FIRST TIME WATCHING: Conan the Barbarian (1982) REACTION (Movie Commentary)
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This movie has one of the greatest musical scores ever. If the opening theme doesn’t get your heart pumping harder then you must be dead.
Yes, the score is incredible.
When i was younger, I thought they just used old classical music from Mozart, Beethoven, Bach....etc.
It was only a few years ago when i found out that all the music in this film was created by a classical orchestra group from Italy.....for this film!
Truly amazing.
Also, I think it's absolutely criminal this film never won an Oscar for Best Original Score.
Indeed. A great movie, but the score is still the best part.
I couldn't agree more.
Yup. Pretty much.
@@pookiepook7351 Well actually it was created by Basil Poledouris, a Greek-American composer who has created a lot of great scores for various movies..
“To crush your enemies, see them driven before you in chains, and to hear the lamentation of their women and children" was actually a quote from Genghis Khan.
Sounds right lol
It is VERY close, and obviously taken from the Genghis Khan quote, which is actually the tiniest bit more cruel:
"The greatest happiness is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see those dear to them bathed in tears, to clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters." -Temujin, The Great Leader (Genghis Khan)
Also, Subutai was one of the lead generals of Genghis Khan, his main military strategist.
@@ZeroOskul I know, but John Milius and Oliver Stone obviously didn't want to replicate it word for word. lol Especially not with Arnold's accent.
“That is good.”
Funny that you mentioned how "Crom didn't help but Valeria did", considering according to canon, it was Crom himself that allowed Valeria to return for that very moment. You can tell if you listen to the previous dialog, how they connected Crom with Valhalla. Valhalla is actually the paradise of Viking origin, and Valeria came back in the signature armor of a Valkyrie--the viking equivalent of an angel who rescue the wounded/dying.
Pretty much. He got impressed when Conan basically told him to fuck off if he wasn't going to help just once.
@@JnEricsonx think it was also the fact that it wasn't a "would you please smite all my enemies for me?" It was a "grant me the victory I'm damn well going to earn."
@@MiriOhki Well, why let Crom have all the fun? This was personal TWICE over.
@@JnEricsonx oh indeed, but Crom definitely feels like 'I help those who help themselves a lot'. Conan definitely put in the work.
@Raylan Givens bingo.
And so Conan learns that it is not steel that has the power, nor is the strength in the hand that wields it. True power is in the will, the dedication that makes the hand pick up the sword and fight back against all adversity. The will to overcome all odds to make your dream a reality. The steel may break, the hand may become weary, but the will to persevere can overturn both. That is the answer to the riddle of steel
"There comes a time, thief, when the jewels cease to sparkle, when the gold loses its luster, when the throne room becomes a prison, and all that is left is a father's love for his child."
That hits different once you have kids. This is a cheesy movie...but that scene with Max Von Sydow as King Osric is honestly pretty fucking profound. It's amazing really just how much he and James Earl Jones legitimized this movie...and not even in a bad way where they outshine the rest. They were just different characters, but they still fit in that world.
But yeah, once I had kids, that line is definitely a whole other thing afterward.
This movie isn’t cheesy at all, unless you are just talking about the premise. They made this film with 100% dedication and they took it seriously. The other Conan movie is the cheesy one.
Like Fido said this isn't cheesy at all, it's a godamn masterpiece for an Arnold movie. The setting, the music, the narration, the little dialog there, the lore presented. We can agree the second is cheesy fantasy, but this is something else.
Not at all cheesy. James Earl Jones fresh from Star Wars, screenplay by Oliver Stone and directed by John Milius. Conan the Barbarian started the trend of "swords and sandals" movies in the 80's and 90's.
Agreed that scene is profound, but I also agree with the rest here. This is not a 'Cheesy' film at all (Sadly, the 2nd is. Watch them Back-to-Back, the difference becomes clear.) It is FILLED with profound moments, most more subtle, but they are there.
