dwpollar

1st watched 3/22/2025 - (Dir-Laurent Bouzereau) Good documentary on the making of the original "Conan the Barbarian" with information given by many of the contributors including the director, the stars, writers of the screenplay, stunt men, special effects folks and more. It doesn't slow down and, in my opinion, it could have been longer without pulling away movie-interested folks like me. It is a good accompaniment to the film with enough background and specifics to keep you interest most of the way. There is nothing flashy or different than other making of's, but it does what it wants to do well and soon enough to have the original contributors put in their input.

1st watched 3/2/2025 - (Dir-John Milius):*version watched not original* Excellently told story of the adventures of Conan the Barbarian looking for revenge upon the evil entity that killed his mother and father, Thulsa Doom(played by James Earl Jones). Arnold Schwarzenegger playing the role of Conan is perfect for this character that says very little but wields strength in his every being. Upon the killing of his mother and father, he becomes a slave to the snake-like group, because they apparently don't kill children. Once he becomes older, he eventually gets released --- and than his whole reason for being is to hunt down Thulsa and his group. Along the way he has varying encounters and picks up a few cohorts including a character played by Sandahl Bergman, who does great in her role. What the movie does well is develop the character and tell's Conan's story including some humor thrown in. You understand his quest because of the way the story is so specifically laid out. Jones is great as the evil snake man, which always helps in these kind of movies. In my opinion, this is the best Schwarzenegger movie with a story written by Oliver Stone and the director that is first rate making a movie that should not be missed.

1st watched 2/16/2025 - (Dir-Julian Doyle) Somewhat interesting for fans of the original Monty Python movie, but overall just lacking a good connection to the original piece. Twenty-five years after the filming Terry Jones & Michael Palin take us to the locations where the original "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" was filmed - trying to simulate where they were when this person said that etc.... Jones becomes worn out climbing up steep fields and castle steps as he recalls the events and the hauling of camera equipment thru this same terrain. A good idea, but it seems like they ran out of ways to make it interesting and ended up hiring young kids to simulate the last scene. Sometimes when you admire a film, anything about it's making is fun to watch - but this one ran tiresome before it ended. Not sure the necessity of this 47 minute piece, really....could have been a much shorter addition to the movie's DVD.