Crush your enemies, drive them before you

LoLth

and hear the lamentation of their women....


confused?

here:

Here is an excerpt from aint-it-cool-news.com

This past week, Harry and I both had chances to read scripts that have been
the subject of intense geek curiosity. Harry is still buried under the intense
bombardment of QT5, though, and is a greedy bastich besides, willing to keep
all his goodies for himself. Not me, folks. Nope. I m on your side. Remember
that when the revolution comes. Ahem. Remember who decided to share the wealth
a little bit, if you know what I mean. I decided to mark this occasion, this
milestone of ours, by bringing you something special, something worthy.
Something like your first look at the May 21, 2001 draft of KING CONAN, CROWN
OF IRON, written by John Milius, 146 pages of Robert E. Howard-inspired carnage
and treachery.
Sound good? Keep reading.
We got our first report on this title back in March of this year, and our first
report about the development itself in July of last year. I remember being
giddy as I typed the title out for the first time. KING CONAN, CROWN OF IRON.
Just the idea that John Milius might finally make a proper sequel to his
stupendous 1982 film CONAN THE BARBARIAN pleased me enormously.
Yes, yes, I know there already was a sequel. Hell, there s a guy right now who
is working to organize a petition to get CONAN THE DESTROYER released on DVD as
a longer R-rated cut, complete with love scenes between Sarah (SUPERMAN II)
Douglas and Arnold. You can sign his petition here!! I m not a fan of that
film, though, and when I think of CONAN, I think of two things... the original
Robert E. Howard stories, and the film by John Milius.
Last July 4th, I wrote a comparison of Oliver Stone s CONAN draft and Milius
original movie. It was a chance to express how much I love that film, and even
though I ve seen it dozens of times since its release, it turns out I made some
glaring errors in regards to plot and the film's two swords. Funny... even when
you adore a film, who s to say you re right about everything in it? That was
one of those cases where I genuinely learned from the Talk Backers, and it was
obvious from the passionate responses that were posted that there s a lot of
people who feel about that film the same way I do, who love it dearly. When the
special edition DVD for CONAN THE BARBARIAN was released, Milius and Arnold
talk about KING CONAN and their original plans for a trilogy during the
commentary track. This set off all sorts of speculation, and tracing the
development of the film has become a personal mission of mine. I ve been
parched for tidbits about it, and then, all of a sudden, someone drops this
script in my lap.
I ve read it four or five times now, and each time, I put on the Basil
Poledouris score for the original film and turn it up, letting the music curl
around me like a blanket. Right away, just looking at the cover of the script,
it s obvious that Milius is the right man for the job, thrilled to be back and
working with this character. There s Xeroxed pages of Frank Frazetta artwork
interspersed throughout the script, setting the tone perfectly, pointing at the
world Milius is trying to recreate for us. If there s any doubt about whether
this is a sequel to the first film or not, the voice-over by THE WIZARD should
dispel that right away. Mako s character did the voice-over at the beginning
and the end of the original movie, with his memorable, Let me tell you of the
days of hiiiiiigh adventure! Using him again is enough to clue fans in from
that opening frame that they re in for another visit to that world, to that
vision of Howard s work.
WIZARD
Sit on the ground with me. Let the fire warm you and I will sing of greed,
deceit, lust, and power. Ha! But that is not all. I sing of loyalty, honor, and
love. Yes, love, for that is what makes men foolish or great. You may choose.
The film s opening finds CONAN older, disheveled and bearded, alone in A
Northern Land of the Picts. He huddles by a fire during the night, trying to
stay alive in a snowy land. By day, he moves through a strange forest where he
ends up chasing the mysterious alluring figure of a woman enshrouded in mist.
When he finally catches up to her, he is hypnotized by this woman wrapped only
in gauze, this Daughter of the Snows. She touches his face, burning him with
frost where her fingers passed. Some say I am the Frost Giant s daughter, she
says. You are one I could love. But first, you must fight my brothers. And
just like that, we re into it.
Conan dispatches these two giants in a vicious flurry of moves, then lays with
the girl, taking his reward. Afterwards, she orders him to leave her land
before the Ice Worm finds him. Conan says he will fight the Ice Worm, but she
won t have it. She says she has given Conan her love, and now she wants him to
repay her. Bring me the jewels of an Empire. Bring these and I will give you
your son.
He heads west to the sea, where he becomes a pirate, pillaging and raping his
way to the Eastern border of civilization, where he and his men join a massive
gathering of barbarians to meet GAIUS METALLUS, the Aquilonian Tribune, a
cultured warrior in golden armor. He speaks on behalf of Emperor Tisus,
offering the barbarians gold, glory, and citizenship if they will fight for the
Aquilonian army. Conan is the first to volunteer, and Metallus becomes a mentor
to him, training the barbarians to work not as individuals in a fight, but as
part of a massive chain, unbreakable and strong as long as it is united. They
go into battle and are indeed indefeatable. Conan rises quickly, a hero, a
perfect soldier, and when Metallus returns to Aquilonia, his own rank increased
now as a result of his success with the Legion, he leaves Conan in charge.
