MovieChat Forums > The Beastmaster (1982) Discussion > What was the real draw of this film?

What was the real draw of this film?

posted 21 years ago by [email protected]
39 replies | jump to latest

Personally I like this movie. It is a reminder that not all bad movies need to be put in a rocket and lauched ito the vastness of space. I know that the movie is real thin on plot, some of the acting is well, just real bad. The reason I liked it as a kid was cuase I liked the sword fights and such. But now I like it for its limited effects. So many films look like the actors showed up to have there bodies feed into a computer where they spit out a movie it is good to see some good ole fight scenes. Plenty of T&A tease in this flick and the animals make the hero seem heroic. The cast did very well all things considered and the final fight was good for the time.

By no means a great and barely counting as a good movie in my book. But it was a fun story and not nearly as dark as other films like this.

[–] kittykatrebellion 16 years ago

I remember accidentally seeing BM for the first time in a run down, downtown Honolulu movie theatre back in the early 80's as a dollar matinee second feature (we were all there for Tron and 4 hours of A/C on a sweaty, LSD laced afternoon). Here are the memorable moments as I recall:

There were about 10-15 others there (including a few winos), including a couple of 8 yr old boys in the front row.

My friends and I were immediately stunned by the cheesiness of the plot and acting and were spotting stuff like Mark Singer's contact lenses swimming across his eyes in close-ups, badly dyed tigers, criminally negligent continuity and even the occasional wrist watch. At several points we wanted to walk out, but were incapacitated.

The 8 yr olds left immediately after the shot of Tanya Roberts' breasts (they must have seen it before/known what the rest of was like). We would have too, if we had half a brain left between the four of us.

But the true high point came as when the plot was seemingly winding down. Just when we thought it was over, it was announced from the screen that the Junns were coming! As a man, the entire audience groaned in audible, spiritual pain! We all spontaneously burst into laughter which I still feel today whenever I hear of Beastmaster.

The Moral?
Sometimes 8 yr old boys and winos are the best film critics.

[–] mutantsquirrell 16 years ago

this movie came out a year before i was born and i grew up watching it on cable. and even as a little kid i watched it for dar in his loin cloth with a big sword. i even suffered thru the 2nd movie for the same reason. hello hotties from the 80s! but i also like sword fighting and that nifty flip out throwing weapon he had. i was so all about that as a kid.

your opinion of me weighs less than sunshine.

[–] misse1977 16 years ago

This was one of my favorite movies as a little girl and offcourse, it was all about the animals for me.

[–] chart3 16 years ago

I never thought this was considered to be a B movie. I thought it was similar to Conan the Barbarian or even Star Wars but darker. Tanya Roberts may have looked great, but the old hags with their sexy bodies was a mystery that somehow intrigued me as a kid and I still remember that fact to this day- that's all I'm saying here.

I haven't thought about this film in years so I might watch it tonight.

[–] torpedoboy4 14 years ago

I remember watching this when I was 8 or 9. It was right around the time that He-Man and the Masters of the Universe became popular. My brother and I collected all of the MOTU toys and we saw "Beastmaster" as a live action version of the cartoon. We really wanted to see action figures of all of the characters!

[–] deescodeesco 10 years ago

Ha ha yes, in some ways this movie is a lot like He-Man, even more so than the live action "Masters of the Universe" movie. When I was a kid I also considered this to be like a live action version of the franchise.

[–] pawtrax67 9 years ago

The real draw is the super heroic flying ferrets!!!!!

[–] irishtom99 9 years ago

music,photography,good cast..height of the sword and sandal craze..lots of reasons to like it

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] MetalGeek 9 years ago

I first saw it on HBO when I was thirteen years old and at that time the "real draw" was being able to see Tanya Roberts' boobs in a "PG" rated movie, which was shown at all hours of the day. 

But seriously, it's a movie with something for everyone. Cool monster makeup, a fair bit of butt-kicking action, cute animal shenanigans for the kids, and for eye candy there's Marc Singer's buffed out bod for the ladies and Tanya for the dudes.

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