He was originally only supposed to have a cameo in Red Sonja, but the fantasy film ended up being a much bigger blot on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s career than initially thought. At least when it comes to the opinion of the Conan actor, who by the way doesn’t play Conan in Red Sonja (although he looks like it). The film is on TV today.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s scathing verdict on Red Sonja
When it comes to his opinion on the fantasy film released in 1985, Schwarzenegger doesn’t hold back. At least in the following quote said to be him (via MSN ):
[Red Sonja] is the worst movie I’ve ever made. When my kids misbehave, I send them to their rooms and make them watch Red Sonja ten times. I’ve never had many problems with them.
We don’t know what Patrick, Katherine and the other Schwarzenegger offspring have to say about this, nor whether his son-in-law Chris Pratt will undergo this procedure.
For Schwarzenegger, the production of Red Sonja was a failure in every respect. The film hit theaters on the back of his two Conan movies, but due to lack of rights it starred him in the role of the Conan clone Lord Kalidor, with Brigitte Nielsen playing the titular heroine. Red Sonja went under at the box office and he failed the critics. However, Schwarzenegger at least had the advantage of not appearing at all for large stretches of the film, so that Nielsen and other stars became targets for slating. Nevertheless, Red Sonja has a certain cult potential, as film critic Roger Ebert noted back then:
[Die Dialoge] sound like the performers have already read their film’s parody in Mad Magazine. What is Red Sonja with Brigitte Nielsen about?
Queen Gedren (Sandahl Bergman) is greedy for power. A magic stone protected by priestesses could give her superhuman powers. Without further ado, she steals the stone and has the guardians killed, including the sister of Red Sonja (Brigitte Nielsen), the invincible sword master. Red Sonja swears revenge and sets out to destroy the magic stone. On her dangerous mission, she can only hope for the help of the battle-hardened Lord Kalidor (Schwarzenegger), the young Prince Tarn (Ernie Reyes Jr.) and his stuttering servant (Paul L. Smith).
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