I've read this entire thread, twice, and now I figure it's time to put my opinion down on the matter.
REH was a great, some may say awesome, writer and well ahead of his time. The problem is that you
can only read his works so many times before they become stagnant. It's like watching a movie you love over and over again. Sooner or later, you'll get bored with it. The pastiches, good and bad, is what kept Conan alive over the last few decades.
And although the movie was lame to most of us REH purists, it served its purpose, in my opinion, and helped me get a few of my friends into reading Conan. Hell, my niece watched Conan for the first time last month and now she's reading my Conan books.
Personally, I cut my 'Conan' teeth on reading Marvel's Savage Sword of Conan and Conan the Barbarian comics before I read any of the books. And I still enjoy reading the comics from time to time but that does'nt make me a lesser fan then the purists out there