Conan The Barbarian - Special Edition
Developed from the books of Robert E. Howard, this tells one of then tales of Conan the Cimmerian who, taken into slavery as a child when his village was destroyed and his parents murdered by raiders, is bent on vengeance and the destruction of those responible.
Years growing up pushing the Wheel of Pain has developed his now awesome physique and he is taken into the world of kill or be kille
Developed from the books of Robert E. Howard, this tells one of then tales of Conan the Cimmerian who, taken into slavery as a child when his village was destroyed and his parents murdered by raiders, is bent on vengeance and the destruction of those responible.
Years growing up pushing the Wheel of Pain has developed his now awesome physique and he is taken into the world of kill or be killed gladiatorial combat for the pleasure, and profit, of his masters. Trained by the best, he becomes one of the most successful and honoured in the pit and is eventually released to pursue his quest for revenge on those that destroyed his village, his only clue their symbol - two intertwined snakes.
Living as a thief and a rogue until hired by a king to rescue his daughter from a snake cult, Conan and his companions embark on an excellent fantasy tale of swords and sorcery that leads him to great adventure, death and those he seeks the most.
Review
This is the movie that launched Arnold Schwarzenegger to stardom and Arnie, a man of few words, was perfect for the role as the dark warrior who, at night, plagued the mind of Robert E. Howard and drove him to write down these stories of Conan before eventually taking his own life. Howard's "hero" is fully realised here in an excellent script by John Milius (Apocalypse Now, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, Magnum Force) and Oliver Stone (Midnight Express, Platoon, JFK, Born on the Fourth of July) and backed by a brilliant musical score by Basil Polidouris (Robocop,The Hunt for Red October, Starship Troopers).
Given that the movie is about 20 years old, and although there are a few grainy scenes, picture quality is mostly excellent throughout. They've also done a great job of creating a 5.1 soundtrack from the original mono source, which makes the sound effects clear and the score just superb. Special/visual effects are also a bit dated, check out the giant animatronic snake, but work reasonalbly well nonetheless.
As for the cast - Arnie didn't have much to say in this movie and he was even nominated for a Golden Raspberry for his performance but it was the best thing that had happened to him and catapaulted him into a career that's seen him one of the top earners for years. No-one else could have been Conan, he was made for the role and played it to a tee. His main companions Subotai and Valeria are excellently portrayed by Milius' surfing buddies, Gerry Lopez and Sandahl Bergman, who won a Saturn award and a Golden Globe for her performance. James Earl Jones is great as the evil Thulsa Doom, leader of the snake cult and the reason for Conan's revenge. Veteran actors (even then) Max von Sydow as King Osric and Mako as the little wizard play these with much gusto.
The combination of a great script, well directed with new talent like Arnie and established actors such as James earl Jones and Max von Sydow and with a great score, make this movie a milestone in the fantasy genré and one that just has to be seen by all fans of it.
Extras
As well as a great movie, you get a good set of extra features…
Conan Unchained - The Making of Conan - An excellent feature, lasting almost an hour, on the making of the movie. With contributions and interviews with most of the cast and a lot of the production crew, interspersed with stills and scenes from the movie, some behind the scenes. There's also some interesting background information on the original author, Robert E. Howard.
Feature Commentary - Very good commentary by director John Milius and the star of the movie, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Milius gives some excellent information on his inspirations and the making of the movie. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since this was made and Arnie's memory isn't so sharp regarding the details, not that it stopped him wanting paid for doing it, but the two get on very well and give us an interesting and often humerous commentary.
Deleted Scenes - A sequence of six deleted scenes, mostly concerning the death of Osric, an amusing one with director John Milius as a "lizard on a stick" vendor and one where the wolves get Arnie. There's nothing great here and it all lasts about five and a half minutes.
Special Effects - A short one and a half minute piece, using a split screen, on the special effects used during the resurrection scene.
The Conan Archives - A fairly large, and in places quite intersting collection of 51 production drawings, 72 production photographs and 46 publicity pictures. This is played as a continuous sequence lasting about 12 minutes.
Theatrical Trailers - Two reasonably good trailers, run one after the other.
Production Notes - A series of 15 click-through pages of information about the production. A bit of filler but interesting in bits.
Cast and Filmmakers - Simple biographies and filmographies of most of the cast, the director John Milius and Oliver Stone.
Overall
An absolutely excellent sword and sorcery romp and a "must have" for Arnie fans as only he could have done justice to the character. With a pretty good package of extras, good picture and a 5.1 soundtrack this more than makes up for the earlier release and the woeful effort on video that I saw in the eighties.
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