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Riding the wave of success from John Milius's "Conan the Barbarian", director Richard Fleischer in 1984 proposed a sequel of the Cimmerian warrior's adventures in the Hyborian lands: the result was "Conan the Destroyer". Compared to its predecessor, which truly breathed epic, here, as in many sequels, there is an attempt to overdo it, and the epic turns into farce! We could define this movie as the more "commercial" and "trash" sequel to Milius's film.
Once again, in the role of the brawny fantasy hero, we find our Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has now become a true icon of the genre. The plot itself wouldn't have anything wrong with it, in fact, it could very well have been written by Robert E. Howard himself, at least as far as the setting, names, and unfolding of actions are concerned. But here, the scenes are filled with pseudocomical and burlesque episodes that eliminate the epic component and have nothing Howardian about them. Not to mention the acting of certain actors: Leaving for once Schwarzenegger's performance aside, take for example the young Olivia D'Abo as the beautiful princess Jehnna, who received that year, I read somewhere, the award for worst supporting actress: and it's no joke! Indeed, from her first appearance, the actress immediately stands out for her inability to act (the scream she emits upon waking from a nightmare creates a sense of bewilderment in the viewer that has nothing to do with the young woman's fears). Also, the characters are designed to appear almost ridiculous: alongside our hero, we no longer have the cunning and serious thief Subotai, but the idiotic and whiny petty thief Malak (Tracey Walter), who at least manages to steal a few smiles; besides him, there is the usual wizard Akiro, also a bit more clownish here, and the black warrior Zula (Grace Jones), who wants to be a fierce headhunter but screams at the sight of rats and utters improbable lines like: "If you want to conquer a man's heart... you reach out... and tear it out!".
The film is nevertheless enjoyable and will not fail to excite lovers of the epic and fans of Howard (like me, indeed!), also thanks to the soundtrack by the great Basil Poledouris, a soundtrack that draws heavily from "Conan the Barbarian" (there are numerous references to Milius's film, such as the camel that spits in Conan's face, the same one the hero had punched in the other film). In compensation, the scenery and special effects are more polished, and the shorter duration of the film compared to its predecessor significantly lightens the burden for those who simply can't stand the genre.
The plot, in short, is this: the cruel Queen Taramis (Sarah Douglas) hires Conan and Malak to escort Princess Jehnna on a dangerous journey to find a "key", an ivory horn and precious stones with which to awaken Dagoth, the ancient god of dreams, thanks to which she can dominate the world; the queen sends along her trusted guard, the gigantic black Mombaata. On the way, the warrior Zula and the wizard Akiro join the group, but the dangers to face are many, not least the guards the queen unleashes in the meantime to kill them all (except the princess and Mombaata) once the mission is completed, after which Jehnna must be sacrificed. I avoid going into more detail and recounting the finale, but I can say there are numerous combat scenes, in which Conan shows off his skill with the two-handed sword, sometimes, however, interspersed with clownish episodes by the usual Malak.
The film is not bad at all and I certainly recommend watching it, but I warn the reader who hasn't yet seen the film to prepare to see something immediately perceivable as trash, like an 'American-style' movie, in short, one of those films we could define as commercial, a cinematic mish-mash; a film that tries to create suspense but gradually dilutes the tension with the usual jokes (which, good grief, can also be amusing), nullifying the epic. Despite the fact that I liked it and have already watched it about ten times, trying to be as objective as possible, I must say that I can't give this film more than a 3. Then again, as they say: de gustibus...
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