This tale of two ferrets, a tiger and an eagle – supported by a cast of beautiful human bodies – in the pursuit of good over evil is set in the kingdom of Aruk, sometime in “fictitious antiquity”.
In a confusing preamble, the film begins with a prophecy from three witches that evil high priest Maax (Rip Torn) will one day die at the hands of the – as yet unborn – son of King Zed (who he has dethroned and imprisoned).
Maax (pronounced “May-ax”) sends one of the witches to kidnap and kill the child (she actually magics it into the womb of a cow) to prevent the prophecy from coming true, but the boy is rescued by a passing shepherd (Ben Hammer) who raises him as his own son in the village of Emur.
Named Dar, the boy (Billy Jacoby) learns how to fight and develops the magical ability to communicate with animals telepathically (hence “the beastmaster”, geddit?).
Years later, a fully grown Dar (Canadian-American actor Marc Singer) witnesses his people being slaughtered by the Juns, a horde of fanatic barbarians allied with Maax.
Surviving the attack, Dar journeys to Aruk to avenge his people. Along the way, he is joined by an eagle he names Sherak, a pair of thieving ferrets he names Kodo and Podo, and a black “panther” (actually a tiger with a dye job) he names Ruh.
Dar is captured by a half-bird, half-human race (who spare him when he summons Sherak), saves beautiful slave girl Kiri (Tanya Roberts, late of TV’s Charlie’s Angels, making her big screen debut) from sacrifice, and rescues King Zed (Rod Loomis), with the help of Zed’s young son, Tal (Josh Milrad).
Zed leads his forces to attack the city but is quickly defeated and captured.
Dar returns to save the day again, and in the resulting conflict, Maax reveals that Dar is actually the first-born son of Zed.
Maax then kills the king before falling to his death in the sacrificial flames atop the local pyramid.
The Jun horde attacks Aruk, but Dar sets a trap for them, successfully burning most of the Juns alive while defeating their chieftain. The birdmen arrive to consume those remaining.
Having saved the day, Dar is invited to be the new king but insists that his younger brother Tal would make a better king and takes his well-oiled biceps off into the sunset with Kiri, Ruh, Sherak and Podo, who has given birth to two baby ferrets.
The dialogue is silly and anachronistic, the special effects aren’t particularly special, and the lighting is practically non-existent (much of the action takes place by torchlight in dark dungeons) – but there are cute animals, copious acts of random, pointless violence and scantily-clad actresses. So that’s something.
The film performed only modestly at the box office, but it built a strong cult following over the years. In the US, it was replayed frequently on TV, notably HBO and TBS.
A 1991 sequel – Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time – was followed by a made-for-television third film – Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus – in 1996. Both sequels starred Marc Singer as Dar.
A syndicated television series debuted in 1999 with an altered back-story and Daniel Goddard playing Dar.
Tanya Roberts died in January 2021, aged 65.
Dar
Marc Singer Kiri
Tanya Roberts Maax
Rip Torn Seth
John Amos Tal
Josh Milrad King Zed
Rod Loomis Zed’s Wife
Vanna Bonta Young Dar
Billy Jacoby Dar’s Father
Ben Hammer Sacco
Ralph Strait Sacco’s Daughter
Kim Tabet Jun Leader
Tony Epper Tiis
Paul Reynolds
Director
Don Coscarelli
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Maax (pronounced “May-ax”) sends one of the witches to kidnap and kill the child (she actually magics it into the womb of a cow) to prevent the prophecy from coming true, but the boy is rescued by a passing shepherd (Ben Hammer) who raises him as his own son in the village of Emur.
Dar is captured by a half-bird, half-human race (who spare him when he summons Sherak), saves beautiful slave girl Kiri (Tanya Roberts, late of TV’s Charlie’s Angels, making her big screen debut) from sacrifice, and rescues King Zed (Rod Loomis), with the help of Zed’s young son, Tal (Josh Milrad).
The dialogue is silly and anachronistic, the special effects aren’t particularly special, and the lighting is practically non-existent (much of the action takes place by torchlight in dark dungeons) – but there are cute animals, copious acts of random, pointless violence and scantily-clad actresses. So that’s something.
