Conan The Barbarian (DVD)

Review of

Conan The Barbarian (DVD)

Overall rating (11): Overall user rating Conan The Barbarian (DVD)

4 offers from £2.89 to £4.99  

All Conan The Barbarian (DVD) reviews

 Write your own review


 


 


Lord of the loincloth!

5 Sep 23rd, 2003

Advantages:
Bloody good entertainment

Disadvantages:
Dodgy dialogue

Recommendable: Yes 

Detailed rating:

Did you enjoy it?

Story

Characters / Performances

Special Effects

How does it compare to similar films?

more


MyPOV

About me: Male, 32, I'm really handsome but only when nobody's looking.

Member since:18.08.2003

Reviews:18

Members who trust:1

Review rated by 15 Ciao members on average: very helpful

As a kid this was part of my staple diet of fantasy and science fiction – and I lapped it up. I hadn’t seen it in years but it was on TV not so long back and thought I’d re-visit it. I intended only watching the first 10 minutes or so before going to bed, assuming that it would now look dated and dire to me. Yet I found myself hooked all over again and had to watch from start to finish.

OK, it’s never going to win any awards but as a product of its time it was certainly the best and most highly polished of a slew of fantasy films that did the rounds back then – and not much in the genre has come close since (the Dungeons and Dragons movie anyone??) It was also a time when Arnold Schwarzenneger was new and exciting and at his most muscular. He certainly seemed to be born to play this one role.

There’s not much in the way of dialogue but what there is hasn’t stood up well. A decent remastering wouldn’t go amiss. On the other hand the musical score fits the mood perfectly; it’s rousing and potent and sticks with you for a while after the end credits.

Now we come to the movie’s strongest suit by far, its imagery. The most memorable moment for me is not the bloody ending, but the scene early on when we first see Conan as a boy, his village has been attacked and the men murdered. The only survivors are Conan and his mother. I have no idea who the actress is that played the mother but without uttering a word she manages to convey everything from fear through bloody determination to understanding. And when she holds the deathly cold stare of James Earl Jones (another great face for wordless emotion) there is more gravitas in that one moment than in the rest of the film.

We then follow Conan on his journey from slave to pit fighter to freedom as well as from a boy to a man. Naturally what he chooses to do with his freedom is seek revenge on the man who wiped out his people.

There are a couple of mild sex scenes and I’m really sorry but for the life of me I just cannot take the idea of Arnie in a sex scene seriously! To make matters worse one of his conquests is a beautiful woman who, immediately after the act, turns into a hideous hag and tries to kill him (something a lot of fella’s can relate to..or so I’m told :-)

A good supporting cast also helps. Mako’s mad magician and his gravel toned narrations is another highlight. Arnie’s fellow thieves also fit the bill perfectly. And given the fact this is a pre-CGI (Computer Generated Image) movie the effects still hold up well. A fully believable giant animatronic snake, normally notoriously awful here is the best I’ve ever seen. Animated wraiths that try and take Arnie away are still more haunting than potential CGI counterparts.

All this action and muscles and swords and yet it still has a message or two. The danger of outlandish religious cults is as relevant today as it was back then; the dangers of mindless revenge etc.

What more can I say, certainly for me it was a forgotten gem that I’m glad I rediscovered and I’m going to have to invest in it on DVD so I can watch it again at my leisure…oh, and the bit where Arnie punches the camel and it falls over still makes me laugh even now!

 

Evaluate this review

How helpful would this review be to someone making a buying decision?

Rating guidelines

Comments about this review
digitalburn

digitalburn

23.09.2003 23:55

I love the film - so atmospheric.

kimking

kimking

23.09.2003 21:41

I'm afraid arnie just don't do it for me. kim.x

Add your comment

max. 2000 characters

  Post comment
Compare Prices sorted by Price
Conan the Barbarian [1981] [DVD]

Conan the Barbarian [1981] [DVD]

The film that launched Arnold Schwarzenegger's international career,Conan the ...

more

£ 2.89 amazon dvd 719 Ratings

Postage & Packaging: £1.​21

Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-​2 business days.​.​.

     Visit Shop  

amazon dvd

Conan the Barbarian [1981] [DVD]

Conan the Barbarian [1981] [DVD]

The film that launched Arnold Schwarzenegger's international career,Conan the ...

more

£ 4.48 amazon marketplace dvd 94 Ratings

Postage & Packaging: Free!

Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours.​.​.

     Visit Shop  

amazon marketplace dvd

Conan The Barbarian-DVD

Conan The Barbarian-​DVD

...

£ 4.93 thehut.com 25 Ratings

Postage & Packaging: £0.​00

Availability: In stock -​ Usually dispatched within 24 hours.​.​.

     Visit Shop  

thehut.​com



Compare prices
Conan the Barbarian [1981] [DVD] Conan the Barbarian [1981] [DVD] Conan The Barbarian-DVD
Conan the Barbarian [1981] [DVD] Conan the Barbarian [1981] [DVD] Conan The Barbarian-​DVD
amazon dvd amazon marketplace dvd thehut.com
£ 2.89 £ 4.48 £ 4.93
Postage & Packaging: £1.​21
more
Postage & Packaging: Free!
more
Postage & Packaging: £0.​00
more
 Visit Shop  Visit Shop  Visit Shop
amazon dvd amazon marketplace dvd thehut.​com
Similar offers
Conan The Barbarian Door Poster Conan The Barbarian Conan The Barbarian - Single Film Cell
Conan The Barbarian Door Poster Conan The Barbarian Conan The Barbarian -​ Single Film Cell
amazon kitchen LOVEFiLM.com amazon kitchen
£ 5.85 £ 3.93 £ 33.94
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery
more
Postage & Packaging: 0.​00
more
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery
more
 Visit Shop  Visit Shop  Visit Shop
amazon kitchen LOVEFiLM.​com amazon kitchen
Review Ratings
This review of Conan The Barbarian (DVD) has been rated:

"very helpful" by (100%):
  1. berlioz
  2. dead.letter
  3. newc0597
and 12 other members

The overall rating of a review is different from a simple average of all individual ratings.
Products you might be interested in
Starship Troopers (DVD) Starship Troopers (DVD)
(+) Awesome scifi war movie adapted from a novel
(-) Could have been a bit longer
45 reviews
Buy now for only £ 2.79
Until The End Of The World (DVD) Until The End Of The World (DVD)
Production Year: 1991 - Science Fiction - Director: Wim Wenders - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Sam Neill, Max Von Sydow, Solveig Dommartin, William Hurt
This product has not yet been reviewed. Rate it now
Buy now for only £ 6.50
Minority Report (DVD) (RESCHEDULED) (DVD) Minority Report (DVD) (RESCHEDULED) (DVD)
(+) original plot, quality special effects
(-) you need to keep a broad open mind
2 reviews
Buy now for only £ 3.27
Related products on eBay