Conan the Barbarian (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
This article is about the 1982 film. For other uses, see Conan the Barbarian (disambiguation).
Conan the Barbarian
Directed by John Milius
Produced by Raffaella De Laurentiis
Buzz Feitshans
Written by Characters:
Robert E. Howard
Story:
Edward Summer
(Uncredited)
Screenplay:
John Milius
Oliver Stone
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger
James Earl Jones
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date(s) May 14, 1982
Running time 129 min.
Language English
Budget $20 million
Followed by Conan the Destroyer
IMDb profile

Conan the Barbarian is a 1982 film by director John Milius and is recognized as the acting breakthrough of bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger. It is loosely based on the Conan the Barbarian stories by Robert E. Howard and was written by the unlikely pairing of Oliver Stone and John Milius. It was followed in 1984 by a lighter, more child-friendly, but less successful sequel, Conan the Destroyer. While its sequel is a much more traditional sword and sorcery tale that includes magic, monsters, and fantastical events, Conan the Barbarian is set in a relatively realistic bronze and iron age setting with only a few supernatural elements.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film begins with a young Cimmerian boy, Conan, witnessing the destruction of his village and the death of his parents at the hand of warlord Thulsa Doom. The narrator tells, "Who knows what they came for, weapons of steel or murder? It was never known for the leader went to the south." The battle standard carried by the invaders, a snake with two heads, is burned into the memory of young Conan. Here Thulsa Doom appears in his armor and helmet, where he beheads Conan's mother while she holds Conan's hand.

Conan is sold into slavery with the rest of the children from his village and forced to perform intense manual labor. As the other children die or are sold off, Conan grows strong and is eventually sold and forced to fight as a gladiator. His owner sees such potential in him that he takes Conan to the far East, to be trained by the finest warriors. One night, however, after many successful fights, his new owner spontaneously sets him free. From that point, Conan dedicates his life to exacting revenge on Thulsa Doom.

James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom
Enlarge
James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom

He travels the world looking for the warlord's symbol, the two-headed snake. Along the way he meets two companions, Subotai and Valeria, both thieves, and Valeria becomes his lover. They soon learn that a doomsday cult has arisen that makes extensive use of snake symbolism.

While breaking into one of the cult's towers and stealing several artifacts, Conan confirms the cult's connection to Thulsa Doom after encountering and stealing the same two-headed snake symbol.

After the heist, the three thieves are offered a tremendous fortune by King Osric to retrieve his daughter who was seduced and possibly brainwashed into joining the Snake Cult. Subotai and Valeria are uninterested in challenging Thulsa Doom, but Conan rapidly abandons his companions to pursue Thulsa Doom.

Conan eventually locates the center of the cult, a place of pilgrimage called the Mountain of Power, with the help of a hermitic wizard. Disguised as a priest, Conan sneaks into a ceremony at the mountain and attempts to kill Thulsa Doom. The Princess proclaims Thulsa Doom who now begins preaching on achieving emptiness, but while trying to make his way closer Conan is stopped by a guard who takes the two headed snake artifact. The guard then motions him past and while Conan finds a seat he takes the snake artifact to Rexor and Thorgrim who then seize Conan calling him an infidel. Conan is then beaten and brought before Thulsa Doom.

Though many years have passed, Doom has not aged since the attack on Conan's village. This may have been due to his black magic, or his ability to shed his snake skin. Either way, he is still youthful. This is also true for his cult members who are usually snakemen.

His philosophy, however, has changed dramatically since his years as a warlord. He explains to Conan that the destruction of his village was part of his pursuit of "steel", which he once thought to be the key to power; only later did he realize that "flesh" is the stronger substance. Since the revelation, he has gained much greater power by controlling people through the Snake Cult.

Schwarzenegger and Gerry Lopez as Conan and Subotai
Enlarge
Schwarzenegger and Gerry Lopez as Conan and Subotai

After explaining himself, Doom orders that Conan be crucified to the Tree of Woe. Nailed and hung from a tree in the desert, Conan is rescued by Valeria and Subotai just before his death where he managed to kill a vulture with his bare teeth, and brought back to health with the help of the wizard. Here death's demons tries to claim Conan but don't succeed which actually later costs Valeria's life where she would be killed by Thulsa Doom.

The three then return to the Mountain of Power and rescue King Osric's daughter before she would be the next sacrifice to Set. There they find a gruesome scene of butchered human corpses, presumably enemies slain in battle or human cult members--lured into or fallen into a giant magic cauldron--being cooked into human soup. This is presumably the source of power for the snakepeople. There are also half-naked snake women who serve to entertain the snakemen members of the wicked Snake Cult in Thulsa Doom's orgy chamber.

