The ’80s were a time of high adventure with magic and swords all around us. Well, it was mostly polyhedral dice character sheets and metal figurines. We lived for weekend campaigns of either Dungeons and Dragons or In the Labyrinth. There was no greater thrill than journeys to Hungates hobby shop at Crabtree Valley Mall. We’d get paint for our latest batch of figures along with any new gaming supplements. School lunches featured the rattling of dice while slurping down a half-pint carton of chocolate milk. It was a glorious time. Making it even more splendid was news that Conan The Barbarian was being made into a major film. This meant that we didn’t have to read the Conan books although we had them on the shelf.
The buzz was huge for the Conan film since as far as we were concerned. The producers had hired the right guy to play the iconic hero. Bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger had won Mr. Olympia seven times. But he wanted more than to dominate bodybuilding. He wanted to act. He proved that he could dominate the screen in the documentary Pumping Iron. He wasn’t merely a monolith of muscles. While critics might have had their reservations, we were all down with Arnold. Did they expect Dustin Hoffman or Burt Reynolds to play Conan? The D&D table in the corner of the high school cafeteria was hot with talk of how we were getting to a weekend matinee since none of us owned cars. Who amongst us had gas money after buying a copy of Deities & Demigods? But we had Conan money!
A young Conan (Party Town‘s Jorge Sanz) grows up in a small village with his father (Rumble Fish‘s William Smith) as the blacksmith who makes one incredible sword. Before the metal has cooled down, the village is attacked by Snake worshipping warriors led by Thulsa Doom (The Lion King‘s James Earl Jones) with his pals Rexor (Behind the Green Door’s Ben Davidson) and Thorgrim (The Running Man‘s Sven-Ole Thorsen). The village is overwhelmed and the young Conan finds himself taken as a slave. He’s forced to work as part of a group of kids that turn a giant wheel for a mill in the desert. He ends up being the last one pushing the wheel. This makes him incredibly strong. He is sold to a man who turns him into a gladiator for battles in the pits. His success allows him to final receive a proper education along with improving his fighting skills. One night, his owner sets him free. However it’s not a time to celebrate since he’s in the middle of nowhere. He ends up taking shelter in tomb and takes the dead warrior’s sword. After befriending the thief Subotai (Big Wednesday‘s Gerry Lopez), he gets into robbing for a living. After dealing with the snake warriors as a kid, he discovers a Snake Cult has popped up around the kingdom. Their house of worships are giant towers with snake figures. Conan and Subotai decide to climb up a tower and rob the place. At the start of their scheme, they run into Valeria (Hell Comes To Frogtown‘s Sandahl Bergman) a tall thief who remembered to bring a rope to climb the tower. The trio make a quick pact and raid the building. They find riches along with a giant snake. Conan discovers the Snake Cult and the trio that killed his parents are connected. After the successful raid, Conan and Valeria hook up. She’s the kind of woman that can handle him. After hard partying, Conan is approached by a King (Flash Gordon‘s Max von Sydow) who wants his daughter rescued from the Snake Cult, Conan is eager to take up the offer even if his two thief buddies aren’t eager to deal with Thulsa Doom.
Conan The Barbarian delivered back in 1982. Arnold inhabited the character. His thick Austrian accent made perfect sense. He and Sandahl Bergman were a great couple as they broke out their swords. John Milius created the kind of adventure that Dungeon Masters eagerly raided for their campaigns. Arnold Schwarzenegger found the perfect way to prove he can act as well as pose in Conan The Barbarian.
There are three different cuts on the movie on 4K UHD disc. First is the Theatrical Cut that runs 126:27. This is the version shown in theater toward the end of the school year in 1982. The International Cut runs 128:59. The Extended Version clocks in at 130:22. They’ve restored a few scenes. This is the version of Conan you’ll want to watch first. The treasure chest of bonus features will let you understand every aspect of the film. The only thing missing from this boxset is a Crown Royal bag of polyhedral dice. There is also a Blu-ray version of the film with all the bonus features. Conan The Barbarian: Limited Edition is bound to make even Crom smile without any lamentations.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The transfer is a 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentations in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) of three versions of the film via seamless branching. The resolution lets you appreciate all that went into the film including Arnold’s physique. The Audio is DTS-HD mono. It’s strange to think of a film coming out in the ’80s that wasn’t in stereo. There’s a new Dolby Atmos 7.1 surround audio to make your speaker bar work better. This is true for all three cuts. The movie is subtitled in English.
