Conan the Barbarian is the standard to which all future Sword and Sorcery movies are to be held. Made twenty years before the initial release of the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the movie still stands as the quintessential fantasy movie, with a combination of the best of cinematography, production, story, direction and surprisingly, considering Arnold Schwarzenegger is the main character, acting. I should also take time to recognize the incredible original soundtrack, created by Basil Poledouris, as one of the best ever created for a feature film.

In the very beginning, we see Conan as a young boy, his village destroyed be the evil armies of the cult leader Thulsa Doom. Conan is enslaved, and forced to turn the Wheel of Pain (a Viking style grain masher in the middle of a desolate wasteland), until he is bought and forced to fight as a gladiator in the fight pits of Cimmeria. By his sheer strength, he becomes the best and most revered fighter, and he is trained by masters of weapons across the land and coddled by those who own him. His master, perhaps fearful of the barbarian he has helped create, frees Conan, leaving him to his own pursuits.

Conan, free for the first time, sets out on a series of adventures. The last of which leads him to his nemesis, Thulsa Doom, and ultimately, Conan's revenge.

Conan grows throughout the movie, from small boy to barbarian to future king. The movie is long, two hours and nine minutes, but the story is well told. Perhaps John Milius and Oliver Stone had such a gigantic mountain of background to go on, based on Robert E. Howard's stories, a great movie was inevitable. It is a shame that neither Milius or Stone had anything to due with the next Conan movie. Both had grand visions of what it could be, and had they had the final say, we might have eight or nine great Conan movies by now. But, there is always hope, as Milius is working on the next Conan movie that might or might not be made. Lets cross our fingers.

With King Conan: Crown of Iron looming on the horizon, it seams to be the perfect time to remember, and rewatch, this fantastic movie. The Director, John Milius, is an accomplished writer/director. He has written and/or directed an honorable number of great films, including having a hand in Apocalypse Now, Dirty Harry, 1941, Clear and Present Danger – he also wrote and directed Farewell to the King and one of my favorite classics, Red Dawn. Much of the writing credit (he wrote the original screenplay) goes to Oliver Stone (who's name you might recognize from a few smaller, little known films like Platoon, Wall Street, JFK, and Natural Born Killers). It should also be known that Oliver Stone, having formidable talent and a strong desire to have the movie made, played and integral role in getting the production of Conan the Barbarian started.

Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers an outstanding performance as Conan, the future king of Cimmeria. Much of Arnold's performance must be attributed to the raw power and beauty of his body. He is literally built for the role. Arnold trained rigorously for the role, practicing weapons and lifting weights every day during the production. Perhaps some of the greatness of his performance should also be attributed to his lack of scripted lines. Granted, I find that Arnold's two best performances were those in which he spoke very little, this movie, of course, and The Terminator. Arnold had a total of nineteen words in the first thirty minutes of the movie ("To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to here the lamentation of their women, " and "Crom" and again, "Crom"). An interesting footnote in John Milius's Feature Commentary (on the DVD) is that Arnold was originally slated to do the narration in the movie, which would have worked marvelously, had the studio executives not nixed that plan.

The rest of the cast, while made up of mostly former body builders and even a former NFL player, is for the most part large and rugged, but also sometimes spectacular. James Earl Jones plays the nemesis of Conan, Thulsa Doom. Jones (Field of Dreams) plays the role of Thulsa Doom to perfection. John Milius (in the DVD feature commentary) points out many of the subtle emotions that Jones displays in playing the character. Conan companions in his quest against Thulsa Doom by Subotai the Mongol (ex-surfer Gerry Lopez) and Valeria, Queen of Thieves (Sandahl Bergman), both actors play their parts well, but not memorably. Arnold and Jones command such grand presences on the screen, it is hard to compete with them.

The Conan the Barbarian Collector's Edition DVD (in widescreen format) is one of the best values on the market. It is not expensive, but it offers some real commentary and some very good features. The DVD gives us interesting features that are truly engrossing and watchable. It is not like the random commercial special edition that just piles on a ton of crap (totaling, say... eleven hours, ugh). The Conan DVD offers Conan Unchained, The Making of Conan a fascinating documentary that has all of the information and commentary (from Arnold, Milius, Stone, etc.) that you want to see. The Feature Commentary has John Milius and Arnold (yes, Arnold!) pointing out interesting facts along the way, although it is hard to listen to someone else's conversation when you are looking at such a great movie. The Conan Archives is a treasury of fantastic Conan art, both before and during production of the movie. The DVD also has deleted scenes (which is always my favorite section), a small feature on the special effects, and the theatrical trailers for the movie.

Conan made huge waves when it premiered twenty years ago, and for good reason. Conan the Barbarian is a great movie. I will not go so far as to say it is a movie for everyone, because it is not particularly for women. Like Star Wars, Apocalypse Now, and Lord of The Rings, the movie for the male audience, and rightfully so. Conan does the fantasy (or Sword and Sorcery genre) justice, giving us exactly what we ask for and want from a movie. After seeing Lord of the Rings, it is hard to imagine what kind of remarkable movie Conan could have been if they had the same kind of special effects technology. Regardless, Conan the Barbarian is a one of the best guy movies ever made.

Conan the Barbarian is a Universal Studios, produced by Buzz Feitshans and Raffaella de Laurentiis. Although the movie was written and directed by John Milius, with partial writing credit going to Oliver Stone, most of the writing credit has to go to the original creator of Conan, Robert E. Howard.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD