Two snakes, but as one against a black sun.
When he is finally freed and makes his way in the world he finds out that this is a symbol of the cult of Set and it's leader, the allegedly thousand year old Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones).
CW: some objectification of women but maybe not as bad as it could have been
I've seen this before but I don't think I've ever paid serious attention to it.
A great deal of craft went into this. Big sets, practical effects, loads of props, costumes and hundreds and hundreds of extras. Arnie isn't much of an actor at this point but he has presence and they work with this fitting the movie around him.
It's fully epic showing different stages of the character's development from pit fighter to prized asset to thief, friend, partner and finally maybe somebody who has a sense of purpose beyond immediate gratification.
No really, go back and watch it while paying attention.
It is hammy action but it's so well handled and they do actually show Conan maturing.
Jones adds great gravitas as the enigmatic and kind of unexplained cult leader. Why is he doing the stuff he does? Why do people worship him? Snake cult!
The dialogue is sparse, but is doesn't matter. Sometimes there's a narrator talking you through it, sometimes we just see things happening that just need no explanation.
The gang of thieves all get some screen time and while Valeria (Sandahl Bergman) could be dismissed as eye candy she actually has lots to do and has more of a catchphrase than Arnie in "c'mon do you want to live forever?". I was expecting a load of "slave girls" stuff and there's little bit, but it's not as much as I was expecting for 1982.
This has aged so much better than I expected. It's well structured, has clear character development, epic scope and apart from when he's making that terrible argh noise he does, Arnie is perfect for the role. Recommended 7/10. No really, it's more complex and better done than many formulaic modern action movies and doesn't have a transparent eye candy hero's love interest who is immediately fridged.