The Conqueror

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Nick E The movie is simply tone-deaf, miscast, and an embarrassment. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/02/25 Full Review Carson P The best you can say about the conqueror is that unlike Inchon which I highly compare this to the movie that have John Wayne his worst performance could at least be seen as an unintentional comedy and the fact that this came out during it was still the classic era of film hard to imagine right well if you think Ed wood was the uwe boll of the classic era of film and that he is responsible for all the worst films of that era your right but there are also the likes of terror of tiny town, referre madness, maniac and the babe Ruth story. But at least what makes conquerer different is that it at least has a Hollywood legend and just like this and other pre 70s films turner classic movies may still show it on rare occasions ( yes they actually showed plan 9 from outer space once and even the swarm ) but all that being said this is John Wayne’s worst movie and among the worst films in history, the acting feels corny and cheap and Wayne looks misast as khan I can see and imagine a western movie actor being cast in a historical film but Wayne ain’t no Kirk Douglas or charlton Heston who would have perhaps fit the role better that is depending on if they would have given a better performance. This film is a nightmare of a motion picture and should be shown as an example of bad 50s films it’s worse than you may have heard though maybe not quite as bad as Inchon but still bad enough for if the razzie awards existed back during cinemas golden age this would have been a strong contendor Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 07/02/25 Full Review Steve D An absolute joke and a completely unintentional one. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member The best thing about this movie was John Wayne riding his horse! Where was Yul Brynner? Also, Jack Palance, both actors would have made a good Kahn. Loved Susan Hayward and the rest of the cast trying so hard to make this movie work. duh! Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member If this had actually killed John Wayne, it would easily earn 5 stars. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review William L Though it is a commonly held belief that the Utah-based shooting of this film in the era of nuclear testing was to blame for a high rate of cancer among the production team, but that's a common misconception. In actuality, it was the association with the project itself that literally caused people's cells to divide incorrectly and metastasize, as the universe sought to correct its mistake in the creation of The Conqueror. Some have said that John Wayne couldn't actually act. However, he was just really good at playing one particular role across hundreds of films; he saw an opening, found what people liked, and he filled it (respect if you can do the same thing for 40 years and keep being a major box office draw). This is what happens when a one-note actor like Wayne tries to step out of his very targeted archetype - a cinematic catastrophe. It's a beautiful trainwreck watching the much-beloved actor try to bring his typical mannerisms and delivery to one of history's most feared warlords, an all-time great miscasting. Any project like this that demanded some creativity from Wayne was doomed from the start, but the performances of his fellow actors and in particular a horrific script do absolutely no favors. I got this on DVD for my Dad on Father's Day (a lifelong John Wayne fan who had never seen it), and despite a series of ambitious practical battles, he fell asleep for a solid 60% of the runtime. His greatest involvement was to monitor the volume on the remote because the sound editing on this film is also terrible, with battle audio that is overpowering followed up by whispered dialogue. But you should absolutely watch it just to witness it in all its horror. Never forget. (1/5) Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 06/21/21 Full Review Read all reviews

The Conqueror

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