Conan the Barbarian Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Conan the Barbarian Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 26, 2024

The Barbarians are at the gate, and we have Arrow Video to blame. Once again Arrow is providing fans of a quasi-cult item with a number of different releases in various resolutions and formats, this time of the Arnold Schwarzenegger Conan films, with standalone releases of both Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer in either 1080 or 2160, and with collections of both films together branded as The Conan Chronicles in both resolutions as well. As usual, Arrow has packaged all the releases beautifully, and included a wealth of supplementary material to help sweeten the pot (whether or not it's made of steel).

For anyone still in need of a plot summary, Ken Brown's Conan the Barbarian Blu-ray review of Universal's release from over a decade should suffice quite handily. Somewhat hilariously, Ken's review almost instantly links to a very funny YouTube video which just as hilariously Arrow has included as a supplement with this release, now in stunning high definition.

Conan the Barbarian Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Conan the Barbarian is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the restoration:

Conan the Barbarian has been exclusively restored by Arrow Films. The film is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio with restored original monaural audio and a new Dolby Atmos surround mix. Three versions of the film have been restored: the 127 minute Theatrical Cut as originally released in US cinemas; the 129 minute International Cut, which is largely identical except for additional material featuring the character of Princess Yasminia during the film's climax, as well as an alternate text crawl with accompanying voiceover at the end; and the 130 minutes Extended Cut, which is the same as the International Cut except for an additional scene between Conan and Subotai, added at John Milius' behest for the Collectors' Edition DVD in 2000.

The original 35mm camera negative, conformed to the Theatrical Cut, was scanned in 4K 16 bit at NBC Universal. Additional film materials, namely an original 35mm interpositive of the last two reels of the International Cut and 35mm negative for the additional Conan and Subotai scene, were also scanned in 4K 16 bit for the Extended Cut. The films was restored and graded in 4K SDR, HDR10 and Dolby Vision by Silver Salt Restoration, London.

The original mono track was remastered at Bad Princess Productions, London. The Atmos mixes were produced at Deluxe Audio London, party adapting a legacy 5.1 home video remix supplied by NBC Universal.

All materials sourced for this restoration were made available by NBC Universal and Disney/20th Century Fox.

The first thing that many will probably notice about this new transfer is its manifestly different color timing when compared to the old Universal 1080 release. That release looks positively jaundiced when stacked up against this offering, but Arrow's version also has an overall darker and somewhat ruddier appearance that to my eyes looks more "natural", at least within the often hyperbolic confines of the film. There's a number of undeniable other positives with this transfer, which I'll get to in a moment, but I'll actually take a momentary detour for something that may present some issues for those wanting a completely consistent looking presentation. What's rather interesting about the transfer(s), and one which is probably even more noticeable in Arrow's 4K UHD presentation than in this 1080 release, is the huge variance in grain structure and thickness, sometimes from shot to shot within any given sequence, and apart from any opticals. There are a ton of optical dissolves and other composited effects throughout the film, and this presentation can often offer a really thick, mottled grain field that has flashes of various quasi-pixellated hues at times, including yellow and blue, something that may be just slightly more subliminal in this 1080 presentation than in Arrow's 2160 offering, where it's almost more "in your face". Even some scenes with nothing but hard edits can show a beautifully resolved grain field at one moment, which becomes virtually splotchy the next. This heterogeneous quality is not limited solely to the film's many dark scenes (pay attention during the early attack scene which makes Conan an orphan, for just the first of several well lit examples). There's also a rather bizarre anomaly that is documented in screenshot 19 of this review where there's a weird "rippling" effect behind James Earl Jones.

On the plus side, as mentioned above the palette fairly bursts with energy a lot of time, especially in some of the more brightly lit outdoor moments. There are also a number of aggressively graded sequences, including some lovemaking moments that can be yellow, orange, blue and red at various moments. Fine detail may ebb just slightly in some of these heavily graded scenes, and this is one area where some may prefer Arrow's 4K UHD version, since the colors are arguably even more lush, and HDR and/or Dolby Vision can aid with shadow detail. Fine detail throughout this presentation is typically excellent, and to my eyes easily outshines the old Universal 1080 release. This is another "competing resolution" pair of releases where some may prefer the 1080 format to 2160 depending on their tolerance for some pretty widely variant grain thickness.

Conan the Barbarian Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Conan the Barbarian offers the film's original mono track via DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, and also includes a nicely immersive new Dolby Atmos track. The mono track is actually surprisingly spry sounding throughout, though I'd still recommend those properly equipped to at least try out the Atmos rendering, as it nicely engages all of the surround channels (including the Atmos speakers) without ever really sounding "forced" or obviously repurposed. While the action scenes offer some of the most noticeable, and arguably "showiest", surround activity, individual sound effects like those opening "thumps" also offer discrete channelization that helps to create a well populated soundstage. Basil Poledouris' score is very frequently splayed between the front and rear channels very effectively. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Conan the Barbarian Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: Arrow sent me the standalone 4K releases of both films, and the 1080 Conan Chronicles release, and so I'm extrapolating what non-disc supplements may be included with this standalone 1080 release.

