Conan the Barbarian is a 2011 film by director Marcus Nispel. It is loosely based on Robert E. Howard's Conan stories. It is a new adaptation, separate from the earlier 1980s Arnold Schwarzenegger films. The film stars Jason Momoa in the lead role, being supported by Rachel Nichols, Stephen Lang, Ron Perlman, and Rose McGowan.
Synopsis[]
As the film begins, we learn of mask that has magical powers, the mask was shattered by Cimmerian steel and divided up between the barbarian tribes. During a battle in Cimmeria, a sword enters a mothers womb and we see Corin rush over to his wife and cuts out the baby and the mother names him Conan before she dies.
Years later, Conan enters a Cimmeria rite of passage to be a warrior by taking a bird egg into the mouth and circle a hill and come back with the egg whole. Several boys take off including Conan and race through the woods and fight each other to be the victor. But they are being followed by a tribe and the boys run away except Conan who fights them all and comes back to his father and the village with the severed heads and he spits out the whole egg. Conan is then being educated by Corin on the importance of steel to their people. Soon after, Conan is practicing with a tree when a group of warriors led by a warlord systematically destroys Conan's village to obtain part of a mask in Corin's possession. Left to die with his son, who is holding the vat of molten metal placed above him, Corin sacrifices himself so Conan can live.
Having ventured into an unforgiving world, hunting down the warlord for years, a now-adult Conan finally gets a lead when he learns Lucius, one of the men who ransacked Conan's village and whose nose he'd chopped off, became a warden of a prison. Allowing himself to be imprisoned, Conan confronts Lucius, learning that the warlord is known as Khalar Zym before forcing him to swallow the keys to every prisoner's shackles so Lucius would be slaughtered by them.
On his path of revenge, Conan chances upon Tamara, a beautiful novice monk and a descendant of the bloodline of the necromancers who first created the mask. Zym needs her blood to restore the mask so he can use its power to revive his wife, a witch. Learning of this from Remo, one of Khalar Zym's henchman, Conan brings Tamara along with him to use her as bait. Along the way he falls for her and, after she's kidnapped by Marique, Khalar Zym's witch daughter, he fights through Khalar Zym's followers, destroys the mask and ends by accompanying Tamara to her city before returning to his burned-down village.
Cast[]
- Conan - Jason Momoa
- Young Conan - Leo Howard
- Tamara - Rachel Nichols
- Khalar Zym - Stephen Lang
- Marique - Rose McGowan
- Young Marique - Ivana Staneva
- Corin - Ron Perlman
- Ukafa - Bob Sapp
- Lucius - Steven O'Donnell
- Cheren - Diana Lubenova
- Artus - Nonso Anozie
- Fassir - Raad Rawi
- Xaltotun - Anton Trendafilov
- Sacrificial victim - Aysun Aptulova
- Acolyte priest - Daniel Rashev
- Maliva - Gisella Marengo
- the Narrator - Morgan Freeman
- Fialla - Laila Rouass
- Lara - Alina Puscau
See also:[]
- Conan the Barbarian Helmet
- Conan the Barbarian
- Conan the Barbarian (1982)
- Conan the Barbarian (Berkley)
External links[]
- The Encyclopedia of Fantasy • edited by John Clute and John Grant • Orbit 1997 ISBN 1857233689
- International Superheroes: Conan • "Loki"
- The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)