Conan the Barbarian (DVD)

"What is best in life, Conan?" "To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women." Back in the Dark Ages (1982), Conan The Barbarian was one of the most eagerly awaited of films. Fantasy obsessives like myself were particularly keen to flock to the cinema. We were anxious to discover whether the dreamweavers at Universal Studios and an unknown actor, but well know bodybuilder, by the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger would do our hero justice on the big screen. Conan has been around in print for a long time. He was the 1930s creation of author Robert E. Howard. Howard published ...  Read the complete review

This is my favourite film of all time, and it was a great day for me when I found out it was being re-released as a special collectors edition on DVD (albeit only Region 1 at the moment). There has been a long tradition of trying to turn comic book super heroes into film’s, and most seem to fail miserably and lose the essence of the original, in the case of Conan The Barbarian it has been a resounding success n translating the original story to the silver screen and it really does the Legacy of Robert E. Howard justice. ***This is a complete update (and addition to my original opinion, which also has a partial re-write - I have left the orignal as is at ...  Read the complete review

In 1982, internationally celebrated strongman and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger burst onto the big screen with his portrayal as the title role in Conan The Barbarian, a film directed by John Milius. Arnie, as he has become better known, had appeared in a few films already, but this is considered to be his breakthrough film. The Plot As a child, Conan witnesses the vicious killings of his family and clansmen at the hands of a vicious warlord who is controlling of his people and of all the land, Thulsa Doom. Years later, following a childhood of slavery, Conan finds himself as a champion gladiator, and sets his life to finding Doom and exacting ...  Read the complete review

Arnie Schwarzenegger, the Austrian who was formerly a Mr Universe, and has latterly reinvented himself as an astute, naturalised American who intends to run for government, has always been a helpless victim of the stereotyping producer/director/scriptwriter and is famed for his musclebound roles as Arnie Nice But Dim While Still Terribly Powerful. Much of that dreadful curse was ignited by Mr Muscles' appearance in the title role in the ultimate sword and sorcery epic Conan The Barbarian. It took years for Herr Schwarzkopf to outgrow the fearsome warrior garments to move on to light comedy which he proved himself able to play with a rare panache in stuff ...  Read the complete review

The first real film starring the incredible Arnold Schwarzenegger, Conan the Barbarian is a fantastic tale od warriors, wizardry and some dude who fancies snakes. James Earl Jones is excellently cast as the evil Thulsa Doom, and adds more than a hint of respectability to the film. Arnie himself plays Conan (obviously!) an orphan whose parents were killed by the aforementioned Thulsa Doom who then sold him into slavery. Conan's master uses him as a Gladiator - and he begins to realise his own sense of worth as he learns to fight. Before long (about 5 mins on screen) Conan is now the mightiest barbarian around, he now spends the rest of teh films ...  Read the complete review