Scene of the Week: Conan the Barbarian – Battle of the Mounds

“Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that two stood against many. That’s what’s important! Valor pleases you, Crom… so grant me one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then to HELL with you!”

Is there any better way to begin your epic last stand than to pray to your war-loving god to grant you revenge over your enemies? I think not. Conan and his buddy Subotai have finished all their preparations for battle; the blades are sharpened, their arrows are placed in the most strategic places, and all of their traps and fortifications are ready for the chaotic sound of combat. Conan’s quest from childhood to this point deserved a showdown on this level. He went from a child slave to become a gladiator fighting to the death. From a common thief to a true lord of war. Give me Conan with buckets of blood and mountains of muscle being thrown from horses over any CGI any day of the week.

While it’s not the Conan Robert E. Howard may have put on screen, it’s the best that I’ve seen and the Battle of the Mounds is where he becomes a legend.