Conan the Barbarian Uncut DVD?

Hello,

I'm new to the site but old to the first Conan movie -- I watched it religiously when it debuted on HBO in '83 or so and I was 8 years old. Trawling through this site I'm stunned by the amount of cut material, and I'm wondering why at least SOME of it wasn't interpolated back into the "Collector's Edition" DVD of 2000.

What are the chances that someday Milius will assemble a "complete and uncut" version of the film? Has he ever discussed this? Have any fans ever ran into him and asked? And is such a thing even possible? I know a lot of cut footage usually ends up destroyed, but since this film was just made a few decades ago, I'm thinking the footage should still be around.

I know Milius wanted to do a Conan 3, but with Arnold busy governing CA, it would seem that a smart way to spend his time would be for Milius to fashion this "ultimate" version of the DVD. I mean, if Ridley Scott can save "Kingdom of Heaven" by releasing a 3 1/2 hour Director's Cut on Special Edition DVD, then surely Milius can, too -- and I'm SURE Conan has made more money than Scott's movie ever will...so it's not like the financial rewards wouldn't be there for the studio.

Welcome aboard!

There is a big difference between the 1980's and the 2000's when it comes to film production. Not to mention the amount of time that has passed with these tid bits cut out. ~If~ the clippings were still around, the chance that any are usable or in location are virtually nil. IMHO. The copy rights for the film are also a whole different issue. I wish with all my heart that we could have an ultimate re splicing of the cut material, and I also wished that they had came back again and again with equal quality films like the James Bond series. Even if it were just to film the novels. However, the days of CTB are over. It's all 300-esque films now. The fantasy genre has lost touch with reality so far as to make only CGI dependent remakes of the same tired plots. One can only hope that someone finally realizes how real the old films felt before all the fancy effect.

Fingers crossed though...

I hear you...and I agree. But I guess I'm a bit of an optimist...there are guys our age in the film biz who also grew up with this movie and so should have a soft spot for it. All we need is someone noteable to start pushing for a remaster/re-do. I mean, if Orson Welles' interminable "Other Side of the Wind" can FINALLY make it to the big screen (next year, apparently), then anything is possible. Talk about "films like that not being made anymore..." there's nothing at all like that one, and Welles' public acclaim is probably even less than CtB, these days.

Actually, a better analogy -- take a look at the Richard Donner cut of Superman 2. That one had the same online obsession as Ctb, with websites devoted to what the Donner version contained, what had been cut out, what footage still survived, etc...and the thing was actually cut together and officially released.

I think all it takes is a bit of money and some PR. I think studios would fund anything if they thought there was some money to be made. But as you pointed out -- the question is, does the footage still exist? Judging from what little material was spliced back into the Collector's Edition, I'd say it probably does.

It sucks that there's no bootleg of the CtB workprint out there. Ten years ago I bought the workprint of Apocalypse Now, 5 hours of endless footage, most of which didn't even show up in the so-called "Redux!"

Never before seen footage apparently exists, man. But the owners are personal collectors who won't share it with anybody because OWNING that treasure makes them "special". I think you know what I'm talking about. Well, they have the right to do what they want with the footage, they paid for it. Besides, we have also the right to damn them, if we feel like we need to, I guess

By the way, take a sit and drink some coffee, friend. You are welcome.

I understand where you're coming from, and I'm pretty sure that the cuts are gone. I recall millius saying something about that once. Also, there would be some plot change IIRC were everything brought back into the film. Conan back at his village, Valeria in the pits... I'm all for as much CTB as I can get, but some was cut not just to get the R rating but for continuity and overall flow too.

I wonder if one could even capture the feeling now that so many years have passed and the technology has changed so much... I can't even think of a film post 1990 that has the same feeling as CTB. Everything has lost touch with reality and history.

I read an interview a little while ago with (I THINK it was) John Boorman, commenting on computer-generated special effects. He said that the last stunt he'd seen in a film that he BELIEVED was the dam jump at the beginning of "Goldeneye".

There is indeed a lack of "My God - he's really doing it!" in so many modern films - over-reliance on CGI results in "Phantom Menace"-style deadness of atmosphere. That doesn't mean that great films can't be made any more, just that producers have to really want to do things properly - and be ready to pay for it!