The three go to fight Conan's enemies in the Snake Cult where they rampage. Conan, enraged by the brutality of the cult, pours away the hot, human soup to the ground, hurting some of the cult members in the process. Thulsa Doom reveals his power to become a snake as the "living image" of the Serpent God Set and escapes when he senses danger.

While the heroes are escaping, however, Thulsa Doom kills Valeria with an arrow made from a venomous snake. Valeria is cremated, with her companions wishing her peace at last.

Thulsa Doom personally leads an expedition to recover the King's daughter, re-donning the same steel armor and skull helmet he had long since abandoned with his snakemen. Conan, Subotai, and the Wizard successfully repel Thulsa Doom's attack, and he alone is able to escape. Both Rexor and Thorgrim fall to Conan's hands and Valeria's ghost appears to aid Conan for a short time.

When the battle is lost, Thulsa Doom decides to kill the King's daughter since there was nothing for him to to fight for. However, Subotai saves the King's daughter after the Princess screams for help. The Princess finally realizes that she was a lured victim into the Snake Cult and agrees to help Conan in the final battle...to kill the High Priest Thulsa Doom who preached Set's evil ways.

In the final scene, Conan sneaks into the Mountain of Power. Thulsa Doom preaches to what seems to be new members of the Snake Cult that it is the eyes of Set, his deity, that drives the darkness away. He tries to hypnotize Conan like he did Conan's mother at the beginning of the film. However, he fails to make Conan believe that he is his father.

Conan holds and decapitates Doom in front of thousands of his devotees, revealing their high priest as a mortal and a fraud. Tossing the head of Thulsa Doom, Conan makes the devotees see the deception of the Snake Cult and that they were all tricked and they place away the torches. The Snake Cult's temple is burned down to the ground by Conan. The Princess bows down to Conan before Conan brings her home.

An epilogue states that Conan later went on to become a great king by his own hand, adding, "but that is another story."

[edit] The Riddle of Steel

"Crom is strong! If I die, I have to go before him, and he will ask me, 'What is the riddle of steel?' If I don't know it, he will cast me out of Valhalla and laugh at me." ~Conan the Barbarian

The theme of the movie Conan the Barbarian is centered around the Riddle of Steel. In the beginning, we see Conan's father explain the Celtic lore concerning the ancient Giant Kings of earth stealing the forging secrets from the god Crom. Conan's father added his interpretation that you cannot trust things of the flesh, but steel in your hand you can trust. Even though Conan's father had produced a superior sword, he and the people of Conan's village were all killed by an overwhelming force lead by Thulsa Doom.

After Conan seeks out the group that murdered his people, Doom explains to him, "Steel isn't strong, boy. Flesh is stronger. Look around you." Thulsa motions to some of the thousands of followers surrounding his mountain who worship him as the mouthpiece of God. He points up to the top of a cliff, "There, on the rocks, that beautiful girl." He motions to the girl, "Come to me, my child." The girl steps off the cliff and falls to her death. "That is strength, boy. That is power: the strength and power of flesh. What is steel compared to the hand that wields it? Look at the strength of your body, the desire in your heart. I give you this ...such a waste. Contemplate this on the tree of woe. Crucify him."

Conan is nailed to a dead tree in the desert for several days until rescued. As he heals, he reflects upon the Riddle of Steel. No longer does the barbarian limit himself to direct brute assault. Using covert methods and battlefield tactics, Conan and his friends inflict great damage to their enemy. However, the cumulative result of all Conan's vengeance does not harm the overall power of Thulsa's cult. It isn't until his father's sword is broken that Conan realizes the true answer to the riddle: all the power of both steel and flesh come from one's beliefs. As long as Conan believes in the power of Doom, he reinforces Thulsa's strength just as much as any cult follower. Conan finally defeats Thulsa Doom by simply controlling his own mind, by choosing and implementing the belief that is most useful for himself.

[edit] Other versions

A version first released as the "Collector's Edition" featured several deleted scenes and an alternate ending. Most notable among the deleted scenes is an extended discussion between Conan and Subotai.

[edit] Relation to Robert E. Howard's stories

The movie is regarded by fans as a radical departure from Robert E. Howard's Conan series and owing much more to the original script and direction of John Milius. They feel that it draws only a few major elements from its literary namesake, including:

Other aspects of the film are drawn sporadically from different pieces of Howard's works, though many of those are conspicuously inconsistent with his Conan character. For example, while a character named Valeria appears in Red Nails, the film character's attachment to Conan and her return from the dead to save his life are more akin to Bêlit of Queen of the Black Coast. More disturbing to Howard fans, certain elements seem to have been borrowed from non-Conan sources, including the face-changing Snake Folk and the Thulsa Doom character which originated in Howard's Kull stories. Similarly, Conan's encounter with the witch in the film bears some similarity to Worms of the Earth from yet another of Howard's series, Bran Mak Morn. Thulsa Doom's monologue about fearing the dark are also drawn from the work.

