An hour long video praising 1982 Conan? Hell yes!

Basil Poledouris was commissioned to make a soundtrack for a movie about a muscular loincloth man with a sword walking around a desert and decided to make what is probably the best classical music of the 1980s.

Conan the Barbarian is the greatest low fantasy epic ever made. The actors, the cinematography, the writing and Basil Polidouris’s mighty score. It will never be surpassed. The talent no longer exists to make anything like it and even if it did, the studios would never allow it.

This film was a "perfect storm" and probably wouldn't have worked without all the elements coming together so well. The fact that it holds up so well today demonstrates that a serious approach to fantasy (with the odd wink) could be a work of cinematic art.

I consider Conan to be Arnolds best movie with Predator a close second.

one of my favorite movies of all time, last year I actually traveled to Howard's grave and payed my respects.

from Conan the Keyboard Warrior: Clap back at your enemies. See them butt hurt before you. Read the lamentations in the comment section.

This film remains one of my all time favourites. It's just so good.

One of my all-time 5 top movies. Thank you for the deep dive.

Fun fact: the actress that plays Valeria is a dancer, and was in the cult classic "Xanadu" with Olivia Newton John and Gene Kelly as a dancing extra near the end of the film.

I'm so amazed with your deep details on movies. You gave me tears. In how much you love and appreciate films. That the crew work so hard on. Thank you so much.

Frazzetta was a genius too

You've convinced me to go watch this. I technically "saw" it in theatres when I was 17 but was so busy making out with Tricia Tidwell all I can remember is the soup scene. Time to correct that deficit, thanks RNG!

Excellent analysis of one of my top 5 films. I never put together his empty hand at the beginning, Thulsa's and then his own after healing from the crucifixion until you showed it here. Well done!

Thulsa tells Conan he raided the village because he was seeking steel when he was young. But that he came to realise the power of flesh was stronger.

"Infidel defilers, they shall all drown in lakes of blood, now they will learn why they are afraid of the dark, now they will learn why they fear the night"

This is _grrrreat!_ 🐯 Thank you for this. I particularly enjoy just how personal your presentation is. . .occasional, yet delightful, laughter and all. ☺️ The score by *_Basil Poledourus_* is easily in my top 3 scores _evah!_ I can't tell you how many versions I have. 😏 My favs being the 2012 Intrada release and 2010 Prague Philharmonic version. Thanks for all the time and effort. Again, _so very enjoyable!_ 😊 *EDIT:* Oh, yeah. . _.Subscribed!_

Nice to hear someone love a movie so much.. Thousands of films I can say I like, but maybe only a handful I can say I love...Conan the Barbarian,Rocky Horror show. The Wanderers and maybe The Abyss.

Conan’s dad in the movie was played by Will Smith. Will also played the fighter, Clint Eastwood fought in “Every Which Way but Loose”.

Issue 200 “Savage Sword of Conan”. It talks about Howard’s inspiration for Conan. REH is from Texas. While in Mexico. He was accosted, and to fight off banditos. He used a flea market sword, he saw in a table, to keep them at bay. Some of original stories of Conan in Weird Tales, showed Conan as a barrel chested buccaneer. Hence the folded boots Conan wore in the later comics.

Wow. You've revived my interest in Conan. I did not know the origins of Conan. Amazing! You push me back to my childhood when a dear friend was a fan of Conan and he and I drew sketches of muscled bound warriors and Vikings, etc., because of the Conan influence. The movie was great! And according to my friend, now deceased, approved of the first story line. And enjoyed the others Conan movies that followed. We were a little disappointed that they never completed the Conan stories. Thank you. You're great. You continue to bring a unique way of presenting a view that adds to past experiences. James Earl Jones did a great job as Thulsa Doom.

OMG. im so glad you made this. the weirdly authentic tone of the film and the competing philosophies displayed have long been in need of a closer look. i love this movie for many of the things you touch upon. thank you!

