Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20182 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-08-25
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 123 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The film that launched Arnold Schwarzenegger's international career, Conan the Barbarian is still regarded by many as his finest hour. Limited to a mere handful of lines and expertly directed to play up the Nietzschean strength of the character by John Milius, the Austrian Oak has never looked more suited to a role, his muscle flexing and sword twirling apparently effortless. The extraordinarily finely detailed production design ensures that the barren Spanish countryside perfectly suits the Hyborean-era backdrop envisioned by author Robert E Howard. Whether dressed in rags or riches, Schwarzenegger and companions Subotai (Gerry Lopez) and Valeria (Sandahl Bergman) look believably born to their surroundings. Backing their own very fine performances are brilliant supporting roles from James Earl Jones as serpentine baddie Thulsa Doom and Max Von Sydow as doomed King Osric.

Plot-wise the film is simply the transformation of a wild barbarian into a worldly-wise king who, via a quest for revenge, finally learns the riddle of steel. The script is highly regarded for its dazzling set-pieces (the opening village raid, the orgy of body parts) and quotable dialogue ("They shall all drown in lakes of blood"), and it comes complete with an anti-peace movement reactionary subtext for anyone who cares to look close enough. One other element deserving mention is the extraordinary score by Basil Poledouris, which inspires the film with a sense of operatic grandeur.

On the DVD: Conan the Barbarian appears as a suitably mythic special edition DVD. Sadly the magnificent score can only be heard in a mono mix, but the very fine picture is presented in 2.35:1. The extras package is phenomenal, too. Several deleted scenes have been re-edited into the film, but are available to view independently as well. There's a quick split-screen special effects feature showing how the ghostly spirits were added to Conan's resurrection. "The Conan Archives" is an 11-minute slide show of drawings, costumes and advertising. Best of all is the fantastic 53-minute "Conan Unchained" documentary interviewing every conceivable contributor who all reminisce with great fondness. It's slightly better seeing Schwarzenegger and Milius than hearing them talk in their commentary, which inevitably re-tells many of the same anecdotes in between puffs of Arnie's stogies. --Paul Tonks

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

Commentary by Arnold Schwarzenegger and director John Milius
Documentary -- Conan Unchained: The Making of Conan
Deleted scenes
Cast and crew biographies
Production notes
The Conan Archives -- video montage of stills
Special effects split screen video
Theatrical trailers
Widescreen 2.35:1 Anamorphic
Language: English, Dolby Digital (5.1)

Synopsis
Years after the brutal murder of his parents, Conan the Barbarian (Arnold Schwarzenegger) sets out on a perilous quest for vengeance on the evil Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones). With his trusted companions, Conan has a series of marvelous adventures which culminate in a face-off against Thulsa Doom. The film, directed by John Milius, is vigorous and bloody sword-and-sorcery epic featuring Schwarzenegger's breakthrough role.

Customer Reviews

One of the all time best of the fantasy genre
Long before Tolkien's magnificent "Lord of the Rings" saga made it to the big screen, there was "Conan the Barbarian". Until Peter Jackson's marvellous adaptation of Professor Tolkien's work, Conan was far and away the best example of the sword and sorcery genre on film. It still holds its own too, despite not having the benefit of modern, CGI special effects.

The reason Conan holds up so well is that it had the right director. John Milius did not adapt any Robert E. Howard story to make this film, but he stayed very true to the spirit of Howard, and the spirit of the character of Conan himself. Milius made superb use of location and visuals, and this makes the Hyborian world of Conan come alive for the viewer. Much of the credit for the look of the film must go to the superb production design of Ron Cobb. Milius also very wisely chose to tell the story more with visuals, and with a truly magnificent musical score by Basil Poledouris (I can't think of a single musical score that better suits the mood and subject matter of a film than Conan's), than with dialogue, which allowed him to use a then very inexperienced Schwarzenegger to carry the film. However, what dialogue there is is great, and includes some truly memorable quotes. Milius also made up for Schwarzenegger's lack of acting experience by using first rate actors like Max von Sydow, James Earl Jones, and Mako for supporting characters, and they all turn in fine performances. A fine script by Milius and Oliver Stone is also a key component of the film's success. All this combined to give Conan an epic feel, and helped it far outshine the spate of copycat sword and sorcery films that sprang up in the wake of its success.

It's a terrible shame that the sequel was so awful. Richard Fleischer, director of "Conan the Destroyer" came along after Milius, and made a hokey, dumbed down, puerile, B-grade adventure. Where Milius had Schwarzenegger slim down a little, so Conan wouldn't look too much like a product of a modern gym, Fleischer had Arnold pack on the muscle. Whereas Milius chose to attire Conan sensibly in whatever armor or clothing was appropriate to the milieu, Fleischer had Arnold parade around in a fur loincloth (!) - in the DESERT no less - to show off his muscles. Whereas Milius treated the character and story seriously as befits a hero of myth and legend, Fleischer played many scenes in the sequel for laughs. In short, Fleischer looked at almost every good directorial decision Milius took, and then did the exact opposite. The result is a terrible sequel, that is in no way worthy of the original, and which was bad enough to kill any prospect of a third film. Avoid "Conan the Destroyer", but if you want to see a great, rip-roaring action adventure fantasy story, in the spirit of Robert E. Howard's great fantasy adventure yarns, you owe it to yourself to check out "Conan the Barbarian".

