By Adrian Smith
Continuing
the inevitable rollout of classic (and not so classic) movies to the latest
home video format, Fox Studios have released Conan the Barbarian as a
region-free Blu-ray in the UK, just in time to help stir up interest in the
forthcoming remake in September (although that film is being distributed by
rival studios Lionsgate).
It
is hard to imagine now, given Schwarzenegger's legendary status in the film
industry, that in 1982 he was a relatively unknown actor. As a former Mr
Olympia he had achieved some level of fame through the body-building
documentary Pumping Iron in 1977, where he infamously smoked marijuana.
Several years before that, his first film role had seen him take the lead, under the name Arnold Strong, in Hercules
in New York (1969). One of the funniest bad movies of all time, it did
little for his career at the time, and until Conan the Barbarian, other
film and TV roles mainly consisted of bit parts, playing heavies and body
builders.
It
was his starring role in Pumping Iron that brought Schwarzenegger to the
attention of Hollywood, and a property was sought out that would suit his
particular screen presence, ideally a role that needed an imposing physique and
little in the way of dialogue. The Conan Marvel comic book series, based on the
fantasy novels by Robert E. Howard, with its highly stylish depictions of this
towering, muscle-bound hero, provided the inspiration and a script was
developed. That process took four years, and included a major rewrite by Oliver
Stone.
The
story, evidently based on Viking culture and mythology, depicts the evils
committed by a snake cult lead by the messianic Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones).
He makes the mistake of killing everyone in young Conan's village, including
his parents. Conan and the other children are put into a life of back-breaking
slavery. Young Conan grows up to be the hugely over-developed Arnold
Schwarzenegger. His muscles do not go unnoticed, as he's soon put to work as a
gladiator, stabbing, gouging and pummelling those brave or unlucky enough to be
put into the ring with him. Eventually he manages to secure his freedom, and
goes on a quest to find the cult that killed his parents. Along the way he has
sex with a witch, makes friends with foxy warrior Valeria (former dancer
Sandahl Bergman, who performed all her own stunts) and thief Subotai, and
learns that Thulsa Doom has taken the King's daughter. With the King financing
his quest, he sets off into the desert (Almeria, Spain, a location seen in
hundreds of films, but perhaps best known for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly)
to confront Doom and his bloodthirsty minions.