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Red Sonja
Jun 30, 2016 18:16:02 GMT -5
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Post by ascalante on Jun 30, 2016 18:16:02 GMT -5
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Post by valeriaspirit on Jul 2, 2016 6:47:37 GMT -5
Hi there -
The topic is Red Sonja, so perhaps I can post this here -
I have been watching and enjoying the 1982 Conan the Barbarian movie both on Netflix (the theatrical release) and the extended (director's?) cut on the new BluRay disc. And I have watched part of Conan the Destroyer, which is available to stream for free on the Web (I don't have the URL handy), although it's pretty lousy picture and sound quality. I love Conan the Barbarian - not perfect but head and shoulders above most sword and sorcery flicks, imho. Since it has been a couple of decades since I used to see it, along with Conan the Destroyer and Red Sonja shown on cable, I had pretty much formed the opinion that CtD and RS were both progressive steps down in quality from CtB. But I recently bought the DVD (not even BluRay, which doesn't seem to exist) of Red Sonja and watched it with great enjoyment a couple of nights ago. I just thought I would note a few points while they're fresh in my mind.
Overall, I thought it was a much better film than I had recollected. It seemed like it was more of a Delaurentis, European production than CtB was. There may have been some holdovers among the cast and crew from CtB, but I didn't notice anyone other than Arnold and Sandahl Bergman who had been involved with CtB. I was intrigued to find out that Sandahl Bergman, who memorably portrayed Valeria in CtB (her posthumous appearance is my avatar, btw), refused the part of Red Sonja and opted instead to play the mad queen Gedren. Red Sonja was played by another Amazon, Birgitte Nielsen, but I did not think either her acting or her swordfighting skills matched those of Bergman - most likely because of Bergman's background as a stage dancer, I found her swordfighting remarkably fluid and dramatic in CtB, and the level of fighting in RS, I thought, rose substantially when she engaged Sonja in the climactic duel. The musical score seemed to me to have echoes of Basil Polidouris's score in CtB but never achieved the heights that Polidouris did. I didn't like RS costume at all, as the bust basically looked like it was taken from a Janzen swimsuit. :-( I had found Ernie Reyes Jr. as Prince Tarn an insufferable little brat, but on re-watching it, although he did become a bit tiresome, he was cute and showed his genuine marshall arts skills (coached by his dad). I really liked Paul Smith as Tarn's loyal aide Valkor (sp?) and the two of them did provide some occasional real humour. Lastly, I really enjoyed the nuances of Arnold's character, Kalidor, as opposed to Conan. This fellow had a gentle quality - and humour - that we never saw in CtB. Also his outfit was a lot more attractive than Sonja's. The swords - it seemed pretty obvious to me that the swords were more clunky and cheaply crafted than the swords (made by Albion) in CtB. The hilt designs of both Sonja's and Kalidor's swords looked rather junky, I thought.
I have the BluRay of Conan the Destroyer but haven't had a chance to watch it yet. But my recollection of CtB is that the effects especially were lousy. And I have read critiques of the fact that it was produced as a PG-13 and not an R-rated film. Most aficionados seem to feel that one can't be sufficiently graphic in a PG-13 film to fit the subject matter. I think CtD lacked the sincerity and the gravitas of CtB. I'll be interested to watch the BluRay soon to see if I have to revise my opinion.
Valeria Spirit
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Post by themirrorthief on Jul 8, 2016 0:28:13 GMT -5
I gave Red Sonja a try and enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. It is definitely better than Conan the Destroyer. And yes the first movie is by far the best of the three. There is a Red Sonja rip off film out there called Hundra which is not that bad if you go in with low expectations...I found it reasonably entertaining with a few cool moments.
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Post by valeriaspirit on Aug 9, 2016 8:19:44 GMT -5
Hi, All!
I watched Conan the Destroyer after writing the above post, and although the print was definitely superior to the pirated version I was watching online, it is still a really crappy movie, in my view. The plot seems like an empty rehash, and with the protagonists searching for the Horn as well as the Stone, it seems very repetitive. As I mentioned before, I thought the special FX were some of the lamest (particularly the creation of Dagoth - a man in a rubber suit, I presume) I can recall in any movie this side of 1950's cheapies. Also, the dialogue was terrible, awful, you name it.
I think most people assume that the films were on a downward spiral, with each one a bit lamer than the one before it, but I do feel that Red Sonja had much more to redeem it than Destroyer did.
BTW, does anyone know the story of Arnold and Brigitte Nielsen and Sly Stallone? If you don't, do you want to hear it?? I suppose it's mostly Off Topic for this board, but it appealed to my prurient interest. :-)
Valeria Spirit
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Post by Lonewolf on Nov 17, 2016 10:26:34 GMT -5
I also avoided the Red Sonja movie for years based on the assumption that it was a downgrade from Conan The Destroyer, but I recently watched it on the El Ray network and though it was pretty good.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2017 15:42:56 GMT -5
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Post by lizzbert on Jan 18, 2018 18:07:45 GMT -5
The black and white variant of this statue is coming in March! $99.99, limited to just 299 statues worldwide! More info on the Dynamite site.
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Post by themirrorthief on Jan 19, 2018 2:54:10 GMT -5
she has a cuter face in the last post
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2018 17:47:15 GMT -5
The black and white variant of this statue is coming in March! $99.99, limited to just 299 statues worldwide! More info on the Dynamite site. Thanks Lizzbert. And welcome to the forum.
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Post by finarvyn on Jan 21, 2018 14:10:33 GMT -5
BTW, does anyone know the story of Arnold and Brigitte Nielsen and Sly Stallone? If you don't, do you want to hear it?? I suppose it's mostly Off Topic for this board, but it appealed to my prurient interest. :-) I wasn't aware that there was a story here, so I am curious about it.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2018 14:57:08 GMT -5
Red Sonja by Bruce Timm.
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Post by johnnypt on Jan 30, 2018 16:18:41 GMT -5
Red Sonja by Bruce Timm. Somewhere, Frank Thorne is smiling...
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Feb 12, 2018 11:38:29 GMT -5
I watched this Queen of Plagues this weekend at a friend's house. At the risk of offending anyone who might be a fan of it, it was pretty awful. It sticks to the Conan the Barbarian comic version of the character set in the Hyborian Age --- which would be fine (even though this makes me grind my teeth in frustration) --- but I just didn't care for the story-line or the vocal acting. I also wasn't a fan of the extreme slow-mo of scenes that were meant to be vibrant with action. Every battle was in very slow motion --- maybe a side-effect of a 'motion comic'. Overall, I'd rate this a 2 out of 5. It did have its moments, but they were few and far between.
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Post by Ascane on Feb 19, 2018 14:19:01 GMT -5
Spanish publishing house PLANETA will publish next April 2018 an all new hard cover Red Sonja graphic novel by writer Roy Thomas and artist Esteban Maroto. 72 pages in black and white...and red, with bonus. I don't know if this is the final art cover, but it's the one showed by the publisher.
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Post by Ascane on Apr 6, 2018 3:23:51 GMT -5
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