Episode 276: THE BEASTMASTER (1982)

THE BEASTMASTER is a 1982 fantasy action movie directed by Don Coscarelli (best known for the PHANTASM films #TheBallIsBack). Marc Singer stars as Dar, rightful heir to the throne of Aruk and prophesied slayer of the evil priest Maax (Rip Torn). Born with the power to speak to animals, Marc befriends a number of mammals on his journey to reclaim the throne (including other humans, though they play a distant second fiddle to the beasts in this film, tbh).

THE BEASTMASTER is not a GREAT movie, and a couple of us even struggled to find much joy in it at all. But it still makes for a great discussion, including an evaluation of the movie on its own terms and plenty of comparisons with its (much better) contemporary, CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982). Plus, what animal familiar would we pick? What’s the largest animal we could beat in single combat? (My money’s on Harry and the kangaroo.)

Do these things:

Donate to help our friend and previous guest Nick Ransbottom get life-saving cystic fibrosis care: https://www.gofundme.com/f/get-nick-lifesaving-cystic-fibrosis-care
Read “Hey, Beastmaster’s On: Epic Fantasy Gets Its Revenge” by Michael Popham for Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/2024/04/05/hey-beastmasters-on-epic-fantasy-gets-its-revenge/
Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/

#OfSwordsAndSorcery #DCP

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Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: "Main Theme" by Lee Holdridge from THE BEASTMASTER soundtrack.

Timestamps

0:00 - Episode 276: THE BEASTMASTER (1982)

3:42 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (under exclusive license from AG Enterprises, Ltd.)

10:38 - It’s not very good, is it? Or maybe it’s just boring

28:17 - Things that kind of make no sense

43:34 - CONAN-parisons

57:27 - The frustratingly un-pullable threads of this movie

1:05:35 - Our favorite bits of animal acting

1:13:24 - The Junk Drawer

1:17:42 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1982

1:19:24 - Cody’s Noteys: Phy-love (animal-adjacent questions)