Conan the Barbarian (1982), directed by John Milius

Not a straight adaptation of Robert E. Howard's literary Conan, but still a very enjoyable film. The influence of two Howard stories in particular--Queen of the Black Coast and A Witch Shall Be Born--is very evident in the plot.

There's also a surprising amount of Wagnerian imagery, which I found quite cool. Apparently several critics took issue with it, presumably thinking that anything remotely Wagnerian automatically equates with the Nazis, but I don't agree with that.

As well, I can't help but wonder if director John Milius got some of his casting ideas from his old USC film school buddy George Lucas.

We have the title character, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger; his friend and ally (invented for the film), a Mongol thief named Subotai; and the villain, Thulsa Doom, played by James Earl Jones.

This is quite similar to the casting ideas I suspect Lucas had in mind for the 1974 SW rough draft.

There the principal hero, Annikin Starkiller, was to have black hair and blue eyes, like Robert E. Howard's literary Conan; the hero's mentor, General Luke Skywalker, was apparently Japanese; and the villain, Prince Valorum, was likely meant to be cast as black.

In fact, James Earl Jones may have got the nod for Thulsa Doom precisely because of his turn as Darth Vader--the successor character to Valorum.

But getting back to Milius's Conan: very good. A surprisingly pagan film for 1980s America, too.

8 out of 10 broken swords.