The Beastmaster

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Summary: The Beastmaster Rocks!!!
Review: Back when HBO first came on, I swear the only movies they showed were this one and Valley Girl. Me and my brother would watch it over and over.

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Summary: No real plot...but...
Review: The weasels are adorable...and the half-naked Marc Singer is OOOOOOH sooooo watchable <grin>.

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Summary: There's only one Beastmaster!
Review: This is definately a classic hit for my family! Fortunately, we have it on tape. We taped it off HBO back in 1983 or so. It was the first thing we taped with our exciting new VCR! We still have that tape, but I would love to buy it! I wish you could buy it!! (The other two Beastmasters sadly fell short--very short--when compared to this one!)

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Summary: Engrossing fantasy flick!
Review: I watched this movie continuously in my childhood, every chance I got. The creatures are endearing. The plot is exciting. The overall effect is spectacular. I plan on buying this as soon as I can.

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Summary: Awesome fantasy movie!
Review: This movie changed my childhood I believe, I just wish I could find it somewhere to buy. I would recommend EVERYONE to see this movie. And if anyone can find this movie.. or it becomes available, let me know!

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Summary: Mystic best story
Review: I was 11 years old when a first saw this movie, since then I'm searching it, please let me know any information of availability to buy it. I'm hechizado by this film, When you see it you will know what I mean.

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Summary: One of the best bad movies
Review: A 'good' bad movie. Not for when you feel serious, but a good watch. My favorite scene is when the bad guy gets his club/axe thing stuck in the side of the bridge. Over the top all the way.

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Summary: Great Fun. But Parents - Beware the PG Rating
Review: The Beastmaster is one of my all time favorite fantasy movies. It has a simple plot that stays on the surface and it doesn't make the viewer think too much. It has swords and magic and muscles and damsels in distress, all the ingredients a good fantasy movie must have.

My only concern is the PG rating for this movie. Since it was made in the early 80's the rating is a bit out of date by today's standards. The movie is actually quite violent and it does contain several minutes of topless female nudity. I think that if it were released today it probably would have gotten at least a 'PG-13' rating, but more than likely it would have been given an 'R'. I just caution parents of young children to be careful with this one. While the nudity is brief, the violence is not.

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Summary: Great cheesy sword and sorcerer fun in "Beastmaster"
Review: There's something to be said for the "do-it-yourself" approach to making movies. Director Don Coscarelli followed up his smash horror film "Phantasm" with a fantasy adventure inspired by Andre Norton's fantasy novel The Beastmaster. Unfortunately, this project couldn't be entirely self funded so Coscarelli had to go to outside sources. That's where the trouble began. Although he finished the film and was overall quite satisfied, what followed was a battle of wills where the film was taken away from him, he was locked out of the editing room initially but finally the story does, indeed, have a happy ending of sorts.

Dar (Marc Singer) the son of a King stolen from his mother's womb and transported into an animal, seeks revenge against the evil Overlord Maax (Rip Torn) a fanatic who has stolen Dar's kingdom, murdered his parents and tried to sacrifice him when he was an infant. With the assistance of his father's former bodyguard Seth (John Amos) and a freed slave girl Kiri (Tanya Roberts), Dar moves against Maax in a winner-takes-all battle involving magic, swords and a fight to the death. Placed inside an animal by an evil witch intent on sacrificing him at the direction of the nasty overlord Maax (Rip Torn), Dar survives and is adopted by a local peasant. Whne Dar discovers his origin and learns of the murder of his parents by Maax's henchmen, Dar speaks to animals in their language and can make them do his bidding. Dar

What you really need to know if you've purchased this before is whether or not there are any differences between this edition and the previous one. Boasting a wonderful new transfer using Anchor Bay's Divamax high definition transfer method and a 6.1 Dolby Digital EX/DTS soundtrack, The Beastmaster looks and sounds wonderful. This re-release boasts a rich, textured image that more than does justice to the wonderful cinematography of the late John Alcott (Barry Lyndon, A Clockwork Orange). Digitally remastered for this special edition the warm colors and rich detail presented in this edition make it an essential upgrade for fans of the first film. While the 6.1 presentation of the soundtrack can't make optimal use of the format (this was originally made in the early 80's), the warm and detailed soundtrack still sounds tremendous here with an amazing amount of detail. I haven't seen the film in awhile so don't know if the dialogue track was slightly out of synch with the original film. That's the case on this DVD. I can't say it's a flaw of the DVD yet because I haven't had a chance to compare it to other editions yet.

A new documentary directed by Perry Martin was especially commissioned for this edition. Featuring new interviews with Writer/Director Coscarelli , Writer/Producer Pepperman, Production Designer Conrad Angone and actors Josh Milrad, Tanya Roberts and Marc Singer, we get an inside glimpse into the origins of the film and the conflicts that almost derailed its success. Coscarelli ran into constant interference from his overseas financer and co-producer almost immediately. Since Coscarelli had arranged the financing of his previous movies and all had been under a million dollars, he had never run into interference of this sort before. Also, on his previous productions he and Pepperman did almost everything behind the camera and in post production. Here, for the first time, both had to work with others and trust the professional crew they had hired. The real koo for the production was wrangling veteran Kubrick cinematographer John Alcott to shoot the movie and composer Lee Holdridge to write the wonderfully evocative score for the film. We also get the original theatrical trailer (which demonstrates how much work went into restoring this film for its Divamax presentation), production stills, behind-the-scenes photos and all the poster/advertising art that survived. The talent bio and DVD-ROM with the original screenplay are icing on this already moist cake. Coscarelli also contributes liner notes on the insert that has a reproduction of the original poster. A marvelous job from Anchor Bay.


An informative, funny and charming commentary track from the director and producer of the film. We get all the trivia you'd always want in a commentary track plus occasional bits of trivia about Coscarelli's film Phantasm and some other projects as well. Both Coscarelli and Pepperman do a great job here.

A fun sword and sorcerer adventure, The Beastmaster looks outstanding on this special Divamax Edition of the film. Packed with extras including a great documentary on the making of the film, production notes, a marvelous commentary and a top notch transfer, Anchor Bay has outdone itself here. The only thing missing from this film that might have improved it was commentary and/or interviews with Rip Torn.


Rating:
Summary: Beastly fun!
Review: Bronze Age hero (and bronzed hunk) Dar (Marc Singer) sets out on a quest to avenge the massacre of his people and acquires a quartet of feathered, fanged, and furry companions: Sharak, a mysterious golden eagle that guides him toward his destiny; Ruh, a loyal, ferocious black tiger who never runs from a fight; and Kodo and Podo, a pair of fun-loving ferrets with bandit-masks and a penchant for petty theft. Each animal is instrumental to Dar's victory (the eagle is his eyes, the tiger is his strength, and the ferrets are his cunning) as he faces the evil sorcerer Maax (Rip Torn).

Terrific fun for animal lovers and folks who enjoy a not-too-serious fantasy flick, this one is a classic.

Staci Layne Wilson
Author of Staci's Guide to Animal Movies