So I just watched: Conan-athon
By
Aneko,
Posted on: 2011-12-10 17:34 in Comic and Hero-Villain Culture
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So...hide the chips then?
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Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Incorrect, they can't touch her because she cannot be reached. Where is the edge of the universe? She is constantly growing and expanding outward in every direction.
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Originally Posted by Aneko
You should read more classic Dr. Strange.
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Originally Posted by Dark One
So...hide the chips then?
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I don't know about you, but I'm touching the universe right now. I don't have to be able to get my arms around the fatty to give her a hug, wot. |
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Incorrect, they can't touch her because she cannot be reached. Where is the edge of the universe? She is constantly growing and expanding outward in every direction.
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Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound
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Originally Posted by Tenzhi
I don't know about you, but I'm touching the universe right now. I don't have to be able to get my arms around the fatty to give her a hug, wot.
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Eeeewwwww! That's not the universe your touching. It just feels like it.
It's funny, you live in the universe your whole life, but you never do these things until someone comes to visit!
Great Wall of Prophecy, reveal to us God's will that we may blindly obey.
Free us from thought and responsibility
We shall read things off of you.
Then do them
Your words guide us.
We're dumb
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Fry: So, theres an infinite number of parallel universes?|
Originally Posted by Matuse
It's funny, you live in the universe your whole life, but you never do these things until someone comes to visit!
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Professor: No, just the two.
Fry: Oh, well, Im sure thats enough.
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Yeah but the Professor later proved that to be false when he invented the box to another parallel universe and chased Zoidberg thru hundreds of other boxes to other universes.
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Originally Posted by Lothic
Fry: So, theres an infinite number of parallel universes?
Professor: No, just the two. Fry: Oh, well, Im sure thats enough. |
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Cubert J. Farnsworth: Your explanations are pure weapons grade balognium. It's all impossible. |
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Yeah but the Professor later proved that to be false when he invented the box to another parallel universe and chased Zoidberg thru hundreds of other boxes to other universes.
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Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Nothing is impossible. Not if you can imagine it. That's what being is a scientist is all about.
Cubert J. Farnsworth: No, that's what being a magical elf is all about.
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Interesting, indeed.
I'm a little confused about the point your friend made about the origin story. I'm not sure what was unclear about it in the original Conan.
In my opinion, there are a number of factors that put the original far apart from the new one, but the biggest thing I found is that the original grabbed you on a deeper level to be involved within the movie and story.
The new movie, to me, was like watching a music video (although, without entertaining music). A lot of "Cool" images flashing across the screen and not much else going on.
The two major factors that I think makes that happen in the original are:
- The way Conan's origin is displayed - the talk with his father about steel, the village being slaughtered, the death of his parents by the hands of the cold enemies and the montage of Conan pushing that wheel around and around over the passage of time.
- And the (sometimes crude) philosophy that is a constant throughout the film. From the beginning quote from Nietzsche (if I recall correctly) and through much of the narration and dialog throughout the entire film, there is a deeper connection between the character's world and the audience through the words than most action movies have. In that way, it is much more like a good martial arts movie than just an action movie.
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Honestly, I thought that the music for the new film was extremely cringe-worthy.|
Originally Posted by Dr_MechanoEU
Another thing we noticed was the music.
Neither of us could remember any of the music from the Modern Conan after we'd finished watching it but the themes of the 1981 version were far more memorable. |
It was clean, very typical/cheesy shallow hollywood fantasy/adventure film score... As opposed to matching the grittiness that the art design was likely looking for. Very disappointing, hehe.
All just my opinions, of course!
@Zethustra
"Now at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew come out
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
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And yet at the end of the episode |
Originally Posted by Lothic
Cubert J. Farnsworth: Your explanations are pure weapons grade balognium. It's all impossible.
Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Nothing is impossible. Not if you can imagine it. That's what being is a scientist is all about. Cubert J. Farnsworth: No, that's what being a magical elf is all about. |
FRY: Damnit, we'll have to fix the engine ourselves.