This was a great dive into the themes and history behind the movie. Thanks for putting it together!

Omg, I've been away from KZfaq for a bit and I'm so happy to come back to all the new content from you!

After seeing this movie umpteenth time I realized that teachings of Conan's father were wrong: it was his friends he could trust not the sword. Also it is really hard trying to convince people who haven't seen this movie that it really is great movie in a category of all traditional classics like Godfather etc.

Just recently discovered your channel (while searching for Big Trouble in Little China) and I love your passion for these movies. Your viewpoint is insightful and I love your voice! By Crom, may your channel grow!

Born -65. American comics began to be published around -68/69. Conan’s first appearance here in Sweden -71. 6 year old me was stunned. Saw the movie premiere here 1982 and walked out with a grin from ear to ear.

Awesome review 😎😎

Way to go! Haven't seen you before, but I loved it. Saw Conan in theaters in '82 as a kid. Your very informative and intelligent review taught me a few things I didn't know, even having seen this Masterpiece many times. Your almost giddy enthusiasm is adorable. Keep up the fun work.

Enjoyed the review and back story of Conan the barbarian. Well done Retro Nerd Girl!

Just discovered your channel. So far, I watched your Lifeforce video and this one. Two of my very favorite films. I wanted to say that your analysis and lore drops in both videos taught me some new things I never knew despite watching both movies many times. I’m impressed and really enjoying your videos! You have excellent taste in films. Keep up the great work.

I love this movie. I'd never made the connection with Kurasawa, but rewatching it this evening, it reminded me a lot of his films. When I came across your video and you mentioned Seven Samurai, I was like, that was a weird coincidence. Good retrospective.

This was a great watch. The film is a firm fave of mine and your coverage certainly did it justice and i enjoyed some of your ideas (esp the witch). One of the visual aspects i've always liked about this is the body camouflage they use when invading Thulsa Doom's temple. It makes them seem even more badass than they already are!

Spot on review of my all-time favorite movie. I never even considered your theory about Subothai! Bravo!

hahaha I appreciate your infectious laugh included in your review of these classic movies. Keep up the good work.

I have a soft spot for the silly and much later Kull the Conqueror movie, if only because an old high school friend of mine is listed as a digital artist in its endless final credits, but I'm glad that Conan triumphed in our popular culture. Thank you for quoting William Smith at such length! At some point Matt Sloan of Welcome to the Basement (AKA Chad Vader) repeated Mako's intro to this movie, the one ending in "High adventure!", I'll link it to you if I can ever find it. Not particular to anything, but the Book of Genesis leaves whole centuries open between the exile of Cain and the building of Noah's Ark, and I always thought you could have some Conan-like adventurer in that world. ("Do you want to live forever?" I always answer, "I want to try.") Leave it to James Earl Jones to nail playing both Darth Vader AND Thulsa Doom. (Wait ... James Earl Jones ... the Reverend Jim Jones of Jonestown, Guyana ... an eerie coincidence.) I wasn't big on Destroyer, but I did appreciate Grace Jones advising "You must grab him! And take him!" There was a one-season TV Conan (NOT O'Brien) show starring some guy named Ralf Moeller, but it didn't do much for me. And one of my favorite versions of the Nietzsche quote is the Kelly Clarkson song "Stronger." Thanks for the memories, RNG, this was long but worth it. Excelsior!

I am very impressed with this interpretation of one of my favorite movies. Well Done. You commented on the things that are suggested while using your brilliant imagination to suggest what was not spoken.

Thulsa Doom’s line has always stuck with me “ what is steel compared to the hand that wields it “. My friend was an unbelievable guitar player . I was complaining I needed a better guitar to be a better player . Without missing a beat he said “ what is a guitar compared to the hand that plays it “🤘🤘🤘

Awesome vid! Love the part about Doom and his henchmen's possible deeper ties...

This was an awesome breakdown of this movie! I went to this movie with my father as a kid and have seen it countless less times. This was eye opening to me, much of the symbolism went completely over my head.