At 53, after enduring more than 30 years of Chronic Pain due to inoperable spinal damage, this film has a lot to say to me about facing your demons and never giving them the victory.
The best movie of all time
Everything came together for Conan the Barbarian. The writing, the direction, the music--all of it lends a great deal of emotional weight to the film. It's the only one of the films that really conveys the kind of gravitas you'd expect from an epic. It's one of those films that's been with me my whole life, and it will be in my top five until the day I die.
The whole movie had a gravitas that turned it from the usual "comic book into movie" to something epic. As many have (and will) commented, the score added a new level of awesomeness to the work.
Music is VERY important. If you look at "Ladyhawke" you will find a movie with a great story and visuals, good actors ... but the cheap electronic 80s music completely ruins it.
@@Muck006 Conan and Ladyhawke were both given a budget of $20 million; it's just a matter of how the different productions utilized the money. Ladyhawke's producers would have done well to spend more on the soundtrack, but the worst thing in that movie is Matthew Broderick. He was badly miscast and his performance was simply awful.
Absolutely. Conan the Barbarian is lighting in a bottle, a miracle that is not possible to replicate. A movie like this should have been a fun schlockfest at best, but somehow it seemed as if fate itself put things in motion so the right people converged at the right time to make it happen.
The intro in this film with music, never, fails to send chills down on my spine...
I get the same chill when Rexor first sees Conan in the orgy room and says "you". Then the music starts on cue. Conan looks so badass with that black and white camouflage.
Arguably one of three of the most influential movies of the late 70's to early 80's. Star Wars kicked off the space battle sci fi genre, Mad Max kicked off the post-apocalyptic action film genre, and this movie kickstarted a massive number of 80's sword & sorcery/fantasy movies. If you look at 80's fantasy movies such as Krull, Beastmaster, Hawk the Slayer and dozens of cheap direct to video titles, they were all brought about and influenced by Conan The Barbarian. None of them ever matched Conan though.
It was such a match made in heaven, one of the greatest characters in the fantasy genre, a bobybuilder champion with a huge onscreen presence, a time period where Frank Frazzeta/Boris Vallejo's art was all the rage, and a soundtrack that made Crom smile from the mountains
1000% agree
Kull with Keven Sorbo was supposed to be king Conan but they couldn't secure Arnold because they did a bad job on Conan the destroyer so he didn't want to make the third until later in life. But it was too late.
The 3 best genres of Italian knock-off movies
Hawk The Slayer was first
You just reacted to my favorite movie.....ever. Saw it at the theatre in 1982, when I was barely old enough to get in. I had already read all the R.E. Howard Conan stories. My young self was BLOWN AWAY by the epicness of this movie. The soundtrack was one of the best ever orchestrated for a film and I still use it to work out. I'm not saying the acting or the writing are Oscar winning, I'm just saying that Conan The Barbarian checks all my boxes for a great film. I've probably watched it, start to finish, at least ten times.
Same. I was 8 yrs old. My dad took me, as always
Likewise I can watch this on repeat
I've seen it about 30 times start to finish I'd wager lol
10 times? Always those rookie numbers
@@commsense1979 only 30 times, I've rewatched Conan at least once a month every month for the last 30 years or so
Love this movie, and still one of my favorite movie scores. Basil Poledouris was so good.
This movie is so much deeper than people would give it credit for, and so much more interesting.
This movie has one of the best soundtracks ever
An interesting bit of trivia: The creators crafted Thulsa Doom's look (dark skin with straight hair and blue eyes) because they wanted him to appear as if he came from an ancient, almost mythical race which no longer walks the earth.
It definitely works
This legendary character has been around for 90 years.
From pulp magazines to a series of novels and long running comics by Marvel & Dark Horse.
Conan did indeed embody the Barbarian archetype in sagas of sword and sorcery, such as Dungeons & Dragons, Sega's Golden Axe series, etc.
This was only Arnold's 6th film and also his breakthrough role.
