The new adaptation of Conan the Barbarian is due next Friday.

Meanwhile, Warrior, the season’s other he-man fighting hero movie, a contemporary tale of bloodsport, is being shown to critics well in advance of its Sept. 9 opening date; positive word of mouth is expected to be key to the film’s success. The audience at the screening I attended responded boisterously — cheering, shouting — to the superbly choreographed scenes of mixed-martial-arts action.

Like last year’s beautifully acted and directed The Fighter, the new film, directed by Gavin O’Connor (hockey movie Miracle), is as much about healing broken relationships as it is about winning pitched battles. Warrior, too, concerns a rift between two brothers, this time played by Joel Edgerton (Animal Kingdom, forthcoming remakes of The Thing and The Great Gatsby) and Tom Hardy (Inception, Thick as Thieves, next year’s The Dark Knight Rises)

In addition to facing their own problems, the siblings are contending with a dad (Nick Nolte) who’s a recovering alcoholic with a history of mistreating his family. The final showdown takes place at a glitzy last-man-standing event in Atlantic City.

A few quick observations: 1)At 140 minutes, the movie is long but so expertly paced, closing with a long crescendo of excitement, that it feels as if it moves quickly; 2)Coincidences fall like rain, but suspension of disbelief isn’t an obstacle; 3)The Great Recession plays a role, as does, uh, the comeback of the Soviet Threat, in the form of a fearsome Russian fighter; 4)The moral of the story seems to be, “You’ve got to be cruel to be kind, in the right measure” (thanks to Nick Lowe).

Stay tuned for a full review.