The film that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a star and the sequel that disappointed hard core Conan fans everywhere will both receive a package worthy of the King of Aquilonia himself in 2024.
Arrow Video will release both John Millius’ Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Richard Fleischer’s Conan the Destroyer (1984) with a brand new 4K restoration, made from the original negatives.
Each film will be available in 4K UHD or Blu-ray and both will be available in The Conan Chronicles Limited Edition set for those who want to own both Conan movies.
Three versions of Conan the Barbarian will be featured in the original film’s set, showcasing the Theatrical Cut (127 mins), International Cut (129 mins), and Extended Cut (130 mins).
Some of the bonus features on the Conan the Barbarian set include archive commentary for Conan the Barbarian by John Milius and Arnold Schwarzenegger and a brand new feature commentary by genre historian Paul M. Sammon, author of Conan: The Phenomenon.
The Conan the Barbarian disc will also offer newly filmed interviews with production artist William Stout, costume designer John Bloomfield, special effects crew members Colin Arthur and Ron Hone, actors Jorge Sanz and Jack Taylor, assistant editor Peck Prior, visual effects animators Peter Kuran and Katherine Kean, filmmaker Robert Eggers (The Northman), and authors John Walsh and Alfio Leotta. Fans of the epic score will want to check out “A Tribute to Basil Poledouris”, a series of videos produced by the Úbeda Film Music Festival, including video of Poledouris conducting a concert of music from Conan the Barbarian in 2006 (remixed in 5.1 surround).
The Conan the Destroyer collection includes archive commentaries for Conan the Destroyer by Fleischer and actors Olivia d’Abo, Tracey Walter and Sarah Douglas and another brand new commentary by Sammon.
Newly filmed interviews for Conan the Destroyer with Bloomfield and Walsh, casting director Johanna Ray, art director Kevin Phipps and stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong are included, as well as Conan Unchained: The Making of Conan, an archive documentary from 2000 featuring interviews with Schwarzenegger, Milius, Stone, Jones, Lopez, Bergman, Poledouris and several others, and Conan: The Making of a Comic Book Legend, an archive interview with writers Roy Thomas & Gerry Conway.
All three sets include double-sided fold-out posters, postcards, and an illustrated booklet. The Conan Chronicles includes both posters and all twelve postcards. The individual film sets include six postcards from the featured film.
Look for Conan the Barbarian ($49.95), Conan the Destroyer ($49.95), and The Conan Chronicles ($89.95) at your local store on January 16, 2024.
Check out some of the distinct packages below and be ready to hand over some well-earned gold pieces for the set(s) of your choice.