The first time that Arnold was really, truly acting with both dialogue and action in one unique vessel.
When I reading the Marvel comics of Conan from various eras and all I could see and hear was Arnold.
The 1983 sequel, "The Destroyer" was like a RPG come to life and just as good.
Arnold was going to become Conan for a 3rd time (around 2000-2010s).
But it never came to be.
Btw, you should check out Bridgette Nelsen's film debut, pre-Rocky IV. Red Sonja (1985), based on another character by Robert E Howard and known as the "She-Devil with A Sword".
Conan & Red Sonja both existed in the same universe.
In that movie, Arnold has top billing.
But he's an co-star.
He doesn't play Conan.
He's Lord Kalidor, which is Arnold playing Arnold with Conan-esque skills.
He plays Conan in everything but name. It was supposed to be a conan and red sonja film but they couldn't get the rights cleared to do it with the conan name, so they just renamed him. Most people, like myself, just take it that Conan was traveling under a false name at the time, no need to call people down on him. Oh and fun fact, Gedren is played by the actress who played Valeria in Conan the Barbarian... so.... pretty clear its supposed to be a conan film.
IV seen a comic where Conan and Dr Doom have a Convo and have dinner together.
Conan asks why he isn't eating/remove his mask and Doom responds he wouldn't want to bother him with his scars
Conan: do I look like a man that would be bothered by scars?
Doom : .... * Removes mask and grabs a leg of meat*
RIP Robert E Howard
About the blue eyes James Earl Jones' character has in this movie:
Thulsa Doom is supposed to be a thousand year old sorcerer from the lost continent of Atlantis which sank into the sea, and the makers of this movie wanted to highlight the otherworldlyness of him as a member of an ancient tribe of people that has been gone from the world for ages. So they gave him these unnaturally blue eyes.
James Earl Jones has the same color eyes as Rihanna.
The scene where Conan, Subotai, and Valeria sneak into the Tower of Set to steal the jewels within was loosely inspired by a famous Conan story by Robert Howard called The Tower of the Elephant.
Eh, very loosely. No lions, no giant spider, no obese cat burglar, no betrunked space-alien, and a character from Red Nails.
A character from Red Nails whos dialogue all comes from Queen of the Black Coast.
The whole movie is a mishmash of snippets from Conan stories, with some Kull and Bran Mak Morn thrown in. Seriously cool shit anyway
@@bad-people6510 I know, but I highly doubt that they could have done all that cool stuff from the story onscreen in 1982. lol The giant snake was the most they could do.
@@Irascibanality I know. Thulsa Doom is from the Kull stories, not Conan.
Check out painter Frank Frazetta's depiction of Conan, his illustrations resurrected the Conan title in paperback, very inspired depiction. Arnold's Conan is not like the books ar all but I think he did a great job and the movie is one of my favorites If you liked this, consider watching Excalibur, epic stuff.
Its best to think of the movies as conan in his almost teenage years, before he has the ambition to lead and rule, he's just fucking around, stealing shit and making buddies.
When I was a kid I had a video tape with this, Excalibur and Sword and the Sorcerer on it. I literally wore that tape out. S&S was kind of the odd man out in the quality department, but it was in the middle so I ended up watching it a lot also.
This isn't a movie with quips or silly one liners. It takes itself seriously.
"Infidel defilers, they shall all drown in lakes of blood. Now they will know why they are afraid of the dark. Now they will learn why they fear the night."
James Earl Jones is good in everything!
His voice is amazing.
Contemplate this on the tree of woe. Crucify him.
yeah, but from the ancient internet page called The Rules For Evil Overlords: " Never turn into a giant snake, it never helps."
Darth Vader could not have said it better. lol
The Subotai character (archer/thief) is played by Gerry Lopez who is a legendary american surfer.
Conan The Barbarian was directed by John Milius, who co-wrote the screenplay for the second Dirty Harry movie, Magnum Force, and Apocalypse Now. The script was co-written by Milius and Oliver Stone, who had just won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Midnight Express.
