Starring: George Dzundza, Jason Patric, Steven Bauer, Stephen Baldwin, Don Harvey Directed By: Kevin Reynolds Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC Label: Sony Pictures Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 99 Release Date: May 15, 2001 Running Time: 110 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 1988
Amazon.com: 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
A great war movie "The Beast" is a great war film whose action takes place in 1981 in the second year of conflict between the Soviet army and the free people of Afghanistan.
For those who have known the conflict at the time (thank you to Afrane), where Afghans were fighting with rudimentary hunting weapons against the second army in the world (after the USA), the fierceness of the fighting is well shown.
The camera in the bowels of the hunted tank unveils an increasingly thick sweat atmosphere produced by the fear to be killed.
The show is to go even if does not escape some guns classic Hollywood: good on the one hand, the bad guys on the other. I recommend this film as a glimpse to the present fate US soldiers and their comrades of war face in the mountains of Afghanistan. Deep sorrow.
War as it is. I've watched this film 4 times. Each time it gets better and more relevant.
Outstanding performances by all cast members depicting the (mostly) realistic sadism of war. Many movies either glorify it (Pick a John Wayne war movie.) or make it an antiwar statement ("Johnny Got His Gun", "Paths of Glory". This one comes close to showing how war, realistically, can break one man (Dzundza), while driving another (Patric)[to turning against the people with whom he fights.
Admittedly, the tank has a dysfunctional crew, except for the Afghanistani member (whose fate shall not be disclosed in this missive) and he is suspect. Atrocities are, for the most, those that can be found in asymmetric warfare, although the water hole is stretching it.
Worth the watching for acting, technical direction, and scenery. A tightly knit, taut war drama that is all the more poignant due to the current U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and, finally, the attention being paid to the effects of combat on service personnel.
Well worth adding to your permanent collection.[ASIN:B00005AVZU The Beast]]
A Well-told Story I had never heard of this movie until it came up as a recommendation, and the reader reviews persuaded me to try it. I'm glad I did.
This is a well written and well-acted story of a Soviet tank crew who, after destroying an Afghan village, and becoming separated from the rest of their unit, are hunted down by the surviving men, and women, of the village.
The story turns on the stormy relationship between the tank commander, a bullying, straight-laced officer scarred by his childhoom war experiences in Stallingrad, and a young, university educated enlisted crew member.
The "beast" is the tank, and the Afghanis think they have a way to defeat it. The hunt to kill the beast provides the story line, and the impact of the tank commander's style on his crew leads to the eventual destruction of the beast.
The Beast Suspensful war drama with mutiny. Uncommon afganistan deasert mountainous location. I routed for the underdog.
underated film In my opinion this is definaltey a classic war film. The characters don't speak russian nor do they fake accents which would have given better imersion into the movie and its the ony real reason I wont give it 5 stars i would say more like 4 and three quarters stars. Otherwise beside that acting, pacing, and quality are all pretty spot on and shouldn't be missed if you enjoy war and action movies.
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