I had the opportunity to get a look at an early draft of a script for the sequel to the new Millenium Conan production. It's penned by Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain. As they took a few hard shots here on the forum last time at bat, I want to assure them the individual who provided my access to the script thought very highly of it. So did I. I will cut the authors a break and not discuss the details of the script, but I can say if it is produced it will be the first Conan film based on a single Howard story.

Because it is based on a Howard tale the principle characters have the same names and retain the same personalities of Howard's creations. There is a determined female monarch, but she is not a warrior swordswoman with a fifth degree black belt and behaves pretty much as in the original story. The story is, of course, fleshed out with some new scenes that my fellow forum members will almost certainly debate some day in our typically impassioned style. I can't see how the authors could have gotten around the additions based on the brevity of the original story. The final scene plays out in almost the exact same way as in the original story. All's well, that ends well.

Requirements for pleasing contemporary audiences being what they are, most of the additions are action set pieces (which in my opinion surpass those in the early version I read of the current film) that do not greatly alter the story arc of Howard's original yarn. I know this is dangerous ground, but I honestly think that a couple of the new action sequences are terrific. I'm a film guy who also reveres REH, and I wouldn't kid anyone on the forum. There are a couple of characters, including an important villain (who actually has very brief screen time), who were not in Howard's original story. As I said before, I don't see how a screenwriter with the task of shaping a full-length script for the contemporary market could avoid a few new elements. As a film guy, I did enjoy some of the subtle references to scenes from several famous action films. Blackman and McCain provided their Conan with some pretty cool quips that are much more Eastwood than Bond. I thought they enlivened the character without getting too contemporary. Reactions will vary. There are also several references to other Howard-penned Conan tales. Again, reactions will vary.

The best feature of the script for me was the characterization of Conan. However, I am not sure any interpretation of the big guy is going to please everyone around here. No writer has so far. As this is a sequel to the upcoming film, he is a young Conan. However, to my mind, there is no doubt this is Howard's young Conan. Tough, smart, confident, unflappable and pragmatic, the script offers Conan a chance to evolve a good bit during the course of the film. His road to a throne is definitely intimated. Being Howard's Conan, he is absolutely the wrong guy to cross, but Blackman and McCain avoid the sadistic overreach of the early draft of the current film. I should point out here that the current film has gone through so many revisions since that first draft, the writers may have considerably altered their Conan as well.

That's about it. Bottom line is this is a smart, entertaining action flick that sticks pretty close to a single REH story, and, I think, shows a respect for the author and the character. I don't think I revealed anything that the authors or producers would find detrimental to their development of the film. If Mr. Blackman or Mr. McCain care to comment on my remarks, they are, of course, welcome.