CONAN THE BARBARIAN (2011, Blu-ray released November 22, 2011 – MSRP CDN $39.99)
I had high hopes for Macus Nispel‘s reboot of the Conan franchise. Sadly, it falls short in just about every way, save for the aesthetic. Thankfully, the Blu-ray offers a brilliant presentation that highlights the best of what the film has to offer.
- “A quest that begins as a personal vendetta for the fierce Cimmerian warrior soon turns into an epic battle against hulking rivals, horrific monsters, and impossible odds, as Conan realizes he is the only hope of saving the great nations of Hyboria from an encroaching reign of supernatural evil.“
All right, to be fair, I’m a big fan of the original John Milius‘ Conan film. That’s an all around brilliant movie, from the screenplay to the truly inspired casting. So, perhaps I’m a bit critical of this reboot when I should just let things slide and have fun with it. But it’s just such a let down in so many ways. The most critical failing of the film is the terrible script, with it’s predictable structure, paper-thin characters and horrible dialogue. What’s that you say? It sounds like the original? Yeah, I guess you got me there. But Milius, along with a pitch-perfect strongman performance from Arnold Schwarzenegger, instilled the character with a noble stoicism and a genuine purpose in life. When Arnold speaks of his god, Crom, or the riddle of steel, there’s a weight to it. It means something. And I don’t feel that here.
Jason Momoa is all kinds of cool but his Conan seems young and petulant and disrespectful in his revenge. He’s not honouring his father or Crom (who, if I recall correctly, isn’t given a single mention in this film) when he happens upon one of the men responsible for the destruction of his village, deciding suddenly to take advantage of this happenstance with vengeance. No, he seems like a drunk, vicious thug with an ego. Arnold’s Conan escaped captivity after twenty-odd years of being a slave and, after an encounter with the tomb of his god-king and the discovery of his blade, immediately sought an encounter with the man who ruined his life, killed his family and put him in chains. Momoa’s Conan is drinking and cavorting with women when chance delivers him his man. The film is filled with these kinds of missteps that rob it of the potential for true gravitas in epic fantasy storytelling. I’m sure there’s a theme buried in there somewhere but the screenwriters clearly forgot to play on it. What Conan The Barbarian is left with is just a handsome young lead, who happens to be a damn good fighter with a broadsword, some killer production design and an appropriately heroic score. There’s fun to be had here, with all the monsters, magic and mighty battles but it’s all fairly vacuous.
Thank goodness for the immaculate, detailed transfer of the Blu-ray. Lionsgate (via Alliance on the Canadian Blu-ray I had the pleasure of reviewing) really delivers with the HD presentation of the film, despite the fact that they manage to cram two entire versions of it onto one disc – the 3D and the 2D. I can’t speak to the 3D (gotta get around to buying that 3D display one of these days, right?) but the 2D version is nearly reference quality, with spot-on colour, deep blacks and a nice an all around film-like look. I did notice some slight artifacting in moments when the screen is filled with raging fire, early on, but that’s just about the only negative I can point out here. The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track is a stunner, as immersive and dynamic as any lossless track I’ve ever heard. Great work, there.
The special features on the Conan Blu-ray are decent enough, though director Nispel’s commentary track is a tad dull. Thankfully, the second commentary from stars Momoa and Rose McGowan more than makes up for it – lighter on production details but far more fun to listen to. The four featurettes (listed below) total around 45-minutes when viewed together and form a nice, brief, high-def look at the character, its creator and the production itself. The 2-disc package is rounded out with the theatrical trailer, a DVD and Digital Copy of the film.
Special Features:
- 2D and 3D versions of the film
- Audio Commentary with Director Marcus Nispel
- Audio Commentary with Jason Momoa and Rose McGowan
- The Conan Legacy
- Robert E. Howard: The Man Who Would Be Conan
- Battle Royale: Engineering the Action
- Staging the Fights
- Theatrical Trailer
- DVD Copy
- Digital Copy
