Review of Conan the Destroyer (1984) by Kyle20Ellis — 28 Mar 2022

I really like Conan the Barbarian, and while I heard Conan the Destroyer had a dubious reputation I was all for seeing it. Conan the Destroyer is disappointing, lacking the fun and kitsch magic of its predecessor.

It does have its good things however, the scenery and costumes do look great and the special effects are an improvement I think. The ending is also fantastic and makes up for the truly dull middle section, and as the villainess Sarah Douglas is perfect.

I am not sure whether I take the fact that there is more action here as before as a good or bad thing, either way it was quite exciting. Against all that, the score was rather uninspiring, most of the direction was flat, the story is meandering and dull and the dialogue is cheesy, Tracey Walter's dialogue especially is reminiscent of a badly written Scooby Doo episode.

The acting is nothing to write about either, Douglas is for me the only good performer. Arnie is charismatic but the fact that he has more dialogue here than before does show his limitations as an overall actor, Grace Jones does little more than be sexy and hiss and fight, Tracey Walter is annoying with grating catchphrases, Olivia D'Abo is cute but hopelessly miscast and Wilt Chamberlain may have a towering presence but his acting is laughable.

All in all, disappointing but I would hardly call it one of the worst sequels ever.