The Beastmaster (film)
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| The Beastmaster | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Don Coscarelli |
| Produced by | Paul Pepperman Sylvio Tabet |
| Written by | Don Coscarelli Paul Pepperman |
| Starring | Marc Singer Tanya Roberts Rip Torn |
| Music by | Lee Holdridge |
| Cinematography | John Alcott |
| Editing by | Roy Watts |
| Distributed by | Metro Goldwyn Mayer |
| Release date(s) | August 16, 1982 (U.S. limited release) |
| Running time | 118 min. |
| Country | USA/West Germany |
| Language | English |
| Budget | N/A |
| Followed by | Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time |
| Allmovie profile | |
The Beastmaster is a 1982 fantasy film directed by Don Coscarelli that starred Marc Singer, Tanya Roberts, John Amos and Rip Torn. It was loosely based on ideas from Andre Norton in her seminal science fiction novel The Beast Master, although it did not use plot, setting, or characters from the novel. The film was marketed with the tagline "The courage of an eagle, the strength of a panther, and the power of a god."
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[edit] Plot
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The film tells the story of Dar, the son of a desert-dwelling king, who is robbed of his birthright by a power-hungry priest named Maax and his demonic, Norn-like witches. While still in his mother's womb, Dar is magically transferred to a cow by one of the witches, rendering the queen insensible. The witch takes him to a remote place, where she removes him from the cow, brands his hand, and is moments away from killing him when he is saved by a passing peasant.
The peasant adopts Dar as his own son and raises him in his village. While he is still an adolescent, he learns that he has a telepathic relationship with animals. After Dar reaches adulthood, his adopted father, his dog, and his entire village are murdered by the barbarian "Juns". After lighting a funeral pyre for them, Dar begins a quest for revenge. He is saved by and then aided on his quest by two ferrets named Kodo & Podo, an eagle, and a tiger (painted black.)
On the way, Dar encounters a tribe of bizarre, voiceless, winged beings who feed on humans. Before Dar's eyes, one of the faceless entities seizes and consumes a man, reducing him to a skeleton. As the creatures close in on Dar, his eagle lands on his outstretched arm. The monsters back away, whereupon Dar notices a statue carved in the shape of a bird; apparently an idol the creatures worship. Before he leaves, one of the creatures gives him a medallion with a likeness of a bird etched into it, as a sign of their respect.
Later, Dar spies on a pair of attractive women while they are bathing. He lures one of them away by having his ferrets steal her clothes and then has his tiger menace her. He pretends to rescue her to ingratiate himself. She spurns his advances, but reveals that her name is Kiri and that she is a slave girl. Unnoticed by either of them, she drops a piece of jewelry on the ground, which is later stolen by the ferrets.
He meets Seth, a skilled warrior, and Tal, who unbeknownst to any of them is Dar's younger brother. Since Tal is born to succeed King Zed, Seth is sworn to protect him and free the now-imprisoned king. Shortly thereafter, Tal notices Kiri's jewelry and Seth reveals that she was not a slave girl, but does not elaborate. Tal comments that Kiri is his cousin.
Dar travels to the city and witnesses Maax sacrificing children by dropping them into a fire pit at the top of the temple that dominates the city. Dar sends his eagle to rescue a second child, thus earning the gratitude of the child's family. He learns from the father, Sacco, that Kiri is a trained warrior, far from the slave girl she claimed to be. He also learns that she is to be sacrificed. Dar, Seth, and Tal rescue her.
With Kiri's help, they sneak into the temples to rescue King Zed. Dar is shocked to learn that the king has been blinded. After narrowly escaping the monstrous "death guards" (a kind of berserker driven to a killing insanity by the tortures imposed on them), they all meet at a camp where King Zed stirs the townsmen into a rebellion, intending to destroy Maax. He rejects Dar's help, calling him a "freak". Dar leaves the gathering and waits with his animals.
