Ultimate Beastmaster: La loi du plus fort

How cheap can it get to prize 10K to the winner? C'mom, you TV PRODUCERS can do better than that! Guys are busting themselves!

It's a good show and I've finished nearly all of season 1, however, there's a ton of things wrong on it. First of all the last round is a huge rock climbing wall, giving the advantage to any and all walk climbing competitors. The slits on the wall are so tiny that if you're a bigger competitor you stand no chance. Secondly, there's a ton of jumps here, so it's much easier for taller people. Women never make it through, and I feel bad they're even on the show because it's false hope. Third, PLEASE for the love of God stop replacing the chain with a rope. It rips through all the contestants hands. You have no reason to do this other than wanting to be a sadist.

So to win you generally have to have the shape of a tall, slightly thinner male contestant who is a rock climber.

I'm not joking around when I call myself a die-hard fan of the "extreme obstacle course" genre that has exploded in the past few years. But how does Ultimate Beastmaster, Netflix's newcomer compare to other long-running shows like Sasuke, S and American Ninja Warrior?

In a word: well! The show is visually stunning and awesome in design thanks to the work of ATS, the company responsible for the construction of other obstacle course shows like American Ninja Warrior. The Beast is large and impressive enough to leave a lasting impression, with obstacles that range from creative and memorable to bland and boring, although the course composition in itself is highly derivative of the tried and tested "Ninja Warrior" formula: four stages, each more difficult than the last, with a finale involving scaling a tower and an increased emphasis on upper body as the show goes on.

So what unique elements does Ultimate Beastmaster bring to the table? Simply put, its emphasis on international competition helps the show immensely. The six different languages and sets of show presenters gives the show worldwide appeal, and watching all six nationalities react to both their representatives and those of other nationalities adds a unique dimension found almost nowhere else. Even if the American announcers are relatively low in quality (at least in my opinion), they are more than compensated for by the charisma of the other countries, which caught me off-guard when watching the show.

In conclusion, Ultimate Beastmaster is a fairly by-the-books Extreme Obstacle Course programme format-wise, but juiced up immensely by a Hollywood budget and stunning visual presentation. Even if it lacks the ingenuity, competitor pool and history of shows in the "Ninja Warrior" franchise, the international focus helps it to stand out and fill a niche in the genre. If you have a Netflix membership, I wholeheartedly recommend giving Ultimate Beastmaster a try!

I really enjoyed the show but the lack of women competitors really strikes a chord. With only approximately 20% women it's rather depressing as a female to see them not have a fair chance to begin with. It is clear that the start of levels 1 and 2 are more suited to long and high jumps, more dependent on height rather than arms and a mix up of the obstacles would give a more balanced course for both men and women. Level 3/4 for example is more suited to women with the arms and climbing techniques as it involve little to no long jumps.

The fact that level one has some guys who can't climb a rope knock out women because they are a little short is very frustrating.

Also flexibility is a skill thats missed out as far as obstacles go. Would be cool if some obstacles had this involved. I get its hard to design obstacles but I think there are some obvious changes that would make the show a lot more interesting and fair.

The competitors on the show do provide a level inspiration to people and having more females i.e. role models would really help to boost the show. I highly doubt there are not enough women who would be willing and capable.

It's a fun show to watch if you don't take it too seriously. I thought that the commentary from the entire international panel of hosts was too corny and scripted. It distracts from the competition. Speaking of competition, female contestants have absolutely no chance of ever winning here. They are basically time filler on this show. Almost every single event is geared toward upper body strength, which women clearly lack compared to men. Perhaps they should have women only competitions and men only competitions. That would definitely make things more fair for everyone. But hey, like I said, you can't take this show too seriously. Just enjoy the athleticism shown in the events and discard the rest.