This weekend I picked up "Conan The Barbarian" (1982) on DVD. The movie stars the current Governor of California, Arnold Schwaazenegger and is directed by John Milius.( picture to left)) Milius is a disciple of my favorite director John Ford (see posts below). The best part of the DVD is the commentary track with Schwaaszenegger and Milius, done in the last few years. For those that are unfamiliar with "Commentary Tracks" on DVDs they are commentary voice overs that run while the movie is shown. They are usually done by actors in the movie , directors, writers or others who made the movie or film historians. They usually describe how the movie was made and describe the history of the movie etc. Many are very dry and of interest only to film buffs. NOT THIS ONE! John Milius and Arnold are obviously together when the commentary was recorded. Many times the commentators are not together and their comments are spliced together. This is like watching the movie with two real characters. Milius is very literate and Arnold is well Arnold! To watch this macho movie with these two macho men is a kick. There is almost too much testosterone . Every time a cute woman appears in a bit part Arnold makes a comment "I remember her" There are comments about x-wives and problems with the IRS (Milius) and Arnold makes a few comments that are even too crude for me. He loves the "love" scenes. In any case it is like a couple of guys watching a movie with cigars and bourbon. Picture above is of John Milius "in character." Click on the title above for a link to the Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB) page for "Conan the Barbarian" and links to info on Arnold and John Milius.