I liked how you worked in, "Let me tell you of the days of high adventure."

I learned a lot from this but a few things: Thulsa Doom and his 2 henchmen aren't brothers, vanir or from the same tribe. Thulsa Doom is a Stygian (egyptian) who was travelling the lands searching for steel to solve the riddle before changing his war band into a snake cult. The beginning was his warband + whatever mercenaries which were possible enemies or rivals of Conan's tribe. The tattooed mustached man at the beginning is also cimmerian - the cimmerians being the descendents of Atlantis and the ancestors of the Celts. Cimmeria has no connection to the real world cimmerians and so this is either that or a mistake in identity (as was the Picts). Howard took real places and changed them slightly (i.e. Zembabwei > Zimbabwe). The children were taken to Vanir lands where they were sold to the Vanir who are red haired. Rexor and Thorgrim are possibly from the same people or different ones. Gunderland, the Border Kingdom and Asaheim are all possibilities, with the most former being described as "tawny haired" and Aesir as blonde. Thorgrim is probably from the Aesir and Rexor is probably from Gunderland, as his name is somewhat similar to another from that place in the stories who is somewhat similar, Nestor, though not Conan's enemy. Though tbh I don't think they looked too deeply into the world building for the 1982 movie, especially with mentions of Valhalla being something in the film Conan spoke of as in the stories Conan is 100% unapologetically Celtic.

I loved the line, "Do you want to live forever?"

This movie is the perfect storm of awesome. The actors, the score, the story, the commitment to the production. What a timeless cinimatic masterpeice. It came out when i was 8 and was in cable movie channels for years. I can't count how many times i watched it.

Awesome video! Feel like i need to re-watch this movie now, also arnold is great as conan

Been tradition of mine to watch this Masterpiece once a year, one of my all time favorites!! Sadly, they don't make films like this anymore

Great review!

A great review and breakdown! Conan the Barbarian is my favourite movie and this made for a very satisfying listen. Especially given that it's from someone who appreciates how wonderful the film is.

This film will never get old, in fact more and more the newer movies pale in comparison, prompting nostalgia for the golden years of film.

Soon as I saw Conan the barbarian 1982 masterpiece I automatically liked... Any Arnie films are never really underrated but this one really is... Can't praise this movie enough..if there was a check box for all the aspects of great movie making it gets a big tick...

A someone who love Conan the Barbarian too Im glad I found this video. I think your insites are spot on. Especially about how he get his power. One of the insites I had was during the orgy/cannibalism scene, that it was the depravity of his followers doing what they were doing (and woudnt normally do) that powered his ability to transform into a giant snake. And was just reaffirmed how quickly they abandoned his cause when he was killed and lost the power over them.

"Suffer no guilt, ye who wield this in the name of Crom"... I read that once about that sword decades ago, but you quoting it really made it hit home for me powerfully !

I like that you caught Conan's bow to the gods after the battle of the mounds. No other reviewers ever mention that nod to his gladiator days and the respect he's showing to his "audience."

OMG my favourite Movie of all time (Fantasy Wize) Such a great film! So many problems with production, but what a kickstart for Arnold! Awesome Review!

Great video! Interesting perspective! It is still perhaps my all time favorite movie or at least certainly in my top 10 with movies like Predator, Star Trek 2 Wrath of Kahn, Terminator, Lord of the Rings, and a few others. I was fortunate to see it in the theatre and boy what an experience. My jaw just dropped with the opening scene. I was 13 and I still remember it like it happened yesterday. I try to collect everything Conan. I just can't get enough Conan. Titan comics just put out a new Savage Sword of Conan magazine. I'm looking forward to reading it. Thank you for a wonderful video!!! CROM!

My favorite favorite favorite sword and sorcery movie EVAR!!! Almost every day of my life I quote some part of Conan the Barbarian. my oldest son would watch this when he was little, every day. When I joined a Kindred of Norse Pagans, we would watch this every Sunday. I'm loving your channel. I'm loving your deep dive. Thank you thank you!!!

