...okay, got that out of the way.
The Beastmaster is a cult classic sword and sorcery film from the bygone age of the 1980's. Ironically, however, it didn't start out that way. The Beast Master was originally a novel written by novelist Andre Norton, details a Navajo man with the ability to communicate with animals who gets a job herding them on a distant alien planet and tries to avenge his father's murder.
So, naturally, The Beastmaster was destined to be a sword and sorcery epic.
I don't know why the change exactly, or if there was ever a change to begin with, but the final product does hold the similarity that Dar (played by Marc Singer) and Hosteen Storm in that both are able to communicate with animals - Masters of the Beasts, if you will.
A master of beasts.
To beasts, they are the master.
A...I feel like there's a shorter word for this.
Anyway, the movie begins with the high priest and definitely not evil wizard Maax (played by Rip Torn - I know, that was my reaction, too) learning of a prophecy where the son of the king, Zed (no relation to Lord Zedd, I think), will slay him. To prevent this, after being exiled, he gets a witch under his command to take the unborn child from its mother's womb and place it in a cow.
...yes, you read that correctly. A cow.
As far as plans to defeat your enemies go, that's certainly a creative one, I'll give Maax that one.
The child is born of a cow and is about to be sacrificed when an NPC farmer happens by and kills the witch, taking the child as his own. He names him Dar and raises him. From youth, it seems that Dar has the ability to telepathically speak to animals - something he apparently received by being born of a cow (no, I'm not letting it go, it's so oddly specific and weird). However, like Conan over in the next mountain range, Dar's village gets attacked and he is the only survivor. Taking up a sword, Dar gathers together a brand of animals: an eagle name Sharak, a pair of ferrets called Kodo and Podo, and a black tiger named Ruh.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention that the tiger used for Ruh actually died after filming. They covered it in a black paint that turned out to be toxic and well, tigers tend to lick themselves. That poor creature. Geez...
But with beasts that he now masters, Dar goes off to be the best like no one ever was. Along the way he becomes allies with some bird people and meets the slave girl Kiri - his love interest in the film played by Tanya Roberts. In a shocking change from most media today, she's a redhead rather than being a black actress replacing her. Although, I imagine if the film is ever remade, that that will happen and that's kind of a depressing thought.
As far as the film goes, it's your standard fantasy adventure. The animals are an enjoyable twist and I'm sure this film was the cause of so many players wanting to multiclass into druid. It's your standard plot of revenge against Maax once Dar has learned of both his father and his brother still being alive and wanting to aid them in that endeavor. It's held up by good performances from the cast (even Rip Torn playing an evil wizard - still dumbfounded by that). The action is pretty good for the time and doesn't shy away from violence.
No, they saved that for the sequel.
...yeah, I'm not remotely in any sort of shape to view Beastmaster 2 again, much less review it. Not just because Kari Wuhrer is in it, either.
The Beastmaster remains a cult favorite and is a pretty fun ride from beginning to end. High adventure, bits of comedy, a little pathos, and you have an enjoyable popcorn flick. After seeing the two sequels and the TV show, you might just wish it had stayed as just the one enjoyable popcorn flick.
...yeah, there was another sequel. And a TV show. We might look at those another time. So, so far, Sword and Sorcery 2020 (as I've decided to call this string of movie reviews) has had three really, really good ones (though not without their flaws, as we've seen). Next time, I'm gonna try to dredge something up that is complete and utter garbage from start to finish. A real Night of the Demons-esque piece of the genre. Rather than giving it away, I'll let you all speculate as to what it is.
...it's Dungeons and Dragons. It's gonna be Dungeons and Dragons.
The Beastmaster comes to us from MGM and is available wherever movies are sold.
For the latest from the MadCapMunchkin, be sure to follow him on Twitter @MadCapMunchkin.
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