8:25 "What gods do you pray to?" "I pray to the Four Winds. And you?" "To Krom.... but I seldom pray to him. He doesn't listen." "What good is he then?" "He is strong in his mountain! If I die I have to go before him and he will ask me the Riddle of Steel! And if I cannot answer, he will cast me out of Valhalla and laugh at me! THAT is Krom!" "Ehhh, my god is greater." "HA! Krom laughs at your Four Winds!" "He is the Everlasting Sky! _Your_ god... lives underneath him." "Pffft" I actually really like this little exchange. I imagine this to be the sort of theological arguing that happened a lot before monotheism came in and declared, "SHUT UP! _ONE_ God! No more theological bickering EVER again!"
My best explanation for the Wheel of Doom. Thulsa: Remind me again, why are we taking just the kids? I mean there are plenty of grown men and women to push the wheel. Have you seen how fast kids die? Grand Vizier: Whoa now boss! Those kids are our sign of cruel exploitation. If we let the adults live, people are gonna start thinking you've gone soft! And cults of evil don't get new recruits by going soft!
Or. You want to know the secret of steel? Steel is weak, Flesh is not. You want to make obedient slaves who are fit and strong and don' hesitate even if you order them to their deaths? It's a good method of doing all of the above.
I do like that Conans entire training reigime is "Be a wheel idiot and push the big wheel". Pushing that wheel that DOESN'T appear to be used for anything (Yes, I know it's a Mill, I still like to think it has no real purpose because that's funnier). THAT'S how you sell training tapes and manage to make your fortune when you first move to the states.
@@ptonpcbut the point of having slaves having free labor, so it doesn't really make sense putting them through *years* of backbreaking toil if you're not getting any immediate profit from it
@@Feasco The consensus and in the lore, the wheel of pain is doing precisely what it is designed to do. It grinds nothing material, it powers nothing. It is not near a trade route, there are no buildings except for the overseer. It is a lonely place that appears to exist purely to make slaves push a wheel of pain. If that doesn't suit you, then look at it this way. We, the audience, do not see what happens to the other children over time. It is left to the imagination. Perhaps it's to break the will of the captives and condition them to make good slaves for something else? Perhaps it was supposed to be part of a facility that was never built. Perhaps it was built for sh*ts and giggles. Maybe the overseer has really terrible BO and no one has worked up the courage to tell him, so he's kept far away and downwind? We the audience do not know. Notice that we do not see anything Conan does not see. So if he doesn't know what something is for, we don't know it either. A lot of the story telling in Conan is done through the music, listen to it.
If the horse didn't want to get shot, it shouldn't be carrying a man into battle. The horse didn't have a choice about that? Well, the villagers didn't choose to go into battle either, and their lives are on the line, too.
He-man and Conan the barbarian couldn't be more different beyond superficial traits. He-man is honestly closer to Superman than Conan, other than their attire. Secret identity, superhuman strength, nigh indestructibility... Conan is just Conan, and while he is certainly strong he can't lift a whole building with all the people in it; he would also easily die to a knife in the dark hitting his kidney. Admittedly, so would Prince Adam, but there had to be *one* trait to distinguish him from bland-name Superman - who, one might argue, counts as the king of all Kryptonians due to being the last of them, at least until his relatives show up :P
He-Man is a mix of Superman and King Arthur. And if we're honest, while he and Conan wouldn't be enemies by any means, they definitely wouldn't get along very well. He-Man being royalty by birth and Conan not having much use for civilized society would lead to huge personality clashes.
By the way, when Conan finds that sword, in the original story, the skeleton attacks him. I think they felt that was too cliche and instead just had the skeleton fall over, perhaps as a sign that the sword now belongs to a new owner (which is kind of how the story plays out with the skeleton attack - Conan EARNS the sword by defeating it).
@@Feasco Probably. Plus, thematically, I think this works too. It's like the ancient king knows his time is done, and he's just pleased that his legacy is now passing to one who at least appears worthy (and will be in time).
Also, SWORDS ARE NOT CAST LIKE THAT! They have to be FORGED. That is, you make a block of carbonized iron in a bloomery, then have to draw it out on an anvil. If you cast the sword instead of forging it, it will be extremely brittle, that is, if it doesn't turn into a nasty useless mess to start with.
