YMMV / Conan the Destroyer

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Was Thoth-Amon someone who wanted to sacrifice the Princess himself to rule Dagoth, or was he working to prevent anyone from summoning Dagoth? Was he imprisoning Jehnna as part of an evil plan, or was he trying to protect her? Or was his just an Arch-Enemy of Queen Tamaris?
• Awesome Music: The score isn't quite on par with Conan the Barbarian, but still suitably epic thanks to Basil Poledouris.
• Cliché Storm: The films makes for a nice Drinking Game of 80's Sword and Sorcery cliches.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Zula, who was thoroughly liked by Roger Ebert and other critics.
• Fridge Brilliance: Conan helping King Osric and defeating Thulsa Doom is chiefly the reason Conan is Famed In-Story.
• Fridge Logic: Conan racked up 126 years of bad luck during the fight with Thoth-Amon from breaking all those mirrors.
• Ham and Cheese: Judging by her facials and screams, Grace Jones seems to know exactly what kind of film she is in.
• Heartwarming Moments: The Dénouement, as Queen Jehnna asks her comrades to assume official positions in her palace. The heartwarming part is that each of them look to Conan, who nods permission. The other aspect is heartwarming, too. Jehnna is offering them roles they really want to take, and their loyalty to her is second only to their loyalty to Conan.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Conan's goofball sidekick Malak is widely despised by audiences as a Replacement Scrappy for the competent and loyal Subotai. Just a few years later and his actor Tracey Walter would play The Joker's evil henchman Bob in Batman (1989), who ended up becoming a major Ensemble Dark Horse with moviegoers for his competence and loyalty. To think all he had to do was switch teams.
• Narm:
  • After Zula (Grace Jones) does a Coup de Grâce on one enemy, she gives the most bizarre smile that has to be seen to be believed.
  • Conan's fight with the lizard/ape man, who tosses big rugged manly Conan around like a rag doll when he isn't pimp slapping him, isn't anywhere near as scary, frightening or intense as it's supposed to be due to some really, really, really goofy fight choreography. And when you consider that Conan does a better job against the demonic god Dagoth in the climax his fight with the lizard (gator?) ape man just looks even more ridiculous. The beast also keeps doing wrestling moves to Conan, including a textbook vertical suplex. Given such moves normally require the person taking them to assist and Pat Roach's past as a wrestler, this looks absurd. The makeup and animatronic effects used for this form also look utterly cheesy.
• Narm Charm:
  • The enemy wizard's habit of commanding his troops by clinging two cymbals together to make them ring. It's so over the top cheesy it loops back over to cool.
  • Zula freaking out at seeing a rat, then shrugging at Conan.
  • Malak stabbing Dagoth after Conan has defeated it. The orchestra even awards him an exciting hit as he does it.
• Nightmare Fuel: The lizard/ape man and the demonic god Dagoth.
• Replacement Scrappy: Malak didn't sit well with the audience, his role being doing a string of never-ending bad jokes, acting like a doofus, and obviously replacing Subotai (his role even might have been written for Subotai at some point, as Malak seems to have some or all of Subotai's memories from the previous film, enough to remember what happened the last time Conan bumped into a camel).
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Despite fulfilling the role of Cowardly Sidekick and Butt-Monkey throughout most of the movie, Malak's timely knife throw into Dagoth's mouth helps free Conan from its clutches, ultimately saving the day.
• The Scrappy:
  • The character Jehnna was widely panned for being an annoying whiny and screaming Royal Brat. She improves later, though.
  • Malak, on top of being a Replacement Scrappy of Subotai, was found totally unlikable by the audience. His role was basically a sniveling The Load with a really grating voice and who couldn't even be stealthy when it was needed in a dungeon despite being a thief. Though he at least provided a means for the heroes to enter the palace and save Jehnna's life.
• Signature Scene: The Wizard Duel between Akiro and the Leader is surprisingly well remembered, and is often quoted as a great example of how you can convincingly portray a duel of otherwordly powers solely through skillful (and hammy) acting.
• So Bad, It's Good: Conan the Barbarian was a very popular, deeply thought out, and well-received movie. Conan the Destroyer... wasn't, but that's what makes it fun.
• Spiritual Adaptation: At least a few people have commented that Conan the Destroyer is a pretty good Dungeons & Dragons movie as it features a full party of adventurers, a MacGuffin, and hammy overacting. At the very least it's agreed that it's better made and more entertaining than the first film adaptation.
• WTH, Costuming Department?: Zula's attire randomly having a horse tail in her rear end. And in the epilogue, her headress has two attached ponytails for some reason.

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