I watched/listened to Conan the Barbarian last night with the Milius/Arnold commentary track. I learned a lot.

I’ve always liked the film – I think they did a great job of recreating Howard’s ancient world – but I was especially impressed by how much thought went into the imagery: the title sequence of a steel bar being hammered into a weapon is followed by a sequence in which a boy is fashioned into a human weapon.

And I like that it’s a movie-movie (i.e., you can watch it with the sound off and still know most of what’s going on).

One of the great adventure movie soundtracks of all time.

Milius did an uncredited rewrite on "Dirty Harry." I suspect his contributions are what made it a hit. A few choice lines of dialogue can make a film. Milius is a weapons lover, especially guns, and that leads me to believe he wrote Harry's character-defining (and now iconic) monologue:

"I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you got to ask yourself one question... Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

When I was kid, I saw this movie in theater. And now I have DVD. I like this movie too. This Japanese title is "Conan the Great", not "Barbarian". Perhaps, Japanese distributor thought, "Almost Japanese doesn't know this "Barbarian" word". :p

When I was kid, I saw this movie in theater. And now I have DVD. I like this movie too. This Japanese title is "Conan the Great", not "Barbarian". Perhaps, Japanese distributor thought, "Almost Japanese doesn't know this "Barbarian" word". :p

Gaijin?

Ken V.

I have always said Conan the Barbarian is a truly great movie and Arnie was perfectly cast. I mean, who else could you see in the role? In fact everything about the cast, music and sets just all works pefectly for what the film is about. I do get mad when people say that such and such is a better film. Sure, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a better western, Alien is a better Science Fiction film, Die Hard is a better Action film, the list goes on but in it's genre Conan is as good as it gets.

Having said that the sequel was a bit of a dissapointment.....

I have always said Conan the Barbarian is a truly great movie and Arnie was perfectly cast.

And Sandahl Bergman -- yow.

This is one of my favorite movies, and I have to add that the score by Basil Poledouris is AMAZING. That's a soundtrack CD that I can listen to without the movie as though it was a symphony. Just gorgeous, and for my money, one of the greatest film scores ever recorded.

And James Earl Jones is amazing as Thulsa Doom. Well, he's amazing in pretty much anything, but he gives an impressive performance and has some really memorable dialogue. ("That is strength, boy! That is power! The strength and power of flesh. What is steel compared to the hand that wields it? Look at the strength of your body, the desire in your heart. I gave you this! Contemplate this on the Tree of Woe. Crucify him.")

There is great symbolism is that movie, too. I love that the symbolic heart of the story is embodied in Conan's father's sword, which you can more or less follow through the movie, and its breaking near the end ties in nicely with the dialogue above. And one can have all kinds of fun discussing how that relates to Conan's biological father and Thulsa Doom's claim of really being responsible for making Conan who he is.

And this is the one thing that really ticks me off about Ahnold becoming governor of California. He was supposed to do King Conan: Crown of Iron with Milius, dammit! Couldn't he have waited just long enough to get that done?? Better yet, couldn't he have done that instead of Terminator 3???

Blake

Gaijin?

Ken V.

Who? Me? Yes. On this board, I am Gaijin!

I used to read the Conan comic books back in H.S. Arnold's facial expressions matched the comics greatly. My friends and I watched this movie countless times and is still one of my favorites. Wish I could say the same for the sequel.