The Beast: Amazon.ca: George Dzundza, Jason Patric, Steven Bauer, Stephen Baldwin, Don Harvey, Kabir Bedi, Erick Avari, Chaim Girafi, Shoshi Marciano, Yitzhak Ne'eman, David Sherrill, Moshe Vapnik, Douglas Milsome, Kevin Reynolds, Peter Boyle, Christopher Dalton, Dale Pollock, Gil Friesen, John Fiedler, William Mastrosimone: DVD

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The director of Waterworld teams up with playwright William Mastrosimone for a story of a lost Russian tank during the Afghan war; doesn't sound like your normal action fare, does it? Despite its awkward origins, The Beast is a satisfying action yarn that unfortunately was never widely distributed. When Afghan rebels find the lone tank lost in the high desert, a cat-and-mouse chase commences with nail-biting, emotional precision. The Russian tank crew is also at war with themselves after the sympathetic driver (a stalwart Jason Patric) debates the brutal tactics of his commander (George Dzundza). This visceral action drama was adapted from--believe it or not--a stage play but keeps its feet firmly planted in the war-action genre. Director Kevin Reynolds's second film showcases his aggressive camera work that was featured later, less successfully, in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Made directly after the Afghan war, the film was hard to sell in the late 1980s. With the Russians speaking English (and the Afghans their native dialect), the viewer is uncomfortably bonded to the unpopular aggressors. Yet the film reverberates in the sweat and toil of battle, with Patric bringing a more dramatic flair to the role than comes from the usual set of cinematic action heroes. --Doug Thomas

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Customer Reviews

56 Reviews

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (56 customer reviews)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars very good; but fullscreen?, Aug 30 2006

By

Clinton Tjensvold - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Beast (DVD)

I saw this movie as kid and remember loving it; I bought it 17 years later anbd still love it. But the product description says fullscreen/widescreen... aspect ratio 1.85:1. This is good, however the version I recieved was fullscreen. Only. No option to change. Clearly this is a mistake and I hope anybody planning on buying this movie realizes that they will probably recieve a fullscreen version and once you rip off the impenatrable plasic wraping, you can't return it.

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4.0 out of 5 stars 'We are a Flea in the Tail of a Bear!', May 19 2011

By

Tommy D "Tom" (London, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Beast (DVD)

This is an American made film set in 1981 during the Russo-Afghan war. It starts with a stark reminder of what awaits the fallen in Afghanistan with the oft quoted final verse from Rudyard Kipling's `The Young British Soldier';

"When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier."

That was of course written for the British Second War in that country. This then sets us up for what is going to be pretty brutal. The opening sequences are centred on a small village that is attacked and razed ruthlessly by a detachment of `Russian' tanks. They are callous and depart after reeking havoc. In the aftermath we meet the surviving Afghans and they discover that one of the tanks has lost the main column and has strayed into a nearby valley. This valley is a dead end and will make the tank easy prey.

The tank is the proverbial `beast', but it could also refer to the tank commander who is a caricature of evil, bordering on the psychotic. The tensions that are thrown up under his command are constant and escalating. He is driven by hate and rules with an iron will.

The cinematography is excellent and the landscape, bleak but strangely beautiful, the Afghans do speak Pashto and the sub titles are very good.

The Afghans have their riffs too, and they are also played out, not least the problem of keeping their women out of the fighting. There is a lot of tension, and action throughout, this film races along whilst building momentum through out and I really did enjoy it. The one point that got me was the fact that the `Russians' are clearly all American with their own accents. We know the Americans can do accents, at least since `Star Trek', so even some cod Rusky accents would have helped the believability, but they can be forgiven for that as what we are left with is actually a very good example of how to make a good war film, which deals with more than just the fighting. One of the lines that struck me in this was when one of the soldiers says 'You always have a choice!' With that in mind I would advise choosing to see this rather good film.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Important film in 2004....., Jun 17 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Beast (DVD)

Cuban-American actor Steven Bauer (aka. Rocky Echevarria) who played Manolo in "Scarface" does a great job as a Mujahideen freedom fighter in this film. All his lines are delivered in Pashto. Fantastic acting! This film actually serves as a very important propaganda piece by the current Karzai government in Afghanistan and is now shown throughout the country.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Underated desert war film - You can almost smell the dust!
This a great film as those few who have seen it will testify - Really gritty stuff. They must have changed the name because I distinctly remember it used to be known as 'The Beast... Read more

Published on Feb 8 2004 by chris

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hunter Becomes the Hunted
Kevin Reynolds directed this film with a script by William Mastrosimone. Although stylized and a little exaggerated, the film is a great at showing how techonology doesn't always... Read more

Published on Oct 23 2003