Conan the Barbarian (1982 35mm)
Thursday, November 1st
8pm | $10
Director: John Milius
When his mother and father are killed in a raid by the evil sorcerer Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), Conan is sent to a slave camp. As the years pass, he develops into a powerfully-built man (Schwarzenegger) , still determined to get revenge for his parents' death and solve the riddle of steel. He learns that Thulsa Doom is the head of a mysterious snake cult and in his attempts to get closer to the evil sorcerer Conan makes some powerful friends and many deadly enemies.
Conan the Barbarian is one of those films that just shouldn't work on paper, but somehow ends up not only working, but becoming a classic. Everything is right here thanks to Milius unashamed bigger-than-life-direction. He takes him serious and dares to go far enough with the grandness, something few directors would dare do today for fear of being labeled pretentious.
The film also marks Schwarzenegger's breakthrough performance, where he goes from an obscure B-movie curiosity, to a bigger than life household name.
Here, Arnold Schwarzenegger does not play Conan. Arnold Schwarzenegger IS Conan, and no other actor could express that role in such a downright manner. And probably never will.