BeastMaster

It was rather campy with ridiculous plots that only children would appreciate, but I do miss this show. I kept watching episodes repeat until I started to wonder why they were going back to the beginning. I finally found out that it was canceled due to production issues and not ratings. Daniel Goddard is stunning on screen, but his character seemed very much like Kevin Sorbo's Hercules rendition. They were both very sensitive, hunky, muscular males who could kick butt when it came down to it. They're also extremely monogamous and don't seem to want to move past the women they were once in love with to venture into anything new.

I found the opening credits vastly amusing. It amps it up a lot and then you're like, "Oooh! Who is this guy?" and then the announcer says quite blandly, "He's the Beastmaster. He communicates with animals." It was so anti-climatic, it was comical. That's his specialty? Talking to animals? So he's an ancient vet? Eh, I watched anyway. His sidekick was more annoying that Gabrielle in Xena. And the heavy surfer, Californian accent was a little off in this ancient environment. I loved the character of Arina and wished she and Dar would hook up, but it got canceled before old lover boy would make a move. Heck, the way he was moving, his ferrets woulda got to her before he did.

The plots were childish, as I've said, but you still watched because it was just a way to kick back and enjoy a Saturday afternoon, no stress. It didn't require heavy thinking on my part. It also might have grown into a pretty strong show that tested waters, but it didn't last. Ah, it's OK, but you feel bad for the actors. It's like they may never get another break with this show gone. I remember those episodes with the original Beastmaster and I found him terribly annoying. I'm not surprised his movies didn't work out majorly. I caught sight of one of his versions and detested him. Daniel was better. Ah, so's the TV world.

As some might think this Beastmaster version not dark as or enough considering the original movie it comes from I must disagree feeling it has very good and thought provoking points in relation to the movie and that the movie could not explore.

Daniel Goddard is perfectly cast as a new model Beastmaster a little more officially muscled while Marc Singer muscled enough the original and movie Beastmaster was also just plain imposing in such a way you might feel he could defend the toughest tiger or lion. Daniel Goddard makes up for this in the muscle of his build in relation to the animals he cares for and tries to save from harm avoiding conflict if possible.

Beastmaster, the series, is worthy to be called so in relation to the movie and Marc Singer if for no other reason than the complimentary to each other comparison and the exploration of love, care, and issues of animals and man in the resistance of evil for the cause of good. The series is also well filmed and looks great too, a style all its' own. I for one am sorry it could not get a couple of more seasons into the can much is missing those seasons might have included.

I watch this show most of the time. It's erratic, but I like it a lot anyway.

The producers seem to have relatively little idea of what kind of show they want to do. It's now in its third season, and it appears to have gone to heroic fantasy. (Any episodes you see Dar having a sword, they're all third season. And he puts up quite a protest around it, but you'd have to actually watch the show to see it.) Last season would be better characterized as a sort of low-level high fantasy, where most of the emphasis was on complex relationships between all the different characters. And a lot of the first season was a (tragic) love story.

The acting is great, but it's very much in a particular style. It's an understated style that shows up a lot in Canadian productions (it's a Canada-Australia joint production).

But the best part is: They kill characters. Major characters. Not many of them, but people actually die. The storyline moves on. I get really tired of watching adventure shows with no threat of death. It's pretty much a given that Dar won't die (or they'd have to rename the show) but everybody else, except for gods (none of which have made appearances, unlike in a show like Xena) and some of the demigod-level characters (I'm thinking of The Ancient One) has been fair game. It helps make the show exciting, which is the whole point of adventure, right?

The acting style's not for everyone, but if you like it, watch the show. The stories are generally pretty well-written, and the show's got guts.

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!