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Conan the Barbarian (1982)


Commentaries on this disc:

Commentary 1: Director John Milius and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger Rating:7.8/10 (21 votes) [graph]Login to vote or review
Reviewed by grimjack on January 11th, 2015:Find all reviews by grimjack
This is one of the funnier commentary tracks I've ever listened to. It's quite possible Schwarzenegger and Milius had a few drinks before rewatching the film together for the first time in decades, and had a blast thinking about the funny things that took place during filming. They talk about background concepts not made clear enough in the film. Ideas the directors put into the actors heads. The difficulties of shooting in a foreign land, etc..

My only complaint is that I would've loved to hear more about Oliver Stone's contributions to the script, as this seems far from his regular work.
Reviewed by Therealmrspock on October 11th, 2016:Find all reviews by Therealmrspock
One of the better commentaries I had the opportunity to hear. Schwarzenegger is the weak link here, since he tends to say a few absurd observations ("I cannot believe I got the top billing over James Earl Jones!" he says in the intro, even though this movie is about Conan, not about Thulsa Doom, anyway) - except for one moment when he rightfully points out the obvious flaw in the story (Conan was revived thanks to black magic, yet when Valeria was wounded, they didn't try reviving her, as well, which he remarkably points out). John Milius is the real highlight here, speaking about some secret themes of the story, as well as the location shooting in Spain (they considered filming in Yugoslavia, but abandoned that idea).

He admits that the cult leader Thulsa Doom was inspired by Jim Jones. He also clarifies a few unknown details in the film (the wheel the young Conan is turning is a mill to grind grain; the two of Doom's villains were deliberately picked to be 6'5 tall, so that Schwarzenegger would look puny compared to them and it would be uncertain if he could win; De Laurentiis wanted to cut a scene where Conan and Valeria were drunk, since he thought they would look "undignified" for the audience...). Overall, a highly enjoyable hear, very informative, relaxed and funny. 9/10