I wasn't born when this movie was released and I watched it in the year 2001, when I was 19. Still, one of the most memorable movies in my life.

You made Crom smile with this 🗡️ Valeria is the best female character in film imo & this soundtrack is one of the greatest of all time.

Oh my gosh your branding is amazing.

Conan means 'Little Hound' in Gaelic - in Legend the Gaels or Scots originated in the same lands that the Cimmerians once inhabited

I don't think i have ever come across someone so passionate about this film!......I really enjoyed your indepth thoughts on the film it truly is a Masterpiece!

This movie as by far one of the best soundtrack its definitely up there an I love that The Northman movie 2022 takes a lot of inspiration from Conan The Barbarian .

Great video I own and read all the Conan and kull paperbacks. Wish I would have saved my giant Conan comics. THANKS FOR THE GOOD MEMORIES

Great video! Awesome movie!!!

Wow it was stunning and great joy to hear your review @ Retro Nerd Girl about my all time most favourite movie of them all, conan the barbarian 😁. Loved your theories, especially about the pyre and fire, the name of the wizard was Akiro and i did like his narration alot. He was the one who voiced aku in samurai jack and uncle Iro in avatar last airbender, rip Mako. Watching the behind the scenes documentary, Millius was thinking to make at a trilogy, which most sadly of the fans, he didn't. He wrote a script for conan "the iron crown" sets 20 years after the original film showing his adult son of Conan growing up apart from his dad. Holywood didn't approved the script and it never came to be. Millius got a stroke few years ago and sadly he's in no shape of filming anything. The second movie conan the destroyer was meant for kids audience and the writer based his script on frezzta comics entirely which felt more generic fantasy low budget film to me. Poleodoris soundtrack and score is my top first greatest score ever created to a feature film in movies history. Nothing can compare it. He was a total genius. Now Arnold being too old i still hold my fingers that someone will pick old millius script and make it "king Conan" movie. But without millius direction i doubt a film will have a major success like the first one. The philosophy of Song, the poetry of Kitai, that Conan read in the movie, the philosophy of the riddle of steel, everything in this movie is just perfect. Many fans suggested that the giant skeleton in the tomb was king Kull himself, Conan's ancestor. So a theory made that maybe Kull was prophesied that 1000 years after the sank of Atlantis, one of his descendants (Cimmerians were the descendants of Atalantian people) will come and take from him his sword, which got its steel still sharp after so many years. In the original script Millius said in the documentary, the giant skeleton was supposed to reanimated and fight Conan but due to budget issues they only made the skeleton to bow its head to Conan, like he says "thank you for freeing my soul you are worthy to take my sword". At first i thought Conan said "Crom" meaning the skeleton is Crom himself but now i know who it really was. If you seen the movie "The Northman", you'll see there are many many references and easter eggs of scenes that were taken directly from Conan the barbarian. Im sure you'll love it if you already didn't watch it 😁. Actually, many fans says that Thulsa doom answered the riddle to Conan, saying "what is steel compared to the hand that wields it?" Suggesting the will of vengeance that Thulsa gave to Conan which helped him survive all those harsh 20 years, that why he told him in the end "im the wealth spring from which you flow. When im gone, you would never be". Another fan theory is why didn't Thulsa's hypnotizing powers work on Conan, but on his mother it did? Well, Millius stated in the documentary that Thulsa doom is last Atlantian suvivor, that why he has blue eyes in the movie. His group of people were reptilians which were shapeshifters who had mind powers like mind control hypnotizing etc. Conan's mother, wasn't a cimmerian, which are atlantians descendants, that's why Thulsa's powers worked on her, but conan which has a cimmerian-atlantian blood in his veins, could snap out from the mind control, to the surprise of Doom, which when he hit him with his sword and he hold his neck mayb thinking to himself "its impossible, only Atlantians could resist my powers" which means Conan is an Atlantian descendant. There was a scene when king osric was being stabbed by his own man, but it was cut out of the film. Anyway, glad you liked the film and just subscribed to you!😊

During the film, Thulsa Doom doesn't age and neither do Thorgrim and Rexor , I kind've imagine that they were both Doom's earliest followers, and he rewarded them by using whatever powers he had to keep himself young on them as well, it would also be an effective recruiting tool for Doom's snake cult, because he does promise immortality to his followers, and an ageless priest would be a pretty effective pitch to an initiate.

