Rating: 
Summary: ON DVD AT LAST
Review: This is very good movie and much better than typical swordtype movies. Marc Singer is very good..then again when isn't he good. He is in incredible shape and handles the stunts well. The camera work is outstanding and the locations are beautiful. The only weak point in the movie is Tanya Roberts' acting. She is much better these days on her sitcom, "That 70s Show". The BeastMaster is very different that the two sequels that followed. This movie is more of an epic while #2 was camp and forgettable and #3 was shot like an episode of Xena. Get this and you will find out why so many people love The BeastMaster and Marc Singer.
Rating: 
Summary: Still a Decent Classic
Review: I have recently purchased the DVD of The Beastmaster and have watched the movie for what was probably the first time since 1983 when it was on HBO. I had forgotten about the bad acting and cheesy lines, but also about how impressive Marc Singer is for such a small man compared to other big screen heros of that day (Arnold Schwarzeneggar and Sylvester Stallone). I also forgot about how gorgeous Tanya Roberts is. Ah, the good old days when PG-13 flicks gave us a peek (we get a nice long google in this one). Despite the low-budget production, The Beastmaster is a rock-solid feast for the imagination. It has all the right elements of a fantastic fairy tale: a vile dictator who epitomizes evil, witches, mysterious flesh-eating humanoid flying beasts, a cool black tiger, bodies impaled on poles, and so on. The imagination that went into this film is really much larger than the budget that produced it, so if you can get past the goofy acting you could really enjoy this story.As for the DVD, Anchor Bay just wanted to get something released for a quick buck. Half of the scenes are crystal clear and the other half are grainy with poor color. The enhanced soundtrack does little to improve the story. The disc also had a habit of seizing up toward the end of the movie. I thought it was my player so I tested it with another disc then replayed the segments from the Beastmaster disc to confirm my suspicion. It seized up again. But when I tracked backward for a few frames it cleared up. The extras are extremely poor in quality and hardly worth watching unless you just have to know the history of the film. The 16-page booklet is quite nice, though. I cannot rate this story any more than 3 stars because it is just another fantasy film regardless of the potential it could have had. The DVD will have to rate 1 star. I can live with the quality, but Anchor Bay has made outstanding discs with older films like Halloween. Too bad only the wildly popular classics get first class attention.
Rating:
Summary: A+ in the B-movie genre!
Review: If you're looking at this then you probably already like the movie. Repeated viewings on TBS have made this one of my favorite "comfort" movies. After a stressed out day you can sit down with The Beastmaster and trivial real world stuff just drifts away. It's like a great song. Am I right? It's also a great way to waste a few hours on a rainy day. From the cheesy opening titles to the back-to-back perfect timing sequences that save our heros from certain death - it's forgivable fun. When watching Lord Of The Rings recently I was reminded of Beastmaster (Xena, Hercules, Dragonslayer and all my favorite RPG computer games too). You can *just tell* when the actors are going through the motions and when they are having fun. Beastmaster (and Lord Of The Rings) is the latter. Swords and witches are what it's all about. If that's your bag then read on! The DVD presentation is much better than I though it would be. The picture and sound will please most. Good color and sharp images. The extras are numerous and vary in quality. However, at this price, why complain? Some of the "behind the scenes" stuff reminds me of someone narrarating their own home movies; introducing family members and whatnot. But seeing the locations and the construction of the villiage and the pyramid used in the film was interesting. The rest is good for a quick look. I haven't watched it with commentary turned on yet but look forward to it. The Beastermaster DVD is a good value for fans. I wish all B-movie DVDs (or ALL DVDs period) were at least this well presented. Perfect score!!
Rating:
Summary: Praise all that is Holy...finally the Beastmaster on DVD
Review: I have to admit that I leapt for joy when I discovered this gem had finally been released on DVD. I don't think it was ever sold in VHS come to think of it. A CRIME I tell ye! Pure snobbery. You won't find a more entertaining example of Sword and Sorcery. You have Rip Torn, That fellow from "V" (purists are now howling for my blood...Mark Singer, now back you savages), Monster Men in Spiked S+M gear, Monsters that squish you into a nast green pudding, and did I mention Rip Torn. Heck there's even a topless Tanya Roberts (My whole life I thought I was seeing more...but the high quality DVD has illuminated me to the fact that she's wearing medieval panties...Yet another dear childhood memory tarnished) Anyway, this movie is well worth the price and if you haven't seen it...please for your own sake...but it at once.