And Scarface wouldn't be the film it is without Oliver Stone's writing
@@davyboy9397 True. Stone was inspired to write the Scarface screenplay due to his own cocaine addiction at the time.
CONAN, WHAT IS BEST IN LIFE?
CRUSH YOUR ENEMIES.
SEE THEM DRIVEN BEFORE YOU.
HEAR THE LAMENTATION OF THEIR WOMEN.
I am sure that Caped Informer is swing his broomstick around like a sword after watching this film. 😆
It will have to do until I get a replica of that sick sword 👀
You was asking about the actor, James Earl Jones. He is most famous for voicing Darth Vader in the original Star Wars movies.
and Mufasa.
and playing Terence Mann in Field of Dreams
and King Jaffe Joffer in Coming to America
and Professor Banks in Soul Man
and Dr. Lou Rush in Dr. Kildare
and Balthazar in Jesus of Nazareth
For those of us a little older, he's probably more famous for being the spokesman for Bell Atlantic.
@@einherjar8147 Before Morgan Freeman had the greatest voice in Hollywood James Earl Jones had the greatest voice in Hollywood.
@@theman4884 Bazuzu in exorcist 2.
@@theman4884 and coach couzo in best of the best
This movie speaks to something deep inside. That we as men have lost.
It is said that 1982 was the best movie summer : Conan, Blade Runner, The Thing, Rocky III, Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan, Poltergeist... and obviously E.T.
I just looked it up and those plus Rambo Dark crystal Fast times beastmaster Tron officer and a gentleman. That's such a staked year.
48hrs
Tron.
Fun fact: The guy who played Thorgrim(dude with the big hammer) is a long time friend and bodyguard of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was also in The Running Man and a few more of Arnold's flicks.
also in Predator (commie leader that gets shotgunned out the window)....but ya he's in a ton of Arnold movies in small clips
This movie is underappreciated for how awesome it is.
While Ripley and Sarah Connor get tons of praise, I feel like Valeria should be remembered in that same vein. Just a total bad-ass all the way. The sequel doesn't really stand up to this at all, but it's still a fun watch. Red Sonya is a pretty decent watch too, set in the same universe, but the Conan character was made into a standalone Arnold role due to rights issues.
The Conan reboot with Jason Momoa gets a lot of hate, but I think it was pretty fun as well. He just had the misfortune of being in a reboot of an absolutely beloved film that many (myself included) consider perfect as it is.
Valeria is 100% bad ass. Thulsa has to take her down her with a magic snake arrow cause you can't survive up close 😵
I agree that Sandahl Bergman doesn't get enough praise for this role. Valeria was crucial to Conan's character arc in this movie, and she's as badass as him when getting the princess from the mountain fortress. I especially loved how they met..."Two fools who laugh at death. Do you know what horrors lie beyond these walls? Then you go first."
The Momoa remake was too generic, there was nothing to make it stand out as a Conan movie.
I just think the Momoa Film totally lacked Sense and the Motivation. Plus the Character killed People left and right but you asked yourself why did he do that ?
@@JakkFrost1 There was barely any actual Conan in Momoa's movie. It's like they took this movie, stripped it of every actual Conan/REH homage and built a movie around the rest.
Great reaction, this movie was shockingly violent and bloody back in the day. Another great film from this time, 1981 is a movie called Excalibur. It's the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
I was about to suggest Excalibur myself... hope he will react to it.
@@tolkienismaster When I think of Excalibur I always think of how Uther Pendragon must have had a little door on the front of his armor so he could have sex without taking it off.
Love Conan the Barbarian and Excalibur both!
My mother actually took me with her to see Excalibur in theater, I was only about 6 years old. I saw R movies all the time as a kid lol.
@@w1975b Same here, I was told to cover my eyes when the dirty parts came on, lol
I love that this film didn't try to be any more than what it needed to be. It's very similar to the actual stories of myth and legend that humans have been telling each other as long as language has existed. A hero, a villain, an injustice that must be set right, and a moral or lesson that is revealed in the process of doing so. It's simple, and it's honest about being simple. Also the soundtrack is one of the best.
