Conan the Barbarian [Collector's Edition]

One of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger's first forays into Hollywood cinema, Conan the Barbarian is the story of one man's quest for vengeance among a dangerous and barbaric land. This is the second release of this film on DVD by Universal, and the image quality on this 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer looks miles above the previous release. Colors are very vibrant and full while the black levels are deep and dark. Only a slight amount of grain shows up in a few spots, and edge enhancement/digital artifacting is never present. The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono and sounds passable. Of course, this being a Mono soundtrack, the depth and fidelity are missing, though overall, the bulk of the dialogue, effects, and music are free of any excessive distortion or hiss. Also included on this disc are French subtitles. This edition of Conan the Barbarian is a "collector's edition" and sports some fine new extra features. The first is a commentary track by director John Milius and Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is a very enlightening commentary track with both participants sounding very chatty and friendly. A brand new 53-minute documentary, "Conan Unchained," written, directed, and produced by Laurent Bouzereau, is a great retrospective on the film which includes interviews with many of the actors and filmmakers. Featuring lots of behind-the-scenes information and interviews, this is a great retrospective piece for fans. About six minutes of deleted scenes are included that don't add much to the proceedings. A special effects clip shows a shot with and without the inserted special effects. Finally there is an archive gallery with images and artwork from the film, two theatrical trailers, production notes, cast and filmmaker bios, and a DVD-ROM section with additional production materials and web links. Like mad dogs to rare beef, fans of the film should drool over this DVD for years to come.