Barbarians: From Conan to He-Man - Hardcover Book

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By Claude Gaillard

Do you like movies about barbarians ?

The eighties was the era for Heroic Fantasy. And after the box office success of John Milius’ Conan, a horde of muscle bound heroes stormed movie theaters and video store aisles. Their names were Ator, Yor, Gunan, Thor, Hundra, Dar... and these illegitimate children of the Cimmerian were to participate in the construction of a singular heroic figure, a brutal, unmodern and delightfully anachronistic character: the barbarian.

In the U.S., legendary producer Roger Corman, often referred to as the Pope of B-movies, jumped into the breach, taking advantage of the situation to relocate production of his Conan rip-offs to South America. In Italy, where the art of the counter-attack and the retort to Hollywood blockbusters has become a specialty, Conan is also a source of ideas. Joe d’Amato, Lucio Fulci, Ruggero Deodato and Tonino Ricci explored the genre, while Luigi Cozzi rode the wave, revisiting the 12 labors of Hercules with the Hulk himself. Even Turkey got in on the act with Altar. The barbarian international league was born, and went so far as to colonize children’s imaginations with a line of toys with a surprisingly adult spirit: Masters of the Universe.

This brief and little-documented cinematic trend is often referred to as Conansploitation. Barbarians, from Conan to He-Man looks back at this curious phenomenon in 256 large and richly illustrated pages. Discover the production and shooting secrets behind the best and worst movies of the genre: the four cinematic adventures of Ator, the Italian barbarian, or the Deathstalker saga; plunge into the marvellous universe of Beatsmaster or Yor, the Hunter From the Future. Have fun with the genre’s clichés in the graphics chapter: “The art of being a barbarian”, and discover what separates Conansploitation from the original work of Robert E. Howard, the father of Conan, thanks to an interview with Patrice Louinet, one of the greatest Conanspecialists and translators (who also translated the book into English).

Barbarians: from Conan to He-Man is released simultaneously in an full English-language edition. The cover uses by the French theatrical poster for Tonino Ricci’s Thor il Conquistatore (1983). (Unfortunately, we couldn’t identify the artist).

The author Claude Gaillard is a French author specializing in popular culture and cinema. He has published (sometimes under a pseudonym) numerous books with Huginn & Muninn/Dargaud, Vents d’Ouest/Glénat, Omake Books and Pulse Edition. Published in 2022, his After the World Ends, devoted to post-apocalyptic cinema, has become a reference work for a wide readership, from the US to Australia, to Norway, Sweden and Finland.

252 pages
8" x 10.5"