Beastmaster - L'occhio di Braxus

Me and some friends went to the movie store to rent three movies one day back in 1996. From those three movies, this is the one I remember. It is simply one of the worst movies ever made. The acting is horrible, the music is awful and the script contradicts the other two movies. For example the animal who used to be a tiger is now a lion who changes sex during the movie!

Marc Singer looks like 65 something and is still the same stiff actor who tries to drop some "funny" lines from time to time.

On the other hand it's fun to watch just because it's so bad. I give it 3 out of 10. If you want a good laugh I would recommend it.

Beastmaster 3 and the whole series is dumb and faky. Everone of them are B movies but this is the worst one. It combines incredibly bad acting and cheesy special effects. It is worse than a made for TV movie. If you watch this on TV like I did then you would probably find better acting and effects in the commercials you see while it is on.

Not to be taken seriously, the cast didn't even take this seriously and it looked like they had a laugh filming this piece of c**p (except the fella who got mauled by the Lion).

Plot is simple: The Beastmaster named Dar (Marc Singer) must save his brother King Tal (Casper Van Dien) from Lord Agon (David Warner) who has captured him to make himself young for eternity or something like that, wasn't really paying attention. This inconvenience took Dar away from his wanderings around the wilderness playing with his animals. Dar is joined by Seth (Tony Todd) who can't seem to talk him out of making wrong decision after wrong decision. Later we are introduced to the stunning Shada (Sandra Hess), Jaggart (Patrick Kilpatrick), Morgana (Lesley-Anne Down) and the not-so-great acrobat Bey (Keith Coulouris) are they friends or foes? Not only these, but due to his continuous mishaps Dar gets plunged into the fires time after time with savage tribes, thieves, circuses, and un-cooperative animals.

To say the acting is poor, might be a bit harsh, Marc Singer definitely just showed up for his pay-check, if he even got one. The plot, dialogue, choreography of the fight scenes, budget, effort and the direction are the real culprits. The film feels like a series episode not far removed from Xena Warrior Princess or Hercules and I have my suspicions it was to be the first of a series but expanded into a film, maybe due to contract constraints or production issue's.

All-in-all it is a fun watch, especially the ending which is pure cheese with the super villain Braxus and the corny finish which bumped it up a star for me. Just be prepared it is not B-movie gold, but rather tv movie wtf is this s**t.

One disappointment, the massive build up for Seth revealing what he got turned into by the witch Morgana is a complete anti-climax.

Cheese moment to look out for anytime Dar summons his bird-of-prey.

Marc Singer returns as Dar "The Beastmaster" who this time helps save his brother king from an evil sorcerer named Agon(David Warner) in this made for TV version of the Beastmaster story. What helps Beastmaster III in being better than it's awful predecessor (Beastmaster 2) is that it stays in it's time zone and it doesn't have Kari Wuher (Always a plus) the movie plays out like a watchable sword and sorcery movie from the 80's. The action isn't very well staged because the camera angles give off the impression of made for TV but they do happen frequent enough and are occasionally fun to watch. Though the movie belongs to Marc Singer who basically is likable and very well suited to his part. Indeed the whole cast is fun as they include Tony Todd, Lesley Anne-Down, David Warner and Patrick Kilpatrick. Once again the movie ends on an unsatisfying note but basically it does represent a vast improvement over # 2. However stick with the first, as the best of the series.

* * out of 4-(Fair)

This movie will never win an Oscar (or any other award) but to be honest, I don't think it was ever made to do so. It is very much in a B-movie style and that's exactly how it should be. And shouldn't be taken too seriously.

I personally like the idea that ferrets and a lion can get on in harmony - but hey I'm an idealist.

The acting is terrible - the story has been done so often that anyone in their basement could probably make a decent job of a copy, but all that said the movie is enjoyable... as long as you take it for what it is!! AND NOTHING MORE!! In many ways it reminds me of movies like Willow and Krull - not huge productions, not great acting but enjoyable all the same.

Quick Review: Man who can command animals' sets off to save his brother (the king) from an evil sorcerer before same can let loose the power of a terrible creature... filled with swords, sorcery and scantily clad people.