You may think having a slavegirl tossed to Conan in his cage to breed more slaves is already pretty bad, but it manages to be even worse than that. Yes, really. The commentary includes Arnold and the director discussing just how legit terrified the actress was in that scene, and them finding it hilarious.
Having never seen the movie before, I always assumed Conan’s “what is best in life” speech came from him being a conqueror, I didn’t realize he says this at a point in the film where he’s a pit fighter and a slave. And I mean yeah he’s certainly crushing his enemies but is there really a lot of “ lamentations of their women” when he’s fighting other enslaved gladiators?
Mako's voice over and the previous sequences show he is taught how to read and write along with martial skills. The warriors are drunk and doing the "What is best in life" thing. They are giving their opinions. Conan is sitting on the table as an exhibit or decoration. His reply is in keeping with what he has been taught and what they expect to hear.
I think that you're seriously over romanticizing Howard. He was a pulp fiction writer trying to make a living. Movement (progression) from one character to another was more often driven by their marketability and tweaks to enhance same. I enjoyed the Conan series by Lancer books curated by L. Sprauge DeCamp and Lin Carter; liked all three of the Conan films but neither is either great literature or cinema, they're fun. Peace.
Imagine in universe, the legend of Conan is told and retold so much, those Arnie grunts become signs of true warriors giving their all the world over.
so THAT's why people do that when they do Arnold impressions. I never got that, he's never made that noise normally.
I'd rather there not be a future where there are masses of people who look like Ahnuld. Mostly because you'd just know they're T-800s.
8:25
"What gods do you pray to?"
"I pray to the Four Winds. And you?"
"To Krom.... but I seldom pray to him. He doesn't listen."
"What good is he then?"
"He is strong in his mountain! If I die I have to go before him and he will ask me the Riddle of Steel! And if I cannot answer, he will cast me out of Valhalla and laugh at me! THAT is Krom!"
"Ehhh, my god is greater."
"HA! Krom laughs at your Four Winds!"
"He is the Everlasting Sky! _Your_ god... lives underneath him."
"Pffft"
I actually really like this little exchange. I imagine this to be the sort of theological arguing that happened a lot before monotheism came in and declared, "SHUT UP! _ONE_ God! No more theological bickering EVER again!"
Only to then have even more POINTED arguments. And severe fracturing on internal doctrinal disputes.
And then they meet another thief. What happens is pure roleplaying game history.
"You seem trustworthy...wanna join our party?"
"Have I mentioned he makes funny noises?" Yes. Doesn't stop it from being an appropriate observation going forward though.
My best explanation for the Wheel of Doom.
Thulsa: Remind me again, why are we taking just the kids? I mean there are plenty of grown men and women to push the wheel. Have you seen how fast kids die?
Grand Vizier: Whoa now boss! Those kids are our sign of cruel exploitation. If we let the adults live, people are gonna start thinking you've gone soft! And cults of evil don't get new recruits by going soft!
Or. You want to know the secret of steel? Steel is weak, Flesh is not.
You want to make obedient slaves who are fit and strong and don' hesitate even if you order them to their deaths? It's a good method of doing all of the above.
I do like that Conans entire training reigime is "Be a wheel idiot and push the big wheel". Pushing that wheel that DOESN'T appear to be used for anything (Yes, I know it's a Mill, I still like to think it has no real purpose because that's funnier). THAT'S how you sell training tapes and manage to make your fortune when you first move to the states.
That is the point of it. The wheel has no purpose except to break and condition slaves.
"wheel idiot"
are you by any chance familiar with 1-900-HOT-DOG?
@@ptonpcbut the point of having slaves having free labor, so it doesn't really make sense putting them through *years* of backbreaking toil if you're not getting any immediate profit from it
@@Feasco The consensus and in the lore, the wheel of pain is doing precisely what it is designed to do.
It grinds nothing material, it powers nothing. It is not near a trade route, there are no buildings except for the overseer. It is a lonely place that appears to exist purely to make slaves push a wheel of pain.
If that doesn't suit you, then look at it this way.
We, the audience, do not see what happens to the other children over time. It is left to the imagination. Perhaps it's to break the will of the captives and condition them to make good slaves for something else? Perhaps it was supposed to be part of a facility that was never built. Perhaps it was built for sh*ts and giggles. Maybe the overseer has really terrible BO and no one has worked up the courage to tell him, so he's kept far away and downwind? We the audience do not know.
