What about Thundarr the Barbarian?

[Dr. Fate]

I see talk of GI Joe movies, Transformer movies, Thundercats movies, and even He-Man movies. How come no one mentions Thundarr the Barbarian for a possible film adaptation? Is he really so obscure that no one would pay attention to him?

[Kent Allard]

I think a Thundarr movie could do rather well - the character designs could easily adapt to a live-action movie [since live-action adaptations are the 'thing to do' now, personally I think a well done animated movie would work just as well].


In any case, like He-Man, Transformers, and Voltron - Thundarr is another 80s show I have fond memories of. It'd be nice to see an new series - or at the very least see the original on TV at somepoint {please Boomerang/Cartoon Network!} .

[Heretic]

Little known fact: Ruby Spears is my moms porn name

[3dman27]

Originally Posted by Kent Allard

I think a Thundarr movie could do rather well - the character designs could easily adapt to a live-action movie [since live-action adaptations are the 'thing to do' now, personally I think a well done animated movie would work just as well].


In any case, like He-Man, Transformers, and Voltron - Thundarr is another 80s show I have fond memories of. It'd be nice to see an new series - or at the very least see the original on TV at somepoint {please Boomerang/Cartoon Network!} .

i wish thw WOULD bring back thundarr

[Dr. Fate]

Originally Posted by 3dman27

i wish thw WOULD bring back thundarr

Same here. Give him a comic book miniseries at least, "The Legend of Thundarr" or something like that, just to test the waters.

[3dman27]

yes that would do fine

[Thundarr]

Thundarr The Barbarian would make a great movie! I've actually started a very similar thread on another website. Here's who I think should play each character...

Thundarr The Barbarian

Kevin Sorbo: He has the right size, build, and look. He also did quite a good job in Kull The Conqueror and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. His hair's the wrong colour, but it can be dyed.

Tyler Mane: Also the righ size, build, and look, he has the added advantage of having blonde hair. While his roles in X-Men, Halloween, and The Black Mask 2, weren't all that challenging, he did quite well as Hardcore in How To Make A Monster. I think he's ready to take the next step in his career.

Bottom Of The Barrel: Dulph Lundgren (He-Man in Masters Of The Universe), Vin Diesel (XXX in XXX), Kane Hodder (Jason Voorhees in Friday The 13th Part VII - X), Bill Goldberg (one of the UniSols in Universal Soldier 2), "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner (former WCW World Heavyweight Champion), and Carrot Top. All of these guys are the right size, build, and have the right look for the role. Unfortunately they're all either too old or/and have questionable acting abilities.

Princess Ariel The Sorceress

Tia Carere: She's beautiful. She's Asian. She's athletic. She's played both a scholar (on Relic Hunter) and a sorceress (in Kull The Conqueror), and played them both very convincingly. I think she'd make a great Ariel.

Lucy Liu: Just as beautiful, Asian, and athletic as Tia Carere, she's also slightly better known due to her more successful film and TV career. I think Tia Carere looks more like Ariel, but Lucy Liu would probably draw a larger fanbase.

Kristin Kruek: She's beautiful, she's Asian (half white/half Chinese), and a good actress. She's played Lana Lang on Smallville for years, as well as Fiona on Eurotrip. I think she'd be great in the role.

Kelly Hu: She's the beautiful Asian actress who played the sorceress in The Scorpion King. It might be type casting, but she'd totally be awsome in the role.

Ookla The Mok

I wouldn't make Ookla a CGI character, that would just suck. I would find a really large actor and put him in a mok suit, much like what was done for Chewbacca in the Star Wars saga. Here are my choices for Ookla...

"The Big Show" Paul White: He's 7'2", weighs 500 lbs, and acted in Adam Sandler's The Water Boy (as Captain Insano), and Star Trek: Enterprise (as an alien). Also, he was a fan of Thundarr when he was a kid.

"The Geat Khali" Dalib Singh: He's 7'4", weighs 425 lbs, acted in Adam Sandler's remake of The Longest Yard and Steve Carels Get Smart. His English is atroacious, but that will only help the other actors during filming.

"El Gigante" Jose Gonsalez: He's 7'7", weghs about 450 lbs, and he's acted in Hercules In The Underworld, he was in the pilot episode of Hulk Hogan's Thunder In Paradise, and on an episode of TV's Baywatch. When he used to wrestle for the WWE as The Giant Gonsalez he used to have to dress up like a sasquatch. His English is almost as bad as The Great Khali's, but again that might be a good thing. Only real problem is I heard he retired from wrestling because of bad knees, so that might interfere with any action scenes.

Gemini or Sabien The Wizard

Gary Oldman: He played an excellent villain in both The Professional and Bram Stokers Dracula. He's very good at being sinister.

