A Fera da Guerra

This film is as I said one of the greatest war films ever made. It is also the only one that I am aware of that focuses on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. A serviceable plot makes it easier for the tank crew to turn out some great performances. Stephen Baldwin is even tolerable in this one and this is the only role to date where he shouldn't be killed for his decision to act. Don Harvey is a unsung star as the brake fluid swigging Kaminski and Jason Patric turns in a good perfomance as Koverchenko, the moral driver torn between being a good soldier and obeying his instincts. This also qualifies as the best tank movie ever made and the T-62 tank that is featured is the real star of the show. I think that the Soviets were using T-72 tanks in this particular conflict but I'm just being a little anal. Overall, this is one of my top ten and I think that any war movie fan should check this one out.

There aren't too many films that completely slip through the cracks when it comes to my knowledge thanks to year's of movie consumption (and some early life work at video rental stores, remember those?) but Kevin Reynolds little spoken about 1988 film The Beast of War (also commonly known as The Beast) is a film that I can honestly say I had never heard of until recently but thanks to a recommendation, I made the time to check this nightmarish war film out and I am very glad that I did.

Victim of a studio dumping it into an initial release with little to no fanfare or backing, Beast is a film that was worth more attention as Reynolds and his screenwriter William Mastrosimone (adapting his own play) create a boiling pot of tension and drama as they follow Russian tank officer Daskal and his crew across the sand swept surrounds of Afghanistan as they are pursed by a justice seeking group of Afghani locals in a secluded valley after they wreck havoc on their small village.

Getting stuck straight into the action, we as viewers are thrust into the sweat covered lives of the unstable Daskal and his skeleton crew that includes Jason Patric's Konstantin Koverchenko, Stephen Baldwin's wide-eyed Anthony Golikov and Don Harvey's unbalanced Kaminski, as they traverse the foreign landscape of the country they have invaded while Steven Bauer's village chief Khan Taj and his men pursue them deeper and deeper into a hellish valley that seems likely to lead to a conflict where only one side will come away victorious.

There's barely a moment where Reynolds film lets up, Beast moves along at a rapid pace, much like its barely functioning tank that is both a savior and a curse to the men inside, and when it comes to films set in the Afghanistan region there's a real case to suggest that this 1988 effort is one of the best set in the time and period where the Soviet's went toe to toe with the local militia in the country.

Something else that is evidently apparent in the film is the string of quality performances.

Leading from the front is the almost never better George Dzundza who goes all out as Daskal who is looking back to past glories as he dictates his men's movements into a seemingly losing battle and Patric, who brings great intensity to his role as the voice of reason Konstantin, a man who has been put into a hopeless position where he is torn between self preservation and doing what's right for the country his committed to serve.

Overall this is a white knuckle affair, one with brilliantly staged battles, great delivery and one of composer Mark Isham's most effective scores and while its unlikely you've heard of this war film, it's one you should find and check out as one of the 80's most undervalued efforts.

Final Say -

One of the hidden gems of the war film genre and one of the most effective tank based sub-genre efforts, The Beast of War is a thrilling piece of filmmaking that deserves to find an audience it was cruelly denied upon release.

4 RPG's out of 5.

The Beast of War is not the best war film I've seen. But the fact that it's set during the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan and its David vs Goliath battle is what pleased me. The only other movie I know set during the Afghan conflict is the far more jingoistic Rambo III. The story as it goes on is rather predictable. Predictability in films or books is not what displeases audience anyway. What I enjoyed was that battle between a tank and a handful of fighters.

The verdict: 3 of 5 stars.

Nearly all the reviews here completely miss the point of the Russian characters speaking in English with an American accent. This is a clever and unique film device. It allows the American audience the film was made for to relate to the primary characters as though they were Americans. The device also allows the Afghanistan setting to seem like Vietnam to the American audience. This is not really intended to say that the two conflicts are identical, but rather serves as a tool to convey a broader anti-war message.

As the film begins, we are in an alien desert setting with the Russian tank crew speaking only in Russian and committing a series of terrible deeds. The camera tightly zooms into the speaking lips of one of the Russians whose native language seamlessly transforms into American English. The camera then zooms back out to the original framing. The audience soon begins to empathize with the Americanized Russians and begins to see many parallels between their conflict and our experience in Vietnam. Americans know very little of the Afghanistan war. This device, however, makes the war seem less distant. It helps the audience bond with the characters and better share their later suffering.

The film has the authentic and gritty feel of "Das Boot" with the tank filling in for the submarine. The detailed and realistic portrayal of the equipment lends greatly authenticity to the drama. I last saw the film about ten years ago, and yet its images and emotional impact stay with me much better than most of the films I've seen so far this year.

I give The Beast a 9.

This is one of the best war-movies I have ever seen. Even if it hasn't a lot of action in it, it is still very intense. I think that the director has managed superbly to illustrate the torments of war, especially how it was - and still is - to be a member of a tank-crew on a mission in a foreign coutry. All the actors are doing a fine job and the place for shooting this movie is well chosen. And I must say that I especially appreciate the camera-movements along the tank that makes one understand the power that they contain.