Customer Reviews

Kull the Conquerer

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Poor Robert E. Howard...He never lived nearly long enough to enjoy the fruits of his labors that would have made him a very wealthy man. Conan movies, TV shows, comics, magazines, toys...He'd be startled to learn just how popular barbarian hero had become. He'd be equally horrified to see the results of Kull the Conqueror. Kull was actually created by Howard before Conan and in fact Howard re-wrote several of his Kull stories that Weird tales rejected, as Conan stories.

One immediately knew things were not going to be good with Kevin Sorbo playing the title role. He's too slender, and altogether too 'pristine' to have played Kull who was essetially a savage tribesman, much like Conan. In Howard's original works, Kull took the throne of Valusia by force by killing the petty despot King Borna and took the crown from his head and became King...no matter who liked it or not. There was nothing so trite as the dying king merely handing over his crown to the man who just killed him...a man who was a savage at that.

Borna's heirs are none too happy that they've been left out of power and enlist the aid of a resurrected witch named Akivasha to get rid of Kull. We then get some mish mash of a quest that Kull has to complete to defeat the witch...ho hum...It's obvious that Sorbo was cast to cash in on the popularity of the Hercules TV show but he's just too nice a guy to be playing the savage Kull.

Tia Carrere fairs no better than Sorbo. Again we have someone just a little too good looking to be playing their role. And again someone whose acting talent is meager to begin with. And where is Kull'f long time companion Brule the Spearslayer? And instead of creating the new character of the witch Akivasha, why not use Kull's actual arch-enemy Thulsa Doom?

This plays more like a maede for TV movie than a big screen film. A huge disappointment.

Kull, wise-cracking barbarian of Atlantis, somehow finds himself in the midst of a distant kingdom's strife, and before he knows it, manages to earn the respect, and the crown, of the recently deceased king - who dies, mind you, at the end of Kull's sword. As Kull claims the throne, there is much plotting to have him removed, and secretly the nobles who long for his place ally themselves with an evil witch who has only recently been resurrected, and plots to bring back the ancient demons who once ruled the land before the coming of mankind. The key to thwarting her wicked designs rests in the Breath of Valka, which can only be found across the sea upon the Isle of Ice. Naturally, Kull must go there and seek it out, not only that he might maintain his throne, but also that he might save the realm from eternal darkness and demonic rule.

Originally written as a third installation in the much more respectable Conan series of films, Kull the Conquerer is utterly passionless and devoid of spirit. It is truly as mediocre as fantasy films get, and given the recent crop, that is certainly saying something. Still, I can appreciate almost any effort in this untapped genre, and therefore Kull does taste as good to me as even a relatively tasteless ort of food can to a starving man. It does have its moments, but they should have come far more often.

Kull does distance itself from a mere Conan the Barbarian clone quite nicely, however - Kevin Sorbo plays a far less grim warrior who seems to think before he strikes. The world itself is less like Conan's and more like what we have seen in Dragonheart. Given that Kull is from some of the people who gave us Dragonheart, this isn't particularly surprising. Still, a Kull film should be more gloom-and-doom, and Kevin Sorbo, quite simply, doesn't make for a good barbarian, even if he is likable enough as the lead. It's all a few rungs above The Legendary Journeys, at the least! And yet it feels more like a lavish episode of said show than a film adaptation of a character from the mind of madman Robert E. Howard.

Even the more obscure Conan-esque fantasy films of the '80s (The Beastmaster, The Sword and the Sorcerer) offered more, even given their lower budgets and dated techniques. Yet still Kull is a decent movie, and a fantasy movie in a medium that often abandons that genre, and that alone makes it recommendable to fantasy buffs. There's much room for complaint, but that doesn't necessarily an awful movie make.

Okay first and foremost, like the Conan movies this one had nothing to do with the Robert E. Howard story save the main character`s name. This is, of course, an incredible dissappointment. Mr. Howard invented Sword-and-Sorcery as we know it and none of the movies made from his characters (Conan, Red Sonja, and now Kull) have even come close to measuring up to his stories. However, if you enter the movie in the mindset that it is another barbarian movie and don't think about the writings, the movie is fun and can be enjoyable. It does not do Howard justice, but is good as barbarian movies go. Tia Carrie trying to copy Darth Vader though seemed a bit off.

As I expected when I found out that kevin sorbo was starring, this film took a classic Robert E. Howard legend and turned it into a laughable, PG-13-rated flick for Xena/Hercules-watching-kids. While the effects were good, and Tia definately was hot.. I felt like I wanted a refund for going to see it. Having read all of the original R. E. Howard material, I have to say that this effectively misrepresents the stories. Kull shouldn't make jokes, shouldn't speak perfect English (he's a barbarian, for god's sakes). Not enough realistic violence, too much humor, too light-hearted, not enough suspense. Not satisfactory. Come on boys, you can do better than this..

KULL THE CONQUEROR started out life as what would have been the third "Conan" movie, a (very loose, no doubt) adaptation of Robert E. Howard's 'Hour of the Dragon', the only full-length Conan novel finished by his creator, in which Conan has ascended to the throne of the mighty kingdom of Aquilonia - though the crown lies uneasily on his barbaric head. But Arnold Schwarzenegger, by this time an enormous star, had no interest in going back to his movie roots, so Kull - another Robert E. Howard character that Universal had the film rights to - was substituted for Conan, with no real regard for fidelity to the character at all.

