I will always love sword and sorcery movies from the 80’s; they were usually filled with plenty of action, gory kills and the odd boob or cheek here and there. The Beastmaster movies contain all of these things, so I figured it was about time we had a look back at them.
The Beastmaster (1982)
Plot: A sword-and-sorcery fantasy about a young man’s search for revenge. Armed with supernatural powers, the handsome hero and his animal allies wage war against marauding forces.
The first movie from 1982 stars Marc Singer as Dar, a gifted warrior who has the ability to communicate with beasts. When the evil wizard Maax (Rip Torn) removes Dar’s parents from his path he starts up a cult where he sacrifices children to their God. Raised by a kindly traveller (Ben Hammer) Dar is taught how to find and over the years learns to control his abilities. After the evil Juns attack Dar’s village, he is the last survivor and vows revenge. While hunting his prey he meets Kiri (Tanya Roberts) and he then ends up on a quest to take down Maax and free the enslaved people.
He is also helped by Seth (John Amos) and Tal (Joshua Milrad) and it all leads to a massive showdown. Not only is Maax pure evil but Dar also has to contend with the invading Juns and the finale gives us plenty of awesome action. I also want to note some of the disturbingly awesome creatures like the Winged Devourers who wrap their wings around their victims and devour them. Oh and they’re the good guys…
We also get Death Guards who have glowing green eyes who were former humans who have had their blood drained and replaced by a mystic green liquid. They are not the good guys.
Although The Beastmaster is a little long it is certainly never boring as we get several swordfights and watching the animals help Dar is always awesome. I think Koddo and Poddo were amazing and I want them as my friends too. It must have been a logistical nightmare to train all the animals but it pays off as they all look great on screen. I read on IMDB that the eagle often refused to fly on cue. To shoot footage of it in the air, it was dropped from a trapdoor in a hot air balloon. Also, Dar’s black tiger is actually a regular striped tiger dyed black. The dye would wash off around the mouth whenever the tiger took a drink, so the stripes are often visible around its mouth. I reckon today it would be done with CGI which may be more humane, I guess.
The final showdown with the Juns is genuinely explosive and thoroughly satisfying as Dar has a one on one fight with the leader and it ends very satisfyingly.
The score by Lee Holdridge is perfect with a memorable theme but never overly intrusive.
Overall, The Beastmaster still holds up far better than a lot of other sword and sorcery movies from that era with genuinely disturbing creatures, plenty of action and an appealing lead in Marc Singer. There are no annoying comic relief characters which was rare at the time making this still hugely entertaining.
Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time (1991)
Plot: Prehistoric Dar (Marc Singer) goes by time warp to Los Angeles to smite his laser-equipped long-lost brother (Wings Hauser).
Remember how in the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie we all got annoyed because most of it took place on Earth? Well, Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time makes that same mistake and is frankly one of the worst movies I’ve watched for a very long time.
It feels more like a parody which is a shame as it has a great cast including Wings Hauser as the villainous Arklon, Sarah Douglas as the witch, Lyranna, Robert Z’Dar as Zavic, Michael Berryman as a Pilgrim at the end of the film, James Avery as Lt. Coberly and Kari Wuhrer as Jackie Trent. That’s a lot of talent that got wasted on this movie which I had never actually seen before now.
Marc Singer returns as Dar sporting an unconvincing hairpiece, but he is as appealing as he was in the first movie and Sarah Douglas clearly knew what she was signing on for and is just having fun. Wings Hauser chews the scenery as Arklon who we discover is Dar’s long-lost brother. He also has a cool laser weapon which can open portals which is handy to have.
I enjoyed the first 30 minutes of this as it continued on the story from the first movie, then as soon as they showed Earth I thought “Oh no, it’s one of those movies”. The humour is very much of the time and very dated; this also came out 9 years after the first movie which is maybe too long a gap.
The score is swashbuckling and heroic but that can’t save this movie from being mostly annoying.
Overall, Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time is a poor follow-up to an entertaining sword and sorcery picture taking the action to Earth which kills the movie as soon as that happens. It feels more like a parody and it is harmless fun, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Beastmaster 3: The Eye of Braxus (1996)
Plot: Before he died, Dar’s father gave a mysterious amulet to Tal, Dar’s younger brother who is now king. Dar, while wandering with his animal companions, chances to meet and rescue a family who seek the help of King Tal against Lord Agon, a sorcerer who has conquered their land. Dar obtains an audience for them with Tal, who rallies his troops to march against Agon in the morning. Alas, the young king is captured by Agon’s crimson warriors during the night. It is the amulet — the Eye of the imprisoned god Braxus — that Agon really wants. But Dar now carries half of it and is nowhere to be found. Will he fall into Lord Agon’s clutches when he comes to free his brother?
The third and final movie in the trilogy, The Eye of Braxus is definitely an improvement over part 2 keeping the action away from Earth; this also has a cast that includes Patrick Kilpatrick, David Warner, Casper Van Dien, Lesley-Anne Down, Tony Todd and Sandra Hess.
This definitely feels like a made for television movie as it lacks any kind of production values with cheap looking visuals. Still, this is a fun entry and it’s cool to see Tony Todd (R.I.P.) play a hero as he did get cast as villain for a lot of his all too short career.
In Beastmaster 3 he plays Seth, a warrior who rides with Dar (Marc Singer) as they try to rescue Dar’s brother Tal (Casper Van Dien) from the clutches of the evil wizard Agon (Warner).
This definitely feels like a pilot for a potential TV series which we got in 1999. It ran until 2002 but didn’t star Marc Singer; instead, it had Daniel Goddard in the role of Dar. Singer did actually show up in a few episodes as a character named Dartanus.
Anyway, The Eye of Braxus is the shortest Beastmaster yet coming in at just under 90 minutes; this is always a plus as it means it’s well paced and doesn’t go on for too long. There is very little that’s memorable or spectacular on the action front. We just get a few sword fights and the usual sword and sorcery stuff.
When we see Braxus at the end I burst out laughing the first time I saw him; he looks like half turtle and half left over from the Dinosaurs show that was on the 90s. Gotta love me!
Jan Hammer (yes, that Jan Hammer) provides the score which is one of his weakest to date; his music was always great, but this feels phoned in with nothing memorable about it that really stands out. It’s very dated and keyboardy sounding now.
Overall, Beastmaster 3: The Eye of Braxus is an improvement over the second movie and its game cast make it watchable even it lacks a budget and decent action. The first movie is the only entry really worth watching as neither the sequels nor the TV series have ever matched it.