Conan is my favorite. A real fantasy movie. I get into Conan's world instantly. The narration really works to set up the world Conan lives in. And the music is inspirational.
While I was at work on my headphones, I played the entire Conan Soundtrack on TH-cam and relived the scenes in my head.
Mako's voice was perfect for the narration. I love that he's a wacky little wizard but gives such reverence when speaking of Conan.
There's no one that can pull the character as Arnold did, he has such a huge presence onscreen, it's a shame we didn't get to have another Conan movie with him, especially the King Conan idea that kept floating for years.
Always loved the hints at deeper lore in the scene where he finds the Atlantean sword in the tomb. When I was a kid I thought he'd figured the Atlantean skeleton is Crom, and it made me wonder if the creation myth his dad told him at the start was a barbaric tribe's interpretation of the fall of Atlantis itself. And honestly, I can still kinda see it.
I had a different take (and I like yours too):
I took that scene and the way the music crescendos at the end when he has the sword in hand as the ancient king bowing down to Conan, sort of passing the torch or naming a successor. And Conan saying "Crom" was like his acknowledgement that it was ordained by his god.
Considering in oneof the non-REH books he fights the skeleton in a tomb. And then they do that for Northman.
@@mordicus420 I used to have a replica of that sword. One of my favorite movie weapons(Blade Runner, Aliens, Princess Bride, Conan). Problem is the blade and hilt were so damn wiggly I was like, "nope, this thing is gonna split in half."
That's the secret to Howard's hyborean world. He did a loose map of how the world might have looked in the far far past and used real cultures to populate it.
I watch a channel that's deep into conan lore, games, and the books. Something the host there said really sums up the idea of deeper lore.
In the conan world at this point in time there is a warrior running around the north named Odin. In Stygia there is a hero named Osiris. Because of their accomplishments in this age they become tribal heroes, then legends, then elevated to godhood.
Howard's world is just fantastic to plug in nearly any type of story you'd want. It is our world, just so long ago we forgot about it.
From what I've read, the skeleton was supposed to be Kull of Atlantis, another Robert E. Howard hero who lived a thousand years before Conan. His mortal enemy was Thulsa Doom, the bad guy in this film. So I always interpreted that as meaning that Kull was passing his sword on to Conan so the latter could finally defeat Thulsa Doom.
Here's a couple fun facts for you:
1) The Wheel of Pain was so perfectly balanced that whenever AS put even a little pressure on it to push it around, the wheel would spin around and hit him in the back of his head. They had to put guys on the other side to push against Arnold.
2) In the scene where Conan is crucified on the Tree of Woe and he killed the buzzard by bitting its neck, that wasn't a fake buzzard. It was real roadkill they found one day while driving to the scene. AS had someone with water and mouthwash ready.
3) Mako, the wizard, was originally going to play Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid movies. But when "Pat" Morita auditioned he blew the director and producers away.
The wheel of pain has been at the Arnold Fitness Challenge the past few years now. Thing is a beast. It's set to like 2500 lbs.
Also, Mako is the voice of Aku in Samurai Jack & Uncle Iroh in Avatar: Tbe Last Airbender! Loved him!!!
I forgot to mention that the dogs that chased Conan into the cave were only half trained. They eat his ass up a couple of times.
"Conan cannot cry, so I cry for him!"
The musical score is epic, too!
After answering "No" to Valeria after she first asked him a question Conan never said another word to her onscreen although it was implied that they had many conversations.
24:40
The girl tied to the stone looks like it could be taken straight from a Frank Frazetta painting.
