Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6769 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-05-30
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 129 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Conan the Barbarian, the movie that turned Arnold Schwarzenegger into a global superstar, is a prime example of a match made in heaven. It's the movie that macho maverick writer-director John Milius was born to make, and Arnold was genetically engineered for his role as the muscle-bound, angst-ridden hero created in Robert E. Howard's pulp novels. Oliver Stone contributed to Milius's screenplay, and the production design by comic artist Ron Cobb represents a perfect cinematic realization of Howard's fantasy world. To avenge the murder of his parents, Conan tracks down the evil Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones) with the help of Queen Valeria (played by buff B-movie vixen Sandahl Bergman) and Subotai the Mongol (Gerry Lopez). Aptly described by critic Roger Ebert as "the perfect fantasy for the alienated pre-adolescent," this blockbuster is just as enjoyable for adults who haven't lost their youthful imagination. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Should have been more
I have always been a big fan of Robert E. Howard's Conan series (I have them all), and have had a VCR copy of "Conan the Barbarian" since first seeing it in the theatres in 1982. I was disappointed in the only attempted "sequel" ( "Conan the Destroyer"), and have always been even more disappointed that other attempts haven't been made to tell more of Howard's imaginative Conan series....especially in the age of CGI movies, which would seem to create endless possibilities in translating more of the Conan saga to the big screen. When I first saw the original "Conan" in 1982, I thought that there must have been a lot of film that wound up on the editing room floor: the movie clearly had a rich atmosphere, and Arnold was and always will be the perfect embodiment of Howard's fictional hero- but the movie also had a very choppy effect to it, as if many scenes were trimmed to get the thing down to a suitable running time.
So, I recently bought this Collector's Edition, in the hopes that I'd see the expanded movie the original should have been.
But I was disappointed again: the additional material largely is just a short speech by Conan in the last 10 minutes of the movie- otherwise much the same as the original. The other extras on the DVD are OK, but I was hoping for more in the film itself- so for those of you who are looking for a more "fleshed-out" Conan (no pun intended), I think you'll also be disappointed with the Collector's Edition.
Howard's epic series may be permanently doomed, for me anyway- as even if further Conan tales are brought to the big screen, I'm afraid that no one will ever be able to replace Arnold as The Main Man.

Highly recommended for fans of the Sword & Sorcery movies!
"Conan the Barbarian" is full of violence, blood, gore, sex, nudity, and substance abuse. Being a father of 3, that makes this movie one of my biggest guilty pleasures!

Several observations:

* James Earl Jones is fantastic as the understatedly evil Falsa Doom
* "Arni" is the perfect Conan...buff, brusk, and focused
* The cinematography is just outstanding
* Great music score
* Not for kids (for reasons listed above)

This is a very good action movie and is highly recommended for fans of the Sword & Sorcery genre.

Made my husband very happy when he got this
My husband has been looking for this movie at the video stores around town & no one had it so I ordered it from Amazon - he was so surprised & excited.