Dar l'invincible

Too bad movies from this genre are now all but extinct.

Beastmaster was one of the best movies of the early 80's

Sword & Magic movies (along with Krull, Dragonslayer &

Conan), if not the best. I even believe it inspired He-Man

and the Masters of the Universe for those who as myself

were children of the 80's. Later in the 80's some flicks

came out, like Highlander and Willow, but couldn't help the

disappearance of the genre, which I feel very nostalgic

about. Please, please, please, I beg you: Ignore any sequel

of this movie. Remain with this, a true classic.

Following "Conan the Barbarian", there were a lot of Barbarian trash movies in the 1980s. The best of them all was "Beastmaster" because it had creative production design, colorful photography and even some ideas of its own. Dar, the Beastmaster (Marc Singer), can see through the eyes of animals and command them whenever he needs help. The evil priest Maax (Rip Torn) holds Dar's father, the king, prisoner as well as the slave girl Kiri (Tanya Roberts) whom Dar fell in love with. In this action-packed movie, we meet a lot of bizarre folks, like the scary batmen who can suck their victims dry if they catch them under their wings (and still these are some of the good guys!) or the berserkers who carry green worms in their brains to drive them crazy. Director/script writer Coscarelli was also in charge of the very successful horror movie "Phantasm", and that shows in the darker scenes. Tanya Roberts looked so good in rags she went on to make "Sheena" with equally little to wear. Marc Singer's muscles were memorable enough to get him signed many years later for 2 sequels which weren't half as good as the original, but still way better than the politically correct TV series 20 years later.

Comparing the 113 minutes "director's cut" (British DVD) to the old 91 minutes German video tape version, these are the most important scenes previously omitted: 1) 8 1/2 minutes of introduction, in which we learn how Maax was threatened by the king, hears the prophecy about the king's unborn son and asks a witch to abduct the baby (from his mother's womb!). Probably it was felt it takes too long until we see the grown-up hero. The disadvantage is that we know less in the short version about Maax and his motives. 2) Still in the first third of the movie, a funny scene was cut in which Dar falls into quicksand, needs help from the animals - and rescues one of them in return. This scene is a charming illustration of the beginning of his friendship with the animals, but not necessary to understand the story. 3) In the last third of the movie, 3 scenes were cut in which the injured young prince is carried into a house, gets better and receives a gift from the Beastmaster. It seems this was cut as it slows down the movie and gives information about the boy only - who is not one of the main characters, anyway. There are also smaller cuts along the way, sometimes due to violence. Anyhow, go get "The Beastmaster" in this longer version!

I remember watching "The Beastmaster" when I was a kid, and I thoroughly enjoyed it back then. And as I purchased the DVD in 2013 and re-visited the movie for another watching, I can honestly say that I enjoy it as much today as I did back then.

This is a classic tale of sword and sorcery. An infant is rescued from a ritual offering and grow up on the plains with herders and huntsmen, fully unaware of his royal heritage. Growing up, Dar discovers that he has abilities that allow him mastery over animals and being capable of communicating with them. Drawn into a game of treachery and heroism, Dar have to take up the fight against the vile sorcerer Maax.

Sure, this was shot back in 1982, but it was a blast then, and it is actually quite fun to watch even in 2013. The effects were adequately back then and serves their point straight on. However, don't prepare to be dazzled by today's standards. But if you are a fan of the sword and sorcery genre, then "The Beastmaster" is a sure must-watch-movie.

The people cast for the various roles did good jobs with their given roles, and I don't really remember Marc Singer as being that buffed and muscular when I saw him in the original "V" series. But he was really well-cast for the role of Dar/The Beastmaster. Even the animals trained for the movie were doing good jobs.

"The Beastmaster" is a an excellent sword and sorcery movie, and a very formidable choice of movie to the "Conan" movies. I thoroughly enjoy this 1982 movie and I know that I will put it back in the DVD player again after some years.

How can anyone not like the Beastmaster? It's what movies are all about - it's got a hero, his woman, a villain, sidekicks, animals, loincloths, violence and much much more! It's one of the earliest of films that HBO would play about 4 times a day so it was almost always available. John Amos from Roots and Good Times cheeses it up but damn, do I have a soft spot for the guy. Dar looks like my brother Eric. Rip Torn is a villain with bad teeth! The freaky eagle/vampire things are nutty. It's got ferrets - FERRETS in co-starring roles! Plus a panther and hawks and B-dialog and swords and last but not least "crazy-eyes" herself, Tonya Roberts! Yowza! It's basically a goulash of afternoon delight. Straight B an 85 - 8 out of 10. Caw caw! Catch it one time or a dozen, you'll love it.

I don't care what people say, THE BEASTMASTER is a fun film. Thanks to my parents having cable in the 80s, I virtually grew up with it. I can still recall spending many days and nights watching it on television. I probably had no idea of what was going on, but I just loved watching this animal lover named Dar rescue the hot Tanya Roberts while fighting against an evil priest. Marc Singer is great in the title role. If he were to cure world hunger, create world peace, or even be elected president, he would still be known as The Beastmaster. Tanya Roberts doesn't really do much, but looks damn nice doing it, John Amos is also good as a traveler who befriends Dar, and Rip Torn is as over-the-top as he can get. Lee Holdridge's score, composed in a short amount of time, provides a bit more epicness than the film could have created on its own, with a heroic theme that is used throughout. I was also happy to learn recently that Anchor Bay Entertainment is working on a Special Edition DVD of THE BEASTMASTER. I'm, naturally, very excited about this, for no matter what people say, THE BEASTMASTER was, still is, and always will be a childhood favorite.