Conan wins even more victories as general of the Legion, and when he and
Metallus meet again in a battle, they win a great, bloody victory. Conan is
rewarded with jewels and riches to spare, and Metallus notices how Conan puts
most of it away, as he always does. He asks why, and Conan explains about his
son, his desire to go get him. Metallus gives him leave to go back to that Pict
wasteland, to get what s his. When he finds the Daughter of the Frost and gives
her all the jewels he has, she is impressed, but she wants something that has
meaning for Conan. She asks for the Eye of the Serpent, the stone he wears
around his own neck. Fans of the first film will remember the gem, and they ll
know the significance of his still having it. Even this is worth nothing
compared to his own flesh and blood, though, and Conan gives it to her. As
Conan goes to walk away with the boy, the woman reveals something to him: The
boy is not yours. He will never be. You may take him, but that is the Ice
Worm s seed that grew in me. You only served him that night as I wished. He is
the son of the Ice Worm.
Conan doesn t listen, though. He takes the boy and returns to the Zingaran
Legion. Kon, as he is named, spends his childhood running with the Legion,
learning about life in the face of death. Battlefields are his playgrounds, and
by the time he is seven, he is already a strong, somber child. He and Conan
visit Tarantia, the capital of the world, a giant city, beautiful, the cradle
of civilization. Sitting on a hill, looking down at this marvel of man s hand,
Conan and his son talk, and I couldn t help but recall that great moment at the
beginning of CONAN THE BARBARIAN, when a young Conan listens to his own father
talk about Crom and the riddle of steel.
CONAN
They say the gods live here.
KON
I thought they lived in the mountains?
CONAN
Our god does. He sits on a cliff in the cold and watches.
KON
Can he see us here?
CONAN
Even here where the wind is warm and the smells of food and spice, where men
wear silk and brocade and women wear little or nothing. Yes, he watches us in
places like this.
He turns to Kron, kneels down.
CONAN
Remember how I showed you my father s sword?
KON
Yes.
CONAN
It was not my father s. I broke my father s sword with mine. He told me to
trust steel, not men, women, animals. I trust nothing but my will and instinct.
Trust no one, Boy... not any of this.
He gestures.
CONAN
If gods live here, they are treacherous and dark. Trust no one but the wind and
the cold night sky. Make them your friends and you won t need this. You won t
need me.
KON
I ll always need you, father.
Tears fill his eyes.
CONAN
No... someday you must break my sword. Now let us go and eat their beeves and
pigs and watch their women dance for us.
That exchange not only ties us into the first film, it also expands upon it.
Conan trusted steel in the first film, and it cost him. By the time he learned
to trust Valeria, she was gone. The only way he learned to trust his friends
was by dying and having them fight to drag him back to life. The Conan in this
movie has gone through those dark moments, and he has survived, and this
worldview of his is informed by those things. When Metallus informs Conan that
the Emperor has chosen to make him the King of Zingara, it makes sense. This
Conan is ready to be a leader of men. He is ready to leave behind the blood of
battle for the comforts of a crown. He doesn t realize that there is a price
attached until he goes to leave the city. Metallus informs Conan that Kon will
stay behind and be raised at the Academy of War with the finest sons of
Aquilonia. Conan s last glimpse of his son is as he rides out the front gates
of the city. Kon is held at the wall, tears streaming down his cheeks, by an
Aquilonian officer. Conan only has time to lock eyes with his son for a moment
before they ride past, then on to Messantia.
Life is hard for both father and son as they grown into these new roles fate
has cast for them. Kon finds himself being schooled alongside Fortunas, the
Emperor s son, and there s immediate animosity between the two. Fortunas has to
grown into the role of a natural leader; Kon was born to it. The only way
Fortunas can handle Kon s presence is to break him, to constantly make him look
bad. For Conan, ruling a land is not what he expected, and it is only by
listening to those close to him, like the warrior Michaes, that he is able to
bring some sense of order and even peace to Messantia. Conan and Kon write
letters to each other, but the mail gets shut down somewhere in the middle, and
Kon grows up thinking that his father has forgotten him, his heart growing
harder with each year that slips by without word.
And keep in mind... all of this is before page 33 of the script.
That s where Milius reintroduces The Wizard, brought along during a negotiation
between Conan and another King. Conan asks for the Wizard as part of the
bargain, and is reunited with his old friend, his loyal servant. He needs
someone he can trust as the Emperor uses Conan like a chess piece, manipulating
him from a distance, allowing him to serve in name only. All glory is the
Emperor s; all failure is Conan s. Kon reaches manhood and joins the Imperial
Cavalry, and in his mind, Metallus has become his father, his protector. If he
spares any thought to Conan now, it is of betrayal long buried. Conan, feeling
disconnected from his people, has The Wizard disguise him so he can walk among
them at night.
Slowly, KING CONAN, CROWN OF IRON draws all these story threads together, using
that first half-hour to lay the groundwork that allows the rest of this story
to play out so well. This is about Conan learning to negotiate a different kind
of battle, more subtle, more dangerous. This is the kind of battle where you
