My pops took me to see it in the theater when I was 15.
I remember really digging it.
15 y/o me definitely had a crush on Sandahl Bergman, too!
It was my first—and pretty much only—foray into the whole swords & sorcery genre, at least in terms of seeing those films in the movie theater.
I mean I eventually saw things like
The Sword and the Sorcerer,
Krull,
Beastmaster, and a few others, but
Conan is the granddaddy of that genre imho.
The production design was tight and Basil Poledouris’s score for both of the Arnie Conan films is amazing (I may actually dig his score for
Conan the Destroyer more…).
For some reason I didn’t see the follow-up,
Conan the Destroyer until a few years ago. While a bit more campy, it’s still great and worth watching.
Heck, even
Red Sonja, despite Brigitte Neilson’s debatable thespian skills, is worth a watch (both of these were directed by Richard Fleischer, so there is a consistency to them).
As for John Milius?
Conan and
Red Dawn were his two movies that left a lasting impact on me. Heck, I quoted
Red Dawn the other day while skiing at Alpine Meadows. My buddy sitting next to me on the chairlift looked at me and asked “Dude, did you just quote
Red Dawn?!?”

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