Conan the Barbarian (1982)

'Conan the Barbarian' from 1982 is easily one of my favourite movies of all time. Based on the character created by Robert E. Howard, directed by the legendary John Milius and starring the one and only, Arnold Schwarzenegger. How can it get any better?

Conan is just a boy when his home village is attacked by a snake cult, lead by the mystical, Thulsa Doom. The village is destroyed, his mother is decapitated right in front of him and Conan is sent to work as a slave. For years and years he pushes a huge mill wheel, and builds up an enormous strenght. He's then sold and used as a pit fighter. Because of his talent he gets advanced training in wepons and warfare and thus becomes the ultimate warrior. More years go by, and in the end Conan is granted his freedom. He immediately starts searching for the snake cult to revenge his people and now the adventures really begin.

The 80s were probably the best decade when it comes to action and adventure and 'Conan the Barbarian' is one of the finest examples of this. It's a mixture of pulp literature, history, comic books and mythology with stong elements of Nietzsche, Kurosawa and Shakespeare thrown into the blend. Everything is grand, majestic and just epic in every sense of the word.

The action scenes are top notch and must have required a ton of training from actors and stunt men alike. The practical effects are unlike anything you'll see in modern films, and the music by Basil Poledouris is amazing. John Milius is of course a master of storytelling, and was the best director possible to bring the world of Conan to life. Arnold Schwarzenegger was really the only logical choice for playing Conan, and nobody could have done a better job. The suporting cast is also superb. Every actor, from the well known professional one, to those who are more known as athletes (whom there are a lot of) are perfect in their roles.

It's really difficult for me to do this movie justice because it got so many qualities to it. I could talk about it for hours, but in short I will say that it's a must see for anyone who enjoys great storytelling, action and adventure.