The Conqueror (1956)

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    I couldn't agree with you more Mike! Jet Pilot was the absolute worst movie! I watched it once, barley got through it! The Conqueror had some good fight scenes!

    I recently took this movie out from my collection and watched it again. i have to admit, i kinda like it. it has a good story. i like the fight scenes. the warlord conquering his enemies! the diologue was bad, but i could sit through it! Lot of stars in this one! Agnes Moorhead, William Conrad, Lee Van Cleef, and of course, Susan!
    ( who i might ad wasn't bad on the eyes! ) I think the Duke made the best of it that he could. Not his worst performance, and not his worst movie!

    The Universal Vault series is re-issuing The Conqueror as an MOD (manufactured on demand) DVD. No release date yet but it's up for pre-order at Amazon.


    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb…or+universal+vault+series


    "Yondah likes the castle of my"... oops, wrong actor, wrong movie! :)


    "Oh Moses, Moses, you stubborn, splendid..." ditto!


    Sorry... but really, is there anything more fun than a misbegotten costume epic? (Actually Anne Baxter is terrific in The Ten Commandments.) :)



    Thanks again for the heads up Paula.
    Have you looked into the Blu ray release available in Europe?

    "Pour yourself some backbone and shut up!"

    Dooley, the European Blu-ray of The Conqueror is Region B locked so I don't think it will play on my machine. (North America is Region A.) Very annoying! There probably is a way to unlock the region lock on the player but I'm don't know how and you void the warranty if you try to mess with it. My player's new so it's still under warranty and I definitely don't want to void it. ;)

    Quote from Paula

    Dooley, the European Blu-ray of The Conqueror is Region B locked so I don't think it will play on my machine. (North America is Region A.) Very annoying! There probably is a way to unlock the region lock on the player but I'm don't know how and you void the warranty if you try to mess with it. My player's new so it's still under warranty and I definitely don't want to void it. ;)


    So I guess I should take a look:wink_smile:
    My main concern is its the same studio who released North to Alaska and the Barbarian and the Geisha.
    Thankfully, due to asking around on here, I steered clear of the Barbarian and the Geisha and bought the Walmart release which is superb.
    I wasn't so lucky with North to Alaska which looks beautiful but has an error which makes the film 'stick' on a frame every couple of minutes or so which is so distracting I'm sending mine back :(
    As The Conqueror isn't high on my list of Duke films I've stayed away.
    I actually got my Blu ray from the USA and had it shipped here! It's the only place that did multi region coding on Sony Blu ray players so I'm really lucky I can flip from one to the other.

    "Pour yourself some backbone and shut up!"

    I thought Pedro and William Conrad were very comfortable and believable in their roles. I had a hard time with Duke though. Just didn't seem to have the correct writer for his words or something. Anyway, after 3 times of watching it, his performance sank in a little better. The battle scenes were great. Much different from the normal guns...a lot more infighting. By far, not my favorite. But, I will probably watch it again.

    God, she reminds me of me! DUKE

    Since I'm responsible for forcing this on the group, I'll go ahead.
    On the plus side. The minor characters, especially Lee Van Cleef and William Conrad, are energetic. The horsemanship is spectacular. The battle scenes are exciting and the stunts (I saw Cliff Lyons' name in the credits) look bone breaking.


    On the debit side. The script is awful, with lines that no actor could speak sincerely. Susan Hayward appears to be heavily sedated, probably to keep from giggling. She looks like she's sleepwalking even in her big seductive dance scene. There is another big dance number that is choreographed worse than a high school half time that stops everything dead. It's a great time to get some beer - you'll need it.
    The sets are cheesy and less believable than the ones in "Road to Morocco". The costumes look like Mom's homemade Halloween attempts with rolls of aluminum foil. The process shots and inserts don't match and the music score is uninspired.
    We all know Duke was miscast. He looks fierce enough, especially on horseback waving a sword, and grunts and growls convincingly, but he's just not a Mongol.


    If you treat the movie like a comic book, say "Prince Valiant", it's not so bad and a miscast Duke is better than no Duke.



    We deal in lead, friend.

    LOL Dude, you are MUCH too tough on yourself and your choice. I have commented twice, (think I might have been the first one), hoping to get others going, plus I change my mind a little as I look at different things each time I watch it.....and since it WAS your choice, (you didn't like any of my suggestions :), I have already watched it more times than I would have for most anyone else!


    The horses and battle scenes alone are worth watching the movie...as I said before, we don't get many hand to hand type of things to watch and are probably a bit rusty on appreciating what it took to do them. I think Cliff was the Unit 2 director, not sure, so there was experience there.....however most of his was gun fighting.....so an excellent job was done by Someone if not him. Watch Duke....someone had to teach him his close-up stunts.


    Also, as we know, Duke had certain writers that knew what words to "put" into his mouth. I didn't check the screen writer yet, but I have a feeling he hadn't written for Duke before. Pedro and William Conrad did fine with their lines, in my opinion. Also, there was a great deal of too much dialogue that was not necessary at all to the movie. Duke had to speak more rapidly and much too long.......that alone would completely throw us off.


    So, if we have until the end of August, I suggest we do what I have a feeling you chose this movie for......find out what is good about it. We may have to "dig" a lot more than normal, LOL, but it certainly will be a challenge and a deviation from the norm.....which I must say does get a little....won't say "boring"....but same old same old sometimes. If we look at it as a challenge, maybe it will help us to be better at all of our reviews, comments, etc.


    OK, off the soapbox....sorry again for the verbosity. I think you did a good thing. Anyone can choose a movie that was highly acclaimed and already has been reviewed to pieces. You "stuck your neck out" and picked one that people would really have to THINK about. Hope we get some that will do that. Keith

    God, she reminds me of me! DUKE