Overview: After conquering the box office with his first outing as the sword-wielding Cimmerian, Arnold Schwarzenegger returns in Conan the Destroyer, an exciting and action-packed sequel from veteran director Richard Fleischer (The Vikings) that amps up the fantasy-adventure and hews closer to the character’s pulp and comic book origins.

Still mourning the death of his beloved Valeria, Conan is given an offer he can’t refuse by Queen Taramis (Sarah Douglas): he will escort her niece, Princess Jehnna (Olivia d’Abo), on a quest to find a mystical horn that will awaken a slumbering god, in return for Valeria being brought back from the dead.

With a new group of companions by his side – including a fierce warrior woman named Zula (Grace Jones) – Conan must battle an onslaught of evil beasts, wizards and cannibals, little suspecting that the wicked Taramis intends to betray him with the aid of her head guard, Bombaata (Wilt Chamberlain).

Photographed by the great Academy Award-winning cinematographer Jack Cardiff, with another rousing score by Basil Poledouris, Conan the Destroyer has finally been restored in 4K with hours of brand new bonus features taking you deeper into the legend of the thief who would be king.

4K UHD Blu-ray Verdict: Arrow Films is expanding their 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray catalog offerings this month with the release of the highly-anticipated Conan the Destroyer in the expansive 4K Ultra HD video format this January 30th, 2024.

For my money, this Conan the Destroyer [4K UHD+BR] combo pack sharpness takes a fairly large step forward from others in their 4K Ultra HD catalog and even comes with HDR (High Dynamic Range) for the complete 4K Ultra HD experience, of course.

So, what we have is Conan the Destroyer presented to us as a two-disc combo pack with other stand out points you should know being: Codec: HEVC / H.265 Resolution: Native 4K (2160p), HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10, Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 and Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1.

Featuring Dolby Vision and HDR10 for brighter, deeper, and way more lifelike colors, as with most all 4K UHDs, everything that we watch features these qualities - but somehow, this film gloriously shines within them all.

As for the audio, well we get the choice of: English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit), English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit) and Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit).

Overall, this is a very strong 4K HDR Blu-ray presentation, and, for the most part, the audio track remains fairly similar to its DTS-HD counterpart; with much of the action occupying the surrounds with outstanding directionality and placement where effects flawlessly pan between the sides and rears.

Noticeably crisp with the overall clarity receiving an obvious boost here on this release, well, you know what they say: If you can’t get John Milius, grab the dude who directed Mandingo, Soylent Green and the Neil Diamond remake version of The Jazz Singer, Richard Fleischer. That’s exactly what Dino and Raffaella De Laurentiis did here. It makes sense, though, as Fleischer had also directed The Vikings, one of the films that had inspired Milius as he created Conan the Barbarian.

This time, however, gore was out and humor was in. That said, the original story is by Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, the comic book writers who were behind so many of Conan’s Marvel Comics stories.

Conan (Schwarzenegger) and his companion, the thief Malak (Tracy Walter, Bob the Goon from Batman) are tested by Queen Taramis (Sarah Douglas, Ursa from Superman II). She has a quest for him and should he succeed, she will bring Valeria back from the dead. He must escort Jehnna, the queen’s virginal niece, to restore the horn of the dreaming god Dagoth (yes, Conan and HP Lovecraft aren’t far removed).

Our heroes are joined by basketball star Wilt Chamberlain as Bombaata, the leader of the royal guard, who has orders to kill Conan as soon as the gem is secured. To combat the wizard who has the gem, Conan brings back Akiro the Wizard (Mako) from the last movie. And soon, they save Zula (Grace Jones!) from some villagers and she joins their quest.

They come to the castle of Thoth-Amon, who is played by former pro wrestler Judo Pat Roach. Roach is in a ton of movies that you know and love and you know exactly who he is, but may not know him by name. He’s the flying wing mechanic in Raiders of the Last Ark, the bouncer in A Clockwork Orange and General Kael in Willow. He turns into a giant bird and kidnaps Jehnna and then turns into a monkey man inside a hall of mirrors. His death destroys the entire castle. This whole sequence makes the movie!

When they return, Taramis’ guards attack (Sven-Ole Thorsen, who played Thorgrim in the first film is one of them, this time called Togra), but Bombaata claims to have no idea why. Jehna starts to fall for Conan, but he explains his devotion to Valeria to her. Soon after, they learn that Jehna will be sacrificed to awaken Dagoth, who is played by Andre the Giant!

Everything works out for Conan and he decides to leave his companions behind for further adventures. Sadly, despite years of promising, no new Arnold starring film has reached the silver screen.

In conclusion, and despite this being a toned down film, it’s packed with great scenes. If only it was all as awesome as the sequences where Conan battles Thoth-Amon, including the mirror battle. Still, it’s way better than Red Sonja and any Conan project that would follow, in my humble opinion.

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:
Brand new 4K restoration from the original negative by Arrow Films
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (2160p) presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Newly restored original mono audio and remixed Dolby Atmos surround audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Archive feature commentary by director Richard Fleischer
Archive feature commentary by actors Olivia d’Abo and Tracey Walter
Archive feature commentary by actor Sarah Douglas with genre historians Kim Newman & Stephen Jones
Brand new feature commentary by genre historian Paul M. Sammon, author of Conan: The Phenomenon
Newly assembled isolated score track in lossless stereo
Casting the Destroyer, a newly filmed interview with casting director Johanna Ray
Cut from a Different Cloth, a newly filmed interview with costume designer John Bloomfield
Dune and the Destroyer, a newly filmed interview with art director Kevin Phipps
Swords, Sorcery & Stunts, a newly filmed interview with stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong
Behind the Destroyer, a newly filmed interview with John Walsh, author of Conan the Barbarian: The Official History of the Film
Conan: The Making of a Comic Book Legend, an archive interview with writers Roy Thomas & Gerry Conway
Basil Poledouris: Composing the Conan Saga, an archive interview with the composer
Theatrical trailers
Image gallery
Double-sided fold-out poster
Six double-sided collectors’ postcards
Illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing by Walter Chaw and John Walsh, and an archive set report by Paul M. Sammon