This series was disappointing on numerous levels, many of which were quite adequately covered by other reviewers. So, rather than dwelling on the obvious cheapness of the series, its apparent lack of writers or fight choreographers, and a soundtrack that, at my most generous, I could only describe as "medieval Yanni," I'm just going to dive head-first into what killed the series for me: it wasn't Conan. Oh sure, they had some loincloth-wearing bodybuilder with an impenetrable accent that everyone kept calling "Conan," but he bore little resemblance to Howard's original character. I recall one scene in particular in which "Conan," having vanquished some foes, raised his sword to the heavens and bellowed some nonsense about being the servant of Crom. Anyone who had ever even skimmed over Howard's stories would realize that this is NOT something that Conan would ever do; he frequently stated that it was useless to call on Crom, for he was a god who hated weaklings. Conan didn't serve Crom, nor did he worship Crom. He swore by him and otherwise made a very conscious effort not to attract his attention. Any idiot claiming to be a "servant of Crom" was more likely to get killed by a bolt of lightning than enjoy any kind of divine blessings. In addition, aside from the name of the titular character and periodic mentions of Cimmeria, there were practically no references to the incredibly detailed world Howard created. No supporting characters from the original stories were included (Karela is a character from the Robert Jordan pastiches, and Red Sonja is comic-book creation only loosely based on a non-Conan Howard character). Why do Conan fans put up with this kind of rubbish? The original material was almost exclusively short stories, with little or no connection aside from all being about Conan; they could have been adapted into television episodes easily. I can only come to one of two conclusions about this series' creators: that they thought they could do a better job with Conan than Robert E. Howard did (and failed miserably), or (more likely) they realized that by tacking Conan's name on their crappy series, they could trick some viewers into actually watching it.
Review of Conan the Adventurer
