The Beastmaster

The Beastmaster is a 1982 sword and sorcery film directed by Don Coscarelli and starring Marc Singer, Tanya Roberts, John Amos and Rip Torn loosely based on the novel The Beast Master by Andre Norton. The film is about a child who is stolen from his mother's womb by a witch. The child grows into Dar, who has the ability to communicate telepathically with animals. Dar grows up in a village where he learns to do battle. But the village is destroyed by a race of beast-like warriors under the control of the sorcerer Maax. Dar vows revenge and travels with new friends to stop Maax from causing any more problems. Commercially The Beastmaster was not considered a box office success during its original cinematic run; however later it received extensive television exposure and success on cable in the American market on channels TBS and HBO. The original film spawned two sequels as well as a syndicated television series that chronicled the further adventures of Dar.