Monday, July 25, 2011

Four part Conan movie history on Youtube

Fans (and detractors) of the two 1980s Conan films should find these interesting: A four part history of the movies recently posted to Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pmf3_FXM-M&feature=related (Part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybT91J73HZU&feature=related (Part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNhDvkpJaqI&feature=related (Part 3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9ez-g8UQ9w&feature=related (Part 4)

The presenter is Paul Sammon, author of Conan the Phenomenon, who worked on the sets of both Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer (for the record I love the former and despise the latter. Sammon holds roughly the same views, it appears).

I don't own Phenomenon, but I have Sammon's Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner, which is a fantastic work and a must-own for fans of BR. Sammon is a smart guy and a good presenter, and coupled with his insider's view these are well worth watching.

There's a lot of good (and fun) information: Who knew that the vulture on the Tree of Woe was the real thing, albeit dead and stuffed, and reeking? Or that the beheading of Conan's mom was originally shown on screen, but was so bloody it earned the film an X rating and had to be removed? Sammon also reveals that Wilt Chamberlain was a Howard fan.

These clips also include some really cool behind the scenes pics (see the hydraulic fully articulated giant snake, sans skin. Ride the snake!). Sammon presented this at the recent Howard Days in Cross Plains, TX. Wish I could have made it.

Hat tip to the Yahoo group REH Innercircle for posting these links.
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6 comments:

  1. nephite blood spartan heartJuly 26, 2011 at 12:15 AM

    Really wish I could have made it to Cross Plains myself...one of these days.

    And I am confident you would really value Phenomenon.

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  2. AnonymousJuly 26, 2011 at 9:48 AM

    Paul Sammon also was the editor or compilator, don't know the word, for the Splatter punk anthologies of the 90s

    Does he speaks about the locations in Almeria, Where I live, in these videos?

    Francisco

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  3. AnonymousJuly 26, 2011 at 9:49 AM

    does he speak

    Francisco

    ReplyDelete
  4. Brian MurphyJuly 26, 2011 at 9:08 PM

    David: I've added Phenomenon to my list of books to buy after watching these clips. I'm glad to hear you like it as well.

    Francisco: He definitely mentions that Conan the Barbarian was shot in Spain, though I don't recall him mentioning Almeria specifically.

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  5. AnonymousJuly 27, 2011 at 11:07 PM

    Glad you enjoyed the panel! I'm the videographer (warriorphotog) that posted the links to this and the other Howard Day panels. I also posted some poetry panels and am in the process of posting more interviews with REHupans at Howard's home. Be sure and watch Memories of Robert E. Howard - my interview with Norris Chambers, the last person alive who knew Bob. Love your blog and loved your critiques especially of Dracula and Ivanhoe. Dead on with both.

    - Ben

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  6. Brian MurphyJuly 28, 2011 at 12:20 PM

    Great work on the videos Ben! I enjoyed the heck out of them--and I'll take a look for the others.

    ReplyDelete