10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Beastmaster
Some movies are made with the hopes of them living forever in the minds of those who have seen them. You remember where you were when you watched it for the first time. The feeling it gave you as you experienced something unlike anything else in this world. Sharing those experiences with others is often times how we connect with movies in a nostalgic way and it’s something that we, as movie lovers, continue to chase throughout our lives. BUT, I don’t think anyone feels that way about The Beastmaster.
That isn’t a knock on this beloved (?) 1982 Sword and Sorcery classic, but it does say something about the true purpose of film. While some are meant to pull emotions out of us or are designed in a way to trick or scare us, The Beastmaster is out here just entertaining the hell out of everybody. You may not remember the first time watching this almost epic film but I am hoping you’ll at least remember these 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Beastmaster.
1. Appeal –Spawned two film sequels as well as a television show that chronicled the further adventures of our animal-loving hero. Also, originally opened in Japan under the title Miracle Master.
2. The Origin – The story for the film was based on the 1959 novel The Beast Master by Andre Norton. The original story was about a Navajo hero in more of a sci-fi setting but writers Don Cocsarelli and Paul Pepperman decided to place the setting for their treatment in a world more resembling that of the old Steve Reeves and Ray Harryhausen films. Norton was unhappy with the way the film was done and asked for their name to be removed from the script.
3. Leading Lady – Don Coscarelli wanted to cast Demi Moore for the female lead. She auditioned multiple times but the executive producer (who had already been arguing with Coscarelli) vetoed it and cast Tanya Roberts instead.
4. The Face of Evil – Klaus Kinski was the original choice for the villain Maax but they couldn’t reach a deal and Rip Torn was hired instead.
5. Bears are Dangerous – The scene with the bear and a young Dar was a doozy. Once the bear was released it attacked its handler. The rest of the cast ran off and they eventually got ahold of the bear. It was calmed down and they filmed the scene.
6. Soaring kinda Like and Eagle – The eagle would often times refuse to fly so they dropped it from the trap door of a hot air balloon and filmed it flying through the air.
7. A Tiger Can’t Change his Stripes – The director wanted black leopards to be the big cats in the film but the handlers suggested that tigers were much easier to work with. They decided to dye the fur on the tiger black and try that. They have to constantly re-apply hair dye on the tiger as every time it took a drink it would wash off the black dye around its mouth.
8. Real recognizes real – Legendary film producer Dino de Laurentis liked the movie so much that he offered Director Don Coscarelli the chance to direct the Conan the Barbarian sequal, Conan the Destroyer. He declined the offer as he though the script was terrible.
9. Gimme Back my Blade – The sword Dar uses in the film was real and made for the production. No one knows where it is, however, as it was stolen during post-production.
10. Don’t Take the Girl – The character of Kiri dies in the original script but the financiers would only make the film if that was changed.
