In the wake of Star Wars and the rise of the big-budget sci-fi/fantasy film, director John Milius got the green light to make this lavish adaptation of the Robert E. Howard pulp tales, and he found the perfect embodiment of Howard's sword-wielding, absurdly muscled hero in former bodybuilding champ Schwarzenegger. Reduced to slavery in adolescence after his village and people are destroyed by the insidious warlord Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), Conan grows into a formidable warrior who, after his release, sets out on a freebooting career across a mythical landscape in search of treasure, wenches, and big fat bloody revenge. Though Milius' straight-faced, small-scale epic direction largely deprives his star of the lighthearted wit that would become his trademark, Arnold makes an indelibly powerful impression as the mighty barbarian, kicking off a larger-than-life career with an appropriately larger-than-life starring role.