The Beastmaster (1982) ***1/2

The Beastmaster (1982) is a solid entry in the sword and sorcery genre, which was booming in the early 1980s. Released just a few months after Conan The Barbarian (1982), Beastmaster bears many of the same qualities (and tropes), but was made on a quarter of the budget. And while that's apparent in the production values, Beastmaster never approaches Hawk The Slayer (1980) or Krull (1983) (my review here) levels of fantasy cheese (though I like both of those films quite a bit).

The Beastmaster can be silly at times but it's still a lot of fun. Director Don Coscarelli set out to blend a samurai film with a Disney animal picture and did so successfully. Marc Singer perfectly encapsulates both vulnerability and heroism, bridging the gap between Luke Skywalker and Conan, as director Joe Lynch mentioned in his Letterboxd review of the film. 

I really appreciate the darker, horror-leaning aspects that Coscarelli brought to Beastmaster. I love the creature designs, the cinematography by master John Alcott, the epic score by Lee Holdridge, the sets and beautiful landscapes, and how much imagination Coscarelli packed into an adventure flick.

I, like many, had seen The Beastmaster numerous times when I was a young lad. The last time I watched the movie, last year, I gave it a 3 star rating (my review here), but after watching Vinegar Syndrome's excellent 4K UHD and the accompanying documentary, The Beastmaster Chronicles (2020), it deepened my appreciation for the film, warts and all.

You can find my Don Coscarelli Feature Films Ranked list here.