Simply Perfect

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The Beastmaster is a film that, to me, was an instant classic. This movie had everything a young boy of the 80's could want. Action, swords, high fantasy, magic, an awesome hero, a sexy love interest (played by future Bond Girl Tanya Roberts), and really bad-ass villains. This was the kind of movie that you reenacted on the playground at school, the kind you acted out with your action figures. I can't tell you how many times me and my friends would play out the adventure of The Beastmaster!for more go to: https://latetothegame.blog/2017/09/28/key-movies-of-my-life-the- beastmaster-1982/

An evil cult leader named Maax (Rip Torn) is freaked out about a prophecy surrounding the King's unborn son so he tries to have the baby killed. But a villager saves the boy and raises him as his own. The boy is named Dar and grows into Marc Singer with the ability to communicate with animals. When Dar's village is raided and all of the villagers killed, he sets out to get revenge on the one responsible -- Maax. Along the way, he is joined by John Amos, sexy Tanya Roberts, and some furry friends.As with most sword & sorcery movies from the '80s, this bears more than a few similarities to Conan the Barbarian. Obviously it's not as good but the inspiration is clearly there. Beastmaster is very cheesy and hard to take seriously. I mean, at the end of the day, "guy who talks to ferrets" is a difficult concept to make work as anything other than a punchline. It's also overlong and full of poorly choreographed action scenes. For his part, Marc Singer does fine and knows when to play it tongue-in-cheek and when not to. Rip Torn is a total ham as the villain. Tanya Roberts actually takes her role seriously, which is embarrassing for her but fun for us. She looks great, of course.So yeah it's cheesy and laughable but it's also entertaining. You can shut your mind off and enjoy it as a simple fantasy adventure flick or you can spend a couple of hours poking fun at it. One question I had while watching is why did Dar never try to talk to the horses of the bad guys and make them stop? In the village raid scene and the climax, the bad guys are all on horses and yet the guy who communicates with animals makes no effort to use that to his advantage. Anyway, it's a good way to pass the time. Followed by two terrible sequels and a forgettable TV series.

Maax (Rip Torn) receives a prophecy from witches of his death from the unborn son of the King. He is banished from the kingdom. The witches steal the unborn son in a cow. An old man rescues the boy from the witches and raises him as his own. Dar (Marc Singer) would grow up with powers to communicate with animals. Mauraders massacre his people and he sets out for revenge. He is joined by two thieving ferrets, a hawk and a tiger. He wins the heart of slave girl Kiri (Tanya Roberts).This is mostly compared to Conan which came out a few months before. Beside being second to the screen, this is an inferior product in many ways. Marc Singer is no Arnold Schwarzenegger but who is? Tanya Roberts is a good slave girl reminiscent of all those great B-movie bimbos. The story is alright especially considering the genre. The production is even cheesier than Conan. It's a movie that can't be taken too seriously. The only thing superior are the animals. I love the ferrets and they stay with me all these years.

You know sometimes they make a movie on a budget that is so pitiful it shouldn't work, as in they haven't spent enough to make an impact. The beastmaster is the kind of movie that studios love because it cost about 4 million dollars to make and it works. I recently watched the directors cut with full commentary and didn't realise how involved this movie was to make. Very simple story, the lead character can communicate with animals and can see through their eyes, he uses this ability to avenge his fathers death against an evil priest and a hoard of barbarians. Throw in a beautiful girl, a few witches and a couple of allies and you have a real winner. The thing to remember here is that most mega budget movies cost at least 25 million US then and this well it didn't (director commentary mentions about 4 million US) This movie is still regarded as an absolute classic and I was raised on this film. HBO became known as Hey Beastmasters On it showed this so often. So if you like sword and sorcery and beautiful heroines and etc etc. You'll love this movie.Enjoy