Conan, 1982 - DVD

Directed by: John Milius
Written by: John Milius, Oliver Stone, Edward Summer - based on the character and stories created by Robert E. Howard
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones, Max von Sydow, Sandahl Bergman, Gerry Lopez, Mako

My first taste of Conan was from my dad. What a surprise. If ever you've read any of my childhood accounts in my journal, or possibly some of the reviews on this site, I owe a lot to my dad. The worlds that he introduced me to... I consider myself very lucky.

First and foremost was my dad's love of the work of Frank Frazetta. I doubt there's a person out there (involved in fantasy and science fiction and comics) who hasn't heard the name. Frazetta is legendary in the fantasy artwork realm... and his work on Howard's Conan books is equally legendary.

After watching the featurette on the Conan DVD, I am no longer surprised when directors and actors come on to a project knowing little or nothing of the source material in which the story is based. Schwarzenegger knew nothing of the character. The original directors attached to the project knew nothing of the character. They knew nothing of Frazetta, either... or Roy Thomas, or John Buscema (who brought the character to life for Marvel) or the brilliant Barry Windsor Smith, who started the Conan series. Or Ernie Chan.

This reminds me of Bryan Singer, who knew nothing of the X-Men comics before he started to direct the film.

For 2003, the flood of comic book characters coming to the big screen is the largest, most prodigious the industry has known. Daredevil, The Hulk, X-Men 2, Batman: Year One, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen... and the horizon looks full, as well.

But, back in the late 1970's and early 1980's... well, technology just wasn't up to the task. A film that didn't require as many effects, a strong character and story... that was more doable... (is that a real word?)... but who had the build for such a character? Conan, as depicted in comics and paintings, was enormous... a muscular barbarian. And it was after Edward Pressman had a rough cut of Pumping Iron that he thought of a perfect role for Schwarzenegger.

Having won much of the bodybuilding awards the planet has to offer, Arnold was becoming a household name... in regards to his stature, size and personality... but he had yet to have a decent try at acting... a mainstream film to help his career really take off.

Originally, the Conan storyline was to take place over 10 films, roughly, with the possibility of Arnold coming back every two years to do another film, each with a different focus... at the time I could see how something like that might have been plausible to, at least, think about... but I think it was just wishful thinking. One person described it as a James Bond type role... but I don't think anyone fully realized how popular Arnold was going to become.

In regards to acting, I'm not sure what people were expecting. I think that, with the action choreography, the sword fighting lessons, the build necessary to pull off this character, Schwarzenegger did a great job. His acting ability has gotten much more refined and natural... it's funny to watch him in older roles... I think, in all honest, he was a quick learner... so. All in all, I think he did a decent job.

James Earl Jones said it best. Playing villians is bad news... and you don't want to get typecast as a villian... so you get someone who doesn't play villians to play one... a bear like himself (his words). Just as with Vader (even though it was just his voice). He plays a pretty terrible villian in this film... and you can't help but respect the casting choice.

The remainder of the cast did fine jobs. Von Sydow is always entertaining. Bergman and Lopez were two relative unknowns (Lopez was a surfer friend of Ed Summer's). Mako has, over the past twenty five years, carved himself a niche in Hollywood. He's a very reliable character actor. He's been in some very mainstream films, including Pearl Harbor, Rising Sun, Seven Years in Tibet, Crying Freeman, Robocop 3, Tucker: The Man and his Dream, and was the only one in the cast to return as the same character in the Conan sequel, The Destroyer.

In regards to the production, the cinematography, the choreographers, the costume designers, set designers, art directors... well, I won't get into naming names, even though I think it's important... there are just too many of them to name. But I must say that the production part of this film is pretty incredible. I was very impressed with the films overall sense of design and feel.

John Milius was an interesting choice as a director, and I think his passion for the project brought a lot of it together. This could have been a mess... let's face it... but Milius did a fine job. His follow-up film, Red Dawn, wasn't bad either... but I think it was the last semi-mainstream film he's directed, which is a shame.

A quick note on Milius... he was the writer of the Jaws "Indianapolis monlogue"... though uncredited.