Yet other elements of the film have no relation whatsoever to Howard's stories, including the "Riddle of Steel", the Black Sun Cult of Seth, Conan's adolescence in slavery, and his service as a gladiator in the East. Howard's Conan was still with his tribe in Cimmeria around the time he was 15 or 16, taking part in the destruction of the Aquilonian outpost of Venarium. Moreover, the Conan character portrayed by Schwarzenegger displays little "panther like agility," nor does he have the characteristic "black mane" and "volcanic blue eyes" of Howard's original (though Schwarzenegger's eyes are in fact blue).

Although the inconsistencies with the stories turned-off many fans, the film does, to a certain extent, reflects the "spirit" of the Howard's Hyborian world. Though the film lacks many of the qualities of the literary character, the story is richer than often credited and includes robust symbolism and themes. The special edition DVD includes some insightful commentary by the director and Schwarzenegger.

[edit] Music

Originally, producer Dino de Laurentiis had planned a soundtrack of pop music for the movie, but was eventually persuaded by Milius to use a full orchestral score. For this purpose, Milius hired Basil Poledouris, a former classmate from the film department at the University of Southern California, and tasked him to make "a continuous musical drama." [1] The result was a choral and orchestral soundtrack that fills nearly every moment of the film, with pronounced use of leitmotifs to portray mood and character.

The violent early portions of the movie are filled with intense pieces including "Anvil of Crom", played by 24 french horns, strings and timpani, and "Riders of Doom", loosely inspired by "O Fortuna" and other portions of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Thulsa Doom's theme, which recurs throughout the film, is based on the Gregorian chant "Dies Irae". A number of quieter pieces fill the middle of the movie, including "Civilization", "The Leaving", "The Search" and the sensuous "The Orgy" (co-written with his daughter Zoë and in part resembling Maurice Ravel's Bolero) before the music again intensifies for a series of battle sequences at the end of the film.

Several of the pieces, including the "Anvil of Crom" are frequently used in the movie trailers of other films by Universal Pictures. Much of the film's music was also reused in Conan the Destroyer.

The soundtrack has become a classic amongst movie-music collectors.

[edit] Track listing from soundtrack album

  1. "Anvil of Crom"
  2. "Riddle of Steel" / "Riders of Doom"
  3. "Gift of Fury"
  4. "Wheel of Pain"
  5. "Atlantean Sword"
  6. "Theology" / "Civilization"
  7. "Wifeing"
  8. "The Leaving" / "The Search"
  9. "Mountain of Power"
  10. "Tree of Woe"
  11. "Recovery"
  12. "The Kitchen" / "The Orgy"
  13. "Funeral Pyre"
  14. "Battle of the Mounds"
  15. "Death of Rexor"
  16. "Orphans of Doom" / "The Awakening"

[edit] Casting

For a large budget film, the cast of Conan the Barbarian includes an unusual number of then-inexperienced actors. Dancer Sandahl Bergman and surfer Gerry Lopez were cast in major supporting roles as Conan's closest companions. In addition to Schwarzenegger, the cast also included several famous bodybuilders including William Smith, Sven-Ole Thorsen, and Franco Columbu, as well as former Oakland Raiders star Ben Davidson.

[edit] Cast

Actor Role
Arnold Schwarzenegger Conan
James Earl Jones Thulsa Doom
Max von Sydow King Osric
Sandahl Bergman Valeria
Ben Davidson Rexor
Cassandra Gava The Witch
Gerry Lopez Subotai
Mako The Wizard Akiro / Narrator
Valérie Quennessen The Princess
William Smith Conan's Father
Franco Columbu Pictish Scout
Jack Taylor Priest
Sven-Ole Thorsen Thorgrim

