Saturday, March 26, 2011

Clonin' the Barbarian: deleted beheading from CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982)


Most film shoots usually end up with more footage than they need for the final product and you usually end up with stuff on the cutting room floor.  CONAN THE BARBARIAN is no exception as even Arnold said they had enough footage to make a 4 hour movie.

What is interesting in this tiny example of "chopping block" footage is that it is an example of the filmmaker's using a bit of self-censorship.  Legendary for its violence, CONAN actually lost a tiny bit during the pit fighting montage where Conan fights a woman.  Not only does he defeat her, but he cuts off her head and shows it to the bloodthirsty crowd. Interestingly, I hear this was also how Schwarzenegger hoped to campaign for Governor of California.  The filmmakers actually felt it was a bit too excessive and, while they didn't mind him being a barbarian, the thought of Conan the Lady Killer (literally) was a bit too much.  So they trimmed it down and slyly edited it so you never see he is actually fighting a woman.  If you want the scoop on even more excised CONAN THE BARBARIAN bits, check out this excellent rundown at this Conan fansite.

Promotional stills of the beheading:



Behind the scenes pic:

Fan edit video:

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