Conan the Barbarian is a 1982 American fantasy adventure film directed and co-written by John Milius. It is based on stories by Robert E. Howard, a pulp-fiction writer of the 1930s, about the adventures of the eponymous character in a fictional prehistoric world of dark magic and savagery. The film tells the story of a vengeful barbarian warrior sets off to get his revenge on the evil warlord who attacked his village and murdered his father when he was a boy.