Lastly (and actually on the subject), I'm a TV editor, I've worked on dramas and movies, and from my experience, most of the time, most of the "deleted scenes" everyone is so desperate to see were deleted for good reasons. I'm not talking about obvious hack-up jobs like "Dune" (for which Dino has apologised), but the majority of cut footage is too slow, repetitious, off-the-point, etc.

lol, it's funny how much stuff a director will leave in a film though. Last night I watched some film and they shot a continuous scene of a couple walking down a hallway for, like, 2 minutes! Such wasted time. I think I was supposed to be picking up on the weight of the moment, but all I could think of was "gap filler alert!". I'm no expert/professional director, but I don't honestly understand why it's so hard to make a movie right. Though this isn't the place for that I guess.

You're right though, a lot is cut because it didn't work or it looked like crap. Though that doesn't explain the shitty blood pack clip in the orgy chamber.... I guess everything can't be as perfect as we, the fans, expect/want.

Whatever Milius cut out from the film, he did so to speed up the movie but also to tell a different narative than the one he sold to magazine journalists while the film was in production. His line in the CE DVD, was "I didnt have to cut to much out". The only thing I think he was peterved about or wanted to change was the voice over narration, that may of been more a Studeio demand.

However, he seemed to have pulled the "Moby Dick" scene out've his ass, so who knows.

perfectpawn wrote:

I watched it religiously when it debuted on HBO in '83 or so and I was 8 years old.

By any chance, do you remember any "added footage" from this TV version? Here is what Cromulus once wrote about it:

Cromulus The Destroyer wrote:

Something interesting: back in the mid 1980's, I was watching CONAN on cable TV (HBO) and I remember seeing footage from the Tower of Set that's not in any other VHS or TV versions. A scene where Conan casted the grappling hook on the Tower and there was a scene with a lion in the garden, with torch lights around. I used to think my mind was playing tricks on me but, sure enough, when I bought the movie script, there was indeed scenes featuring Arnold killing a lion and him throwing the hook on the Tower! This also explains Valeria's comment about the lions eating Subotai. I tell you I am not making this up! I also know on TV, sometimes, they show and have different cuts of movies.

Yeah, maybe he recollects something...

Sorry guys, that doesn't ring any bells at all. I don't recall any lions in the film. I'm not saying they weren't there -- it could just be that it was so long ago and I was so young that I've forgotten -- but rewatching the film for the first time in years the other day, on the Special Edition DVD, I was more surprised by the stuff I'd never seen before (the princess being there at the end, "Moby Dick," etc) and didn't notice anything missing from my religious childhood viewings. It's funny, I bought that SE DVD back in 2002 or so and just now opened it. I really have no idea why I waited so long.

You know, back when Conan premiered on HBO in the '80s I wanted SO BAD an action figure from the film, Conan or even better Thulsa Doom in battle gear (I thought of him as a prehistory Darth Vader...same voice and everything!). Now I see NECA has released two Conan figures. I would've killed for those back in the day. Well, I'm picking them up.

Chrsit, you bought it in 2002 and only now just opened it? Shit, wish I had that kinda self-restraint,lol.!


The Sci-fi can also ran some alternate footage, primarily using different angles via 2nd or 3rd unit cameras or whatever. TNT ran an extended cut of COBRA at times...

Quote :

# Television version features previously cut scene showing the Nightslasher at his job cutting up fish.

# Also in the television version is a previously cut scene where Cobra and Ingrid have a brief conversation with law enforcement officials in the factory after killing the Nightslasher.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090859/alternateversions

So somtimes on cable, you can get lucky and catch something alternate.

For sure -- when I was a kid I was hooked on the "Airplane" movies, and I remember "Airplane 2" had a bunch of different stuff on cable than on the VHS release -- material that was added in for the material that was removed for content.

There's an extended Cobra?? Now there's one I haven't seen since the '80s...saw it in the theater when I was 11 or so with my mom, and she actually walked out, as the "masked cultists killing unarmed women" really spooked her. I had to wait for it to come out on video before I could watch it all the way through!

Some guys I know have faith that a un-cut CTB will be released in time for the new CONAN movie, but this I doubt and have lost interest in.