Shortly afterward, Seth realizes that Maax has been spying on them and knows their plan. He beseeches Zed to flee, but the king laments the son he thinks is dead and is overcome by the need for revenge.
The following day, Sacco rides to Dar to tell him that the attack failed and that all of the rebels were to be sacrificed. Dar rushes into the city and fights his way up the temple steps before confronting Maax. Out of sheer spite, Maax tells King Zed that Dar is his son before killing him. Dar defeats Maax; however, while his back is turned the priest tries to stab him in the back. Kodo, Dar's male ferret, jumps on his back and bites his neck, sending them both tumbling down into the fire pit.
The Jun Horde, allies of Maax, arrive intending to raze the city. As the city prepares its defenses, Dar gives the bird medallion to his eagle and sends it to find the strange creatures who gave it to him.
That evening, the horde arrive. They are hampered by the tar-filled moat that surrounds the city. They manage to set the tar on fire, resulting in a massive explosion that kills many Juns, although Tal is seriously wounded in the attempt. Dar fights the leader of the Juns in personal combat and defeats him. Rather than retreat at their leader's death, the survivors immediately surround their enemies. Although many Juns have been killed, they still vastly outnumber Dar and his friends. When all seems lost for the latter Dar's eagle swoops out of the sky and lands on his arm.
The man-eating entities suddenly appear, as if from the ground, and annihilate the remaining Juns, allowing Dar and his companions to escape behind the safety of the city walls. The strange creatures do not speak, but look, as before, on Dar with respect. The healers treat Tal's wounds and learn that he will survive.
The following morning, as Dar prepares to leave, Seth sees the brand on his hand and realizes that he was the first born son and should be king. Dar refuses and resumes wandering. Kiri catches up with him and the two embrace. It is revealed then that the female ferret, Podo, who is still alive, has given birth to kits, who presumably were sired not long before Kodo's death (echoing the theme "out of death, life").
[edit] Cast
| Character | Actor |
|---|---|
| Dar | Marc Singer |
| Kiri | Tanya Roberts |
| Maax | Rip Torn |
| Seth | John Amos |
| Tal | Josh Milrad |
| King Zed | Rod Loomis |
| Dar's father | Ben Hammer |
| Sacco | Ralph Strait |
| Young Dar | Billy Jacoby |
| Jun Leader | Tony Epper |
| Tils | Paul Reynolds |
[edit] Reception
The film was a critical and box office failure upon its 1982 release, grossing just three million dollars against a nine million dollar budget. However, it subsequently received significant cable airplay, notably HBO and TBS where it became a TV mainstay and viewer favorite. Its replay was so common that some waggishly dubbed TBS "The Beastmaster Station".[1]
As such, the movie eventually spawned two sequels Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time[2] (1991), and Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus [3] (1996, TV only), and a television series. [4] These spin-offs are commonly considered inferior to the original. A special feature, The Making of Beastmaster 2,[5] was also produced in 1991, and another one The Saga of The Beastmaster [6] (2005) was released on video.
[edit] Pop culture references
The film was lampooned on Robot Chicken, a stop-motion animated comedy on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. The parody was presented as an advertisement for a Broadway musical version of the film, featuring David Hasselhoff as Dar, and Alfonso Ribeiro as his pet black panther. Among the comedic elements was a suggestion that Dar had a sexual relationship with the panther, and attempted to get the "slave girl" character (fictionally played by Faith Hill) to join the bestial relationship.
"Beast Mastery" is a skill on the role-playing games World Of Warcraft and Guild Wars possibly insprired by the film.
[edit] References
- ^ The In-Sect - article - movie - retro - Marc Singer is THE Beastmaster
- ^ Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time (1991)
- ^ Beastmaster: The Eye of Braxus (1996) (TV)
- ^ "BeastMaster" (1999)
- ^ The Making of 'Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time' (1991) (V)
- ^ The Saga of 'The Beastmaster' (2005) (V)
