Don't view it as musclebound and unintelligent; this is a mythological epic, played straight. Schwarzenegger is physically perfect as Conan, and the limited dialogue is no problem when the Basil Poledouris score conveys the emotion from moment to moment as effectively as a Wagner opera. The outward action has a deeper subtext as events and experience make Conan, brought up as an unthinking killing machine, a thinking and feeling human over the course of the film. The casting is inspired, with James Earl Jones as a charismatic villain, a sympathetic cameo from Max von Sydow, and others who bring their physical confidence as surfer, wrestler and dancer, to their roles. Marvellous film.
Review of Conan the Barbarian
