Directed by:
John MiliusCinematography:
Duke CallaghanComposer:
Basil PoledourisCast:
Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones, Max von Sydow, Sandahl Bergman, Ben Davidson, Mako, Valérie Quennessen, William Smith, Franco Columbu, Jorge Sanz (more)Plots(1)
Young Conan's parents are murdered by a horde of vicious warriors who then enslave the young child for years. He is eventually released from slavery and taught the ancient arts of fighting. Transforming himself into a killing machine, Conan travels into the wilderness seeking vengeance on the man responsible for his family's murder. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (11)
A film of truly barbaric qualities. Terrible acting, primitive directing, trivial story, excellent musical accompaniment... All of this brings together a completely unique atmosphere, which goes with the subject like a sword in the chest. What is the use if the fights are built more like a fitness demonstration of Arnie's muscles, what is the point if only the demonic James Earl Jones’s performance is the only decent one...? Milius's Conan remains a fearless war cult among fantasy films because, despite all the objectively visible flaws (and there are as many of them as there are naked women in Thul's harem), it retains a special pagan charm. Which doesn't change the fact that the film is actually quite lousy...
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The first Conan film was a hit in its time and kicked off a wave of fantasy movies in the 1980s. However, none of the films that followed achieved similar success and if they enjoy any popularity today, it is as campy artifacts watched ironically. By comparison, Conan the Barbarian may seem slightly dated in its pacing today, but it is still fascinating thanks to its unique take on not only the heroic fantasy genre, but also its most iconic character. Unsurprisingly, the reason for this is the director and screenwriter, John Milius, who was lauded by Spielberg, Lucas and Coppola as the best storyteller of the New Hollywood generation. Milius created a reticent epic told primarily through images and the phenomenal myth-making music of Basil Poledouris. When the characters do express themselves verbally, it is mainly through monologues laden with melancholic poeticism (Osric, Valerie) or raw philosophy (Thulsa). As indicated by one of the film’s few dialogue scenes, as well as by a rare light-hearted exchange between Conan and Subotai, Milius peppered the narrative with vulgar theology and based the whole ethos of barbaric heroism on the opposition between the human and divine worlds. The main storyline thus inevitably leads to the brutally manual overthrow of the demigod who controls the minds of his followers. Milius’s Conan is no virtuous hero, but rather a properly superficial hedonist. Though we see him in a sombre thinker’s pose a few times during the film, behind his expression we sense emptiness rather than existential depth. His life is dedicated to instant gratification and mindless, brutal revenge, not to contemplating life or the death that he sows. It’s possible to draw the conclusion that the acting performances criticised by some are an intentional part of Milius’s uncompromising vision of a coherent pagan world. Conversely, the casting of the individual characters proves to be wonderfully ambitious and accurate in terms of type – from the elephantine non-actors and the statuesque though not superficially attractive women to the impressively multifaceted James Earl Jones. At its core, Conan the Barbarian is a typically Miliusian and thus a fiercely obstinate and insolently shallow rebuff of the high-concept blockbusters of the New Hollywood, while being not only a contemporary of such films, but also one of them. It belongs among them not only due to its director’s resumé and connections, but also as a creatively distinctive modern revitalisation of an old genre. Except Milius doesn’t look at old adventures with naïve nostalgia like Spielberg or Lucas and he doesn’t want to create modern equivalents of captivating flicks with swashbucklers in the mould of Errol Flynn. Instead, he serves viewers a brutal barbarian epic with a clumsy conqueror who was destined to become king (of Hollywood) through his own efforts. ___ PS: Not to mention the fact that Milius conceived Conan the Barbarian for the cinema. His raw epic about the clash of brute force and religion cannot be adequately put across anywhere else. Only on the big screen can one fully appreciate the film’s grandiose vignettes, which mirror the visual inspiration of (fantasy) epics ranging from Masaki Kobayashi’s Kaidan to Alexander Ptushko's Ilya Muromets in the spirit of the New Hollywood.
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I spent my teenage years buried in Anglo-Saxon fantasy and RPGs, the latter of which has somehow endured to this day. Conan is a divine Sword & Sorcery fantasy film not lacking in epic scenes, loads of pathos, boobs, a good dose of blood, beautiful exteriors, and Max von Sydow. I’m not left wanting for anything and only the minimum of things are extraneous. The soundtrack is one of the best on the market. Even the giant snakes and demons don't look awkward all the time. A favorite and Arnold's best role.
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A solidly shot, grand-looking fantasy film, with a stunning production design and one of the best musical scores. Basil Poledouris created a captivating epic music that ranks among the highest peaks of his work. The legendary Arnie is fairly bearable as Conan, he looks better in the fight scenes than in the dialogues, but that is nothing new.
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Another overrated movie, in which only the music and lavish production are interesting, and it depends on each individual how willing they are to appreciate these two factors. The plot is shallow and the acting performances are poor even in the case of otherwise quality actors. The direction is also not worth mentioning. Conan the Barbarian looks up to the peaks of the genre, such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy or the older Excalibur, from a great distance. If nothing else, it is a positive thing that the role of Conan did not require any acting skills from Schwarzenegger, so in retrospect it is one of his best roles tailor-made for him. Overall impression: 40%.
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