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SOURCES: Oakland Files. |
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In his short listing of the cut scenes not presented on the DVD, Klemen Zun (the Slovenian webmaster of the otherwise great OAKLAND) includes: |
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In my opinion however, such scenes (which neither appear in the novelization nor in the comic book adaptation) never existed. Two promotional photographs seem to have misled Klemen. |
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The first one of them appears in the "Conan Files" on the DVD. On it, one sees Arnold in costume, on horse, at Milius' side, in a snow-covered outdoor location (picture 1). The second still is a lobby card, which shows Arnold, in the same costume and same location, on horse again, with, beside him, Sven-Ole Thorsen (Thorgrim), also on horse (picture 2). | ||||||||||||||||||||
Let us observe these two pictures attentively. The filming location indeed matches Conan's native village. Milius is wearing exactly the same clothing (and the same bonnet) as on other photos from the filming of the village scenes. Thorgrim is wearing the same armour he does in the opening raiding scene (between the legs of his mounting, one can see a Vanir war dog). Conan's chainmail (bought in Shadizar after the robbery of the Eye of the Serpent [1]) and fur hat are the same ones he is wearing when he leaves Valeria to begin his search of Thulsa Doom's Mountain of Power. The fact that Thorgrim is slightly standing back/aside compared to Conan seems to give the impression that he is stealthily attacking him from behind and is about to crash to pieces his skull with his hammer. It is probably this way that Klemen interpreted the second photograph. As for me, I see a simple promotional photograph there, for the needs of which one asked two "old" buddies (Schwarzenegger and Thorsen frequented the same gym during a long time [2]) to pose and salute (and here is your explaination of the brandished weapons). It remains to determine why Arnold was in costume in this particular location (since the grown up Conan is not supposed to appear in the village scenes at the beginning of the film). The explanation is, in my opinion, very simple: Milius quite simply needed a shot where adult Conan was seen riding his horse in the snow (a shot which appears much later in the film [picture 3], after he left Valeria, who awakes all alone in her bed [3]).He or Ron Cobb probably shot some takes of Schwarzenegger on horse in the surroundings of the snow-covered village set, on location, and the set photographer then benefitted from his presence this particular day on the set to take some promo pictures of him (in the company of Milius, then Thorsen). |
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The idea of a grown up Conan returning to his native village certainly was interesting, but finally it rather badly fits in the course of the story: Conan is from now on in charge of a mission by king Osric (to find the princess, and thus, by extension, Thulsa Doom) and hardly has time to go on a pilgrimage in cimmerian land. And what would he find at the end of such a voyage since, after all, his village was entirely wiped out and he is the only survivor of the massacre? [4] As for a possible meeting, on the way, with Thorgrim (followed by an inevitable confrontation between the two), it is rather completely improbable! In the end, a Conan fan who was a little bit too imaginative has undoubtedly fantasized about a few lost scenes simply basing himself on two posed photos... |
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ConanCompletist 2004
