The Conan Chronicles 4K UHD Review: 4Konan

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s breakout movie role comes to 4K UHD from Arrow Video. And also its sequel. I only got to see Conan the Barbarian on 4K but assuming both were transferred the same, it bodes well.

The deep black is apparent right away on the opening credits forging the sword in the fire. Sitting around the fire lit gladiator pit also produces deep shadows. When Conan and Valeria (Sandahl Bergman) climb down the well, they descend into a pure black void. The night climax on Tulsa Doom’s steps is also against a deep black sky.

You see the film grain in the light, and all the magic hour shots are beautiful. The red tinted death spirit scene is especially striking.

Conan the Destroyer has a lot of new extras (as viewed on Blu-ray). The costume designer explains why Arnold’s costumes are more revealing in the sequel. Vic Armstrong shares war stories. Author John Walsh has a lot of information on the sequel plans.

There’ve been a lot of commentaries over the years and editions of these movies. The two for Barbarian include Arnold and John Milieus and a new one by author Paul Sammon. Sammon has not only researched the films, but was on the set of Barbarian so shares almost firsthand accounts. He cites extreme violence they shot but cut out, including a female pit fighter whose role was essentially deleted.

There are three commentaries on Destroyer too.