The Beastmaster

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source: The Beastmaster

You know sometimes they make a movie on a budget that is so pitiful it shouldn't work, as in they haven't spent enough to make an impact. The beastmaster is the kind of movie that studios love because it cost about 4 million dollars to make and it works. I recently watched the directors cut with full commentary and didn't realise how involved this movie was to make. Very simple story, the lead character can communicate with animals and can see through their eyes, he uses this ability to avenge his fathers death against an evil priest and a hoard of barbarians. Throw in a beautiful girl, a few witches and a couple of allies and you have a real winner. The thing to remember here is that most mega budget movies cost at least 25 million US then and this well it didn't (director commentary mentions about 4 million US) This movie is still regarded as an absolute classic and I was raised on this film. HBO became known as Hey Beastmasters On it showed this so often. So if you like sword and sorcery and beautiful heroines and etc etc. You'll love this movie. Enjoy

It's been twenty years since I've seen this film, so I can't really comment on the movie itself. However, I will point out one tidbit of information about it: it was apparently adapted from the Andre Norton novel of the same title. Not that you would ever guess! The novel is science-fiction! The movie is a Conan-wanna-be swords-and-sorcery pic. The novel's principal character is a Navajo Indian and an ex-soldier, a sort of Green Beret who has just been demobbed after taking part in a galactic war which saw (as one of its final acts) the destruction of Earth by the enemy forces. He has martial arts skills and a team of animals who he has a telepathic-like affinity with: a panther-like dune cat, a pair of meerkats (small ferret-like animals that live in burrows on the African savannahs), and an African black eagle. Together, they formed a sabotage team during the war. The destruction of Earth has meant that he and his animal team are now homeless, and he has decided to settle on the world of Arzor, ostensibly because Arzor is broadly similar to his former home in America's Navajo lands (Arzor has no large cities, few paved roads, an agrarian economy, a climate not unlike the Australian Outback, and a non-human but humanoid-like native race the Norbies), but in fact for much more personal reasons. The moviemakers threw all that out--except for the animal team, the movie title, and the chief motivation of the principal character (viz. vengeance). Those they kept. Instead they invented a new milieu, a new plot, and a new leading man: Dar, a king's son who finds he can communicate with animals. To this they added a slavegirl, witchwomen, and an evil priest. As for Andre Norton, her thoughts on the matter can be seen from the fact that she had her name removed from the credits; and I have since read that she has vowed never to release the movie rights to any of her books again.

I actually really liked this movie, it is a cult favorite of mine. I remember watching it on TV because thats the only place i could get it or see it, the video store was out of the question...it was a well thought out little budget movie but had a good story and good script at the time, good SFX, good action, just a good movie all around. The basic story is that there is a child that is born, and he has the "mark" of the one that will bring down the evil king that has over turned a kingdom, the evil king has his witches go to kill the baby but before they can do it, a man comes along and kills the witch and he takes the baby as his own almost. He raises him and trains him and gets a peak at why they call him the Beastmaster, he has special powers so he can communicate with them. Fast forward a few years, and the Beastmaster is a young man and his whole community gets massacred by the evil kings army. Beastmaster survives and goes on a vigilante spree to fight and regain his kingdom with the help of some friends: 2 staph fighter, a slave girl (love interest) 2 ferrets, a hawk and a tiger, thats basically the story. It had some exciting scenes and it was Never boring, thats what was so good about it. This was also made at the same time as the launch of Arnold in "conan the barbarian" and people seem to remember that movie a lot better than the Beastmaster, i guess it had that X factor. I recommend this to almost anyone, it was very entertaining and never boring with a good story to it as well. 2 thumbs up.

I loved this film when I was a kid, and I still love it. I loved the beastmaster angle: the protagonist can communicate with animals. The animals themselves are pretty impressive: a big tiger (painted black to "play" a panther, though in the sequel, it is an unpainted tiger), an eagle and two (europea) polecats as comic relief. I don't think purists will be happy about what they did to Andre Nortons novel - I can imagine. The rewrote it until the only thing they shared was that it was about a man that could communicate with animals. To jump on the barbarian movies revival bandwagon, started by Conan, they relocated it to a time (and place, if you want to believe the sequel), which is similar to Conans. There are kings & queens -even though the land seems lawless and their power to rule the land is very limited, as the evil sorcerers power is way bigger. There are witches, magic, demons, and there is even a young boy that needs to find its place in the world by fulfilling his destiny. There is basically nothing in there that Andre Norton wrote, except a man that could communicate with animals. Though it sounds like a copy or a bad rip-off, and one of the worst novel-to-book conversion (Coscarelli would later redeem himself with Bubba-Hotep) the movie is actually very good and highly entertaining. The acting is pretty good, even though the actors may not have been the most known ones at that time. Granted, the plot is not always the most complicated one around. But hey, it's sword and sorcerers! Who cares about unexpected plot devices? This movie has beautiful damsels in distress, it has love, it has a bit of horror, it has fast paced action, it has a good score with a catchy theme and it has a happy end. All that is needed in this genre.

