I never liked the Sword and Sorcery genre that much, me being more of a science fiction kind of guy. But watching Arnold Schwarznegger's first hit movie, Conan The Barbarian, it's hard not to get swept up in the brutal fantasy landscapes and outrageous action, magic and characters. Writer/director John Milus takes things ultra seriously, only throwing to the revenge tale in a few moments of levity when appropriate (drunk Conan!).
The world Milus creates is epic, convincing and stunning to look at (great photography and set design), is told in a wonderfully cinematic way (like The Terminator, Arnie's dialogue is minimised to show of to minimise his onscreen weakness...acting) and is accompanied by Basil Poledouris' magnificently sweeping, omnipresent score. The supporting cast is great too, especially James Earl Jones as snake demon sorcerer Thulsa Doom, while you have to give credit to Sandahl Bergman as possibly the most 'mannish' leading lady in movies until Kurt Russell dressed up in drag in Tango & Cash.
And of course, who can forget the classic lines of dialogue like, "What is best in life?" Conan: "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women..." Great movie. There's nothing out there in cinemaland like it; not the sequel nor the pile of Conan wannabes that sprung up afterward.
1 comment:
Agreed. Conan is a well made well conceived movie from a director who knows what he's doing. And, yes, it does look great and the score by the late great Basil Poledouris is fab. I love the main theme. And has anyone ever in the history of movies looked more the part he was playing than Arnie in this? Huge, scary barbarian dude. Yep, I totally buy that. Betcha the remake is a pile of cack.
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