Although I personally do not share the philosophy of the film, which has it and a lot, I do not cease to be amazed by the quality and approaches that are addressed in the classic "Conan, the barbarian". It is without a doubt a fascinating film, to see and to think about; to feel and to listen. A continuous delight.
John Milius, a currency director; now heads, now tails, he made the best movie of him together with "The Wind and the Lion" with this "Sword and Witchcraft" film that is nevertheless much more than that. John Milius, who has always seemed to me to be a better screenwriter ("Apocalypse now") than a director, manages to recreate a movie where one scene and another follow each other to which better. The script even surpasses in moments to the comics of the tormented Robert E. Howard (he raised his brains to the 30 years) author of Conan, who had been adapted in the first place by Oliver Stone, with an air more to the "Lord of the rings "while Milius put a more Darwinian, Nietzschean, Wagnerian touch and also supported by Joseph Conrad, he managed to remove fantasy to put a brutality outside of any morality.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was born for this role, without a doubt the best of his career, above any Terminator.
An extraordinary Valkyrie like Sandahl Bergman, who in addition to being beautiful, is spectacular in her performance. She is too bad that after she practically disappeared with some very sorry movies. Of course a set of secondary with a magnificent level of great importance for the film.
Basil Poledouris's soundtrack in the top ten of all time. For once I'm glad I couldn't make it Morricone. Does anyone know a greater aberration that this soundtrack was not even nominated for an Oscar?
A splendid photograph of Duke Callaghan, who had been Sydney Pollack's regular photographer, who manages to take dozens of snapshots of unparalleled beauty.
Why doesn't a movie like this have more support? Well, the protagonist dislikes many people (with good reason), the films that were born as a result of this are quite bad like "Kull the conqueror", "The red warrior", "The lord of the beasts" or "Conan the destroyer" which is a movie unworthy of this gem. I do not understand how Richard Fleischer could direct it, who was already for the drag. All this makes the movie buff think that it is a minor sub-genre cinema. Nothing could be further from reality, the film has an atrocious depth that is scary and partly following Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" tells us about the death of God, the will to power and the need for "supermen". But we also have Darwin and his natural selection, Scandinavian and German mythology, and some of the best-shot sword scenes in history. It is not perfect because it has some insincere additions to make it more "commercial".