Notice that we do not see anything Conan does not see. So if he doesn't know what something is for, we don't know it either.
A lot of the story telling in Conan is done through the music, listen to it.
I always thought they were milling grain via the wheel. Perhaps I'm mistaken.
Those Arnie noises are so over the top, you would think that it was a comedian doing an exaggerated impression if you haven't seen the actual movie.
Thanks for telling my story.
What is best in life....SFDebris videos!
What is best in life? How about t!tties and beer?
If the horse didn't want to get shot, it shouldn't be carrying a man into battle. The horse didn't have a choice about that? Well, the villagers didn't choose to go into battle either, and their lives are on the line, too.
Okay, this is the one where Mako had a part in, right?
Wasn't he in both of them?
He-man and Conan the barbarian couldn't be more different beyond superficial traits. He-man is honestly closer to Superman than Conan, other than their attire. Secret identity, superhuman strength, nigh indestructibility... Conan is just Conan, and while he is certainly strong he can't lift a whole building with all the people in it; he would also easily die to a knife in the dark hitting his kidney. Admittedly, so would Prince Adam, but there had to be *one* trait to distinguish him from bland-name Superman - who, one might argue, counts as the king of all Kryptonians due to being the last of them, at least until his relatives show up :P
He-Man is a mix of Superman and King Arthur. And if we're honest, while he and Conan wouldn't be enemies by any means, they definitely wouldn't get along very well. He-Man being royalty by birth and Conan not having much use for civilized society would lead to huge personality clashes.
@@reidmason2551 Conan also having a much less noble set of morals and conduct.
I much prefer the Ger Loughnane axiom: Only that which kills you will make you stronger.
By the way, when Conan finds that sword, in the original story, the skeleton attacks him. I think they felt that was too cliche and instead just had the skeleton fall over, perhaps as a sign that the sword now belongs to a new owner (which is kind of how the story plays out with the skeleton attack - Conan EARNS the sword by defeating it).
They went that way in The Northman where the main character has to fight a draugr to earn its magical(?) sword.
it's more likely they couldn't afford to have an animated skeleton
@@Feasco Probably. Plus, thematically, I think this works too. It's like the ancient king knows his time is done, and he's just pleased that his legacy is now passing to one who at least appears worthy (and will be in time).
Also, SWORDS ARE NOT CAST LIKE THAT! They have to be FORGED. That is, you make a block of carbonized iron in a bloomery, then have to draw it out on an anvil. If you cast the sword instead of forging it, it will be extremely brittle, that is, if it doesn't turn into a nasty useless mess to start with.
Glad someone said it.
I'll give you a proper riddle... did that camel really die from Arnie's punch? I heard somewhere that really happened.
it's highly unlikely this film earned a "No animals were harmed in the making of" message in its credits
You may think having a slavegirl tossed to Conan in his cage to breed more slaves is already pretty bad, but it manages to be even worse than that. Yes, really. The commentary includes Arnold and the director discussing just how legit terrified the actress was in that scene, and them finding it hilarious.
Having never seen the movie before, I always assumed Conan’s “what is best in life” speech came from him being a conqueror, I didn’t realize he says this at a point in the film where he’s a pit fighter and a slave. And I mean yeah he’s certainly crushing his enemies but is there really a lot of “ lamentations of their women” when he’s fighting other enslaved gladiators?
I think the scrolls they have him reading are "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Warlords"
Mako's voice over and the previous sequences show he is taught how to read and write along with martial skills. The warriors are drunk and doing the "What is best in life" thing. They are giving their opinions. Conan is sitting on the table as an exhibit or decoration. His reply is in keeping with what he has been taught and what they expect to hear.
polio makes one stronger, not physically.
I think that you're seriously over romanticizing Howard. He was a pulp fiction writer trying to make a living. Movement (progression) from one character to another was more often driven by their marketability and tweaks to enhance same. I enjoyed the Conan series by Lancer books curated by L. Sprauge DeCamp and Lin Carter; liked all three of the Conan films but neither is either great literature or cinema, they're fun. Peace.
pre medieval dobermanns... sigh... oh 80s...
I am very disappointed. How can you mention black lotus and make no MTG reference? 0/10