Conan the Barbarian [Blu-ray]

Director: John Milius

Overview

John Milius's jingoistic direction and pulpy screenplay fit perfectly into this film version of the Robert E. Howard fantasy story of the sword and sorcery hero, Conan the Barbarian. Complementing Mulius's heavy metal production is Arnold Schwarzenegger's leaden acting, which in any other context would be deadly, but here (as in The Terminator) corresponds nicely with the whole sonorous project. The story begins when a horde of rampaging warriors massacre the parents of young Conan and enslave the young child for years on The Wheel of Pain. The Wheel of Pain seems to have as its only purpose the building up of Conan's muscles, so it's no surprise that one day Conan grows up to become Arnold Schwarzenegger. As the sole survivor of the childhood massacre, Conan is released from slavery and taught the ancient arts of fighting. Transforming himself into a killing machine, Conan travels into the wilderness to seek vengeance on Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), the man responsible for killing his family. In the wilderness, Conan takes up with the thieves Valeria (Sandahl Bergman) and Subota (Gerry Lopez). The trio comes upon a weird snake cult, linked to Doom, and Conan wants to trek off to Doom's mountain retreat to kill him. But he is prevented from doing that by King Osrik (Max Von Sydow), who wants the trio of warriors to help rescue his daughter who has joined Doom in the hills.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/02/2011
UPC:	0025195055512
Original Release:	1982
Rating:	R
Source:	Universal Studios
Language:	English
Time:	2:09:00
Sales rank:	3,063

Special Features

Deleted Scenes; Conan Unchained: The Making of Conan the Barbarian; Special Effects; The Conan Archives; Feature Commentary with Director John Milius and Arnold Schwarzenegger

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Arnold Schwarzenegger	Conan
James Earl Jones	Thulsa Doom
Max von Sydow	King Osric
Sandahl Bergman	Valeria
Ben Davidson	Rexor
Cassandra Gaviola	Witch
MAKO	Wizard
William Smith	Conan's Father
Luis Barboo	Red Hair
Franco Columbu	Pictish Scout
Leslie Foldvary	Snake Girl
Gary Herman	Guard
Erick Holmey	Officer
Akio Mitamura	General
Nadiuska	Conan's Mother
Jorge Sanz	Young Conan
Jack Taylor	Priest
Sven-Ole Thorsen	Thorgrim
Kiyoshi Yamasaki	Sword Master
Ron Cobb	Black Lotus Street Peddler
Val?rie Quennessen	Princess
Cassandra Gava	The Witch
Pilar Alc?n	Orgy Slave Girl
Florencio Amarilla	Man
Donald Gibb	Osric's Guard
Andrea Guzon	Breeding Woman
Sab Shimono	Voices
Gerry L?pez	Subotai
Kiyoshi Yamazaki	Sword Master
Gerry Lopez	Actor
Basil Poledouris	Composer

Technical Credits

John Milius

Oliver Stone

Edward Summer

Robert E. Howard

John Milius	Screenwriter
Oliver Stone	Screenwriter
Raffaella De Laurentiis	Producer,Executive Producer,Producer
Buzz Feitshans	Producer
D. Constantine Conte	Executive Producer
Edward R. Pressman	Executive Producer,Producer
Edward Summer	Screenwriter
Wayne Artman	Sound Effects
Bub Asman	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Tom Beckert	Sound Effects
Robert E. Howard	Screenwriter
Nick Allder	Special Effects
William Smith	Stunts

Editorial Reviews

Director John Milius reset the standard for sword-and-sandal epics with this rough-hewn 1982 fantasy, and pumped up the career Arnold Schwarzenegger in the bargain. Recalling some of the low-budget glee of earlier peplum pics by Hammer Films, Conan boasts a script co-written by Milius and Oliver Stone and offers a chronically laconic hero bent on revenge and pumped up like, well, Mr. Universe. Conan (Schwarzenegger), possessed of an insatiable thirst to avenge his parents' death at the hands of warlord Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), escapes slavery to become a fearsome gladiator, hardened in both body and spirit by backbreaking labor. Freed from bondage, Conan pursues a life of petty crime, gaining a group of followers/friends including a statuesque woman warrior, Valeria (Sandahl Bergman), a thief (Gerry Lopez), and a wizard, (Pearl Harbor's Mako), until fate offers him a chance for revenge against Doom. Jones attacks his villainous role with dead-eyed menace, and Max von Sydow makes a fine turn as Osric, the king who bids Conan to rescue his daughter (Valérie Quennessen). But it is Schwarzenegger's steely gaze and stilted delivery that make the movie -- and seem to make it an even more joyful romp with the passing years. The yeasty brew of minimal dialogue and maximum barbarism, cinematographer Duke Callaghan's use of the Italian and Spanish locations, and Basil Poledouris's sweeping score all yield a film with an almost operatic air of grandeur. Unlike most of the imitators to bank on Conan's success, Milius's film is presented straight-faced and without camp -- an honorable accomplishment that even its sequel, Conan the Destroyer, fell shy of achieving.