LMAO..."Do you want to live forever " was also used in the movie, Starship Troopers.😁😁

OH MY GOD ! The musical score too ! Basil Poledouris... so perfect ! I had the soundtrack in my teens to work out to ... that was a few decades and WAY more than a few pounds ago LOL ! From word one... you were immersed in the Hyborian Age ! B O O M !... into that title theme... over the incredible scene of his father smithing his mother's sword... And DAMN... that scene after Conan is brought back to life where Conan is practicing his sword drills... movie making magic !... or sorcery...

Brilliant as always- the breakdown on proper story telling -Valaria a flawed character spot on- i want to see you review Zombie classic Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things 1972🔥🔥🔥

Was Osric king of shatazar? (Spelling probably wrong) I thought that was the kingdom from the sequel. I may be wrong, but this movie is beautiful to me and the unspoken love between Conan and Valeria always touches my heart, they had warmth and took the world by the throat. Thanks for your hard work on this review, it's great!

Valeria in the movie is a mashup of characters of Robert Howard. Valeria was a mercenary, not a thief. Conan greatest love was Be'lit, not Valeria.

He Man and the Masters of the Universe was actually born out of Mattel originally wanting to a Conan line based on this movie. They kicked themselves for saying no to George Lucas when he approached them to do the Star Wars action figures, so they wanted to get in on what they thought would be the next big movie franchise. They spent a lot of time and money developing the action figures, and yes, the skull faced Skeletor design was indeed originally meant to be Thulsa Doom. But when Mattel learned the movie would be rated "R" with a lot of violence, sex and nudity, they backed out of the deal thinking the line wouldn't fly with kids who legally couldn't even watch the film. So Mattel re-purposed their designs to create the Masters of the Universe line of action figures instead.

My dad watched this a lot.

Thanks!

I've not listened to this KZfaqr before, but hearing a girl talk about how much she enjoys Conan '82... I'm subscribed!

After watching that brilliant movie at least 15 times in my life, your video gave me new insights and interpretations, that I always missed. Thank you very much! The only thing I always nag around is the acting of Sven-Ole Thorsen (Thorgrim). But this is only a tiny drop in value.

Absolutely a masterpiece. This was the gold standard of sword and sandal movies, and hasn't been matched in its grandeur. If you count LOTR movies in this type of genre then they have surpassed it obviously, but it took that long for anything to come close.

I've been watching this since the 80's and you found things I never noticed. Like the tied up man at the witches hut.

It's pretty strange and also cool that basically the entire cast is still alive...I think. Usually, half of the cast is dead with a movie that's over 40 years old.

You must learn its discipline. For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts. This.... This you can trust.

Amazing review. This movie was the best Sword & Sorcery film of the era.

I love your read on Wolf Girl leaving Subotai chained as food for her...er..."coworkers" as payment for bringing her Conan. 😆

This movie is nothing less than a Arnold classic.

My favourite film❤❤❤❤. In addition, the dubbing into Spanish from Spain improves everything even more❤❤❤❤

Is this because I asked for Running Man? You give me the thing I didn't know I needed instead? Lol 😆 love you, girl!

Conan The Barbarian was/is the greatest Opera ever put on celluloid. I watch it twice a year as it motivates the hell out of me.