Michael Ironside: Playing villains is pretty much Michael Ironside's bread & butter. He's been the villain in The Watcher, Scanners, Highlander 2: The Quickening, Young Blades, just to name a few. Even his good guy characters have a somewhat sinister edge to them, like his character Tyler on V: The Miniseries and V: The Final Battle.

Kevin Spacey: A brilliant actor, he did a great job as John Doe in SE7EN, and as Kaizer Sosser/The Gimp in The Usual Suspects, as well as Lex Luthor in Superman Returns. He doesn't quite have the perfect look for the role the way Michael Ironside does, but he's close.

Writers

John Milius & Buzz Dixon: Buzz Dixon wrote the scripts for many of the episodes of Thundarr, and I understand he's already written a script for a feature length Thundarr movie. John Milius wrote and directed Conan The Barbarian, and did an awsome job too.

Oliver Stone: He cowrote Conan with John Milius. They were a great team then, they could be a great team again.

Directors

Peter Jackson: The reason? Five words. The Lord Of The Rings. 'Nuff said.

Steven Spielberg: The reason? Two words. Jurassic Park. 'Nuff said.

John Milius: The Reason? Three words. Conan The Barbarian. 'Nuff said.

Jerry Bruckheimer: The reason? Five words, The Pirates Of The Caribbean. 'Nuff said.

Other Directors: Ron Howard (Willow), and Rob Reiner (The Princess Bride). Both would do a more than adequate job. The one person who should never, ever,EVER, direct Thundarr is George Lucas. He'd just stick our three heroes, the chief villain, and a handful of extras in front of a green screen and add everything else with CGI. After the monumental failure of the Star Wars prequals, you'd think he'd learn his lesson. But he still insists that they're the best work he'd ever done.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

I only have one choice for this one... George Lucas. I don't want him directing the movie, he would be perfect to bankroll the project. First of all, the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises have made him into a multibillionaire. Secondly, as his crappy Star Wars prequels prove, he'd be willing to finance just about anything. Third, with the similarities between Sun Swords and lightsabers, as well as wookiees and moks, any copy right arguments will be averted. Also any sound effects from the Star Wars archives could be used in the movies (lightsabre sound effects and wookiee speak).

[Dr. Fate]

^^You can never go wrong with either Gary Oldman or Michael Ironside.

The one thing that would probably screw over Kevin Sorbo is that he's 50 now and the suits would probably complain that he's too old, even though he still looks good. Then again, if it were just animation, they might let him do the voice.

[3dman27]

what about KELLY HU as ariel?

[Thundarr]

Originally Posted by Dr. Fate

^^You can never go wrong with either Gary Oldman or Michael Ironside.

The one thing that would probably screw over Kevin Sorbo is that he's 50 now and the suits would probably complain that he's too old, even though he still looks good. Then again, if it were just animation, they might let him do the voice.

They didn't complain about age when Ahnuld did his last Terminator movie. And Kevin did a fine job in Meet The Spartans. I think he could do the role justice. But if age is a problem, cast Tyler Mane.

[Thundarr]

Originally Posted by 3dman27

what about KELLY HU as ariel?

Wasn't she the chick from Diary Of A Geisha?

[3dman27]

no from the tv show martial law

[Red Mask]

What about Galtar and his Golden Lance?

[Diamondhead]

Originally Posted by Dr. Fate

I see talk of GI Joe movies, Transformer movies, Thundercats movies, and even He-Man movies. How come no one mentions Thundarr the Barbarian for a possible film adaptation? Is he really so obscure that no one would pay attention to him?

I mentioned Thundarr once because he was one of my favorite cartoon characters as a kid
But isn’t thunder the barbarian just a version of Conan the barbarian, kull the conqueror, even the scorpion king
Seriously I’d rather see a new Conan movie instead
Not a substitute!
Beside I’ve you ever see death stalker, Beastmater and other character that look just like thundarr, there are plenty of them out there.

I’d much rather see a movie about “Rahan le fils des ages farouche”
If you don’t know rahan go to google image
Rahan is one of the greatest character ever created.
After success such as asterix le gaulois
I think the French should go for Rahan now
It would be awesome
I heard Steven Spielberg wanted to work on tintin
I think he should work on Rahan instead
Brad pitt would make a good rahan
All they have to do is to apply a little make up such as an heavy brow to make him look a little like a Neanderthal man

What bothers me is 10.000 Bc.Could have been a Rahan movie and…
It wasn’t a huge success at the box office.

[The Lizard]

Originally Posted by Diamondhead

I mentioned Thundarr once because he was one of my favorite cartoon characters as a kid
But isn’t thunder the barbarian just a version of Conan the barbarian, kull the conqueror, even the scorpion king
Seriously I’d rather see a new Conan movie instead
Not a substitute.