The original "Conan" is still the best Sword & Sorcery flick
"Know, O Prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...Hither came Conan the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandled feet." At least, that was what was written in "The Nemedian Chronicles," the faux ancient text referred to by Robert E. Howard in his stories about Conan the Barbarian. Conan had been a pulp fiction hero in the 1930s and the stories had been republished in the 1960s with great covers by artist Frank Frazetta, with some unfinished stories by Howard completed by L. Sprague De Camp, and Lin Carter, who also wrote some adventures to fill in the gaps in the Conan chronology. Then Marvel comics launched a comic book version, scripted by Roy Thomas and drawn by Barry Smith, with many of the stories being adapted from Howard's original stories about Conan and other sword and sorcery adventurers.

It was with that literary lineage in the realm of sword and sorcery that "Conan the Barbarian" was released in 1982, although it ended up doing more for Arnold Schwarzenegger's acting career than it did for the character he was playing, since the film spawned only one sequel, "Conan the Destroyer." Director John Milius covers the early years of Conan's career, when he was taken from his home in Cimmeria as a boy by a raiding party of Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), and sold into slavery. Eventually he began a trained gladiator and eventually earned his freedom, where he became a thief. The script by Milius and Oliver Stone essentially created a new narrative for the film, although readers of Conan will recognize scenes and elements from to "The Thing in the Crypt", "The Elephant Tower", "Red Nails," "Queen of the Black Coast", "The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune," and "A Witch Shall Be Born."

Schwarzenegger's acting experience was rather limited at that point. Having appeared (dubbed) as Hercules in "Hercules in New York" in 1970, with the billing of Arnold Strong, Schwarzenegger had done a series of small roles in small films and television shows. However, in 1977 he appeared as himself in the documentary "Pumping Iron" and showed himself to be a charismatic spokesperson for the sport of body building. However, all Schwarzenegger was really required to do as Conan was flex his muscles and grunt a few lines. The key thing here is that he did look good. The showcase sequence of the film is when Conan and his companions, Valeria (Sandhal Bergman) and Subotai (Gerry Lopez), sneak into the stronghold of Thulsa Doom to rescue the daughter of King Osric (Max Von Sydow), who has joined the Snake Cult. With some pretty good background music by composer Basil Poledouris, the trio of thieves set up a diversion and launch a quick attack. There is a moment when Conan, his body painted with black stripes as camouflage, gets into position to begin a sword fight that simply looks great. The actual swordplay is rather limited, more slashing that actual swording, but we do get a sense of the power of Conan.

James Earl Jones seems a bit distant as the villain, but he was engaged in a weird acting experiment where Milius told him how to do line readings and he did it. In the end, it is Sandahl Bergman who surprisingly provides what little emotional impact the film exhibits. A trained dancer, Bergman's elegant and fluid movements contrast nicely with Schwarzenegger's raw power, and she has a great way of looking at him that makes it clear which one of them has the brains in the operation. More importantly, Bergman's Valerie seems totally at home in the savage world that the film creates.

"Conan the Barbarian" is not a great film, although it is arguably remains the best sword and sorcery film made to date, although clearly the competition for the honor is rather sparse. Despite the overall woodenness of the acting, it does have the virtue of taking its characters seriously without descending into camp. If anything it is the reluctance to find humor (although Conan does slug a camel in an apparent homage to "Blazing Saddles"), that keeps this 1982 film on the high road, relatively speaking. Consequently, while Conan fans might have hoped for something better, they certainly had ample reason to expect something much worse, and thus were relatively overjoyed by the end product.

Conans finest 2 hours
This film inspired a whole plethora of rubbish fantasy films in the 80's, but remains a well made classic in its own right, with excellent photography, camera work, fight scenes, tight script (they even give a reason for Arnies bulging muscles) and a first rate musical score. Arnie does much better in this film than anyone had a right to expect, Bergman makes a charismatic lead (such a shame she never seemed to find her niche in Hollywood)and james Earl Jones is an excellent and literate villian.

The DVD picture is high quality, letterboxed, with good Doblby 5.1 sound. Special features are of varied use. The commentary is excrutiating, with Arnie managing to make himself appear bombastic and simple-minded, while constantly interrupting interesting points by the director, telling him "I know", when he is trying to explain things to the viewer and equally constantly saying "Exactly!" In short he makes the buyer feel glad his dialogue in the film was sparse. A few removed scenes are shown, including one where the director appears as a food vendor, but the reason they were deleted is obvious.
The photo section made excellent by the musical score played as the montage of art and photos appears on screen.

The film also features yet another alternative ending to the quest for Thulsa Doom, but the most complete to date.

This one is worth buying, just avoid the commentaries.