BeastMaster

After having watched the show in re-runs for a couple of years, I recently purchased "Season One." This series possesses many wonderful qualities that appear to set it apart from Hercules and Zena and similar epics. Some of the uniqueness lies in the very ethereal quality present in the beautiful rain forest settings that play a very prominent role in almost every episode. This feature is sometimes juxtaposed against the human characters in very original and highly effective visual presentations. A wonderful example being the opening sequence to the episode "A simple truth" wherein a wolf is being pursued by a hunter who in turn is being pursued by Dar. There is a multitude of mini-shots of the three characters moving in unison toward a common destination in the heart of the rain forest setting. The combined effect of the photographic sequencing provides a stunning pictogram depicting the the show's essential theme of one man's struggle against another to save the animal kingdom.

The story lines encapsulate a wide variety of mythologies and legends from around the world; nymphs, minotaurs, chameleons, amazons, elves and unicorns are but a few examples of the characters used to illustrate the individual productions. These characters often come to life through a remarkable collection of highly entertaining, exotic personages. A prime example is Grace Jones' portrayal as a solo animal hunter in "The Umpatra." Displaying an innate sense of cunning and ferocious fighting spirit, both humans and immortals are on guard as she finally begins hand to hand combat with Dar. The eventual revelation of the Umpatra's erroneous perception and subsequent disclosure of the "truth" culminates with her own self imposed demise. This is a common lesson throughout the series as many of the "unenlightened" eventually gain a greater understanding and respect for the inherent balance between man and nature.

Another unusual quality is the slow, deliberate phrasing evident in the many heart to heart philosophical discussions, especially between Dar and those closest to him and also the Sorceress and the astute Ancient One. The unique phrasing combined with the slow and deliberate eye contact adds a sensual and highly effective edge to the communication between the characters who lived long ago in "an age when nature and magic ruled the world."

In every episode the viewer is presented with another example of Dar's untiring devotion and loyalty to the animals and their welfare. A devotion that is very effectively portrayed. Daniel Goddard plays the character as a somewhat more serious, intense Beastmaster than Marc Singer did in the original feature film and this new persona seems very effective and well suited for the television version. The actors' various styles are at times interestingly comparable because of Marc Singer's occasional guest appearances as Dartanus, Dar's spirit guide.

The show's simple but poignant message of good-will to earth's creatures, philosophical story lines and stunning photography make it a beautiful and uplifting television series.

My son, Simon Burnett, is the stunt double for Daniel, so we have been watching every episode. It comes across as at least two shows in one. The out of doors, walking in the woods and fighting. And the other, the mystical- fairy one, with special effects and clothing. It would work better if the mystical world was only at night, a dream scape for the characters and story line.

To begin with, I like this show, I own all three seasons on DVD. It is a fantasy show, utterly lacking any need for higher level thinking. This is not "Farscape" or "Star Trek" which might require the viewer to actively think about what is going on, or even "Xena" and "Hercules" which actually stuck to one major plot line. But it is good aimless fun. And Monikka Schnarre would look good reading a phone book.

What surprised me however was the lack of any sense of time. The show started the first season in the stone age. Bones, wood and stone consisted of the materials available to create tools and weapons. Okay, I'll buy it. Darr's Halbred could have been created of two leg bones of an extremely large animal, the metatarsals or metacarpals of an elephant would suffice (or is it the phalanges?). Season two rolls around and we've got bronze. Initially only the Nords had it, until the middle of the season. After the half-way mark, everyone was learning to extract bronze, independently of each other. Tao was developing ways to fly. The crossbow was invented. I still wasn't thrown, the liberties hadn't truly been taken yet. That's when season three rolled around. The first two seasons were thrown out the window. Everyone had iron weapons. Darr's sword appeared to be a Katana made of steel. STEEL!!! Zad had Knights running around. We went through roughly 7000-8000 years of evolution in a short three year span. None of the actors even aged discernably. The animals even took a back seat to him finding his family.

It seems to me the people pulling the strings decided to take the show different ways from episode to episode. The Sorceress would show up in black leather trying to be evil in one week, and then be wearing clothes straight from the runway the next. Not that I'm complaining. She can wear leather, dresses, skirts, bikinis or even nothing and I still would watch.

Oh well, I still watched and bought the show. They succeeded in what they wanted to accomplish. Just don't watch the show with a critical view and you'll do fine.

Speaking strictly of the first 2 seasons this shows some of the best talent I've ever seen both in writing and acting. Almost every episode was remarkably well crafted. The main characters were very well formed and expertly well portrayed. Especially Dar and Tao. This show teaches us more about the world and shows us how truly human-like animals really are. This summary doesn't speak for the 3rd season because to me the third season simply wasn't that good. The show had lost it's focus both on the animals and the people. At that point it became pure good vs. evil and lost it's appeal. But I still love the show and stand by what i said:this show truly is the best and only one of it's kind!

It seems from watching that the producers of this series didn't take the time to plan their "bible" before beginning the series. The basic story, handed down from Andre Norton through the series of films, was fine, but this kind of high-concept fantasy series requires an established mythology to guide the storytelling. This one seemed to flounder around without much dramatic impetus. The leads were highly appealing, if inexperienced at the beginning of the series, and individual episodes were often entertaining. The final story arc over the last half of the final season was too slapdash and amateurish to redeem the series as a whole. While it did draw the story to a finish, it wasn't a particularly compelling finish; the appearance of Marc Singer (the star of the Beastmaster films) was a silly stunt. One can only hope that Daniel Goddard and Jackson Raine move on to better projects--both are appealing enough to merit it.