Double-sided fold-out poster includes the original theatrical art.
Six double-sided collectors’ postcards are suitable for framing.
Illustrated collectors’ booklet essays by Walter Chaw and John Walsh, and an archive set report by Paul M. Sammon.
DISC ONE – FEATURE (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)
Feature commentary by director John Milius and star Arnold Schwarzenegger (Extended Cut only) has Arnold start off with a Richard Simmons Jr. joke. He also doesn’t get how he got credit over James Earl Jones. Arnold wants to redo that narration in the film so he says the words now instead of Mako. Milius goes into his proposed Conan trilogy. This was for the 2000 DVD release.
Commentary by genre historian Paul M. Sammon, author of Conan: The Phenomenon (Extended Cut only) gets into a lot of details about film.
Isolated score track in lossless stereo (Extended Cut only) so you can feel the music of Basil Poledouris.
DISC TWO – EXTRAS (BLU-RAY)
Conan Unchained: The Making of Conan (53:11) was produced for the DVD release in 2000. The interviews include Schwarzenegger, Milius, Stone, Jones, Lopez, Bergman and Poledouris. Edward Pressman was drawn to Schwarzenegger during a screening of Pumping Iron. A pal told him Arnold would be perfect for Conan and took him to a comic bookstore. Arnold had no idea about Conan until he was brought the project in 1977. Oliver Stone write the second draft of the script. He had a lot of mutants and animals in the film. Alan Parker and Ridley Scott were approached to direct. Dino De Laurentiis talks about getting involved in the project and sought John Milius to direct. Milius rewrote Stone’s script to make it more physical than fantastical. You’ll really appreciate the 4K UHD transfer with the old standard video clips.
Designing Conan (14:17) has production artist William Stout talk about how he was a fan of Conan so he wanted to be part of the film. Ron Cobb was the production designer and wanted to work with Stout. At the time, Stout was doing movie posters at the time. Cobb and Stout were learning off each other. There’s an interesting Raiders of the Lost Ark story here. Stout did the art for the Star Wars cups at Burger King. William Stout did some of the greatest bootleg record covers in the early ’70s. Enjoy this bonus feature.
Costuming Conan (13:21) has costume designer John Bloomfield point out that he was fired from Flash Gordon when Nicholas Roeg was fired as director. Dino called him a few days later to offer him Conan. He went to Madrid to figure out how to make the Arnold look so good. He worked closely with Ron Cobb who insisted he read the comics before the script to get the flavor.
Barbaric Effects (10:50) has special effects crew members Colin Arthur and Ron Hone talk about working with Arnold who was the biggest special effect in the film. They had to tone down their fake bodies in one of the scenes. They made fake blood from vodka and fruit juice. We learn about the mechanical vulture.
Young Conan (7:05) has actor Jorge Sanz talk about playing the younger version of Arnold. He doesn’t look like Arnold. Sanz has had a long acting career since the film. He didn’t know about Conan. He had to be fitted for blue contact lenses. He was good at crying which helped land him the role. He reveals his crying secret. The interview is in Spanish with English subtitles.
Conan & The Priest (6:52) has actor Jack Taylor discuss playing the cult member that gets mugged by Arnold. He went into the interview without a part. Milius’s assistant suggested the role. He had shot in the same location with a part in Cleopatra. He recounts his short time and how he had issue with his lines since they didn’t have a rehearsal.
Cutting the Barbarian (8:31) lets assistant editor Peck Prior describe the postproduction. His dad suggested a career as an editor. He explains the editing union and the roles of various editors. He moved up from apprentice to assistant during the shoot. He talks about the one scene he was allowed to cut. He gets into the snake scene.
