Conan the Destroyer
Short description
Conan the Destroyer follows the Cimmerian warrior Conan, hired by the scheming Queen Taramis to escort a young princess, Jehnna, and her bodyguard Bombaata to a distant castle. Their task is to recover a magical gem and the horn it unlocks, but Taramis has no intention of rewarding Conan fairly: she plans to use the horn to awaken the sleeping god Dagoth and to sacrifice the princess once the mission is done. Conan travels with the wizard Akiro, the thief Malak, and the fierce warrior Zula, and together they face both human enemies and supernatural forces. Richard Fleischer directed the film, the twenty-second of the twenty-three features he made and the one that followed Amityville 3-D and preceded Red Sonja, from a screenplay by Stanley Mann. Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as Conan, with Grace Jones, Wilt Chamberlain, Mako, Tracey Walter, and Sarah Douglas among the cast.
The production, mounted by Dino and Raffaella De Laurentiis with Edward R. Pressman, cost 18 million dollars and returned about 31 million worldwide. Audiences rate it modestly, with a 5.9 on IMDb across 90,000 votes and a 6.1 on TMDB, while its critics' rating stands at 4.5 from 28 reviews, lower than the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- During the fight scene between Zula and Bombatta, Grace Jones actually bit Wilt Chamberlain on the ear. Blood was genuinely running down his neck, and his surprised, offended expression was completely sincere and not at all acted. This was Jones's first role in a film, and she had never performed stunts on screen before.
- The movements of the dagota's (monster's) hands, eyes, mouth, and torso were controlled by six people.
- The swords cost $10,000 each.
- When creating the city of Shadizar, filmmakers built a small model of it and placed it in front of the camera.
- For Olivia d’Abo, the role of Princess Jenna was her debut.
- The filmmakers found it difficult to find a horse for Wilt Chamberlain (1946-1999). The actor was so tall that when he sat in the saddle, his legs touched the ground. Eventually, a horse suitable for riders of such height was found in Spain and brought to Mexico.
- The character of Zula was originally conceived by screenwriter Roy Thomas as a Black warrior. “Zula” is a real male name in Africa, as the inhabitants of the Black Kingdoms are considered the ancestors of Black Africans. Producers decided it was a female character because the name ends in “a,” so they secured Grace Jones and designed costumes for her. When Roy Thomas noticed the mistake, it was too late – both for financial reasons and because a contract had already been signed with Grace Jones – so he had to change the character's gender in the script.
- The character named Zula was originally conceived by screenwriter Roy Thomas as a Black warrior. Producers decided it was a woman, as the name ends in “a,” so they secured Grace Jones and designed costumes for her. By the time Roy Thomas noticed the mistake, it was too late – both for financial reasons and because Grace already had a contract.
- The role of Malak was initially reserved for actor David L. Lander (1947-2020), however, due to his deteriorating health (he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis) and difficulties in his relationship with director Richard Fleischer (1916-2006), the actor was replaced by Tracey Walter.
- Wilt Chamberlain and Grace Jones performed 90% of their own stunts. Once, while working with a pole, Jones accidentally sent two stuntmen to the hospital; preparation for the role took her a year and a half.
- In 1987, “Conan the Conqueror,” based on Howard’s story “The Hour of the Dragon,” was intended to be the third and final film in the Conan trilogy, where Conan becomes king of Aquilonia. However, Schwarzenegger was unable to participate in this film as he was busy with “Predator,” and Kevin Sorbo, who was chosen as a replacement, did not want to play someone else’s role. As a result, the planned trilogy remained unfinished. The script was reworked, replacing Conan with another of Howard’s heroes – Kull of Atlantis – and the film was titled “Kull the Conqueror” (1997).
- To create the impression of steam coming from the mouth while breathing in cold weather, the actors held small pieces of dry ice wrapped in a light cloth in their mouths (as it is not recommended to touch dry ice directly).
- The director of "Conan the Barbarian" (1982), John Milius, was busy and unable to shoot the film. Leading studio executives took a more active role than in the first film of the franchise, and, according to Arnold Schwarzenegger, they made a number of serious mistakes. Riding the wave of success of Steven Spielberg's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (1982), Universal decided that the film would gross more if it were made into a family-friendly film. Schwarzenegger strongly objected, but his opinion was not heeded. Director Richard Fleischer (1916-2006) agreed with Schwarzenegger, but was forced to go along with Universal's desire to make a sequel in the style of a comic book. The sequel grossed more than the first film in the franchise, but box office results in the US were not as impressive as Schwarzenegger and Fleischer had feared. Schwarzenegger expressed similar concerns later, when the Terminator in James Cameron's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991) was forbidden from killing anyone. After that, Schwarzenegger and Dino De Laurentiis (1919-2010) decided to end the franchise, and Schwarzenegger has since only starred in films about contemporary times.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
