from Conan to be trained as an imperial warrior.

When Conan is declared King of Zingara the downward spiral of a mighty warrior ensues. He becomes fat on wealth, power, and concubines. Conan loses touch with his inner-barbarian. He loses his edge. After riots and revolts he finds himself and his kingdom in danger.

Lonely he writes letters to his son, but they are not given to him. The Aquilonians isolate Kon so they can influence him and make him their servant. Kon is seen as a future general who will become even greater than Conan. Conan unwittingly is a part of this by letting them take him in the first place. Meanwhile Kon grows bitter that his father has apparently forgotten him.

The center of this story is Conan and Kon, but there is too much else going on around them. As this relationship is fleshed out and focused on, future drafts of the script should present a more dramatic narrative and in the end a better one.

Overall I thought the script was sub-par for Milius, but it has lots of potential. It almost seems as if Milius couldn't help himself with this draft and threw everything into the stew first without writing down a recipe. As he reworks the material I have no doubt it will be much improved.

Before I go I want to leave you with one passage from the script, page 136, where we find Conan and his army outnumbered three to one, and about to wage a desperate fight:

Crom! Again we are here. One thing I know---You are watching, you old wolf! The odds are long again, you enjoy that. If I die--We will meet in Valhalla, I will eat at your table. And if I live, you will find other ways to torture me.

And this is of course followed by a massive and bloody battle. What more can a Conan enthusiast ask for?

[Spider Jerusalem]

Ocekujem da nikad nece biti snimljen je sta ocekujem!

Arni ode u politicare, a Milius je uklet triput gore od Giliama!


P.S. Taj Christopher Wehner je prava budala. Onaj drugi na sajtu - onaj Ron Bass ljubitelj - je jos gori.

[Truba]

hm šta ja očekujem...

[taurus-jor]

Stvar je odbačena i pre no što se Švarceneger kandidovao. Milijus je stvar odlagao, a Warner Bros je hteo da to bude urađeno što pre. Onda su braća Vačovski - potencijalni režiseri Konana 3 - krenuli u Matrix Reloaded & Revolutions projekat. Povrh svega pojavili su se poznati zahtevi oko krvavih scena.

Milijus je, inače, otpao iz Konana 2 jer su producenti (De Laurentisova firma) hteli film koji će moći da gledaju svi uzrasti. Tada je bila 1984. godina. Šta očekujete danas?

Ovo bi u delo - onako kako valja - danas mogli da sprovedu samo Kasar, Vajna, Milijus i Švarceneger zajedno.

[Lurd]

Ovo bi u delo - onako kako valja - danas mogli da sprovedu samo Kasar, Vajna, Milijus i Švarceneger zajedno.

Vrlo diskutabilno. Pre će biti da bi ga mogli realizovati ti ljudi, ali u fazama karijera pogodnim za ekranizaciju. Mada i tada mislim da Kasar i Vajna ne bi imali šta da traže uz autorsku figuru koja tako jako forsira ideologiju neprihvatljivu politički korektnom gledaocu.

Da ne pominjem Švarcija. Naplaćeniji glumac u istoriji filma, kandidat za guvernera Kalifornije, republikanac, član klana Kenedijevih da se ponaša onako kako se ponašao na snimanju prvog filma. Tada je pričao režiseru, ako smo zaboravili, "postupaj sa mnom kao što dreser postupa sa psom - ako hoćeš da pogledam gore, reci mi da pogledam gore".

Zamislite sada 56-godišnjeg Švarciku kako dolazi jednom od najvećih, najjačih i najukletijih režisera novijeg američkog filma, koji ništa nije snimio već 12 godina, i kaže mu "postupaj sa mnom kao sa psom".

Sa druge strane, čovek-legenda i čovek-kult možda i mogu da nađu zajednički jezik.

Sa treće strane, brutalni i zaista politički nekorektan film sa Švarcijem? Teško, teško, teško...

Da li sam ovde već spominjao da je Konan najbolji film osamdesetih i da je muzika iz tog filma najbolja u istoriji kinematografije?

[DylanDog]

Meni je Konan najbolji i najomiljeniji film svih vremena....Slazem se sto se tice muzike, Basil Poledouris je napravio najepskiji od svih score-ova, toliko je dobar da su ga koristili i na trejleru za Gladijatora....ubio sam preko neta skidajuci ceo soundtrack (vrlo se tesko nalazi u prodaji), ali sam ceo skinuo, pa ako nekom treba, neka mi se javi, mogu da mu ga narezem....

[taurus-jor]

Ja ga kupio u zlatno doba pirata - u crvenim kućicama kod SKC-a. U svakom slučaju hvala na ponudi.
A ti Brajareuse, kad budeš video kraj Terminatora 3, videćeš šta je politički NEkorektno. Zato sam i pomenuo Kasara i Vajnu. Oni imaju love i muda da kažu glupoj MPAA: "Pa ŠTA ako će to biti R rated film? Pa šta ako će deca videti jedno proletanje ruke kroz utrobu i zadržavanje kamere na toj grozoti punih 10 sekundi? Pa šta ako Arnold Švarceneger razbija glavu ženi o WC šolju, o zid, o cevi? Ovo je jebeni TERMINATOR".

