The Terminator (1984) star Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of Hollywood’s most respected actors whose journey from being a professional bodybuilder to conquering the film industry has been witnessed by fans globally. He’s lived a career so full of stories that we found some sensitive ones during his initial days in the industry.
The actor, after a couple of uncredited cameos, landed the film that became a launchpad for his breakout success. 1982’s Conan the Barbarian showed Schwarzenegger in all his muscular glory with some incredibly violent scenes that gave it an R rating. Cut to two years later, he returned with the sequel, Conan the Destroyer.
The $31 million sequel reportedly had a number of intense scenes that were cut out by the censor boards in multiple countries including the United States to make it suitable for all audiences. The uncut version which was released in 2001, as per IMDb, included them all.
Deleted Scenes In Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Conan The Destroyer
The origin story had raised eyebrows for the raw s*xual scenes, violent battles, and Arnold Schwarzenegger biting a vulture which, he later told in an interview, was actually dead and was full of insects. Conan the Destroyer took a leap further into the gory aspects.
From what we gathered from the film’s production details, the scene involving the sacrifice of Princess Jehnna, played by Olivia d’Abo, was cut out as it had the brutal killing of the executioner by a spear that pierced straight through him.
Among the countless animal cruelty scenes in the duology, Conan the Destroyer had a camel that was knocked down with its hind legs tied with wires to inhibit it from getting back up. The particular scene was cut out from the UK version. “It’s like being a little kid again, doing the things that maybe you were not allowed to do,” Schwarzenegger said in an interview once, (via Cinematic Catharsis).
Conan the Destroyer’s Actress On Her Deleted Scenes
Sarah Douglas, who played Queen Taramis, elaborated on a scene that involved her character seducing a statue to bring it to life. Cinematic Catharsis mentioned her character to be “overtly s*xual” as she looked to persuade Conan with all she could.
“Near the film’s end, I seduce the stone statue, Dagoth. I stroked it into life… very hot little scene, that was,” she said, (via Cinematic Catharsis).
The DVD release, in 2001, as per IMDb, included extended fight scenes and love scenes between Conan and Douglas’ Queen Taramis.
Conan the Destroyer is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: Cinematic Catharsis
