re: Conan the Barbarian 1982, perfect?

One of the YouTube commenter on that scene really highlights another aspect of Conan that makes it such a good film snd he such a good character.

Conan, even as big and badass as he is, is in no way an all powerful fighting force. He gets hurt, cut, and beaten. He's overmatched in that Palace fight, so he avoids hits then retreats away once the girl if captured.

I know Milius really loved this aspect of the character and he included it greatly in the film.

He also wanted Arnold to look very and had him take him off some mass from his bodybuilding days. He said this is a character who's been a malnourished slave his whole life and should not look like a well-fed, rich Warrior.

In Conan the Destroyer, Arnold is much bigger. That was on purpose as well. Once Milius was not part of the project and Arnold was a star, they wanted him in less clothing and bigger to show off for the cameras. Yet another reason why the first film is so classic.


I encourage every Conan fan to buy the DVD with the commentary by Arnold and Milius. It's as entertaining as it is informative. Arnold sounds like just banged the maid and Milius sounds like he's ready to invade Normandy. It's up there with any great DVD commentary.