Blu-Ray Review: ‘Conan the Barbarian,’ ‘Conan the Destroyer’

Printer-friendly versionE-mail page to friendPDF version

CHICAGO – I’m going to withhold judgment until I see it but, on paper, it makes no sense to remake John Milius’ 1982 fantasy/action classic “Conan the Barbarian” for one simple reason — there’s only one Ah-nuld. The movie weighed heavily on the charisma of its unique star, someone who was essentially catapulted to the A-list by this film and lightning only strikes once. Does anyone think that Jason Momoa, star of the August 19th remake from Marcus Nispel (remake “King” after desecrating “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Friday the 13th”) will find the same magic? Check out the originals, now on Blu-ray, and see the standard he has to live up to.

In 1982, Arnold Schwarzenegger was far from the icon he is today. This is before affairs with nannies, political office, and even breakout hits like “Predator,” “Commando,” and “The Terminator” were yet to come. He was still a bodybuilder with a funny accent and giant muscles. Loosely based on the stories by Robert E. Howard, “Conan the Barbarian” was the kind of breakout vehicle a star dreams about. With the talented writer Milius behind the camera and co-writing with Oliver Stone, the piece just clicked for early ’80s audiences. With a budget of only $20 million, it made almost $70 million worldwide (a hefty sum in 1982 numbers), opening at #1 in its first weekend.

Conan the Barbarian
Photo credit: Universal

A sequel was inevitable and the much-lighter and less-enjoyable “Conan the Destroyer” would come two years later. With a new director (Richard Fleischer) and a much-different tone (PG as opposed to R and is that Wilt Chamberlain?!?!), “Destroyer” hasn’t held up nearly as well and actually hints more at the slide Arnold would take with some of his less-wise acting decisions. It’s pretty horrendous. The movie made half as much as its predecessor, opening at #4, and basically killed the franchise until this year’s reboot.

The Blu-ray releases of “Conan the Barbarian” and “Conan the Destroyer” feature excellent transfers and strong audio mixes. The special features on the vastly-superior “Barbarian” are pretty extensive but they’re basically non-existent on “Destroyer.” The first flick is definitely the one to pick up if you can only afford one or don’t feel the need to have a complete Conan or Ah-nuld HD collection.

Special Features — “Conan the Barbarian” (the second film only has a trailer):
o Deleted Scenes
o Conan Unchained
o Special Effects
o The Conan Archives
o Feature Commentary with Director John Milius and Arnold Schwarzenegger
o D-Box Motion Enabled
o BD-Live
o Art of Steel: Sword Makers and Masters
o Conan: From the Vault

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com