cannot see your enemy s face, where you are never sure who your friend is, and
who truly stands at your back, ready to help. When Fortunas takes the throne
after the death of his father, the script really picks up. A beautiful woman,
Countess Zulieka, is sent to serve as Aquilonian Magistrate in Conan s court,
and to keep an eye on him both by day and by night. Metallus professes to be
Conan s friend, helping him rise in rank, even as he insinuates himself with
Conan s son, making sure to keep them from having any contact. Fortunas forces
Metallus into a position where he must prove his loyalty to either the Emperor
or Conan, and Fortunas also brings Kon close to him, even though he may be
harboring an old grudge, preparing to strike.
Milius makes many references to his original film, and one subplot in
particular ties the films together, with Conan still pining for Valeria, his
fallen lover and fellow fighter. On one of his nightly excursions, he spies
Aeldra, a woman who owns a local tavern. Her husband is dead, and she is alone
in the world. She also happens to be the spitting image of Valeria, twenty
years older, but still strong and beautiful. He is immediately drawn to her,
tortured by the idea that this is a second chance for him to have something he
lost long ago.
There s enough story here for three films, and it s all solid stuff. I love
certain sequences, particularly an attempted assassination of Conan that turns
into a bloody battle sequence that rages for ten pages. I love the world that
Milius is writing about, the way things work. The political machinations of
this world are as interesting as the battles themselves, and that s important.
This isn t built for an attention-deficit-disorder suffering audience like so
many of the action films of today. This is an elaborate story that expands the
mythology of this character, that takes its time, erupting in furious flurries
of violence from time to time, but always interested in telling a real story,
complex and demanding. I love characters like General Nicomdeia Scauria
Carnifexia, also known as The Butcher, a giant, brutal woman famous for her
lack of mercy and sexual enjoyment of conquest and slaughter.
Milius brings Kon face to face with the truth about his parentage, and it is
stranger than even that opening suggests. He brings Conan face to face with the
treachery around him and forces him to become a true leader of men again in
action, rather than just words. There is a speech that Conan gives to his
troops that is truly beautiful writing, chilling, and when I learned what the
significance was of the Crown of Iron... well, let s just say it s worth the
wait. Milius lets the subplot about Conan and Aeldra build to a lovely
conclusion, and one exchange between them in particular nearly broke my heart,
it s so perfect.
There s a line in the original CONAN THE BARBARIAN that I dearly love, a quiet
moment just before the final major battle. It s just Conan by himself, praying
to Crom. Fans know the dialogue by heart: Crom, I have never prayed to you
before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were
good men or bad. Why we fought and why we died. All that matters is that today,
two stood against many. Valor pleases you, so grant me this one request. Grant
me revenge! And if you do not listen, the HELL with you!
Well, there s another prayer here in another quiet moment just before battle,
and even though this is an early draft and there are rewrites already underway,
I hope this is one of those things that makes it through intact:
CONAN
Crom! Again we are here. One thing I know... you are watching, you old wolf!
The odds are long again, you enjoy that. If I die, we will meet in Valhalla, I
will eat at your table. And if I live, you will find other ways to torture me.
Conan salutes the sky.
CONAN
I hope you enjoy it!
I did more than enjoy this script. I devoured it. I pray that Warner Bros. is
successful enough with LORD OF THE RINGS that they give Milius the greenlight
to make this film. It s an epic adventure he s written here, and the biggest
surprise of the whole thing for me was the last paragraph on the last page,
when I realized that Milius is still determined to make his CONAN trilogy. I ll
delete a few names to preserve a bit of mystery about what happens in this
film:
But there is more! Conan, NAME DELETED, NAME DELETED, and NAME DELETED must
find their destiny in the great struggle to come. This too will be told in
BENEATH MY SANDALED FEET, the final installment of R.E. Howard s CONAN.
Bottom line: I love this script. I am dying to know what is being done to it
now as Milius works on a second draft. I m sure there s a million ways Milius
can make it even better than it is now, but as it stands, this is a promise
fulfilled, a dream realized. For nearly 20 years, I ve thought back to that
image of an older Conan sitting on his throne, and I ve been driven crazy by
the implied sequel that image suggested. Now, finally, the blueprint exists to
continue the story in the right way, to make something that not only stands up
next to the original but actually enhances it and expands upon it. Milius has
it in him to make another great movie, and this script is the proof I ve been
waiting for. Before I go to sleep tonight, I m going to watch my DVD of the
original, and when I close my eyes tonight, I ll dream of a barbarian army,
clashing with the full force of the civilized world, with one shadowy giant at
the lead of it all, a crown of iron on his brow, and as I sleep, I am sure that
I will smile.
Thanks for reading the first 10,000, everyone. Stick around for the next
10,000, and we promise to try even harder to make it worth your while.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Tusky

