An open letter to John Milius

Dear Mr. Milius:

I recently viewed your 1982 film, Conan the Barbarian. One thing puzzles me about this film.

Why would you create an original story & present it as an adaption of someone else’s work? Why create original characters but name them after someone else’s characters? Why deal with the hassles of licensing when you have no need to? If you do pay for a license & suffer the associated difficulties, why not leverage the property to its fullest?

I found I could not appreciate your story or your characters because the film promised Robert E. Howard’s characters & storytelling, but delivered neither. Your story may have been very good, but—if so—I am blinded to it by unfulfilled expectations.

It would be one thing if this were a film adaption that I found lacking. That it strayed too far from the spirit of the source or that it followed the letter of the source at the expense of the spirit. But an wholly original story consisting of wholly original characters masquerading as an adaption? Why?

I did appreciate the four or five oblique homages to Mr. Howard’s work & the one moment in which your Conan emulated Mr. Howard’s Conan. Overall, though, I give it a “Wha...?”

last updated 1 year ago #