Why Arnold Schwarzenegger called this 1985 fantasy flop his worst film ever
In short: Red Sonja was intended to be a blockbuster, but it became a critical and commercial disaster. Despite featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, the film was panned for its wooden acting and clunky storytelling. Schwarzenegger famously joked that he used the movie as a disciplinary tool to keep his own children in line.
Released in July 1985, Red Sonja was the third entry in a loose trilogy of sword-and-sorcery films based on the works of Robert E. Howard, following Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer. Directed by Richard Fleischer, the production struggled from the start. Producer Dino De Laurentiis spent nearly a year searching for an actress with an Amazonian presence before spotting 21-year-old Danish model Brigitte Nielsen on a magazine cover just eight weeks before filming began.
The plot follows Sonja, a woman granted supernatural strength after a traumatic encounter with Queen Gedren, as she seeks to destroy a world-threatening relic called the Talisman. While the film attempted to build a grand fantasy world, it was plagued by behind-the-scenes issues and creative choices that critics found laughable. In Italy, the film was even retitled Yado, with marketing materials positioning Schwarzenegger as the lead, despite his character, Lord Kalidor, appearing for less than half the film's runtime.
The critical reception was brutal. Rotten Tomatoes currently holds the film at 23%, and audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it a D+. Critics like Leonard Maltin and Joe Kane mocked the performances, while others, such as Andrea Wright, criticized the film for its problematic sexualization of the lead character. Even the film's own star, Schwarzenegger, famously claimed it was the worst project of his career, using it as a humorous threat to ensure his children behaved.
Despite its failure, the property has remained a persistent target for reboots. Over the decades, various directors and stars—including Robert Rodriguez, Rose McGowan, and Bryan Singer—were attached to potential remakes. The cycle of development hell finally concluded with a new adaptation released in 2025, starring Matilda Lutz, marking a long, complex journey for a character that began as a 1980s cinematic embarrassment.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Red Sonja (1985 film)
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