Enough about that. Let's face it, if you worry too much about Hollywood being "accurate", particularly in adapting the work of long-dead pulp writers, you aren't going to like much of anything in the fantasy genre. I had fun with this, despite its ridiculous beginning - barbarian Kull (Kevin Sorbo, who seems to grow into the role over the course of the film) after failing to pass the test to become a legionnaire for lack of royal blood (he's a barbarian from Atlantis, not a noble from the kingdom of Valusia, where the film is set), somehow makes his way into the palace and ends up fighting the dying and insane king (Sven-Ole Thorsen) who in his last act anoints Kull as his successor, much to the chagrin of Taligaro (Thomas Ian Griffith), the head of the guards who had embarassed Kull in the first scene and is himself one of the contenders for the throne.

From here on we have ancient evil witch Akivasha (Tia Carrere, as sexy as ever) coming back to earth to try to resurrect her ancient evil kingdom of Acheron by marrying Kull and becoming the queen and ruler of the new kingdom - while Kull's true love Zareta (Karina Lombard, also very cute and scantily clad throughout) and her brother Ascalante (Litefoot) try to save the king from himself and from the bewitching evil queen.

All pretty standard stuff ultimately, but carried off with just enough panache, and about as violent and sexy as a PG-13 film can be - in fact, it must have tread awfully, awfully close to the higher rating given the amount of bloodletting on display. Sorbo as I said seems to improve over the course of the film, and even the somewhat out-of-place humor of Harvey Feirstein as a merchant who sells Kull a ship to sail to the island that contains the key to defeating the evil witch, isn't enough to completely kill the movie. There are some real pacing problems - it feels both long (at 95 minutes) and incomplete - and some of the PC stuff like Kull wanting to free all the slaves just comes off as really stupid and, along with quite a bit of the too-modern dialogue (shades of "Hercules" and "Xena" I suppose - except that those were both supposed to be parodies, and this presumably isn't) detracts a bit from any feeling of anything otherworldly or truly "fantastic". But this is very typical of fantasy filmmaking in the past 20 years, and KULL sins no more than many other films in this respect.

Some spectacular location work, and pretty terrific and majestic cinematography by Rodney Charters show that this was a relatively high-budget production given the b-level cast and the way it was originally shoved into theaters. But given the typical quality standard of "barbarian" or "heroic" fantasy since CONAN THE BARBARIAN made the genre somewhat popular in film, I don't think anyone is going to grumbe at KULL THE CONQUEROR being a poor example - in fact, it's probably one of the better ones. Certainly worth getting this bare-bones DVD at the current bargain price for fans of turn-your-brain-off sword and sorcery, I think. Worked for me.

This lame piece of dung probably made ROBERT E HOWARD roll over in his grave when it was released.It had NONE of the spirit or grandeur of the original storys nor did it have a sense of adventure like the first CONAN film...in short,don't waste your time or money on this mediocre crapfest.

Yes, it's not Oscar material but this vastly underrated sword/sorcery epic is definitely a fun way to waste some time. Kevin Sorbo is perfectly wry in a role that can make or kill a career and he comes through with a great performance. It would have been great to see Pogue's original script done as originally conceived, with more blood and violence, but as high camp, Kull is very enjoyable. (Contrary to a review above, Kull is NOT "Conan's son" but is considered to be a precursor to Conan, an ancestor perhaps, predating Conan by thousands of years. Some think that R. E. Howard used Kull as a "dry run" for his later more famous creation, Conan. Reviewers, do your homework.)

This film is a mixed bag. It plays like an updated Roger Corman film, taking the King Kull storyline and mashing it into a bit of a mess. All the right names appear in all the right places but beyond that, you don't have much of Robert E. Howard's stories. At least half of the film is taking from the Conan series rather than the Kull tales. Unless you're a Howard fan, you won't notice the shift.

On the positive side, there are some fun elements at play. The Flame of Archeron "warning of Godless times" give the film a proper aspect, and the witch queen is seductively vicious in just the way she needs to be. Some of the sets are quite good and the fighting sequences are at least acceptable. The story moves along at a good pace and develops well, with the proper mix of magic and hacking with blades. The core of Robert Howard's "Hour of the Dragon" appear here and are fairly well done for those that didn't see the same storyline in "The Sword and the Sorcerer". The women are downright hot and provide enough eye candy to smooth over other problems.

On the negative, the film is about as serious as Smokey and the Bandit. It opens with rock and roll music and within minutes, starts introducing less-than-stellar performances by secondary actors that gives the film its Roger Corman feel. None of the material is to be taken at much more than a comedic level, which is an odd delivery for a character that was originally written to be darker than Conan. A few supporting characters are so over the top they more properly belong in Monty Python than an sword adventure story. That makes it hard to accept any of the danger or any of the challenges that face Kull.

In the end, its a fun film but not a good representation of Robert E. Howard's writings or the early Hyborean World in general.

Yeah. I enjoyed this film. It was cheesy. I liked it nonetheless. Kevin Sorbo and Tia Carrere do a nice job in their roles, and while the story itself is a bit weird, I liked it. It's not historical fiction per se because the world this happens in is a different one than our own, but many elements are borrowed from various historical cultures (including mention of Atlantis) with some magic and swordfighting thrown in.

If you like fantasy movies that are a bit campy, you'll probably like this. Special effects and storyline are decent, so I can't really complain.

This movie would have been so much better if they would have left out the terrible rock music. It did not fit this film at all. The rest of the music was fine. Maybe the filmmakers will learn from their mistakes. I don't think there will be another one in the series!