Theme song needs to be on every workout playlist. Love it. This is the song you play when you want to grab your sword and head into battle. :P
Saw this as a kid on video tape, along with the sequel. This one is awesome. Second one, they tried to go a lot more lighthearted, and the comic character really knocked it down. Also, Mako was one of my favorite Asian actors. But it still was a decent ride. Another 80s Fantasy movie Arnold was in was Red Sonja (And Sandahl Bergman was the villain), and that one bombed badly. This started the 80s Sword/Sorcery craze.
One thing I loved about this movie is that Arnie is acting his best. He's really trying and it shows.
The score is so good in this, and it's a great show not tell movie. I like Conan the Destroyer even better, and Red Sonia is basically this movie but with the male and female leads swapped.
You like the Destroyer even better? You're joking of course.
@@Drizzt_Do_Entreri Unpopular opinion I know. Arnold put on 25 more lbs to better portray the character. Bigger budget. More going on. More cinematic. Plus it was one of the first movies I ever saw at the theater. Double feature with "Iceman" at the drive in. So there's some nostalgia factor.
@@ericlynnes1228 Fair enough! To each his own and I certainly understand the nostalgia factor. It's a very powerful feeling.
Conan the Destroyer gets a lot of unwarranted hate, IMO. Personally, I prefer Conan the Barbarian, but Destroyer wasn't bad, and it also had another top shelf score by Basil Poledouris.
@@douglaswilliams6834 I hate the direction it went compared to the first one. The comedy they tried to inject was deplorable. The movie had so much potential to be a serious drama/action flick like the first.
Conan believe it or not was conceived in the 1930s and is one of the earliest known Sword and Sorcery tales. Robert E Howard also created Salomon Kane and Kull the Conqueror.
The Wizard/Narrator also was the VA for Aku in Samurai Jack.
A fine piece of art, james earl Jones kills this role.
"If it's a trap, I guess we just gona have to get trapped." lol my man.
The Conan stories first came out in the early 1930's and literally made the sword and sorcery genre, while the hobbit came out around the same time, the Lord of the Rings wouldn't come out for nearly 2 decades after. and while the sequel Conan the Destroyer isn't as good as this, it is still worth a watch if you want to see Arnold back in the role of #1 Camel Puncher.
Shoutout to Valérie Quennessen as the Princess; she was a stunning and gorgeous woman, unfortunately she died in a car crash only 7 years later in 1989. R.I.P.
Arnold Schwarzenegger learned to act from James Earl Jones and Max Von Sydow.
Making this movie he went from being a model to being an actor.
Thulsa Doom dosen't even remember the day he destroyed Conan's life. To him it was only a tuesday.
I love this incredibly beautiful crafted and very violent movie, one of my all time favorites, and probably the best movie ever made based on a comic book! I got the soundtrack on vinyl, which is an amazing score by Basil Poledouris.
Poledouris was a musical genius!
Conan started out as pulp fiction in the 30's. Weird tales' magazine and astonishing stories among others. Great short stories
"what do you see", "er, infinity" cracks me up every time
Yoooo this is one of my favorite movies of all time. I used to watch this like once a week in my early teens. I love most Schwarzenegger movies but something about this one really captured my imagination as a kid. The music, the practical effects, Thulsa Doom and his henchmen, the blend of cultural influences including the central asian Steppe people, how the whole movie feels like a weird ass RPG. My ideal example of 80s fantasy action.
Edit: Just finished this episode. You really nail it with your summary at the end. Spot on.
This movie and Excalibur, which was released shortly before, really started the 80's sword and sorcery craze.
HELL YEAH!!!! SO HAPPY YOU DID CONAN!!!
"THe gods are going to watch over this battle!"
"Are they going to help?"
"No."
"Then tell them to STAY OUT OF THE WAY!"
Love that exchange.
I only wished there was a moment with Conan posing with both arms outstretched - one holding the broken sword, and Doom's head the other...to make a printed poster of a moment showing The Riddle of Steel
Reason why Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones) has blue eyes is because he is the last of his species, and he puts Conans mom under a hypnotic spell for her to expose her neck. Later on he tries it on Conan.