This is a good point.

I loved Thundarr when I was a kid too, but he's too similar to other more familiar heroes.

Thundarr was basically a cross between Conan and the comic character Kamandi (who, like Thundarr, was designed by Jack Kirby).

The Filmation cartoon BlackStar came along soon after, followed by He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, which was basically a cross between Conan and BlackStar.

Thundarr's sun-sword and Ookla's Wookie-like appearance were of course influenced by Star Wars.

[3dman27]

Originally Posted by Red Mask

What about Galtar and his Golden Lance?

i wish BOOMERANG ON DEMAND aired that show

[rogue trooper]

Oliver Stone's initial draft for 1982's Conan The Barbarian was very close to a Thundarr film, as it took place in a post-apocalyptic future filled with mutants.

[The Major]

Originally Posted by Dr. Fate

Same here. Give him a comic book miniseries at least, "The Legend of Thundarr" or something like that, just to test the waters.

No, it won't.

A cartoon series or live action mini-series on Sci-Fi would be a better test.

Originally Posted by Thundarr

Steven Spielberg: The reason? Two words. Jurassic Park. 'Nuff said.

Spielberg would consider this beneath him to direct. He'd just give it to Michael Bay.

[Kent Allard]

Originally Posted by Diamondhead

I mentioned Thundarr once because he was one of my favorite cartoon characters as a kid
But isn’t thunder the barbarian just a version of Conan the barbarian, kull the conqueror, even the scorpion king
Seriously I’d rather see a new Conan movie instead
Not a substitute!
Beside I’ve you ever see death stalker, Beastmater and other character that look just like thundarr, there are plenty of them out there.

While there are some clear similarities, I don't think it is accurate to say that Thundarr is "just another version of Conan". Thundarr was certainly inspired by Conan [Joe Ruby and Ken Spears have gone on record with that]. Read it in their own words here

Conan suffers the same fate as Tarzan, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Dorthy Gale because they've all been adapted into movies and television shows many times [with varying levels of quality]. People think they know these characters and their stories but until a person goes back and reads the original authentic stories at best all they really "know" is a pale version.

This past spring I picked up The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian {link goes to Amazon page of book} it's the first of 3 volumes that collect Robert E. Howard's Conan stories as. The stories are as REH wrote them and more importantly they are unaltered [in previous printings of REH's work sometimes stories have been altered other authors], and on top of that these stories are presented in the order in which REH wrote them.

Yes, there are some superficial similarities between Conan and Thundarr but if you look beyond a cursory comparison you'll find these two characters are significantly different.

Originally Posted by The Lizard

Thundarr was basically a cross between Conan and the comic character Kamandi (who, like Thundarr, was designed by Jack Kirby).

The Filmation cartoon BlackStar came along soon after, followed by He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, which was basically a cross between Conan and BlackStar.

Thundarr, Ookla, and Princess Ariel were not designed by Jack Kirby. They were designed by Alex Toth [who did the designs for the HB toons Space Ghost and Johnny Quest]. Jack Kirby's design work for Thundarr primarily the villains and secondary characters.

I wouldn't call MOTU (He-Man) a cross between Conan and Blackstar. The first He-Man and the MOTU toys were released in 1981, the same year Blackstar first aired. Mattel had already been working on the MOTU toy line for a couple three years at least. Even though Conan may have helped spark the idea for the MOTU toyline - there were barbarian and barbarian-type characters around before Conan [REH's own Kull as well as Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter and Tarzan to name a few] so it's not really accurate to assume any barbarian or barbarian-type characters
created after Conan were inspired by or based on Conan.

[Dr. Fate]

Originally Posted by The Major

No, it won't.
A cartoon series or live action mini-series on Sci-Fi would be a better test.

Well it was good enough for the Thundercats.

Spielberg would consider this beneath him to direct. He'd just give it to Michael Bay.

That is kind of sad.

They didn't complain about age when Ahnuld did his last Terminator movie. And Kevin did a fine job in Meet The Spartans. I think he could do the role justice. But if age is a problem, cast Tyler Mane.

Well, Arnold WAS a bigger star than Kevin ever was, even though Kevin's probably a better actor (both men have/had great comic timing though), and Hollywood's been really obsessed with youth in recent times. Brandon Routh as Superman/Clark Kent anyone? I'm not saying Kevin Sorbo couldn't do a good Thundarr, I'm sure he could, I'm just saying I wouldn't be surprised if they picked up a random, cheap, inexpensive 20-something beefcake to play Thundarr beause they think it would be a better demographic pull.

