- Produced by Raffaella De Laurentiis; Dino De Laurentiis, though uncredited, was one of the forces behind it
- Directed by John Milius
- Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones, Max von Sydow
- Compare prices on the DVD
- Watch the trailer
Conan the Barbarian could have been just as great a miscalculation as Flash Gordon: based on a pulp character from the 1930s made famous in comics, starring an actor at the time more noticeable for his biceps than his acting talent, supported again by the hamtastic Max Von Sydow -- but instead Conan turned out to be a turning point in fantasy cinema. Only two years after Flash, Conan -- like a good sword -- manages to have just the right balance of heft and comfort. The key ingredients are Milius's strong sense of pacing -- other barbarian movies, like Beastmaster, tend to be deadly dull by comparison -- and the magically unexpected screen presence of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who keeps track of where the camera is and knows to show you his eyes at all the right moments, keeping you connected and involved. That plus the straight, rather than stylized, sex and violence of the film made it a major success.
Fun fact: After spending several years in development hell, Conan will return in August 2011, in a separate adaptation starring Jason Momoa of Stargate Atlantis.