[edit] Quotes

  • Mongol General: "What is best in life?"
    Conan: "To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women."
    (Note that this is actually a paraphrased quote accredited to Genghis Khan)
  • Conan: "Crom, I have never prayed to you before, I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad, why we fought or how we died. No, all that matters, is that two stood against many. That's what's important. Valour pleases you, Crom, so grant me one request: grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then to hell with you!"
  • Conan, to Subotai: "Crom laughs at your four winds. Laughs from his mountain."
  • King Osric: "There comes a time, thief, when the jewels cease to sparkle, when the gold loses its luster, when the throne room becomes a prison, and all that is left is a father's love for his child."
  • Valeria: "To the hellfires with Thulsa Doom. He's evil; a sorcerer who can summon demons. His followers' only purpose is to die in his service... Thousands of them."
  • Valeria: "All my life I've been alone. Many times I've faced death with no one to know. I would look into the huts and the tents of others in the coldest dark and I would see figures holding each other in the night. But I always passed by."
  • The Wizard(voiceover): "Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis, and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of. And onto this, Conan, destined to wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow. It is I, his chronicler, who alone can tell thee of his saga. Let me tell you of the days of high adventure!"
  • Thulsa Doom: "My child, you have come to me, my son. For who now is your father if it is not me? I am the wellspring from which you flow. When I am gone, you will have never been. What would your world be, without me? My son."
  • The Wizard(voiceover): "He did not care any more... life and death... the same. Only that the crowd would be there to greet him with howls of lust and fury. He began to realize his sense of worth... he mattered."
  • Conan's Father: "For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts. This you can trust." [Points to his sword]
  • Thulsa Doom: "Yes! You know what it is, don't you boy. Shall I tell you? It's the least I can do. Steel isn't strong boy, flesh is stronger! Look around you. There, on the rocks; that beautiful girl. Come to me, my child... [girl leaps to her death] That is strength, boy! That is power! What is steel compared to the hand that wields it? Look at the strength in your body, the desire in your heart, I gave you this! Such a waste. Contemplate this on the tree of woe.[to his guards] Crucify him!"
  • Valeria: "Do you want to live forever?" (Note that this is actually a quote from Frederick the Great, to his soldiers at the Battle of Kolin) [citation needed]
  • Thulsa Doom: "Infidel defilers. They shall all drown in lakes of blood. Now they will know why they are afraid of the dark. Now they learn why they fear the night."
  • Thulsa Doom: "Where is the Eye of the Serpent? Rexor said that you gave it to a girl; probably for a mere night's pleasure. Such a loss. People have no grasp of what they do."
  • Subotai: "He is Conan, Cimmerian, he won't cry, so I cry for him."
  • Black Lotus Street Peddler: "Two or three years ago it was just another snake cult."
  • The Wizard: "I'm a wizard, mind you. This place is kept by powerful gods and spirits of kings. Harm my flesh and you will have to deal with the dead!"
  • Valeria: "All the gods, they cannot sever us. If I were dead and you were still fighting for life, I'd come back from the darkness. Back from the pit of hell to fight at your side."
  • Conan: "For us, there is no spring. Just the wind that smells fresh before the storm."

[edit] Trivia

  • In the 1914 silent film Cabiria, a slave named Maciste pushes a mill wheel for ten years just as Conan does.
  • Conan is the anglisicized version of the Celtic name Conán, derived from "Hound". There are several characters who bear the name Conán in Irish mythology, most notably Conán Maol Mac Mórna. While uncommon, the name is still used in Ireland; it is also the name of a 4th century Breton king and of 4 counts/dukes of Brittanny in the 11th and 12th centuries.
  • The character of Thulsa Doom was intended to represent a dying race of intelligent people, similar to the Atlanteans referred to in the film's prologue. As such, the character played by James Earl Jones had long, straight hair and blue eyes.
  • "Weird Al" Yankovic's motion picture "UHF" contains a brief satire to "Conan, The Barbarian" called "Conan, The Librarian"
  • Sandahl Bergman nearly lost her finger when a fight scene went wrong and the extra hit her finger instead of the blade, cutting her all the way down to the bone. Instead of asking if she was all right, director John Milius told her "Valeria would never let that happen again."
  • The cast suffered various injuries during filming. Arnold Schwarzenegger was pulled down by the dogs that were chasing him and took various injuries to his back in addition to bashing his head open by a rock and later having his neck sliced by an axe. According to Schwarzenegger, director John Milius called himself "The Dog Trainer".
  • Terry Pratchett makes a reference to Conan the Barbarian in his Discworld series, although the name differs slightly (being Cohen, not Conan, the Barbarian).
  • Thulsa Doom's line 'Crucify him' after his strength of steel speech was sampled in a remix of the Mindless Self Indulgence track 'J'.

[edit] References

  1. ↑  Conan the Barbarian Original Motion Picture Soundtrack liner notes by Kevin Mulhall.
  2. Conan the Barbarian at the Internet Movie Database
  3. All Movie Guide: Conan the Barbarian

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../c/o/n/Conan_the_Barbarian_%28film%29_0169.html"