Hola que tal.....me gustó tu opinión de Conan...soy un gran admirador de la película desde que fui con mi padre ha verla en cine con 12 años también como tú ....y desde entonces no hay día que no recuerde la película ...lógicamente es mi película favorita y ahora también de mis hijos ....siempre buscamos significados las veces que las vemos y por eso tú vídeo me pareció importante y muy bien elaborado se nota el cariño que le tienes también a la película ....yo prefiero la versión más larga ..en la que Conan habla de su infancia y su vida antes de la batalla de los montículos ..me parece genial para entender el porqué de su lucha constante ..[se bastante sobre la producción aquí en España de su rodaje ...escenas que quedaron fuera y todo lo demás hay mucho de que hablar ]...pero aún así es una obra maestra para mí ...vale no me enrollo más ...muchas gracias por el vídeo ..un abrazo cuídate...

The post-apocalyptic idea, and especially the thousands of mutants, makes me think somewhat of the (of course /drastically/ tone shifted for target audience) Conan the Adventurer cartoon series from '92... :)

The music is epic. I can close my eyes, listen to the music and see the movie play out in my mind. I watched this movie at 10 years of age and easily was my favorite movie of all time. I hoped to see another epic Conan movie but sad to see nothing has risen to the level of this movie. Instead, they wanted to sell it to kids, and hence the second movie was a tragic failure. But this movie is Lightning in a Bottle, a true masterpiece.

That IMDB score got inverted somehow, should be 9,6.

A bloody brilliant movie .. Better than any of the comic book movies today .. The soundtrack is a masterpiece..

This is my favorite

Cool video as one born in 1980 and into sword and sorcory I loved this movie and still watch it and now with new eyes seing a worrior woman that shows strengs

Amazon was preparing to do a Conan series in 2018. I wonder if that's why the Legend of Conan movie was dropped (maybe they couldn't compete with Amazon or Amazon asked them to drop it). But Amazon cancelled the writer, Ryan Condal, after they took on a new CEO that wanted more woke shows. That writer then met GRR Martin and they both worked on the HBO House of the Dragon show for which he is now the sole showrunner. So maybe one day we will get that Conan TV series if Condal can find a proper studio that understands its real audience.

OH MY GOD !... I... I think I'm falling in love with Retro Nerd Girl ! No seriously... I have watched only a few of your videos so far, but have agreed SOOOOOO SOOOOOO much with you in all of them ! at the beginning of this video, I found myself finishing your sentences because everything you were saying I had thought for decades ! Conan T. Barbarian was such a perfect movie ! Not a thing was out of place... It brought the Hyborian Age to life in a way no other really could... not to this amazing extent... no way ! Although... have you ever seen the Marc Singer movie "Beastmaster"... That was surprisingly great too ! Very Sword and Sorcery type movie. But how can anything compare to Conan ?... Arnold Schwarzenegger was born for this role !... and James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom, Sandahl Bergman as Valeria, Max von Sydow as King Osric, Sven-Ole Thorsen as Thorgrim, and of course Mako chronicling his Lord Conan's story and the wizard who helps him... PERFECTION in casting... and acting ! Not everything has to be Hamlet or MacBeth ! A good story is a good story and is brought to life by actors who in habit their roles.

This is one of my favorite movies. Every piece makes sense. Its a close as you can get to a masterpiece. Im glad someone finally caught most of the suttle nuances of the film.

Definitely one of my favorite movies of all time. This classic is not appropriate by enough people. The remake was soulless.

Unless people know the lore deeply, they may not know that James Earl Jones is portraying the last pure blooded Atlantean, and with his end comes the end of his race (Hence the blue eyes and the rest of his unique look). He researched the character heavily going in, and perfectly captures how "disconnected" he feels in a world that isnt his world anymore, as the last shapeshifting sorcerer of a forgotten people. When you know his tragedy, you understand how incredibly well done his portrayal was. Its because he feels this disconnect that he is able to do horrible things, even to those loyal to him, without expression of emotion.

Valeria is a Howard character (from Red Nails), but the film character seems to be more based on Belit (from Queen of the Black Coast).

Favorite of mine