Conan The Barbarian (2 Disc Special Edition) [1981]

Customer Reviews:

Quick Reviews!.......2007-09-11

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Before Arnie became The Terminator he was Conan the Barbarian in this visually stunning fantasy film based on the books of Robert E. Howard. An endlessly influential film, withe recent films such as the Matrix and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy taking elements from it, a film with much greater depth than most give it credit for, clever, emotive, with a smart script, one of the best soundtracks of all time, strong performances and great action. Conan the Barbarian is an underrated classic, but one which all Arnie fans love, one which deserves to be recognised for what it is rather than criticising it as brainless violence.

John Milius, director of Big Wednesday, writer of the Apocalypse Now screenplay and famous sections of Jaws and Dirty Harry decided to turn Howard's classic stories into a big screen adventure. With a script by himself and Oliver Stone, they found Schwarzenegger, convinced actors such as Max Von Sydow and James Earl Jones to join the cast, and made the definitive fantasy film. Along with Basil Poledouris making the score, and a host of talented set designers and effects guys, Conan the Barbarian should not be taken lightly.

Conan tells the story of a man whose entire village was slaughtered when he was a child, and taken into slavery until he became an adult. During the period of slavery he pushes a giant wheel until he has grown, become strong, and everyone else has died. He is then taken and trained as a fighter and killer in small arenas, soon becoming the famous and bloodthirsty warrior in the land, forgetting his past, and becoming an emotionless machine. However, when he is released his past soon comes back to him and he seeks vengeance for the man who killed his family-Thulsa Doom. On his travels he rescues Subotai, played by surfer Gerry Lopez, a thief and they become friends. Soon they encounter Valeria, a beautiful young warrior thief who is infiltrating an evil tower owned by Doom. They go in, butcher the bad guys, steal a diamond, and Conan and Valeria fall in love. Her attitude towards life overpowers him, and the three go around the land stealing. However, the draw of the past is too much and they search for Doom who is taking over the land with his hypnotic powers, believing flesh to be stronger than steal. He is a powerful wizard and sacrifices many innocent young people who succumb to his ways, much like a modern religious cult. Doom and Conan meet again, and Doom is too strong, teaching Conan about his power, much like Conan's father spoke of the riddle of steel. Conan is left for dead, but his friends find him, and with the help of a magician restore him in a very touching and powerful scene. Renewed, Conan once more seeks Doom, but this time it is not him who is killed, enraging him further.

Arnold's performance here is one of his best, the kind of role he should be given and proving that he is the best at what he does. Sydow is good in a smaller part, Jones is awesome-just watch his eyes. Mako is very good as the Wizard, Gerry Lopez is superb, and Sandahl Bergman is excellent in a performance which should have sent her on to greatness. The score is easily among the best ever, perfectly complementing every scene, heightening the emotional impact whether it be a battle scene or funeral. The action is also very impressive, before masses of CG beasties, with heads sailing off and swords clashing. It is also one of the most beautifully shot films of the decade, the camera panning over wide areas much like Kurosawa in movement, a technique used again by Peter Jackson. The script is full of quotable dialogue, mixing serious ones with typical Arnie one-liners, Nietchze is referenced and other philosophical issues are discussed with an odd amount of skill for an action movie. Rather than discussion, a few one-liners are given, but they are to good effect. Certain scenes are highly emotional, and they are dealt with skilfully, and Conan is a tragic figure rather than a murderer. No-one can ever get close to him again, anyone who does dies. It is not only a great action and fantasy film, but a great love story. Worthy of Oscar nominations, but of course this type of film is always regarded as pointless. Even if you are not an Arnie film, if you are not someone with a closed mind who has made a decision as to whether you will like a film or not before you see it, then you should see the many merits here. One of the best films of the early 80's, though unfortunately it is mostly discarded.

This is almost the best version of the film- the classification boards have done it again, cutting parts of the film which may destory our souls if we were to view them (again), but there are lots of worthwhile extra features to make this version the one to buy over others. Deleted scenes, handy commentaries, interesting documentaries. A must-have.

Get it uncut !.......2005-11-23

By the French version from Amazon.fr - its region 2 and UNCUT, so you can enjoy the whole movie and its magnificent score unbutchered ;) - five stars for that version !

The definitive Conan.........2005-04-18

This new edition of Conan the Barbarian serves up the best quality yet, the picture is slightly better due to the special features being on a seperate disc, but the main improvement is the sound.
The legendary soundtrack is now rendered (at last!)in pure DTS sound providing 5.1 channel perfection and it sounds incredible!
The special features from the 2003 'Special Edition' are reproduced here, with the only new feature (not history of fantasy films as advertised)being a short history of Conan with interviews with various fantasy writers, including those who worked on Marvels comic book adaption, Artists and the great James Earl Jones.
'Conan the Barbarian: Collectors Edition' delivers the goods, and if it were not for the daft censorship of BBFC butchering parts of this glorious film, then I would be quite comfortable in labeling this as Cinematic perfection.

This DVD is a must for your collection and I insist you order now!

Customer Reviews:

Jackie Stewart was a legend.......2007-06-25

I own many of these titles from the Brunswick archives and I am mostly pleased to have them, they are the only way to see the formula one scene as it was from 1970 to 1980. In many ways I feel that formula one was better in this period for out and out racing, wheel to wheel action and before money rules and sponsors took away many of the reasons why we watched formula one in the first place, action!. These DVD's however are frustrating beyond belief as no actual real racing action is captured on them as Brunswick only use there own footage taken often from one corner on the track and it shows, painfully badly. Nothing worse than watching the drivers put on their helmets for five minutes, sit on the start line waiting for the lights, only for the picture to pause and the announcer to say "And Jones won the race" So where was the race, let me see it, please !!! While races are omitted there is also the totally dreadful der,der,der,der der, der der der der music as the results are being shown, trust me it drives you mad, it will have you screaming for the remote to turn it down. Why cant they use TV footage, lets have a BBC Grand Prix style DVD using their own footage. In summary, its great to see the old drivers (many no longer with us sadly) and reminisce, but these DVD's are poor for any real race action.

the first use of slicks in formula 1.......2007-06-14

Generally see my review of '78 and '73. This is the first use of slicks in formula 1

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