Crafting Conan’s Magic (6:36) gets visual effects crew members Peter Kuran and Katherine Kean discussing what they did to create the fire effects with the sorceress and the spirit battle. Milus wanted more of everything in the scenes.
Barbarians and Northmen (6:22) has filmmaker Robert Eggers on the film’s influence on The Northman. He saw the film at five since his mom was a big fan of the film. He had to hide his eyes.
Behind the Barbarian (17:10) gets John Walsh, author of Conan the Barbarian: The Official History of the Film to talk about how the character finally came to the screen. He brings up how Howard only lived four years after the first story was written. Ray Harryhausen had tried to option Conan. Oliver Stone’s original script was going to cost $100 million in 1977 money. Dino with Milius’s rewrite got the budget to $20 million. He points out the MPAA gave the first cut an X-rating. Conan’s parents dismembered heads were more elaborate. There was supposed to be a third film called King Conan with Milius.
A Line in the Sand (16:43) sits down with Alfio Leotta, author of The Cinema of John Milius. He considers Conan the best film by the director. His The Wind and the Lion is what got him invited to see about directing the film. He gets into the cast’s background since there were a lot of new actors in leading roles besides Arnold.
Conan: The Rise of a Fantasy Legend (18:25) has people talking about the film’s literary and comic book roots. They discuss how Robert E. Howard was in his 20s and living in Texas when he created the character. Conan began appearing in Weird Tales magazine. Eventually he became a character in Marvel Comics. Author Michael Moorcock is part of the interview subject. Moorcock things Arnold was perfect as the character. James Earl Jones brings up how Arnold told the director to treat him like a trained dog. This was made in 2005.
Art of Steel: Sword Makers & Masters (14:40) talks with sword master Kiyoshi Yamasaki about the weaponry in the movie. He gives the history of how the movie swords were made. Turns out there’s a serious market for reproductions of the sword. This was made in 2011.
Conan: From the Vault (10:22) features on-set cast and crew interviews from 1982. Arnold talks about how there’s no stuntmen who can double for him because he’s so huge and not wearing a shirt.
A Tribute to Basil Poledouris are videos produced by the Úbeda Film Music Festival in 2006 and interviews. Conan The Symphony (47:14) has him conducting an orchestra and chorus a few months before his passing. This is remixed in 5.1 surround. Remembering Basil (35:37) is a documentary that has interview with Paul Verhoeven and Randl Kleiser. The Tale of Conan (15:01) has Poledouris discuss working on the film. He’s loving being at the festival. He points out that this was the first time he’s performed the Conan score since the soundtrack recording sessions. Basil at Úbeda (4:08) is a montage of photos from his time at the festival.
Original Promotion Featurettes (35:11) are the rarely seen electronic press kit from 1982. Steven Spielberg introduces the film. All the cast and crew get to discuss what they did. Dino talks about the deal that it took to make the film. We also see an early ’80s comic book convention. The video is from a watermarked tape source.
Deleted Scenes include John Milius Cameo (0:52), The Death of King Osric (4:17) and Wolves Outtake (0:24) with Arnold getting dragged down. The Death of King Osric would have changed the tone of the film.
Special Effects Comparison (1:37) is a split-screen of “Valeria Battles Spirits” to see it before the ghostly spirits were added in post-production.
Conan: The Archives (11:47) has photos and production images. This was created for the DVD release in 2000.
Conan the Barbarian: The Musical (3:01) has Jon & Al Kaplan come up with songs using clips from the film. It’s hilarious.
Trailer Gallery includes US Teaser Trailer (1:40), US Theatrical Trailer (2:10), International Teaser Trailer (1:53) and International Theatrical Trailer (1:27).
Image gallery has over 100 photos from production. We get to see the director’s cameo.
Arrow Video presents Conan The Barbarian: Limited Edition. Directed by John Milius. Screenplay by John Milius and Oliver Stone. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones, Sandahl Bergman, Ben Davidson, Cassandra Gaviola, Gerry Lopez, Mako, Valerie Quennessen, William Smith & Max von Sydow. Boxset Contents: 1 4K UHD and 1 Blu-ray disc. Rating: Rated R. Release Date: January 30, 2024.
