Search - Conan - The Complete Quest on DVD

William J. (billystan3) from AUBURN, NY
Reviewed on 8/2/2014...

Schwartzenegger in one of his better roles. I was not at all able to understand why he wanted to attempt comedic roles, especially when his success came from playing action hero roles. This is a great collection to add to your collection especially for Arnold's fans.

1 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.

Andrew M. from ALBUQUERQUE, NM
Reviewed on 5/12/2011...

The item description for this is incorrect. There is only one disc with a movie on each side. One disc, two credits.

4 of 10 member(s) found this review helpful.

Jeff V. (burielofmel) from HARRIMAN, TN
Reviewed on 7/30/2008...

Didn't really like Conan the Destroyer a lot but Conan the Barbarian is a GREAT movie.This has some good bonus material and as the other reviewer stated, the commentary is pretty good on this one.

4 of 6 member(s) found this review helpful.

Sharon O. (bhaluk) from FERNDALE, MI
Reviewed on 12/10/2007...

The commentary on this is amazing!

2 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.

The Gist...

Ray Bradley | Pennsylvania, United States | 02/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First, for those that are just looking for this answer, this Conan the Barbarian is The Director's Cut with its alternate ending, which John Milius intended to have. Nowhere on this DVD will you find the original ending in the DVD extras, etc., but I do want to say that this ending is not much different from the original, so if you have not seen the original ending, you will not be missing much at all. It also has an additional scene with Subotai and Conan dialoging. That's all that I remember being different from the original version. As for Conan the Destroyer, I don't recall any difference.



FOR THOSE WHO ARE NEW TO THE CONAN CHARACTER:



Conan is the barbarian/warrior character created by writer Robert E. Howard (1906-1936). His stories take place in the Hyborian Age (a mystical age between the sinking of Atlantis and the beginning of civilization, which was created by Howard as well). Much of the Conan artwork was painted by artist Frank Frazetta (1928-), which is probably Frazetta's better-known work.



John Milus' own liberal interpretation found on his Director's Commentary of Conan the Barbarian says how he thinks Howard created the Conan character and the warrior's many tales, that he conjured in his mind, a dead warrior king bearing an axe, and soon felt as if his character actually oppressed his very thoughts, forcing him to tell the tales of Conan, a king long forgotten by mankind and that he feared that if he did not write as the warrior commanded, the warrior king would strike him down with his axe.



The real story on how Howard came up with the character can be found on The Official Robert E. Howard Website at [...], where they quote Glenn Lord's The Last Celt: A Bio-Bibliography of Robert Ervin Howard



The Last Celt: A Bio-Bibliography of Robert Ervin Howard



FOR THOSE WHO ARE NEW TO THE CONAN MOVIES:



Only two movies have been made up till now on Howard's character, Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer (1984). Most people (as I am) are fans of the first, and not the second, though the second was entertaining in its on ways.



No joke, Conan the Barbarian is my All-Time favorite movie. I first saw this film when I was young, and remember that back in those days this movie was "the movie to see", with its action packed storyline, wonderful cinematography, and its beautifully composed musical score. Not to mention, starring Mr. Olympia himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who starred in both films. Conan was Arnold's first big-time role after winning his last Mr. Olympia in 1980, so Arnold was still gee-golly-huge and ideal for the part. Nevertheless, this first movie also starred renowned actor, James Earl Jones, who plays the very charismatic cult leader, Thulsa Doom, and with a voice like his, who can deny that he's the perfect fit for that role.



Oliver Stone (a fan of the Conan novels) co-wrote the first screenplay of Conan the Barbarian. He actually had an entire screenplay for the movie, which was quickly bought out by producer Dino DeLaurentis and modified by writer/director, John Milius, who also co-wrote and directed Red Dawn. John envisioned on making Conan a trilogy, while assistant producer, Edward Summer, intended the Conan films to be a huge series, much like the 007 series. Either of which would have been nice for us fans, but neither person played any part in the creation of our only sequel. Instead, two writers from Marvel Comics were brought onboard, Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, who wrote the initial screenplay for the sequel, which was drastically changed by writer Stanley Mann. Director Richard Fleischer, who also directed Tora! Tora! Tora! in 1970 and Red Sonja in 1985, directed Conan the Destroyer. I think the only thing the two movies shared in common were Arnold and producer Dino DeLaurentis; this is why you find extreme differences between the two finished works.



On another note, many celebrities co-stared in these movies, like NBA star Wilt Chamberlain, and model Grace Jones. But one person out of the rest, whom I would like to point out, is Hawaiian Gerry Lopez, who plays Subotai in the first film. Gerry is actually a world-renowned champion surfer, and from an early age in his life, he read many of the Conan novels. With Gerry's features and his great appreciation of Howard's work, it was difficult for old friend John Milius to find anyone else as a better fit for the role of Subotai. Gerry Lopez also co-stars in Big Wednesday (another work of John Milius) and North Shore, which are both classic surfer movies, next to the Endless Summer films.



MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE CONAN DIALOG:



To bring you up to speed, early on in the movie Conan was enslaved and bought to be a Pit Fighter. After countless victories, his master takes him to the Far East for breeding (yes, I said breeding). As a reward for his success, Conan was given an education in eastern philosophies and was taught the art of swordsmanship from the eastern masters.



And so, in the next scene you see some sort of general talking to his men. He says to them, "We have won again. That is good! But what is best in life?"



One of his men replies, "The open steppe, fleet horse, falcon on your wrist, wind in your hair!"



"Wrong!" replies the general, and then asks, "Conan, what is best in life?"



Which Conan replies, "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!"



... that's just wicked man.



WHAT'S IN THIS SPECIAL RELEASE:



One DVD Disc



SIDE ONE: Conan the Barbarian

Widescreen version (2 Hrs, 11 Min) in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Bonus Materials:

Commentary with Director John Milius and with Arnold Schwarzenegger

Deleted Scenes

Theatrical Trailers

The Making of Conan

Special Effects

Archives



SIDE TWO: Conan the Destroyer

Widescreen version (1 Hr, 42 Min) in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Bonus Materials:

Theatrical Trailer"

Destroyer is Non-Anamorphic, Send a Message

Jay | 01/21/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Pick up the individual Conan the Barbarian SE release, but don't support this lame packaging of that disc with a non-anamorphic release of Conan the Destroyer. I was excited about picking this up, but declined once I realized that Destroyer was not enhanced for widescreen televisions. Would it have killed the studio? What a disappointment."

Both Conan's came in wide screen format....

Ray Bradley | 03/10/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I almost did not buy the 2 movie package because I saw the reviews stating that conan the destroyer is not in 16:9 ratio..
Well for the price i bought it anyway since I wanted both movies.
Both Conan's came in letter box wide screen format..
Someone is confused..
Both movies look pretty good on a 47" widescreen HDTV. Shading is a little off, but every outdoor movie is off do to sunlight..
My main point of this review is to tell people that do not waste your money on 2 seperate movies by the box set and you will be more then happy."