After 1982's Conan the Barbarian and 1984's Conan the Destroyer, Hollywood decided to tackle another character created by author Robert E. Howard. This led to 1985's Red Sonja.

After Sonja (Brigitte Nielsen) turns down Queen Gedren's (Sandahl Bergman) sexual advances, the monarch slaughters Sonja's family. In search of revenge, a female spirit grants Sonja superior combat abilities.

In addition to her quest for vengeance, Sonja also needs to retrieve a powerful talisman from Gedren before the queen uses it for mayhem. Along with a fellow warrior named Lord Kalidor (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and others, Sonja embarks on a perilous journey.

Hollywood doesn't enjoy an extensive history of female-centered movies spun off from male-focused affairs, but most of the few we've gotten haven't done well. Add Red Sonja to that list.

Neither of those Conan movies racked up biggity bucks, but they at least made some money. Not so Sonja, which took in less than $7 million on a budget of nearly $18 million.

This occurred despite the presence of Schwarzenegger, then an action star on the rise. Make no mistake: the studio went out of its way to sell Sonja as a Schwarzenegger movie even though he served in a supporting role.

It probably didn't help that Sonja cast Schwarzenegger as a character other than Conan. Audiences almost certainly assumed he reprised that role in Sonja and lost interest when it turned out he played an entirely different persona.

Not that Conan could've saved Sonja. Even by the semi-low standards of the Conan flicks, it turns into a stinker.

While I know many regard the 1982 Barbarian as a classic, I don't see its appeal beyond some camp value. Destroyer provides more entertainment but remains a flawed affair.

Sonja would need to work about 10 times better than it does to even reach the level of “flawed affair”. Despite the return of Destroyer director Richard Fleischer, it just stinks like month-old halibut.

A Hollywood veteran who started back in the 1940s, Fleischer suffered from an ignominious finale to his career. With films like Destroyer and 1983’s abysmal Amityville 3D, the filmmaker limped into his last few years.

I never saw 1987’s Million Dollar Mystery, a critical and box office failure that marked Fleischer’s swan song. However, it can’t be much worse than Sonja.

Nothing about this movie succeeds, and it probably doesn’t help that Sonja feels like a longer film that suffered severe edits. For instance, the information about Sonja’s conflict with Gedren and the fate of Sonja’s family gets told in a very brief flashback that smells like a much longer sequence the filmmakers chopped to the bare minimum.

It may sound counterintuitive to wish that a terrible movie ran longer than it does, along the lines of the classic joke about a couple who complain about a restaurant’s bad food “and such small portions!” But in this case, I can’t help but think that Sonja’s abbreviated running time harmed the final product.

Without more than the most minimal exposition, we fail to form any bond with Sonja. If the movie depicted her “origin story” in a more complete manner, it’d feel better fleshed out and allow us to invest in the tale more fully.

Theoretically, at least, as the end product might not become any stronger. However, Fleischer zips through so much of the tale that I can’t help but wonder if a better-paced and more complete story would become more satisfying.

Even with a stronger narrative thrust, other problems would remain. Sonja tends to feel cheap and Fleischer shows no flair for the movie’s action.

The various battles seem stiff and clunky. They never generate the slightest excitement.

The actors don’t help, and Nielsen winds up as the weakest link. Previously a model, Sonja delivered Nielsen’s acting debut.

Both Nielsen’s inexperience and lack of talent show. She seems wooden and wholly devoid of personality, factors that make it even more difficult to care about Sonja.

Despite his own weaknesses as an actor, Schwarzenegger does better, though he looks embarrassed to find himself stuck in this clunker. Amusingly, Schwarzenegger would later refer to this as his worst film and claim he kept his kids in line because he promised to force them to watch Sonja 10 times in a row if they misbehaved.

Bergman also seems to understand the movie’s severe flaws so she camps up a storm. It appears Bergman – whose presence also probably caused viewer confusion since like Schwarzenegger, she played a different character in Barbarian - figured that her overacting could bring some spark to this lifeless effort. She doesn’t succeed, but I appreciate the effort.

Even at a mere 89 minutes, Sonja feels twice as long. A thin story told without gusto or verve, it becomes a dull and dreary attempt at an adventure.

Red Sonja appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Expect a satisfying Dolby Vision presentation.

Overall sharpness looked good. Some interiors could feel slightly soft, but the movie usually offered appealing delineation.

No signs of jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and edge haloes failed to manifest. Grain seemed natural while print flaws never interfered.

Sonja opted for a largely natural palette that leaned toward greens and reds. These hues became well-represented, with some kick from HDR.

Blacks came across as deep and firm, while low-light shots appeared smooth and concise. HDR added zest to whites and contrast. I felt pleased with this solid image.

Don’t expect much from the movie’s oddly spotty DTS-HD MA 5.1 remix. The soundscape focused on the forward channels and did so in an inconsistent manner.