Švarceneger je dvanaest godina čekao da se opet strpa u ulogu Terminatora. Tu treba samo da izgovara one-linere i da se ponaša kao robot. Najbolji je u tome. On to zna čak i danas, sa astronomskim honorarima. Ne verujem da bi ga bilo stid da ponovo bude Konan. Na kraju krajeva već je bio dva puta. Ne treba Arni Milijusu da kaže kako da postupa sa njim. Znaće Arni sam šta da uradi. Konan i Terminator - to je naprosto ON.

A anegdota sa snimanja Konana ima i nastavak. ČITAVA EKIPA se napalila na foru "kaži kako da se okrenem, i ja ću da se okrenem". S tim je najpre krenuo Džems Erl Džons, u to vreme sigurno mnogo plaćeniji glumac nego Švarci.

[Milosh]

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35047

[crippled_avenger]

French director Xavier Gens ("Hitman") tells Le Film Francais that he may direct the new "Conan the Barbarian" movie.

[Milosh]

Izgleda da će na kraju da rebootuju Konana, i da će, navodno, ovog puta to biti bliže onome kao što je zamislio i opisao Hauard. Evo detalja koji meni lično baš i ne ulivaju previše poverenja:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35247

[Tex Murphy]

Za one manje pažljive, scenario pišu isti ljudi kao i za ovaj novi Dilan Dog film. To su neki Doneli i onaj Openhajmer što je napravio atomsku bombu, oni su napisali meni dragi A Sound of Thunder (i Saharu koju nisam gledao, ali je sigurno grozna).

[Usul]

O da, Sahara je za izbegavanje u svakom pogledu. Jedan od filmova sa visokim nivoom besmisla.

[EKSTREMISTA]

Izgleda da će na kraju da rebootuju Konana, i da će, navodno, ovog puta to biti bliže onome kao što je zamislio i opisao Hauard.


Nadajmo se.
Ali kako god da ga naprave ne moze biti gore od Milijusovog smeća koji predstavlja uvredu Roberta Hauarda i svih Konanovih fanova.
Isto je i sa izborom glumca;čitam svakakve predloge po sajtovima,uglavnom su to zvezvde WWFa, čak i Dominic Purcell iz Prison breaka,ali niko od njih neće biti toliko loš izbor kao što je bio majmunoliki Švarceneger.

[Alex]

Nadajmo se.
Ali kako god da ga naprave ne moze biti gore od Milijusovog smeća koji predstavlja uvredu Roberta Hauarda i svih Konanovih fanova.

Jel to Harvester preoteo tvoj nick ili šta??!!            

[DušMan]

'Conan' unsheathed at Lionsgate
Dirk Blackman, Howard McCain to write new script

By Jay A. Fernandez and Carolyn Giardina

Aug 13, 2008, 01:00 AM ET

Corrected: Aug 13, 2008, 02:27 PM ET
Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain are trying to corner the market on sword-swinging fantasy adventures.

The pair have been hired to write a new script for "Conan," as in the barbarian, for Lionsgate. And the writing team's action-adventure screenplay "Amazon," an epic about female warriors to which Scarlett Johansson has been attached, is sailing out of turnaround toward Lionsgate as well, with Neal Moritz and his Original Film banner coming on to produce once the deal is completed.

Director searches are under way for both.

Paradox Entertainment president and CEO Fredrik Malmberg is producing the "Conan" feature along with Boaz Davidson, Joe Gatta and Avi Lerner of Millennium Films. Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer ("Sahara") have already been working on a separate, parallel script for the film, a potential resurrection of the classic warrior created by Robert E. Howard in dozens of pulp stories published in the 1930s. In 1982, Oliver Stone and John Milius wrote a bloody adaptation, which Milius also directed, that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"We all want this movie to go into production as soon as possible," Malmberg said. "It's a fast-tracked movie. Lionsgate felt the process was enhanced by having a second team come in and do a script."

Much like with "Batman Begins," the studio hopes to redraw the Conan feature universe to produce a new, post-millennial franchise. So rather than remake the Schwarzenegger bloodfest, the writers have gone back to Howard's original stories to create a $100 million R-rated origin film, the largest production to date for Lionsgate and Millennium.

"Fans expect (these types of movies) to be more true to the source material," Malmberg said. "There's no reason there couldn't be a Conan movie every two years. He's almost like Batman: He's a dark hero. He's a hard hero. He has to be badass, but we also have to like him."

Blackman and McCain, repped by ICM and Circle of Confusion, recently co-wrote the science fiction actioner "Outlander," which McCain also directed. It screens Friday at the Locarno film festival. They also are credited writers on "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans," due out next year.

[cutter]

He's almost like Batman

Ovaj poster mogu odmah da sheathuju.

[mac]

Da vrate futrolu?

[cutter]

U futrolu, korice, sanduk, glavu, da.