Rating:
Summary: Still the best of the "B"s, even today
Review: A lot of folks trace the "Hercules" and "Xena" phenomenon back to Arnie's "Conan". With all due respect to Arnold's limited acting ability, it's a bit like comparing TV's "Temptation Island" to "Gilligan's Island". Conan had a plot, and a structured mythos established by Robert E. Howard in years of writing pulp. What REALLY started it all was this gem. It's a silly little film full of clichés and lots of gratuitous violence and nudity. In the T&A department, awards for BOTH definitely go to the male lead, Marc Singer, who is the only other actor since John Phillip Law of "Barbarella" to put to shame the lovely (and better known) leading lady starring opposite them. Dar (Singer), who grows up in a village in the desert where both water and clothes are hard to come by, has his entire village slaughtered by the Jun Horde. Dar possesses the ability to mentally link with animals, and ventures off to the city to destroy the villainous high priest of Ar who led the Juns to his village. Rip Torn is hilariously enjoyable as the villain, with his fake proboscis and gravel-like voice giving a cheesy menace to his scenes. Dar hooks up with the juvenile heir to the throne of the kingdom (secretly his younger brother), the heir's warrior bodyguard, and the slave-girl/Amazon cousin, played by Tanya Roberts, accompanied by his black tiger, eagle and ferret companions. They destroy the evil temple and its maniacal priest, only to face the wrath of the Jun Horde, back for vengeance. Then, with the assistance of the good folk of the city, as well as some really interesting and novel bat-winged folk with caustic sweat, they save the kingdom, and the hero and heroine vanish into the sunset (kissing cousin jokes aside). What is surprising is just how GOOD this is! There are no special effects to speak of, with what there is limited to a can of black spray-paint on the tiger, a lot of fake blood and some phosphorescent paint. The sets are just as cheesy as one would expect, and the plot is full of holes. Regardless, there is this tremendously and quirky innovativeness to the whole concept, and you find yourself, while by no means taking the film seriously, at least appreciating the novelty of it all, and appreciating it even more given the film's 1982 release date! It really is probably the very best B movie ever made, which is more than can be said for the terrible sequels which succeed it. Regardless, it's a definite must see.
Rating:
Summary: Not a "Conan" Rip-Off!!!
Review: How can The Beastmaster be a rip-off, when it was made & released the same time as "Conan" in 1982, both movies rode the coatails of 1981's "Excalibur" it seems, Like many, I too remember this on HBO back in the 80's, & as a kid liked it, I was very surprised that as an adult, I still found it to be entertaining, I bought the DVD recently, & the picture is awesome, better than it ever was on VHS, the color fidelity is sharper & clearer, In this we meet Dar(Marc Singer of "V") who swears revenge against those who have murdered & wiped out his people, Dar is also the son of a King who was taken at birth & later found by a traveler, he has a unique ability to communicate with animals, Rip Torn(Men In Black) is Maax, a high priest who acts more like a dictator who rules the the King's people with fear & child sacrifice, the king himself is imprisoned in the village Pyramid, Dar eventually arrives to take his revenge against Maax & the Jon Horde, those responsible for his people's murder, & free the King, who unbeknownst to him is his father, there are many neat sword fight scenes, & Singer totally plays Dar to perfection, Tanya Roberts who looks better as a red head is here as Dar's potential love interest, as is John Amos(Coming To America) as Tal, a fellow warrior who helps Dar in his quest, definately a fun movie, & a rare film, so missing in today's Hollywood, The Jon Horde are some of the most intimidating horseman ever seen, & the DVD is definately worth owning if you like this one, the two sequels, made in the 90's are horrible, avoid them, but get this one!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Good Movie with Some Bad Scenes
Review: I saw this when I was only a little kid, liked it then too. I know that Tanya motivated me into buying it again but there are some improvements. For starters, it's closed captioned. Now I can understand some of the things that were said. It probably could've done better without the dog getting shot with an arrow or the ferret sinking into the quicksand, even though he got saved. I'm not all too fond of animal cruelty, even if it is fake or scripted. Other than those two things, I give this movie a B+
Rating:
Summary: Bonus star for not being as bad as I remembered
Review: Come, let us be honest. You love this movie. You know it's bad, but you love it anyway. I'm like that too. But the thing is, it's not *that* bad. In fact, this may be the most fun movie you've ever watched. I have hazy memories of 4th-grade birthday parties when we begged to stay up all the way until midnight so we could watch Beastmaster on cable...again and again... And now that I have the DVD, I find myself staying up all the way until midnight so I can watch Beastmaster again. Not to recapture my childhood, of course, but because it's the kind of movie that is at its best when you decide to just waste a couple hours of your life. Also, the DVD version is excellent. The picture quality is much better than I had expected, and there are even a few extras, which is unusual with B-movies, and even more unusual with 80's B-movies. But, hey... you're not buying this movie for the extras. You're buying it so you don't have to wait for it to show up on cable again.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, hooray!
Review: A guilty pleasure from my childhood! Long overdue for release on DVD, I might add. This movie had fair acting and special effects for its time, and the storyline is still one of those old-time epic adventures. It doesn't compare with today's cinematic wonders, but if you're like me, you still love it in all its silliness. Yay for the re-release!
Rating:
Summary: THIS MOVIE IS A PART OF MY LIFE
Review: This movie is a part of my life... a part of my childhood. Great fun and i can watch it repeatedly. I will eventually own it on DVD. I"m 33 years old. It arrived when i was 12........Dang, Tanya Roberts.... "THIS COMES FROM NO SLAVE GIRL!" "I said a slave girl"
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