UHD Review A Few Words About About A few words about...™ - Conan the Barbarian & Conan the Destroyer -- in 4k UHD (2 Viewers)

[Richard Kaufman]

These were one and done in the theater for me. I am mystified by their ongoing appeal.

 

[David_B_K]

These were one and done in the theater for me. I am mystified by their ongoing appeal.

I saw Barbarian in the theater and was disappointed at the time. I had collected the Lancer paperbacks with the Frazetta covers, and subscribed to the Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan comic books, so I was looking forward to it. Even though he totally looked the part, I did not care for Schwarzenegger. I found his German accent almost unintelligible. I had always imagined Conan with a flat American accent while all the kings, queens and wizards could have sounded English/European. I bought the Blu-ray when it came out, and fairly enjoyed it. I guess over the years I have grown so accustomed to Schwarzenegger as an actor that his accent didn't bother me at all this time.

I have never gotten more than 30 minutes into Destroyer, which I tried to watch on cable a long time ago. Maybe I will revisit that one.

 

[johnmcmasters]

I love both films, and have loved them since seeing them in their original theatrical showings in NYC. I went to the first showing of "Conan the Barbarian", which might have been a sneak preview (years ago so not sure!). A bunch of us were waiting in line on the upper East Side at a Theater now long gone, and a bus pulled up that was filled with bodybuilders who had organized a trip just to see the film. I recognized a few of them. There was a delay for unknown reasons in opening the theater's doors, and I recall that the bodybuilders became, uhm, very restless and began banging on the doors and glass frontage. Needless to say, the theater's management opened the doors within minutes of the clamour. It was an extremely enthusiastic audience, really raucous at times. One of my favorite film-going memories!

 

[mark27b]

As with the recent releases of Escape From New York, Highlander and other movies there is also a new official behind the scenes / making of book being released too

• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 180336176X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1803361765

 

[Lord Dalek]

Look I'm not going to say you should buy this set if you don't like the films, but I will say the new special features produced by Arrow for Barbarian may make you reevaluate the film.

Now Destroyer, on the other hand, that flick just suuuuuuuuuuuucks.

 

[Konstantinos]

Now Destroyer, on the other hand, that flick just suuuuuuuuuuuucks.

I haven't seen this film since years, but I remember I enjoyed it as much as the first film.
Well, I'm waiting for my set from amazon ( ), and I will re-evaluate!

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Look I'm not going to say you should buy this set if you don't like the films, but I will say the new special features produced by Arrow for Barbarian may make you reevaluate the film.

Not for me. I still think it's awful.

 

[Robert13]

Will definitely pick up the new sets. Have loved "Destroyer" since I was a kid. Always been a favorite of mine, even just for the scenes with Grace Jones. Looking forward to the new restoration of that one, hands down.

 

[JPCinema]

I’m very impressed with the terrific sound on the Atmos setup. The music of Conan the Barbarian finally has the richness and depth from stereo surround sound. Dolby True 7.1

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

The main thing I remember from Destroyer is hearing "Bombaata! Bombaata!" over and over and how cute Q’s “daughter” was. Saw this a lot on cable back in the day.

 

[cinemel1]

These were one and done in the theater for me. I am mystified by their ongoing appeal.

 

[dpippel]

I've watched both of these over the past two days, and they look fantastic. Definitely guilty pleasures for me, and I'm happy to have them in my library.

 

[cinemel1]

Barbarian

I've watched both of these over the past two days, and they look fantastic. Definitely guilty pleasures for me, and I'm happy to have them in my library.

Barbarian is worth it alone for Polodouris’ wonderful score.

 

[AlexF]

Just got my set yesterday.

Arrow's done a great job with the presentation as usual -- the book is going to be an interesting read.

The scan of Conan the Barbarian is spectacular. I don't ever remember it looking this good.

 

[Jeff Fearnside]

My wife HATED Barbarian when we watched it together on DVD many years ago. I gave out the DVD after that. But I, being someone who came of age in the '80s, remember so strongly what an impression these films made when they first came out; I kept waiting for good editions to arrive so that I could buy them again. Masterpieces of art? No. Hugely enjoyable pulp? You bet. It's doubtful I'll see them with the same eyes now as I did back when I first saw them in theaters and on VHS tapes, but even if they pack a portion of the punch they once did, it will be a worthy indulgence in nostalgia. I'm hoping the brand-new masters will help my wife better appreciate the style of these films, if nothing else. So yeah, I ordered the set. And I'm looking for the right time to go, "Honey, do you feel up for a couple of fun adventure films?..."

 

[Konstantinos]

Ok, I just got this package!
To my astonishment the tamtam (large percussion instrument) in the orgy scene is both in the atmos track and in the mono track.
It wasn't there in the previous blu-ray release, and when Arrow said they were based on the previous mix, I thought it wouldn't be there in the atmos.
Now, does anyone have any timestamp about the missing choir to check and hear how it differs between the 2 audio tracks?

 

[John Sparks]

My wife HATED Barbarian when we watched it together on DVD many years ago. I gave out the DVD after that. But I, being someone who came of age in the '80s, remember so strongly what an impression these films made when they first came out; I kept waiting for good editions to arrive so that I could buy them again. Masterpieces of art? No. Hugely enjoyable pulp? You bet. It's doubtful I'll see them with the same eyes now as I did back when I first saw them in theaters and on VHS tapes, but even if they pack a portion of the punch they once did, it will be a worthy indulgence in nostalgia. I'm hoping the brand-new masters will help my wife better appreciate the style of these films, if nothing else. So yeah, I ordered the set. And I'm looking for the right time to go, "Honey, do you feel up for a couple of fun adventure films?..."

...

 

[Wayne Klein]

I enjoyed the first one but the second less so. James Earl Jones is always worth watching. I saw the rough cut when I worked for DeLaurentiis Productions of the second one. The rough cut was a bit better. As I do recall, It was most like the extended cut.

 

[Wayne Klein]

My wife HATED Barbarian when we watched it together on DVD many years ago. I gave out the DVD after that. But I, being someone who came of age in the '80s, remember so strongly what an impression these films made when they first came out; I kept waiting for good editions to arrive so that I could buy them again. Masterpieces of art? No. Hugely enjoyable pulp? You bet. It's doubtful I'll see them with the same eyes now as I did back when I first saw them in theaters and on VHS tapes, but even if they pack a portion of the punch they once did, it will be a worthy indulgence in nostalgia. I'm hoping the brand-new masters will help my wife better appreciate the style of these films, if nothing else. So yeah, I ordered the set. And I'm looking for the right time to go, "Honey, do you feel up for a couple of fun adventure films?..."

They are cheesy fun. Some pretty bad acting in the film. As I recall, little of Stone’s initial draw survived and it’s mostly John’s. im Not going to claim they are great but they are entertaining. There’s no crime in that. Luckily, my wife is pretty cool about it so she’ll let me subject her to s9me films she would never watch in a million years.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Arrived from Amazon earlier this week: