Watch Order (Release = Chronological)Recommended
0 / 2 watchedBoth films in release order. Each stands alone.
- 1 Red Sonja 1985 original. Era cheese, start here.
- 2 Red Sonja 2025 remake. Closer to the comics.
About Red Sonja
Red Sonja has two films forty years apart that share a name and a sword and little else. The 1985 original pairs Brigitte Nielsen's Sonja with Arnold Schwarzenegger's Kalidor in a quest for the Talisman, peak 1980s sword-and-sorcery cheese. The 2025 remake with Matilda Lutz retells the origin with a harder edge and closer ties to Roy Thomas's comics.
Neither film needs the other: watch the 1985 version for the era charm, the 2025 version for the modern take. Release order shows how the genre changed between them. The Conan connection is loose despite the marketing, so this guide stands separate from the Conan films, with Sonja's comic history as background rather than homework.
Good to know
The 1985 film was retrofitted into the Conan universe late in production, which is why Schwarzenegger plays a character carefully not named Conan. The 2025 film spent over a decade in development with several directors attached before M.J. Bassett brought it home. Both films underperformed theatrically and found their audiences later, so expect cult energy rather than polish. No sequel to either had been announced at the last check.
