This
Action/
Fantasy movie from
1982 was directed by
Don Coscarelli. It was written by
Don Coscarelli and
Paul Pepperman. The cast includes
Marc Singer,
Tanya Roberts,
Rip Torn,
John Amos,
Josh Milrad,
Rod Loomis, a panther, an eagle, and two ferrets.
The courage of an eagle, the strength of a panther and the power of a God.
I hope I get this plot right, it has been a while since I've seen it....
Dar (Marc Singer) has always been special. Since he was a kid he has been able to speak to animals. He is also a well-trained warrior. As a child his father is killed by some priests because it was prophesied that a child would be born that would kill the King. Many years later Dar, learns of his past and begins a quest to avenge his father and fufill his destiny. With him he has a panther, and eagle, and two ferrets. He can not only speak to them, but he can also see through their eyes.
Pretty good fantasy/barbarian movie. A real classic in this genre. It isn't a great film, but it is fun and entertaining. The ferrets are great and add some comedic relief to the film, but also act as important characters. This used to be on cable a lot. I haven't seen it on as often these days. This movie is right up there with Conan the Barbarian, which has a better soundtrack, but the movies themselves are pretty equal in my opinion. You can do much worse in this genre than this film (*cough* Outlaw of Gor *cough* the sequels listed below *cough*).
This lead to some not-so-good followups Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time and Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus. It also spawned a tv series BeastMaster.