LEELA: We can't you [pancake], no one knows how it works. It's impossible.
[Cubert comes around and puts his hand in the air.]
CUBERT: Nothing is impossible. I understand how the engines work now. It came to me in a dream. The engines don't move the ship at all. The ship stays where it is and the engines move the universe around it.
BENDER: That's a complete load.
CUBERT: Nothing's a complete load. Not if you can imagine it. That's what being a scientist is all about. Right Professor?
PROFESSOR FARNSWORTH: Eh...whuh...
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I basically didn't understand the basis of that criticism either. I never had any "unanswered questions" about the origin story in the original film. If anything I thought the origin story presented in the new movie was simplistic and forgettable, much like the rest of it was.
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Originally Posted by Electric-Knight
I'm a little confused about the point your friend made about the origin story. I'm not sure what was unclear about it in the original Conan.
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Why do people have to complicate things with too much thought? Can't a movie simply be about kick-*** sword fights, explosions, and gratuitous nudity?
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Yes it can be, if you want it to suck.
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Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Why do people have to complicate things with too much thought? Can't a movie simply be about kick-*** sword fights, explosions, and gratuitous nudity?
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@Quasadu
"We must prepare for DOOM and hope for FREEM." - SirFrederick
I love the original film, but have yet to see the new version. Though my guess is that it will pale in comparison, just from what I've seen in trailers and whatnot and what I've read.
However, I'd still love to see the true origin of Conan brought to life. His village raided, a young teen-aged Conan finds the fort of the attackers, and manages to do what no one else had done prior; to break into the fort and slaughter all those within.
From then on, Conan only sought adventure, to gain by his hand those things in life that were pleasurable; food and drink for his belly, women, and treasure. Whether it was as a lowly pikeman in a mercenary troop, the captain of a corsair ship raiding the coasts, a theif, or military commander, there was only treasure to gain, or revenge if somone crossed his simple babarian notion of honor.
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There were sword fights? |
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Why do people have to complicate things with too much thought? Can't a movie simply be about kick-*** sword fights, explosions, and gratuitous nudity?
|
Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound
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I don't have any problem with a movie simply being about kick-*** sword fights, explosions, and gratuitous nudity as long all those things are done well. Somehow this new Conan movie managed to become a forgettably mediocre version of all those things. |
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Why do people have to complicate things with too much thought? Can't a movie simply be about kick-*** sword fights, explosions, and gratuitous nudity?
|
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The big one was 'Why was he let go' (the movie actually states that it is unknown why Conan was let go, he wanted an explanation) and a more joking one aside, 'just what the hell is it that he's pushing for all those years?' |
Originally Posted by Lothic
I basically didn't understand the basis of that criticism either. I never had any "unanswered questions" about the origin story in the original film. If anything I thought the origin story presented in the new movie was simplistic and forgettable, much like the rest of it was.
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I can't be a bread mill since it's out in the middle of nowhere, we thought it was a method for selecting slaves for the gladiator pit based on their strength and determination but all the other children either died or were sold off...and Conan would have been picked a lot sooner if that was the case.
Oh and contrast of villains, just look at James Earl Jones in this picture
As I said elsewhere, the guy looks like he's about to brutally kill someone with that grin still on his face while doing it. It looks genuinely psychotically scary.
But in other images he can look like this:
He looks quite caring there...like he'd give you a hug.
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Actually during the "let Conan go free" scene the narration (from Mako) pretty much explains it along the lines that Conan had finally become too powerful and too dangerous to be kept by his masters any longer. He outlived his usefulness and they didn't want to deal with him anymore. He had probably killed off every other gladiator they had put him up against and they couldn't afford to have him just hanging around as an "attack dog" with nothing to attack. |
Originally Posted by Dr_MechanoEU
The big one was 'Why was he let go' (the movie actually states that it is unknown why Conan was let go, he wanted an explanation)
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I agree that Conan might not have known that reason with 100% certainty at the time but it's fairly clear that's what he likely came to believe about it later on. At any rate the "question" of why he was released never really seemed like a mystery to me while I was watching it.
