''Conan the Adventurer'', or simply ''Conan'', is an American television live-action-adventure series. It was produced by Max A. Keller and Micheline Keller from 1997 to 1998 and was loosely based on the

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...

. The show premiered on September 22, 1997, and comprised 22 episodes, filmed mainly in

Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican resort city near the Bahía de Banderas on the Pacific coast of the Mexico, Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalajara ...

, Jalisco, Mexico. Keller Entertainment Group, the same production company responsible for the series '' Tarzan: The Epic Adventures'' and ''

Acapulco H.E.A.T. ''Acapulco H.E.A.T.'' is a 1993 syndicated television series. It follows the adventures of the "Hemisphere Emergency Action Team" (H.E.A.T.), a group of top-secret agents based in Acapulco, Mexico, recruited by "C-5", a secret, inter-governmental ...

'', continues to market and distribute the series worldwide. The role of Conan was played by

Ralf Moeller Ralf Rudolf Moeller (born Möller; ; 12 January 1959) is a German actor and former competitive bodybuilder. He is known for his roles of Brick Bardo in ''Cyborg'', Kjartan in '' The Viking Sagas'', the title character in the television show '' ...

, two time Mr. Universe, a native of Germany, and friend to

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

. The rest of the ensemble cast included Danny Woodburn (Otli), Robert McRay (Zzeben), T. J. Storm (Bayu), Aly Dunne (Karella), and briefly, Andrew Craig (Vulkar). The script for the pilot was written by Steve Hayes, the head of project development for the series. The storyline deviated from the essence of the Conan character, as well as that of the Conan earlier depicted in the 1980s films and

comic book series a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

, because this adaptation was more peaceful and aimed at all age groups.

Plot

An all-powerful sorcerer, Hissah Zuhl (Jeremy Kemp) rules Conan's homeland of Cimmeria with an iron fist through magical arts, trickery, and threats. He is responsible for the death of Conan's parents, and he is recurrent as the always just barely thwarted mastermind enemy. Conan and an army of warriors rebel and fight to free Cimmeria from the demonic tyrant and his minions. In his travels, Conan battles mythical creatures that roam the land. The hero has been chosen by the gods to fight evil, and he has been informed by Crom that he is destined to be a king. Conan wants revenge against Hissah Zuhl, that seeks to kill the hero. In all episodes the enemy has a primary role and has a servant skeleton with clairvoyant powers. The sorcerer uses an endless horde of warriors, as well as vassal wizards and princes under Zuhl's control.

Cast

as Conan * Danny Woodburn as Otli * Robert McRay as Zzeben * T. J. Storm as Bayu * Aly Dunne as Karella * Andrew Craig as Vulkar *

Jeremy Kemp Edmund Jeremy James Walker (3 February 1935 – 19 July 2019), known professionally as Jeremy Kemp, was an English actor. He was known for his significant roles in the miniseries '' The Winds of War'' and '' War and Remembrance'', the film ''T ...

as Hissah Zul *

Arthur Burghardt Arthur Napier Burghardt (born August 29, 1947) is an American retired actor, best known for portraying Jack Scott on the soap opera ''One Life to Live''. In animation, he is known for lending his deep bass voice as Devastator in '' The Transfo ...

as The Skull That Talks

Production

Episodes

Home media

In September 2004,

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

released ''Conan the Adventurer: Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack, ''Conan the Adventurer'', was released by Sonic Images US in March 1998 on

Audio CD Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the '' Red Book'' technical specifications, which is why t ...

. The score was composed by Charles Fox. The song "In Love And War" with music by Charles Fox and lyrics by

Roxanne Seeman Roxanne Joy Seeman is an American songwriter and lyricist. She is best known for her songs by Billie Hughes, Philip Bailey, Phil Collins, Earth, Wind & Fire, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, The Sisters of Mercy, The Jacksons, Jacky Cheung, and ...

was written for the tv series episode "Antidote" and performed by

Terry Reid Terrance James Reid (born 13 November 1949), nicknamed "Superlungs", is an English rock vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist best known for his emotive style of singing in appearances with high-profile musicians as vocalist, supporting act and s ...

Michael Bradford Michael Bradford is an American musician from Detroit, Michigan. He is a bass guitarist but also plays guitar and keyboards, and has done extensive work in music production and engineering. Among others, Bradford has worked with Madonna, Youngs ...

, along with

and Charles Fox, produced a record version for the soundtrack. Both versions feature Terry Reid singing and are included on the soundtrack.

Track listing

Source:

References

Bibliography

* Sammon, P. M., ''Conan the Phenomenon'', Dark Horse Books, 2013.

External links

* * * Director
Barbariankeep
{{Red Sonja 1997 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings American action adventure television series American fantasy drama television series Conan the Barbarian television series First-run syndicated television programs in the United States USA Network original programming