Category Archives: Review

Conan The Barbarian

Posted on by
Reply

“Mongol General: Wrong! Conan! What is best in life?

Conan: To crush your enemies. See them driven before you. And to hear the lamentations of their women.“

Conan The Barbarian (1982)

I happened to be up at 3:00 AM and I flipped through the channels until I found Conan The Barbarian (2011) playing on SYFY. I missed most of the film but I got to see the final action sequence. And as Conan chased down the villains and strived to save the girl, I realized how different the various big-screen films about Conan have been and decided to write about it.

Conan The Barbarian, originally created by Robert E. Howard, has appeared in three films and two TV shows (one animated and one live-action both with the same name). I have seen all three films. I saw the first two in theaters when they came out. And the third on a video-on-demand service. (I’ve also seen a couple of episodes of the live-action TV show, Conan The Adventurer. It was bad. I’ve never seen the animated series.)

The first film, simply titled Conan The Barbarian, was released in 1982 and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as the famous barbarian. It had an all-star cast including James Earl Jones, Max von Sydow, Sandahl Bergman, and Mako. The plot follows the life and upbringing of Conan for the first half, and the second half follows Conan’s quest for love and revenge against the evil Thulsa Doom. The film, like many adaptations, takes many liberties with the original source material, but it is generally enjoyable and a fun ride. It is worth watching if you haven’t seen it or haven’t seen it in a while.

The second film, titled Conan The Destroyer was released in 1984 and also starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan. The second film was much closer to B-Movie quality but did bring back Mako as Conan’s crazy wizard friend. It also starred Grace Jones, André the Giant, and Wilt Chamberlain. The plot revolves around the resurrection of an ancient god called Dagon by an evil sorcerer queen. The story reads like a classic Dungeons and Dragons adventure with monsters, an evil wizard, dungeons, betrayal, and a cult. It is a bit of a predictable ride, but it is still fun and worth a watch. This is also my favorite of the three Conan films.

The third and final, so far, film is also titled Conan The Barbarian. It was released in 2011 and starred Jason Momoa as Conan. It also had a great cast including Ron Perlman, Rose McGowan, and Stephen Lang. The plot follows Conan’s life as he seeks revenge on the man who killed his tribe and Conan’s preventing the reunification and activation of a mask that contains the power of a god. The story takes plenty of liberties with the source material but is fun and adventurous. I personally think it is a great fantasy adventure and is as much a Conan film as the first two. I like it and recommend it, but a lot of fans of the original panned it.

In the end, I liked all of the Conan films and recommend them. They are all fun fantasy films and, frankly, I think the first two hold up pretty well. Check them out.

The Head Hunters by L. Ron Hubbard – Audiobook Review

Posted on by
Reply
The Head Hunters
Written by L. Ron Hubbard
Produced for audio by Galaxy Press with a full cast

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the audio book release of The Head Hunters by L. Ron Hubbard from Galaxy Press for review purposes.

I have to admit when I was first approached by Galaxy Press regarding reviewing of their audio books, I was a bit torn. I love stories of action and adventure from the pulp age, but I have read some of L. Ron Hubbard’s later work (Battlefield Earth and the Mission Earth series), and, well, I just wasn’t impressed. On the other hand the stories that Galaxy Press was offer me where from early in L. Ron Hubbard’s writing career and definitely in a more action/adventure vein. In the end I figured, if I didn’t like them then I would just say so. (I am all about giving honest reviews here.)

Fortunately for Galaxy Press and L. Ron Hubbard (and you), I really enjoyed The Head Hunters. The Head Hunters is a classic two-fisted pulp adventure story set in Polynesia. It centers around a man named Tom Christian. Christian is the adventure who is master of his own small sailing yacht. The story begins with Punjo Charlie, a local villain, menacing Christian’s first mate Hihi (a local islander). Punjo Charlie is trying to find a cache of gold discovered by Christian on the island’s interior and steal it. Christian and Hihi attempt to recover the gold before the rainy season hits and before Punjo Charlie finds it. But our heroes must also rescue a naive scientific expedition from the clutches of Punjo Charlie and his band of head hunters as well as recover the gold before it is too late.

As I said I really enjoyed The Head Hunters. Sure it was a bit dated as well as a little racist and sexist by today’s standards, but it was fun. A large part of what made it fun was the fact that it was produced with a full cast and audio effects and music (in the same style as books produced by GraphicAudio.) That really helped bring the story to life for me and upped the dramatic tension a bit. And the cast was great. The audio was clear even with the effects and music. The characters were well voiced. None of the accents were two thick. Every voice was unique. Quality of the audio performance over all was top notch.

Another big plus for me was that this audio books was only two hours long. I am a big fan of the short novel. I spend two hours a day driving and an hour at the gym listening to audio most days. Have a book I can complete in one days is nice sometimes.

If you enjoy tales of adventure in exotic locations with lots of action you should definitely check out The Head Hunters by L. Ron Hubbard. I give it 5 out of 5 snark bites.

A Manhattan Ghost Story by T.M. Wright (Unabridged Audio) – A Review

Posted on by
1

A Manhattan Ghost Story (Unabridged Audiobook)
Written by T.M. Wright
Narrated by Dick Hill

Produced by Crossroad Press and SpringBrook Audio

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of A Manhattan Ghost Story (Unabridged Audiobook) from Crossroad Press for reviews purposes.

A Manhattan Ghost Story is the tale of a man named Abner Cray. Abner is a photographer who lives in Maine. Abner travels ti New York to work on a photo book. Abner’s friend Art offers to allow Abner to live in his apartment while he is working on the book because Art will be traveling. That is how Abner meets Art’s ex-girlfriend, Phyllis, and falls in love with her. Art’s dead ex-girlfriend. That’s when Abner discovers the other inhabitants of New York. The ghosts of New York. That is when things go horribly wrong.

A Manhattan Ghost Story is a story of love and hate and madness. It is told as a memoir. It is strange. It is disturbing. And, unfortunately, it is more than a bit confusing in places. It has an interesting twist on ghosts, and how they relate to the live. But that was not enough to make it work for me. In the end I just didn’t enjoy this book.

The story is read by Dick Hill. His voice and style suit this book well. I admit many of the character sound the same, but much of the book really feels like when my grand father would telling me a stories from his life. That make it more interesting.

Overall, I didn’t like this story very much. It is a okay story, but it took a long to get going. I kept getting lost in the first few chapter of the book. I can’t recommend it. If you are a big fan of ghost stories it might be worth your time and the audio is good, but it just did work for me.

I’m giving it 3 out of 5 snark bites.