Riders of Doom might be the greatest bit of any film score ever.
7:31 I've seen people who think Conan is just going full warcriminal because they forgot the entire prologue of him being indoctrinated and trained to murder in ruthless pitfights.
He's just replying to his captors what they want to hear.
BTW, that's Hawaiian surfing legend Gerry Lopez as Subotai.
Not sure if anyone mentioned it or if you picked up on it, but the answer to the riddle is that neither steel nor flesh are stronger - will beats them both. At the end, he holds a broken blade in one hand and Doom's head in the other. These signify that both steel and flesh can and will break against will.
There was an extensive article about this movie in a bodybuilding magazine back in the day that was packed full of all kinds of info. For instance, the three main characters trained with weapons for a year. The movie was filmed in (Spain I believe) and the cast would leave their lodging in a smallish village every morning and run a couple miles to the movie set in full costume. They went the distance to make this movie feel authentic and it shows again and again. The two main henchmen of Thulsa Doom were not actors, they were a bodybuilder and a football player as I recall. Few if any of the sword and sorcery movies made since are equal to this one IMO.
You should do a review of Sorcerer from 1977. You will not be disappointed.
Great movie not enough people have seen.
@@Osiris335 I have to respectfully disagree. The original is fine but it is a little too campy. Sorcerer is so much more intense.
I think the first time I watched Wages of Fear it must have been dubbed because Luigi seemed like he was straight out of Mario Brothers. But I watched it again recently dubbed and he didn't seem nearly as bad.
I just think Friedkin's version brings out the desperation in the men much better.
Fun fact: when Arnold was 1st cast he was actually to ripped to "properly" wield a sword so he had to lose 30 pounds going from 240 to 210
Conan was definitely was a classic Sword & Sorcery movie. Robert E. Howard created the character in 1932 for a series of fantasy stories. You can get the books online. If you enjoyed the movie, you'll love the books.
Conan is actualy a cimmerian berserker. The amount of lore in Conan universe is mind bending!
Watch it again with the commentary track turned on. Arnold did the commentary drunk, the part where the actor dogs attack him and he got bit in the "Aaaaaaassssss!" Is priceless.
@9:30 "Conan man, always breeding!" 😆
Thulsa Doom's biggest mistake was building his temple out of flammable stone.
22:43, love that Conan’s “come at me bro” pose
Conan really did set the tone for sword & sorcery movies of the 80's - Beastmaster, Sorceress (82), etc. Arnold would revisit the role in the wackier Conan: The Destroyer, which is worth a watch for his ensemble of co-stars.
Arnold does appear in another movie based off the work of Robert E Howard - Red Sonja, though not as Conan. It's not great, but worth a watch at least once if you dive into sword & sorcery movies. Also has a very young Ernie Reyes Jr. (Last Dragon, Surf Ninjas, The Rundown).
It was filmed in Spain.
The cottage of the "Wolf Witch* was a solid rock, with the facade built out just a couple feet, so she could stand in the doorway.
Hell yes! My favorite Schwarzenegger movie.
@11:17 Word has it the camel he punched out was really KO'd, the movie was made not too long after he held the title for Mr. Universe for 3 years and Mr. Olympia for 6 years so you can understand how and why he was so jacked and able to KO a camel, it was pretty much just a Monday for him.
IMO, the soundtrack for this is a complete masterpiece.
Narrated by Mako, the voice of Aku in Samurais Jack.
The guy at the end who gets impaled, they used his scream in the game Golden Axe.
Useless fact 😃👍
“Beast master” w/ Marc Singer is another ‘80s sword & sorcery movie worth the watch.... 💯🔥🤙🏽😎
Met him years ago.
his dads advice was foreshadowing. steel failed(fathers sword broke) yet it was valeria and suboti that saved him. He could trust those two
It was a mix of steel and will. So his dad and Thulsa were right and wrong.
"This movie reminds me of old school role playing games, which it was based off of..."
