The Beastmaster

The Beastmaster is a 1982 fantasy film directed by Don Coscarelli that starred Marc Singer, Tanya Roberts, John Amos and Rip Torn. It is often dubbed a B-movie and cult film. It is also a Canadian television series that aired from 1999 to 2002. Tenuously based on characters created by Andre Norton in her seminal science fiction novel The Beast Master.

The TV series

The Beastmaster television series aired between 1999 and 2002, three complete seasons (66 episodes). Much of the series was filmed in New Zealand, and the series was noted for its beautiful natural scenery, it's animal cast, inovative photography, attention to archeological detail, excellent character writing and acting, and its plethora of beautiful women. In fact, there was a showcase on the official website called the "Women of Beastmaster" for all of the actresses who starred, even briefly, in the series. Unfortunately, the domain name of the official website has expired and the official site appears to be gone. The series theme song is also unique and instantly recognizable.

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The series was nominated for the Open Craft Award in the category of cimetography by the Austrailian Film Institute in 2000, and for the Saturn Award for Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, USA in 2001. Apparently, the Beastmaster is currently running in syndication on Sci-Fi Channel in the USA, but not in any prime-time slots.

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Dar (Daniel Goddard) is the last survivor of his tribe. He wanders the lands seeking his lost loved one, Kyra (Natile Jackson Mendoza), protecting the oppressed and the animals. His friend Tao (Jackson Raine), a fearful, psychology-attracted young man, helps him in his quest. Tao is the scholar and the medicine man; Dar also meets another orphaned warrior named Arina (the athletic Marjean Holden) who first joins his quest for her own reasons, but eventually becomes a faithful companion. The world of the Beastmaster is full of lost tribes, genocide appears to be common, and all three of these characters are the survivors or last survivors of lost tribes.

Related Topics:
Daniel Goddard - Natile Jackson Mendoza - Jackson Raine - Marjean Holden

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The series also featured the beautiful Monika Schnarre as the Sorceress, apprentice to the Ancient One, played by Graham Bond. The regular human enemy of Dar, King Zad, was played ably by Steven Grives, and Marc Singer, the original Beastmaster, appears in the second and third seasons as Dartanus, the Spirit Warrior who helps Dar on his quest. The series also included many memorable guest appearances, such as the appearance of Grace Jones as the Impatra Warrior, Keith Hamilton Cobb as a Terron defector who is also in love with Kayla, and the unforgettable King Voden, brilliantly played by David Paterson throughout the second season.

Related Topics:
Monika Schnarre - Graham Bond - Steven Grives - Marc Singer - Grace Jones - Keith Hamilton Cobb - David Paterson

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Some people apparently found the series confusing, but the general story arc of the series is that the world is changing, civilization is advancing, technology is gaining ground slowly, the old orders of magic and sorcery are fading, and the world is threatened by the supernatural being Balcifer, the Dark One, played by Jeremy Callaghan. Dar is the son of King Eldar, who was destroyed by Balcifer, and must locate and reunite his entire family, who have been turned into animals to hide them from Balcifer, in the Crystal Arc, to defeat Balcifer. It's never quite clear exactly how or why this would defeat such a powerful evil being, but it's central premise of the story in the second and third seasons.

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Balcifer's agent on Earth is King Zad, who is first King of the Terrons, a savage tribe that enslaves and pillages at will, and later, when the tribe is destroyed by King Voden leading a group of Viking-like notherners, Zad re-emerges as the King of Xincha, the city at the center of the world (and Tao's former home), after deposing Voden, who fled into the wilderness at the end of the second season. There is a wonderful contrast there between the crude savage badness of King Zad and the refined, insane evil genius of King Voden, and King Zad emerges from the contest a more civilized, but still savage character.

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The first episodes were violent and featured some very violent combat scenes, but as the first season wore on, the series began to take on a pacifist and naturalist tone. The series story arc should not be viewed strictly as a good vs evil story, but rather a nature vs technology, and nature vs the unnatural story. Strong naturalist and pacifist thought prevade the series, which still has a good deal of fighting, but not a lot of the killing or gore that one might expect.

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There are some unclear points in the story, for example, that King Zad appears to have been alive for a very long time, as he was involved in the slaughter of Dar's father. Yet, he doesn't appear that old. This is not readily apparent in the beginning, but that sense develops later in the story, and is explainable by the fact that Zad is Balcifer's agent. Zad was apparently killed in battle and resurrected by Balcifer at some point, but it's never clear when this happened. It does not happen during the series.

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There also appears to be a major gap in the series between the end of the second and the beginning of the third seasons that is never really explained. It appears that some considerable time elapses between the two seasons, and new characters, such as Zad's soothesayer, appear suddenly at the beginning of the third season without background or explanation. One gets the feeling perhaps that the series was shortened by about a half a season, or that there was supposed to be an interseason movie that never happened, hence the jump in the storyline.

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