I wouldn't call MOTU (He-Man) a cross between Conan and Blackstar. The first He-Man and the MOTU toys were released in 1981, the same year Blackstar first aired. Mattel had already been working on the MOTU toy line for a couple three years at least. Even though Conan may have helped spark the idea for the MOTU toyline - there were barbarian and barbarian-type characters around before Conan [REH's own Kull as well as Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter and Tarzan to name a few] so it's not really accurate to assume any barbarian or barbarian-type characters
created after Conan were inspired by or based on Conan.

Don't forget Samson & Hercules, respectively, and even the oft forgotten Maciste (Italian beefcake hero of bygone decades).

Of course, the primary difference between He-Man, Conan and Thundarr is that He-Man and Thundarr are more straightforward, golden hearted heroes in the Superman vein (minus the multiple powers of course) whereas Conan is more of a morally ambiguous anti-hero with his own peculiar code of honor.

[The Lizard]

Originally Posted by Kent Allard

Thundarr, Ookla, and Princess Ariel were not designed by Jack Kirby. They were designed by Alex Toth [who did the designs for the HB toons Space Ghost and Johnny Quest]. Jack Kirby's design work for Thundarr primarily the villains and secondary characters.

True enough. My mistake.

I wouldn't call MOTU (He-Man) a cross between Conan and Blackstar. The first He-Man and the MOTU toys were released in 1981, the same year Blackstar first aired. Mattel had already been working on the MOTU toy line for a couple three years at least. Even though Conan may have helped spark the idea for the MOTU toyline - there were barbarian and barbarian-type characters around before Conan [REH's own Kull as well as Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter and Tarzan to name a few] so it's not really accurate to assume any barbarian or barbarian-type characters
created after Conan were inspired by or based on Conan.

Well, the creators of both Thundarr and He-Man have more or less said as much:

Thundarr.com: What was the inspiration for Thundarr the Barbarian and how did the show come about?


Joe Ruby: I had gotten hold of some action/adventure magazines to see what was the latest in this arena. I
noticed a story that Arnold Schwarzanegger was going to make a movie based on the "Conan the Barbarian"
stories. Usually we waited until a movie was released to see how well it did, especially with kids, then we'd
develop shows in that arena. But this time I decided to develop a show in the swords and sorcery arena a year
before the movie came out. That way, if it worked, we'd have a show on the air at the same time as the movie.
And hopefully our show would do as well as we thought the movie would do.

Donald F Glut (story writer, artist and character designer for the MOTU toy series): It's hard to remember much of this, as it was long ago and so quickly executed. Basically, I was given Polaroid photos of the prototype toys. I'd written lots of sword and sorcery and heroic adventure type stories by this time and so it was relatively easy to come up with the personalities. He-Man, for instance, was your typical "noble savage stereotype" a kind of combination Tarzan and Conan.

The initial MOTU toys and their little mini-comics were much more Conan-like than the He-Man cartoon of course. However, the He-Man cartoon did incorporate some BlackStar-type elements (while mysteriously abandoning the single Power sword split-in-two idea seen in both BlackStar and the MOTU action figures).

[Red Mask]

Originally Posted by 3dman27

i wish BOOMERANG ON DEMAND aired that show

I never watched the last episodes.

I don't think Thundarr ever had a meaningful last episode.

[Dr. Fate]

Originally Posted by Red Mask

I never watched the last episodes.

I don't think Thundarr ever had a meaningful last episode.

How many of our favorite 80s classics - or for that matter even some of our beloved 90s classics - get meaningful last episodes?

[The Lizard]

Originally Posted by Dr. Fate

How many of our favorite 80s classics - or for that matter even some of our beloved 90s classics - get meaningful last episodes?

Pretty much just Robotech. Knowing that a cartoon was only going to run one or two seasons made the Japanese good at wrapping things up.

[Diamondhead]

There’s this Japanese cartoon that everybody in my generation loves as a kid
It’s Goldorak
Apparently it was created by Mazinger’s creator
But not even the Japanese knows it, because according to them it was just a copy of
“The great” Mazinger
They sell it to the French who made it popular for the rest of the world.

Perhaps it was never translated in English (I don’t know)
Go to goggle image if know don’t know Goldorak
I’d love to see a real live action movie about this
IT IS A MUST!
They simply have to do a movie about GOLDORAK
I know from the net that the Italians love it so much they’re doing 3d version of it.

The only thing that came close to Goldorak in Hollywood was
Eddie Murphy latest movie (meet Dave)
The human spaceship of course was not a giant robot but it’s quite the same concept.
Sadly this movie should have not bomb at the box office like that

But I’m sure if taken care by great Directors such as the “Spielbergs”
Goldorak will not bomb at the box office.