Conan the Barbarian

Conan the Barbarian - this movie also had a big impact on the younger me.  This movie came out about the same time as Tron, but it was years before I would actually see it.  Unlike Tron, this movie was rated R, and my parents wouldn't allow me to see it until I was a bit older.

Fortunately for me, there was an audio (LP) recording of the movie!  I'm not just talking about the soundtrack here, but also narration, with other audio tracks from the film.  So even though I had to wait years to actually see it, my brother and I had already memorized many lines from the film.

When I finally did see Conan the Barbarian, I was pleasantly surprised.  While Tron might not have been so great if I wasn't then addicted to arcade games, computers, and action figures, Conan is just great.  The script was good, James Earl Jones was amazing, and the music was epic.  Even Arnold Schwarzenegger was great in that film, probably because he had so few lines?

I saw Conan 3D not long ago, and while it's not a horrible movie, it can't hold a candle to the original.  Conan 3D might be closer in spirit to Robert E. Howard's original Conan stories, but it lacks the Nietzschean bravado of the first Conan, that feeling that happiness might just lie in crushing your enemies, driving forth those who oppose you, and in the lamentation of their women.