Disc One

• Theatrical Cut (2:06:27), International Cut (2:08:59), and Extended Cut (2:10:22) are accessible under the Choose Version menu.


• Commentary by John Milius and Arnold Schwarzenegger


• Commentary by Paul M. Sammon is one of two rather interesting commentaries Sammon offers (the other is on Conan the Destroyer ) due to the fact that he was on set during the shoot of the film and knows a lot of the backstory of the entire production.


• Isolated Score Track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and is advertised as "newly reconstructed in 2023 by Arrow Video using remasters of the original stereo session tapes".

Note: The above three supplements are available on the Extended Cut only.

Disc Two

• Conan Unchained: The Making of Conan (HD; 53:11) is an archival piece by the ubiquitous Laurent Bouzereau done in 2000, featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Milius.


• New Interviews

  Designing Conan with William Stout (HD; 14:17) features the film's production/concept artist.

  
  

  Costuming Conan with John Bloomfield (HD; 13:21) features the film's costume designer. Wait, there were costumes?

  
  

  Barbaric Effects with Colin Arthur & Ron Hone (HD; 10:50) features the film's special effects technicians, addressing both mechanical and makeup effects.

  
  

  Young Conan with Jorge Sanz (HD; 7:05) features the now adult actor who portrayed Young Conan in the film. Subtitled in English.

  
  

  Conan & The Priest with Jack Taylor (HD; 6:52) features the actor playing The Priest in the film.

  
  

  Cutting the Barbarian with Peck Prior (HD; 8:31) features the film's assistant editor.

  
  

  Crafting Conan's Magic with Peter Kuran & Katherine Kean (HD; 6:36) features a pair of VFX artists from VCE VFX house.

  
  

  Barbarians & Northmen with Robert Eggers (HD; 6:22) features filmmaker Robert Eggers discussing the influence Conan the Barbarian had on The Northman.

  
  

  Behind the Barbarian with John Walsh (HD; 17:10) features the author of Conan the Barbarian: The Official History of the Film. Perhaps needless to say, this is not the guy from America's Most Wanted.

  
  

  A Line in the Sand with Alfio Leotta (HD; 16:43) features the author of The Cinema of John Milius.

• Conan: The Rise of a Fantasy Legend (HD; 18:25) is another archival piece, this one from 2005, focusing on the source books and comics.


• Art of Steel: Sword Makers & Masters (HD; 14:40) moves the archival featurettes up to 2011 and focuses on the film's weapons.


• Conan: From the Vault (HD; 10:22) stems from a 2011 compilation of interviews filmed in 1981 and 1982, including John Milius, Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones and Sandahl Bergman.


• A Tribute to Basil Poledouris were originally released as part of a limited edition DVD.

  Conan the Symphony (HD; 47:14) features Poloedouris conducting a suite just four months before his untimely death. Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1.

  
  

  Remembering Basil (HD; 35:37) is a touching documentary by Dan Goldwasser.

  
  

  The Tale of Conan (HD; 15:01) is an interview with Poledouris done at the 2006 Ubeda Film Music Festival.

  
  

  Basil at Ubeda (HD; 4:08) is a photo gallery.

• Original Promotional Featurettes (HD; 35:11) is a grab bag of archival featurettes done by Universal in 1982, advertised here as "unseen for over 40 years". These come with an apologetic warning that the only available source had a watermark burnt in, which is kind of strangely a black horizontal bar and five asterisks plastered across the bottom half of the frame.


• Deleted Scenes

  John Milius Cameo (HD; 00:53)

  
  

  The Death of King Osric (HD; 4:17)

  
  

  Wolves Outtake (HD; 00:24)

• Special Effects Comparison (HD; 1:37) offers a before and after split screen look at an effects sequence.


• Conan: The Archives (HD; 11:47) is an image gallery.


• Conan the Barbarian: The Musical (HD; 3:01)


• Trailer Gallery

  US Teaser Trailer (HD; 1:40)

  
  

  US Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:10)

  
  

  International Teaser Trailer (HD; 1:53)

  
  

  International Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:27)

• Image Gallery (HD)

Additionally, Arrow has once again packaged things very handsomely, with the keepcase and beautifully appointed insert booklet housed in a sturdy slipcase. Six double sided collectors' postcards and a double sided fold out poster are also included.

Conan the Barbarian Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Conan the Barbarian is of course unabashedly goofy, but it's also consistently entertaining. Arrow's release offers secure technical merits and some outstanding supplements, along with the label's penchant for handsome packaging and appealing non-disc swag. Depending on individual tolerances for widely variant grain thickness, some may actually prefer this 1080 version to Arrow's 2160 release. Recommended.