Review of Conan the Barbarian (1982) by Justin R — 07 Sep 2011
The film adaption of famous pulp writer Robert E. Howard's creation Conan the Barbarian is directed by John Milius, a man with an undoubtedly committed yet undeniably strange passion for the source material.
The tale of a muscly hero who seeks revenge for the massacre of his tribe is tackled with an odd directorial panache, and even the ridiculously bad bits are somewhat enjoyable. It seems that the casting of Arnold Schwarzenegger, largely unknown at the time, was an immaculate decision.
Schwarzenegger emboldens the production; in any other film a performance of this kind would have been panned, but in a hilariously extravagant fantasy film, he sort-of shines. Along the way on his quest, Conan kills a giant snake, humps a witch who nearly kills him before they finish and becomes afflicted with a female thief, Valeria (who he only speaks five words to in the entire film, all within 30 seconds of introduction).
On paper it sounds absolutely ridiculous, but the brutally violent, gloriously OTT campfest of "Conan the Barbarian" is actually supremely entertaining. Cheesy as it may be, James Earl Jones is a compelling villain and the action scenes are actually pretty well done.
It really really shouldn't work, but it does. Bravo.
This review of Conan the Barbarian (1982) was written by Justin R on 07 Sep 2011.
Conan the Barbarian has generally received positive reviews.
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