How did u discover the movie ?

Welcome to the Conan Completist English Board !

Here everyone can tell us how he/she discovered Conan the Barbarian and tell us a little about himself/herself.

I personnaly discovered the movie at the age of twelve when it was first released in France. I saw it with my younger sister in a small theater near our home. It was a great shock for me (and for her, she is still a fan too). At the end of the movie, we asked to buy the movie poster to the projectionist. It was the Frazetta french version, and it still hangs on my wall today.
After that I decided to read all the Conan stories written by Howard and I am still a big Howard fan to this day.

I saw the movie when it was shown in theatres as a 11 year old kid and was fascinated from that day on. Since then I collect stuff connected with the film. I have for example the Atlantean Sword originally redone by Jody Samson and the Axe he uses at the Battle OF The mounds, also the helmet used there.

I collect mainly posters and pictures. I have the German, Belgian, US, Yugoslavian, Pakistanese and of course French posters.

I discovered this incredible film in my dad's videotape collection when I was about 10. Being very protective, he never let me watch it but I watched it on the sly one day. The quality wasn't great but as soon as I saw Arnie's incredible physique and heard Basil's booming, inspiring score, I was hooked. I can still remember the embarassment I felt watching the love scene between Conan and Valeria for the first time! The Atlantean sword was the stuff of dreams for me and I still dream of owning one today. The film also inspired me to start weight training. To the poster who owns the Axe and the helmet from the Battle of the Mounds, may I ask if they are the original pieces? If so, how in the world did you get them? I know that Milius still owns the original Atlantean sword.

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I can still remember the embarassment I felt watching the love scene between Conan and Valeria for the first time!

Exactly the same thing for me ! (though I think I was a little older).

In fact, the love scene with the Wolf Witch too. And I remember my mom saying something like " you're too young, don't look at that ! ".

It was very embarrassing, and since that time I still feel an embarrassment while watching that scene, strange isn't it ?

Conan The Barbarian will always be my favorite movie.

I guess I discovered it when I was a young boy, probably around 4 or 5 (no, not a Conan line ) and watched it with my older brother on one of those old Disk players from the early 80's (I forget the name off hand). Was a big fantasy & horror fan since I was young, so movies like Clash of the Titans, Dragonslayer, Beastmaster along with Jason and the Argonauts and the Harryhausen Sinbad's and Steve Reeves Hercules' and those Friday the 13th slasher films and John Carpenter's early classics were always on my TV screen.

Also have to remember that "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" was very popular in that time as well along with "Dungeons & Dragons" and such... But CONAN was very awe inspiring for me, cause it captured my personality so well and made me we want to develop my body & mind into something like Conan's on screen. So from then on, I watched Conan every week, right up to the present day.

I was 2 or 3 and my parents took me to the theater with them! I totally remember being devastated when Valeria died, but thus began a love affair with my parents' pulp and sci-fi paperbacks. I loved the look and mood of Conan; its a vision of a time we hope existed when people were more direct and relied on themselves. But it's not all brutality, people; how else could it have appealed to me as a little girl who loved princesses and smooching? I love the characterization of Conan in the film even more than in the novels, because he's like this self-sufficient innocent who contemplates the universe and his own actions. I have yet to be as chilled by a villain as I was by Thulsa Doom and all his creepozoid reptile hijinks.

Anyway, it's probably my favorite movie EVAH, and that's all that counts!

The first time I saw CtB was after it was released on VHS. I had my Mom rent it (I was too young) from a local video store, & I've been a mega-fan ever since. The direction & action is top-notch, & the musical score is absolutely ENCHANTING.

I always heard that there was MUCH MORE of this film that was shot, & that many sections of film ended up being cut by the censors. I keep hoping that one day the studio will release a CtB "Definitive Edition", that will include the lost footage...

*crosses fingers*

Nexus6 wrote:

I always heard that there was MUCH MORE of this film that was shot

You bet there was!

Just take a look right here:
http://www.conancompletist.com/EN/scenescoup.htm

And there are many photo evidences of deleted/lost scenes...

I was 12 or 13 a fan of the Savage Sword comics, much better than Marvel. I was into Martial Arts (still ma all these years later) and one of the magazines had Arnold in a scene from the movie with a full article about the training the cast was doing. I had to wait till it came on cable almost a year later to see it. I've been a fan since. I've read every one of REH's tales and most of the adventure books that have been out since.
It also inspired me to learn anything I could about the Sword. Japanese and Chinese systems, European styles later on. I crashed head long into Geekdom, but in a non nerd way..lol.. Worked Ren Faires, became a fight choreographer. learned bronze casting for a hilt smith, I can't get enough!

I started reading the savage sword magazines when I was about 9 or 10 (probably way to young but I reckon it's the one good thing my dad did for me;) ). Started reading the books by REH when I was about 11, and saw the film when it came out on video back in '82:). I reckon it was and still is, an almost perfect film. The books and film inspired me, like many others, to take up blade training, though I tend to favour the axe, hatchet and knife over the sword:) and specialise in that as a fight choreographer and instructor

I've read all the L. Sprague and Robert Jordan stuff since. Recently started on the new dark horse comics

I was very little and went to see it with my family , I could barely remember anything else apart the cinema entrance and that I was watching that movie ... I rediscovered it much later with tv , then videotapes , watching and rewatching and rewatching ...

I was ten. My dad urged me to buy an American remainder Conan book when we were on holiday. I was awed by the cover. Thinking it was Tarzan I picked it up only to find out this guy about to butcher a savage ape monster was some rip off upstart called Conan!! I went to put it back on the rack. My life would have been so much different then if my father had not spotted this tragic error in judgement and said; "Are you going to buy that? I've read some of them, they're pretty good." I still have that book 30 years later. A few months after that I saw an advert on the t.v. for the movie. The books started appearing in bookshops and I beacme a dedicated fan. I saw the film at last in '84 on VHS. I've seen it more than any other film since and I still love it .

Traded some Star Wars stuff for Conan comics. Then saw the totally kick-ass trailer for the movie. I think I was in high school when I saw it at the theater.

Ok, so here goes...

I'm a filmmaker in my 40's. Love Milius. Almost had a movie produced with Arnold, but didn't happen. Oh well... Anyway, I wrote a series of shorts for my directing reel and a friend said I was writing something right out of R.E. Howard; he said I had to at least watch the CONAN films. So, last week I watched CONAN THE BARBARIAN, CONAN THE DESTROYER, RED SONJA, and CONAN THE BARBARIAN (2011). Now I find myself searching out the books, comics, scripts, games... I'm playing the PS3 CONAN game! I'm even toying with the probably terrible idea of watching the TV series.

So, CONAN finally got me! Crom!