Conan the Barbarian is one of my favorite Movies of all time. I consider myself a movie buff with arthouse sensibilities and you just can’t deny the power this movie has. Especially watching it back to back with Conan the Destroyer or Red Sonja will show you it’s stregths. And one of the many pillars is Arnies physical acting. So my take is: yes the movie would have been extraordinary anyways, but Arnie supercharges it.