k i didnt read it an im not gonna but well done yor a good man...a crazy man but a good 1......

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"A Master vampire that can walk in day light.....unstopable...unless we stop him!" from John Carpenters Vampires

Volvagia

too long to read please summarise for the lazy ppl amoung us!

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The Millenium Bug, You mean Han Solo's ship is coming here in the year 2000?

Pugsley

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Volvagia:
too long to read please summarise for the lazy ppl amoung us!

</font>

The lazy people among us = all of us

Karl Hungus

Personaly, I am a big fan of the original Conan film...

AND I CAN'T FIND IT ON DVD!!! ARGH!!!

Anyway, I'm not sure I want to read the whole thing, spoilers and all, but... As long as they keep to the original plot, it should be excelent.

LoLth

basically...

it's a synopsis of the proposed script for a new Conan film!

Depending on the success of LotR, there could be a new conan in the offering, directed by the original director of " Conan the barbarian".. and ignoring "conan the destroyer". It's provisionally titles "King Conan: Crown of Iron" and it (and a sequel seemingly) trace the last days of conan's career as he rises to king of Aquilonia and his son succeeds him.

the plan to stick a lot more closely to the Howard novels.

[This message has been edited by LoLth (edited 03-09-2001).]

Pugsley

well LotR will probably b a big success,looks brill.And i liked the conan films meself,wonder what the new1 will b like

WhiteWashMan

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by LoLth:
basically...

it's a synopsis of the proposed script for a new Conan film!

Depending on the success of LotR, there could be a new conan in the offering, directed by the original director of " Conan the barbarian".. and ignoring "conan the destroyer". It's provisionally titles "King Conan: Crown of Iron" and it (and a sequel seemingly) trace the last days of conan's career as he rises to king of Aquilonia and his son succeeds him.

the plan to stick a lot more closely to the Howard novels.

[This message has been edited by LoLth (edited 03-09-2001).]</font>

i thought that bloke who wrote the wheel of time wrote the conan novels?
i know he certainly has a few of them under his belt.
oh, and by the way, the title.....
sounds like something out a of a movie ive seen recently doesnt it?

nesf

The title sounds more like a fantasy novel title tbh.


LOTR will be a big success simply because of the huge hype it's recieving. Plus anyone who likes fantasy, even if they didn't like Tolkien will go to see it anyway as fantasy is such a small section of the new big budget films. But it is making a comeback

12 hr Wheel of Time movie anyone?

Volvagia

Speaking of Tolkien i've started reading The Fellow Ship of The Ring recently and it kewl!

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The Millenium Bug, You mean Han Solo's ship is coming here in the year 2000?

Belisarius

Well I have to admit im a lil put out by the synopsis at least , I mean it doesnt really fit in with the Barbarian theme , It does seem not to be keeping with the "Franchise" , albiet excellent reading Still though..to actually see the "But That is another Story" ...It makes you jiggly in unusual places

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The Man From Delmonte , He Say "Yes"