If you like Conan they you should read the original stories written in the 1930s by Robert E. Howard. These are the only works that capture the true Conan.
After Howard shot himself in 1936, his manuscripts eventually fell into the hands of authors who rewrote and expanded on his work to fill in Conan’s career, all to varying degrees of success. More authors were commissioned in the 80’s and 90’s to write new, full-length Conan novels that were even more of a letdown for real fans.
Coming off of so much disappointment, fans then had to then suffer through Arnold’s Conan. I personally enjoyed the 1982 Conan movie, and even the lame sequel, but they deviated vastly form the books both in terms of story and the portrayal of our favorite barbarian. Conan was so much more than just an unthinking, grunting brute in the REH original stories.
Then came endless rumors about both a Conan the Conqueror and eventually a King Conan movie, both to star Arnold and to use the original REH stories for their scripts, but those projects never came to be. An animated “Conan: Red Nails” looked good, but has been stalled for many years and appears dead now. Add to that several TV shows and cartoons that sucked ass.
After feeling strung along for years, fans were hoping this new Conan movie might finally see an accurate portrayal of REH’s Cimmerian hero, but from watching the trailer it appears to be aimed more at teens than real REH fans. I’m still going to see it, though, since it’s been almost three decades since the last decent Conan movie and you can't be too picky.
CLIFFS:
-Big REH/Conan fan here.
-Loved the Arnold movie, not as much as the books.
-Will see new movie, but not expecting too much.