The original BEASTMASTER is no sword and sorcery masterpiece, but looks great and is a lot of fun with some imaginative stuff going on. In this awful sequel, Dar, the Beastmaster, is transported to modern-day Los Angeles to stop his older brother Arklon from conquering the world with a neutron bomb.
In other words, this is an inferior ripoff of MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE! And that means having the movie take place mostly in the present day, since that's cheaper than awesome sword and sorcery sets, monsters, and effects.
I can deal with low budgets, poor acting, and cheap effects. I count many "bad" movies among my favorites, and I always try to look for the good in any movie I watch. Hell, I find plenty of enjoyment in dumb trash like BARBARIAN BROTHERS and DEATHSTALKER. What I cannot stand is garbage that does not even attempt to take itself seriously, and that's what BEASTMASTER 2 is. The dialogue consists solely of lame back and forth quips, which is almost always a sign of one of three things: extreme Hollywood script doctoring; a movie made by people who hold the genre and audience (and the movie itself) in total contempt; or a script written by someone completely unsure of their skills who must resort to "parody."
So, what you end up with is a standard fish-out-of-water movie with some sword and sorcery elements. You could replace Dar with a caveman, or a space alien, or Dracula, and it would not change a thing. Even if you've never seen this movie before, you've seen it dozens of times over the years, because so many movies follow the exact same template. It goes beyond being dull, and becomes offensive. The people who made this movie really think you're dumb for watching it (but thanks for the money).
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I watched this on some cheap DVD set that contains all three movies. Even though each movie is on its own disc, the transfers are awful and seem taken straight off of VHS or broadcast TV (I do have a proper release of the superior BEASTMASTER).
In other words, this is an inferior ripoff of MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE! And that means having the movie take place mostly in the present day, since that's cheaper than awesome sword and sorcery sets, monsters, and effects.
I can deal with low budgets, poor acting, and cheap effects. I count many "bad" movies among my favorites, and I always try to look for the good in any movie I watch. Hell, I find plenty of enjoyment in dumb trash like BARBARIAN BROTHERS and DEATHSTALKER. What I cannot stand is garbage that does not even attempt to take itself seriously, and that's what BEASTMASTER 2 is. The dialogue consists solely of lame back and forth quips, which is almost always a sign of one of three things: extreme Hollywood script doctoring; a movie made by people who hold the genre and audience (and the movie itself) in total contempt; or a script written by someone completely unsure of their skills who must resort to "parody."
So, what you end up with is a standard fish-out-of-water movie with some sword and sorcery elements. You could replace Dar with a caveman, or a space alien, or Dracula, and it would not change a thing. Even if you've never seen this movie before, you've seen it dozens of times over the years, because so many movies follow the exact same template. It goes beyond being dull, and becomes offensive. The people who made this movie really think you're dumb for watching it (but thanks for the money).
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I watched this on some cheap DVD set that contains all three movies. Even though each movie is on its own disc, the transfers are awful and seem taken straight off of VHS or broadcast TV (I do have a proper release of the superior BEASTMASTER).
statistics: Posted by kyouki — 5:05 PM - Today — Replies 0 — Views 62