As far as the Sword and Sorcery genre goes, this is it's shining star. A lot of people comment in negative ways(bad acting, poor costumes, etc.)but the're missing the point of this film style. Let me summarize: A man's village is slaughtered by a cult called the Jun Horde. He seeks revenge on them and follows their trail. He discovers he can communicate with animals, and travels with them. He also picks up some human companions along the way, including super-hot Tonya Roberts. Each one has their own reason to defy the Jun Horde. This revenge theme is typical of S & S films; muscle-bound hero, love interest, cool sidekicks, evil wizard, etc.. But this movie is loaded with creative and original material. Animal co-stars, at least three very skilled actors(John Amos in particular), an incredible soundtrack, super-cool throwing weapons, and an emotional character. Conan came only months earlier, and had a much bigger budget. Even with that it pales in comparison to the much superior Beastmaster. All Conan does is mope and get angry, the only time he's even likable is when he's drunk. Plus everything he does is for himself. Dar on the other hand, risks his life to save strangers. He even reveals himself while unarmed to save a child. He can talk to animals, but doesn't control them. They are viewed as his friends, not servants, a good message if you ask me. He even turns down his birthright so he can live his own life. Conan, Dragonslayer, Ator, etc., used fake animals to engage the actors. The Beastmaster had two ferrets, a tiger, an eagle, horses, doves, and more interacting with very believable screen-presence. Even the scenes involving the tiger attacking the actors looked convincing. Dar also has a sense of humor, and isn't afraid to cry. What's more instead of having the bad guys on one side, and the good guys on the other, you have many gray areas in between. The bat people, the priests, the guards, the people who live inside town, the ones that live outside, the ancient sect that used to live in the temple, the witches, the death guards, the Jun Horde, even the animals themselves, all have their own outfits, motivations, and behaviors. This makes it a rich tapestry and very interesting to watch. The characters are layered so that they appear and disappear at the right time, every time. The scene involving the fire was real fire, they didn't have to rely on fancy, over-budgeted special effects. The only thing that comes close in this genre is Ladyhawke. It is a wonderful movie, and the only reason I didn't give it a ten/ten, is the scene where Tonya Roberts appears from the back of the skull in the temple. They never explained how she got there, or why she and Dar couldn't escape the way she came.

I have a massive soft spot for this movie. Unlike a lot of people, I actually saw the original UK Theatrical release in glorious 35mm, and seeing movies like this on the big screen during a period that gave birth to my love of cinema, it remains one of my favorite from my childhood. In a time when film studios were going mad for Star Wars rip offs, The Beastmaster was a welcome and overlooked gem amongst a pile of old stones. A very young Marc Singer (who would go on to international fame in the series "V" and Dynasty) stars in the title role and, I feel, carries if off successfully. The Addition of Rip Torn as mega bad guy, Mayax, brings gravitas to the antagonist in this. The movie is darker in tone than most others of the era, and the fact that Don Coscarelli (of Phantasm fame) was involved in this is no surprise. Here, his work is far more polished and well produced than the classic of 70s horror, and technically, the movie is a smörgåsbord of up to date film-making (for the period). 35mm film, some nifty special effects and more dead things than you can shake a stick at. The only other movie of this era like this was Conan the Barbarian, which already had a bigger budget and star attraction of the rising legend that is Arnold Swartzenegger, but in direct comparison, Beastmaster still manages to entertain far more than Conan could manage, mostly down to the fact that its editing is competent and never dwells on one situation for too long. Add to that the brilliant soundtrack and you have a movie that does everything it sets out to do in a neat 2 hour package. it may seem like B movie fodder to todays audiences, but its still worth a watch in my estimation, mainly due to the fact that it still stands up as one of the best fantasy movies of the time. If I had to complain about anything, it would be the lack of information and background on the world that this film inhabits as well as the almost silent first 30 minutes that depends more on visual queues and ambiance than dialog. Some of the sword work in this in woefully inadequate to today's standards, but for the time, it was impressive, especially to a 12 year old me. Its upsetting to discover that the Tiger who player Ruuh died 2 years later following skin problems brought on by the black dye used in this movie. It still remains one of my favorite childhood memories and unlike the American audience that had constant re-runs on cable TV, we have had to rely on VHS and TV showings of this movie in the UK. Definitely worth watching and reliving memories of the 1980s