Conan The Barbarian (1982):

Arnold is pretty up and down in this, but considering how little dialogue there is in the movie it’s not worth bringing up. I was expecting a mostly average fantasy movie with a little bit of gore, but I was pleasantly suprised when I actually watched it. The music in particular is probably some of the best I’ve ever heard in a movie, the great cinematography also helps with the shots of expansive landscape. I was also completely caught off guard by how unconventionally the story was told, compared to other fantasy movies, there is very little dialogue in this and if there was no dialogue at all I would be still be able to understand what was happening. Another interesting thing I noticed was despite obviously being set in a fictional period of history and being a fantasy movie, the elements of fantasy are kept to a minimum and are used to advance the plot or provide setpieces (Doom’s stare, the slutty witch, giant snake, Doom turning into a snake and bringing Conan back to life), instead of just having magic happen left, right and centre for a majority of the runtime to showcase special effects. So its not only fantastical escapism but also feels grounded to the point I could feel immersed in a world that didn’t exist. Please watch this movie.