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Originally Posted by Dr_MechanoEU
and a more joking one aside, 'just what the hell is it that he's pushing for all those years? I can't be a bread mill since it's out in the middle of nowhere, we thought it was a method for selecting slaves for the gladiator pit based on their strength and determination but all the other children either died or were sold off...and Conan would have been picked a lot sooner if that was the case.
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As the other children dropped away he got stronger and they only wanted the very strongest to receive their training and resources. It was made pretty clear they spent a lot of time and money training him. He was like a prize racing horse that his masters groomed to be the perfect warrior. But like all racing horses he only had a certain period of usefulness for the "arena" thus the reason why he eventually became more trouble than he was worth and they kicked him out. Again I just wasn't left with much of a mystery here. YMMV of course.
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Originally Posted by Dr_MechanoEU
Oh and contrast of villains, just look at James Earl Jones
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It's a quest mill. You turn it and literally grind out XP. A tedious process, but apparently rewarding if you can survive the grueling boredom. |
Originally Posted by Dr_MechanoEU
I can't be a bread mill since it's out in the middle of nowhere
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Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound
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You miss the point. I'm not talking about the film itself. I'm talking about the viewers that over-analize things with long winded boring ramblings of the philosophical juxtaposition of the blah blah blah.|
Originally Posted by Quasadu
Yes it can be, if you want it to suck.
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Just enjoy the film and keep the pseudo intellectual bull in the college classrooms. Those guys would be mortified to learn how many authors would say that the garbage the pompous intellectuals are spouting never even crossed their minds when they wrote theirs books, they just thought it was a cool story that people would enjoy.
Edit: and for clarification, that's not a jab at E-K. It's a general observation about people I've encountered in real life, not here.
As I said, we placed the Modern Conan movie firmly in the 'it's worth a rental' section, it is enjoyable but dumb, not truly a bad film but not truly a good film either, just enjoyable.
However the 1981 version was just better all round, better acting, better casting, better music, better non-CGI setpieces which gives the film a weight in reality.
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For those interested, I highly recommend the Complete Chronicles of Conan, which is likely available at your local library.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Chron.../dp/0575077662
@Texarkana
@Thexder
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They're also public domain in many countries (Not in the US, but the UK and Australia).
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Originally Posted by Texarkana
For those interested, I highly recommend the Complete Chronicles of Conan, which is likely available at your local library.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Chron.../dp/0575077662 |
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Okay, sincerely, I am curious what you use to make the distinction between the pseudo-intellectual claptrap of which you speak and what I said in my earlier post (if you didn't classify it as such).|
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
You miss the point. I'm not talking about the film itself. I'm talking about the viewers that over-analize things with long winded boring ramblings of the philosophical juxtaposition of the blah blah blah.
Just enjoy the film and keep the pseudo intellectual bull in the college classrooms. Those guys would be mortified to learn how many authors would say that the garbage the pompous intellectuals are spouting never even crossed their minds when they wrote theirs books, they just thought it was a cool story that people would enjoy. Edit: and for clarification, that's not a jab at E-K. It's a general observation about people I've encountered in real life, not here. |
It's funny, because I am absolutely a mocker and anti-fan of the over-analysis (and, often times, completely untrue assumptions made) about other people's work.
Yet, I also enjoy what others may call "deeper" aspects of things. For me, it is just natural and immediate. Not something contrived to try and pass off as a greater.
As for the original Conan movie, while it is certainly overall just a fun action and adventure film, there is a great aspect of depth behind it. And that makes it far more fun for me than just a sword fight and leaping around.
@Zethustra
"Now at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew come out
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
'I don't like the look of it at all,' said the King: 'however, it may kiss my hand if it likes.'
'I'd rather not,' the Cat remarked.
'Don't be impertinent,' said the King, 'and don't look at me like that!' He got behind Alice as he spoke.
'A cat may look at a king,' said Alice.