Heroes of their time. For all time.

A woman and a warrior that became a legend.

Brigitte Nielsen appears as warrior woman Sonja, who unites with a couple of other gladiator types (including Arnold Schwarzenegger) to overthrow the evil queen Gedren (Sandahl Bergman) and avenge the deaths of Sonja's family. This story descends from the writings of Robert E. Howard (author of Conan).


Red Sonja is a 1985 Dutch-American sword and sorcery action film directed by Richard Fleischer. The film introduces Brigitte Nielsen as the title character with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sandahl Bergman, Ronald Lacey, Ernie Reyes, Jr., Paul L. Smith, and Pat Roach in supporting roles. The film features the sword-wielding Marvel Comics character Red Sonja, created by Roy Thomas, who first appeared in Marvel's Conan the Barbarian series (#23) in 1973. Red Sonja was based on Red Sonya of Rogatino, a character invented by R. E. Howard appearing in his short story, "The Shadow of the Vulture" (1934). The film acknowledges that it was "based on the character created by Robert E. Howard" in the introductory credits.
As in Howard's stories of Conan, the film takes place in the Hyborian Age, a fictional prehistoric time that had been depicted previously in the films Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer. The film was shot in Italy, on location in Celano and the rest of the Abruzzo region, and in the Stabilimenti Cinematografici Pontini studios near Rome.

The movie gained poor reviews from critics.[7] Schwarzenegger commented, "It's the worst film I have ever made." He joked, "Now, when my kids get out of line, they're sent to their room and forced to watch Red Sonja ten times. I never have too much trouble with them."[8][5][9]
Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 20% "rotten" as some critics have called it "Hilariously awful" and "Unwatchably bad sword-and-sorcery nonsense".[10]
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy gave it a scathing entry. The main criticism was that it was a "B-movie" with bad characterization, bad acting and an entirely clichéd display of swords and sorcery. In particular, the Encyclopedia accuses the movie of being homophobic and of purposely portraying homosexuality as a negative, evil trait. Gedren is portrayed as a lesbian whose rivalry with Sonja is based partly on the fact that Sonja once rejected her sexual advances.[11]
Leonard Maltin seemed to agree, giving the movie 1.5 out of 4 stars and calling it "Spectacularly silly...It might amuse juvenile viewers, but the only real point of interest for adults is deciding who gives the worse performance, Nielsen or Bergman."
An even harsher evaluation was given by "Phantom of the Movies" Joe Kane: "An unwise return by Schwarzenegger to his first hit property. Only, instead of sword-and-sorcery, this is 'grunt-and-groan'...he grunts while we groan. Yet it should be noted, in Arn's defense, that he manages to stay off-screen for more than half the movie. Though the fur and heads fly in a few scattered battle scenes, the title character is wooden...and the film itself is clankier than a knight's shining armor."

Release Date: July 5, 1985

Distrib: MGM/UA


Boxoffice: $6,948,633 2014: $16,344,000