"Conan the Barbarian / Conan the Great" (コナン・ザ・グレート), Original Release Japanese Movie Poster 1982, Renato Casaro Artwork, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) M217

This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical poster printed for the first Japanese release of John Milius’s sword-and-sorcery epic Conan the Barbarian in 1982.

Released in Japan under the alternative title Conan the Great / コナン・ザ・グレート, this striking Style B poster features the celebrated international artwork painted by Italian illustrator Renato Casaro. Casaro’s monumental composition became one of the defining images of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s early career and of fantasy cinema during the 1980s.

The poster is preserved in near-mint condition, an exceptional state of survival for original Japanese theatrical paper more than four decades old.

Film background

Directed by John Milius from a screenplay co-written with Oliver Stone, Conan the Barbarian draws upon the Hyborian world and characters created by pulp-fiction author Robert E. Howard during the 1930s.

After his village is destroyed by the forces of the sorcerous cult leader Thulsa Doom, the young Conan is enslaved and subjected to years of brutal labour. He eventually becomes a gladiator, wins his freedom and embarks upon a journey of revenge accompanied by the warrior Valeria and the archer Subotai.

The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan, with James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom, Sandahl Bergman as Valeria, Gerry Lopez as Subotai, Mako as the Wizard and Max von Sydow as King Osric.

Although Schwarzenegger had appeared in earlier productions, Conan the Barbarian established his physical presence and screen persona for an international audience, providing the decisive foundation for his subsequent career as one of the defining action stars of the 1980s and 1990s.

The film’s immense production design, location photography and unusually serious mythic tone distinguish it from many of the fantasy adventures that followed. Equally important is Basil Poledouris’s orchestral and choral score, whose martial percussion, monumental brass and recurring heroic themes have become inseparable from the film’s identity.

Released in Japan by 20th Century Fox on 17 July 1982, the film was presented under the title コナン・ザ・グレート, while the original English Conan the Barbarian logo was retained within the artwork.

Poster design

Renato Casaro’s painted composition presents Schwarzenegger’s Conan as an almost sculptural heroic figure. Wearing a horned helmet and battle armour, he raises the Atlantean sword vertically towards the sky, where the blade terminates in a brilliant starburst.

At his feet, Sandahl Bergman’s Valeria crouches with her sword held at the ready. Rather than functioning as a passive secondary figure, she is presented as Conan’s fellow warrior: alert, armed and visually integrated into the poster’s central pyramid of steel and physical strength.

The figures emerge from a smouldering red-and-black environment that suggests fire, rock and a prehistoric world beyond recorded history. Black birds pass through the fiery background, reinforcing the atmosphere of death, combat and ancient myth.

A narrow white frame separates Casaro’s painted image from the deep-black outer field, making the reds, metallic highlights and flesh tones appear particularly vivid. The small English CONAN THE BARBARIAN logo remains within the lower-left corner of the illustration.

Across the bottom, the Japanese title:

「コナン・ザ・グレート」

is printed in enormous red-and-gold graduated lettering. Its heavy, angular typography mirrors the weight of Conan’s sword and gives the Japanese B2 a distinct visual identity from other international versions using the same Casaro artwork.

The Japanese tagline

The upper-left corner carries the film’s poetic Japanese campaign line:

「遙か文明の夜明けまえ――
盗賊が征服者となり
野蛮人が王となる
時代があった。」

“Long before the dawn of civilization—there was an age when thieves became conquerors and barbarians became kings.”

The language establishes the film not merely as an action adventure but as a legend from an imagined prehistoric age, perfectly complementing the ritualistic power of Casaro’s painting.

Cultural legacy

Conan the Barbarian became one of the foundational sword-and-sorcery films of the modern era. Its commercial success helped generate a wave of fantasy productions during the 1980s and was followed by Conan the Destroyer in 1984.

Its combination of heroic fantasy, physical spectacle, pulp mythology and operatic music also left a lasting influence upon role-playing games, fantasy illustration, comics and video-game character design. Schwarzenegger’s portrayal remains one of the most immediately recognizable interpretations of the barbarian warrior archetype.

Condition

This poster is in near-mint condition.

It presents beautifully, with exceptionally strong colour, deep blacks, clean white borders and sharp typography. There are no significant condition issues that detract from the artwork’s presentation.

Finding an original Japanese theatrical poster from 1982 in this remarkable state of preservation is increasingly uncommon. Please refer to the supplied imagery of the exact poster offered for sale.

It is over 40 years old.

It is not a reproduction or a reprint.

Certificate of Authenticity included.