A fellow named Robert E. Howard wrote the first Conan book in 1950, long before Gary Gygax wrote the first role playing rule set, "Chain Mail". Sword and sorcery role playing games were based on the Conan books and "The Lord of the Rings" books, the fist of which came out just after WW 2.
So, the order is J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Howard, Gary Gygax.
Nothing holds a candle to the rawness of this movie. Can't be duplicated. So fucking good.
Your movie picks are fantastic! Always looking forward to the next one!
Sandahl Bergman actually had a finger or thumb cut off during the fight/escape scene. Had to be reattached surgically.
the ending is litteraly a D&D session
DM: the Evil Wizard try to win you over using persuasion/deceit and cast with Subtle meta Magic "Charm person" on you, roll me a Wisdom save.
Barbarian player "Ah shit its my Dump stat..."
Rolls a Nat 20 and barely meets the spell DC
DM: o_O
Barbarian: O_o
DM: *sigh* ok you resist the influence of the spell and shake your head, getting rid of that sens of "closeness" you had for a brief moment, what you do?"
Barbarian: "I attack him and try to cut off his head"
DM"...well, he's at full HP, but you can still attack him, go on roll for attack"
Roll a Nat 20 and full damage
Dm: O_o
DM: *deep sigh* "Ok...how you wanna do this?"
Absolute classic film and ultimate story of vengeance!! I saw this at the early age of 5 yrs old and it had a profound impact on my life!!!
5:05 - Someone correct me if I'm wrong, (James Earl Jones) Thulsa Doom's eyes were blue because he was supposedly one of the last survivors of Atlantis, where blue eyes of that shade were common. The moment where Conan's mother meets eyes with Thulsa, she was fixed by the beauty of something so rare, combined by the fear of knowing there was no escape.
So glad to see you pick up on and appreciate the epic soundtrack! 😊
"If it's a trap... I guess we're just gonna have to get trapped." More true words have never been spoken. XD
One of the best soundtracks of all time.
One of my favorite film scores of all time!
Something I have never understood is how Thulsa Doom's people figured out Conan was an imposter when he wears the priest's robe.
It's because at the well, when asked what he sees, he said "infinity" but the cult's mantra is "emptiness" and that gave him away.
As a "door pass," Conan showed the double-headed snake symbol of jade that he had stolen from Thulsa Doom's temple earlier in the film. Doom holds this jade symbol while he interrogates Conan.
The actors, the story, the places, the MUSIC, the violence/action, the testosterone! Oh man 80's were absolutely the times.
I loved this film from the first time i saw it as a kid. 😍
I love everything about this film - James Earl Jones, Max von Sydov, Sandahl Bergman, Gerry Lopez and are acting wonderfull even Arnie. The screenplay, the costumes and props are just cool. Even the fact that Crom doesn't interfere in earthly affairs is made appropriate here.
And Basil Poledouris was one of the most talented film music composers who ever lived, unfortunately died far too young R.I.P 😭 ., he also composed the music for Conan 2, Robocop, Starship Troopers, The Hunt for Red October...
It’s satisfying to see folks react to 80s and 90s classics like this.
Best intro music to a movie ever
I enjoyed your reaction but it was your comment about the music that I appreciated the most. I saw this when it came out and enjoyed it but the score is something that has stayed with me my entire life. In 1982, my car had an 8 track and I wore out several tapes of the soundtrack before 8 tracks went extinct. That prompted me to save up for a cassette player so I could keep listening. All these years later, I still have a CD someplace but the MP3 files are on my phone.
Robert E Howard was called "the creator of Fantasy" by the "creator of Horror". Conan is the origin of Fantasy, great react.
The Most under-rated Catchphrase of the 80's? James Earl Jones saying "I am your Father!" hehehe
Interesting fact . Arnold had to thin down his pectoral muscles to be able to grab the sword 2 handed in front of himself. he couldn't bring his hands together he was too THICK in the chest .
This is one of my favorite movies.
Your commentary had me laughing out loud dude.