Conan The Destroyer (1984)

Even the mightiest warrior can be tempted by the promise of getting back what he's lost. Richard Fleischer's "Conan the Destroyer" brings back Arnold Schwarzenegger as the brawny barbarian for another, lighter-hearted fantasy adventure. It opens as Conan and his jittery thief sidekick, Malak (Tracey Walter), are ambushed by the royal guards of Queen Taramis (Sarah Douglas), who's so impressed by Conan's fighting skills that she offers him a deal. She promises to bring his beloved Valeria back from the dead if he'll escort her sheltered young niece, Princess Jehnna (Olivia d'Abo), on a dangerous quest to retrieve a magic jewel, which will lead them to a sacred horn. Conan doesn't know that the queen plans to have him killed and the princess sacrificed to awaken an ancient god, Dagoth, whose return could doom mankind. Along the way, the group rescues Conan's old friend the wizard (Mako) from a band of cannibals and frees a fierce warrior woman, Zula (Grace Jones), from an angry mob, earning her fierce loyalty. The queen's towering captain, Bombaata (Wilt Chamberlain), rides along too, secretly under orders to betray them. Their quest leads them to a shimmering fortress guarded by a shape-shifting wizard, where Conan battles a monstrous beast in a hall of mirrors, and to a forbidden temple where the horn is hidden. When Bombaata makes his move and Jehnna is taken to be sacrificed, Conan and his friends must storm the queen's palace. The climax pits Conan against the monstrous Dagoth, designed by "E.T." creator Carlo Rambaldi and played by André the Giant. Basil Poledouris returns with another rousing score.