Conan the Destroyer (1984)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1984
	Director: Richard Fleischer (Tora! Tora! Tora!, 20000 Leagues under the Sea, Fantastic Voyage, Soylent Green, Red Sonja)
	Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator, Predator, The Last Stand), Grace Jones (007: A View to Kill), Wilt Chamberlain, Mako (Rising Sun)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 16.07.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Queen Taramis convinces Conan (Schwarzenegger) to escort her niece to retreive a key from a sorcerer.
Review: I am a big fan of the movie Conan the Barbarian: the story, the direction by John Milius and the score by Basil Poledouris. I even bought it twice on Blu-ray because the first one had a scene censored! I read in Arnold Schwarzenegger autobiography (reviewed here) and heard in the Conan the Barbarian making-of that this sequel was weak, done in a hurry, and with much less violence than the original so that a wider audience could attend. I didn't have much memory of the movie, but now after watching it in the best conditions, I disagree with that statement: I found it not too bad, violent enough and much better than Red Sonja in which Arnold Schwarzenegger was tricked to play. Basil Poledouris is still composing on Conan the Destroyer, he reused many songs of the first movie but with a faster tempo (not really useful) but also created a few more excellent pieces. I enjoyed a lot the shooting of landscapes and the overall framing of the movie: you always have something beautiful in the background and interesting elements in all corners of the image. I do not know if this is the work of cinematographer Jack Cardiff or director Richard Fleischer who had delivered many classics already. The movie was actually shot in Mexico, close to Samalayuca where Lynch's Dune was also shot, and near the Nevado de Tolca volcano, which looks amazing. Grace Jones has a quite discreet role but plays well the strong-willed woman, Amazon-style, and has a stunnig sleak panther body. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays better than in the first movie, it looks like he had time to perfect his acting. Thief and archer Sobutai was replaced by the more comic character / sidekick Malak. Really quite satisfying after all the bad I heard about it, and one of the few Heroic Fantasy worth mentionning.
Rating: 7 /10