This film is criminally underrated!! And NOT Cheesy!!

A 5.7 is just plain cruel. This is one of the BEST cult/indie/low-budget films of the 80's, hands down. I believe this film was made for like $3 million, which is NOT a lot of money. I think this movie has one of the highest
"production value per dollar" of any movie ever made. I own the DVD and it shows some very clever things the producers did to get the most bang for the buck out of it:

-like 3 people runing back and forth in front of the camera grabbing different props each time to give the illusion of more villagers.

-getting as much outdoor photography as possible to expand the visual world of the narrative. John Alcott's camrea direction and lighting REALLY made this movie seem bigger than it's production budget would allow.

To all non-believers, this movie is well paced and the story is not thin (like someone had mentioned) in fact it's written vey well, with multiple storylines, conflicts, and believable good and evil characters intertwining together and culmintaing in an awesome battle. Not to mention good casting, and a GREAT, powerful musical score. I did't even mention Tanya Roberts topless or the ferrets, the crazy Jun Leader and his antler helmet, or the crazy creatures that wrap their draped arms around you and turn you into gravy!!

I realize that the pro-Beastmaster folks probably saw it as a kid and were thrilled, but I have watched it many times over the years and it HOLDS STRONG.
Watch it again, really, there are MANY qualities in this film. It may be a bit dated, but I swear this is NOT a cheesy film.