Actually, scratch that, as the soundfield seemed consistently underdeveloped. Although music and effects broadened across the front, they did so in a vague “broad monaural” manner.

The score lacked stereo presence and effects rarely showed appropriate localization or movement. Instead, the track brought a blobby sense of place.

As for surround usage, I guess the back speakers brought some reinforcement of the forward channels. That said, I felt hard-pressed to notice any obvious involvement from the rear domain.

Audio quality seemed adequate for its age, though an odd sense of reverb could make effects seem unnatural at times. They lacked much distortion at least.

The heavily-dubbed dialogue appeared reasonably concise, but music failed to boast much presence. Given the movie’s age, I thought the soundtrack merited a “C” but it became an ineffective remix.

The 4K UHD also came with the film’s original LPCM monaural track as well. This one proved more natural than its 5.1 predecessor.

Speech came across as clearer. Effects felt more accurate too because they lacked that distracting layer of reverb found on the 5.1 edition.

Music still lacked much life, but the mono version managed to make the score a bit fuller. I thought the movie’s monaural mix worked much better than the spotty 5.1 take.

We find a slew of extras here, and these include two separate audio commentaries, the first of which involves critics Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific view of the cast and crew, various production elements, the movie’s release/reception and their thoughts on the flick.

Expect a pretty good discussion of the movie from Ercolani an Howarth, as they touch on an appealing array of topics here. The track moves at a good pace and provides a pretty solid examination of the flick’s creation and participants.

For the second commentary, we hear from comic book expert Dave Baxter. During his running, screen-specific affair, he looks at the sources and their adaptation as well as cast/crew and some filmmaking issues.

At times Baxter repeats info from the prior track but he usually manages to give us fresh thoughts. In particular, he touches on the original books and comics, and he brings us an enjoyable overview.

From there we head to video programs, and The Prince and Me runs 13 minutes, 41 seconds. Actor Ernie Reyes, Jr. becomes the focus here.

Reyes talks about how he got his role as well as aspects of his performance, working with his stunt coordinator father and other cast/crew, some other memories and the film's legacy. We don't get much real substance but Reyes manages a pleasant walk down memory lane.

Swords, Stunts and Sonja goes for 14 minutes, 59 seconds. We find info from action unit supervisor Vic Armstrong.

As expected, Armstrong concentrates on the movie's stunts along with additional stories from the shoot. Armstrong covers these domains well.

Next we move to The Last of the Invincibles. This delivers a 26-minute, nine-second chat with Schwarzenegger stunt double Pietro Torrisi.

The program gets into his overall career as well as his work on Red Sonja. I like Torrisi's tales from his time in films and he becomes a lively interview subject.

The Danish Girl goes for 16 minutes, eight seconds during which stuntman Ottaviano Dell'Acqua here mainly sticks with info about Red Sonja. Expect another informative reel.

After this we head to The 12 Labors of Red Sonja. During this 30-minute, 43-second piece, we find statements from assistant production manager Stefano Spadoni.

Across this reel, Spadoni looks at what brought him to movies, aspects of his career and his efforts during Red Sonja. This becomes a useful chat.

The Marvels of a Primitive Society occupies 28 minutes, 10 seconds. FX artist Domingo Lizcano becomes the subject for this one.

Lizcano tells us about the state of the Spanish effects industry in the 80s as well as techniques used for Sonja. He digs into these topics well.

With Moulding Fantasies, we locate a 20-minute, 18-second segment. FX assistant Adriano Carboni sits for this chat.

Like Lizcano, Carboni talks about his overall career and specifics related to Sonja. We find another informative reel.

Bodybuilding the Imagery spans 22 minutes, 34 seconds and features poster artist Renato Casaro as he tells us about his art. "Imagery" becomes more of a "career overview" than a look at Casaro's work on Sonja but it nonetheless turns into an informative affair.

From there we go to an archival reel called The Man Who Raised Hollywood. It totals 15 minutes, 39 seconds and involves filmmakers Arthur Allan Seidelman, Peter Hyams, Edward Pressman, Yannick Dahan, Sonja assistant director Michel Ferry, and screenwriter/journalist Stéphane Moïssakis.

"Raised" looks at parts of Arnold Schwarzenegger's career. Because the show includes a pretty limited array of participants, we don't get a lot of depth, but at least it comes with some interesting anecdotes.

Another archival piece, The Making of a Misunderstanding lasts 12 minutes, three seconds and offers notes from Ferry as he discusses various problems that occurred during the production. Ferry offers an enjoyable look at these concerns.

Along with the film's trailer, we end with an Image Gallery (55 stills) that mixes movie elements, publicity shots and ads. It winds up as a competent compilation.

A failed attempt to spin off the universe of Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja flopped at the box office. Consistently cheap-looking and boring, it lacks even the most rudimentary positives. The 4K UHD offers strong visuals along with an erratic 5.1 remix and a nice collection of supplements. This becomes a quality release for a lousy movie.