Milius' 1982 Conan was the exception, same for Superman The Movie in 1978. Or even Carpenter's The Thing. Once in a blue moon the right director would take charge of an adaptation and produce something faithful to the spirit of the original. But it never stuck because being faithful is expensive, and generally the man behind it was troublesome. Richard Donnor was fired and replaced for Superman II. John Carpenter's The Thing was too hardcore for audiences at the time. Conan was only a moderate hit and its pagan right wing message angered critics, being the second strike towards killing Milius' career, Red Dawn being the third.