The Beastmaster is a 1982 American-West German sword and sorcery film directed by Don Coscarelli and starring Marc Singer, Tanya Roberts, John Amos and Rip Torn.

Loosely based on the 1959 novel The Beast Master by Alice "Andre" Norton, the film is about a man who can communicate with animals, and who fights an evil wizard and his army.

In the kingdom of Aruk, witches tell high priest Maax [/ˈmeɪ.æks/ MAY-aks] a prophecy that he will die at the hands of King Zed's unborn son.

Years later, a fully grown Dar witnesses his people being slaughtered by the Juns, a horde of fanatic barbarians allied with Maax.

Dar meets a slave girl called Kiri before getting himself lost and ending up surrounded by an eerie half-bird, half-human race who externally dissolve their prey for nourishment.

Despite being stabbed, Maax is revived by a witch and, when he attempts to kill Dar, Kodo sacrifices himself to cause the high priest to fall into the sacrificial flames.

The victory is short-lived as the Jun horde approaches Aruk, arriving by nightfall to face the trap Dar and the people set for them.

Tal is wounded as Dar succeeds in burning most of the Juns alive while defeating their chieftain before the bird-men arrive to consume those remaining.

[3] The writers changed the story dramatically as the original novel had the hero named Hosteen Storm who was a veteran soldier of Navajo descent in a futuristic science fiction setting.

[3] Coscarelli originally wanted Demi Moore for the role of Kiri, but the executive producer overrode his choice and had Tanya Roberts cast.

[6] The Beastmaster was originally planned to open December 25, 1982, but that July United Artists acquired domestic distribution rights and rescheduled the film for a summer release.

[1] It was rescheduled to August and had a promotional sneak peek of the film at the Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention in Los Angeles.

[10] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it "a veritable comic book adventure come alive" that "succeeds on its own merits".

[11] Tom Milne of The Monthly Film Bulletin found the film "marginally livelier" than Conan the Barbarian but criticized the "very basic acting, the appalling post-synching, the sets which resort to disconcertingly ramshackle models, and direction of supreme stodginesss which predictably uses helicopter shots to illustrate the eagle's spying missions (when all it sees as a rule is the hero prancing on the hilltops in self-conscious martial arts poses)".

[3] The made-for-television third film aired in 1996 on Universal Television's Action Pack and is titled Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus.