Bovie Movie

Based on a character created by Robert E. Howard, this fast-paced, occasionally humorous sequel to Conan the Barbarian features the hero (Arnold Schwarzenegger) as he is commissioned by the evil queen Taramis (Sarah Douglas) to safely escort a teen princess (Olivia D’Abo) and her powerful bodyguard (Wilt Chamberlain) to a far away castle to retrieve the magic Horn of Dagon. Unknown to Conan, the queen plans to sacrifice the princess when she returns and inherit her kingdom after the bodyguard kills Conan. The queen’s plans fail to take into consideration Conan’s strength and cunning and the abilities of his sidekicks: the eccentric wizard Akiro (Mako), the wild woman Zula (Grace Jones), and the inept Malak (Tracey Walter). Together the hero and his allies must defeat both mortal and supernatural foes in this voyage to sword-and-sorcery land.

This film, based on the novel by Arthur Golden, unfolds from the perspective of Chiyo (Zhang Ziyi), a girl who, at the age of nine, is sold to a geisha house in Kyoto in the early 1930s. Here, she learns that becoming a geisha can be the single path to wealth and independence for a woman. The head geisha of her house, however, Hatsumomo (Gong Li), is bitterly jealous of Chiyo and abuses her at every opportunity. Eventually Chiyo is taken under the wing of Hatsumomo’s rival, Mameha (Michelle Yeoh), by far the most famous and successful geisha in their district. Under Mameha’s tutelage, Chiyo becomes Sayuri, the most legendary geisha in the nation, skilled in all areas, from conversation to dance, and sought after by seemingly every man alive…except for the one whom she has secretly longed for since she began her training, The Chairman (Ken Watanabe) — a man who showed her kindness at a time when her view of the world had turned the most bleak. Now as World War II approaches, Japan stands at the brink of a new era and Sayuri must confront the possibility that history will leave all that she has worked for behind.

The stars have aligned in an ominous sign, and as a legion of malevolent monsters descends upon New York City to wage war against humanity, the only thing that stands between humankind and certain destruction are four wisecracking turtles with a flair for martial arts and a hearty appetite for pizza. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s “heroes in a half-shell” return to defend the world against an interstellar threat that comes just once every 3,000 years in a computer-animated action comedy that marked the final film role of Japanese screen legend Mako — here providing the voice of the eternally wise Master Splinter. Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar lends her voice to the role of the turtles’ technical-services worker, April; Fantastic Four’s Chris Evans assumes the role of hockey-loving crimefighter Casey Jones; Memoirs of a Geisha star Zhang Ziyi steps in as villainous Foot Ninjas leader Karai; and Star Trek: The Next Generation captain Patrick Stewart voices malevolent tech industrialist Max Winters — a mortal man whose hunger for profit and power may spell doom for all humanity.

John Milius’s jingoistic direction and pulpy screenplay fit perfectly into this film version of the Robert E. Howard fantasy story of the sword and sorcery hero, Conan the Barbarian. Complementing Mulius’s heavy metal production is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s leaden acting, which in any other context would be deadly, but here (as in The Terminator) corresponds nicely with the whole sonorous project. The story begins when a horde of rampaging warriors massacre the parents of young Conan and enslave the young child for years on The Wheel of Pain. The Wheel of Pain seems to have as its only purpose the building up of Conan’s muscles, so it’s no surprise that one day Conan grows up to become Arnold Schwarzenegger. As the sole survivor of the childhood massacre, Conan is released from slavery and taught the ancient arts of fighting. Transforming himself into a killing machine, Conan travels into the wilderness to seek vengeance on Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), the man responsible for killing his family. In the wilderness, Conan takes up with the thieves Valeria (Sandahl Bergman) and Subota (Gerry Lopez). The trio comes upon a weird snake cult, linked to Doom, and Conan wants to trek off to Doom’s mountain retreat to kill him. But he is prevented from doing that by King Osrik (Max Von Sydow), who wants the trio of warriors to help rescue his daughter who has joined Doom in the hills.