Beastmaster 2 - Through The Portal Of Time

I bought this film a few years ago after searching for it for ages. I loved the first film, so I was eager to get my hands on this sequel.When I watched it though I was very disappointed. The film starts off promising, and is true to the original. However, this only lasts about 20 minutes and the whole thing becomes a kid friendly, Masters Of The Universe type film.Marc Singer is still great as the Beastmaster, albiet slightly dumbed down for this film, and the animals are still a joy to watch. But the other characters are just playing it for laughs, the villains are as scarey as Sylvester The Cat trying to kill Tweetie Pie and the acting is terrible. And what's with the awful thought bubbles coming from the animals heads!!!The story has been critisized by many others as being poor. I.e. the Beastmaster comes to present day L.A. from his own distant lands or time. So again like Masters Of The Universe and to some degree, a fish out of water Crocodile Dundee idea.Personally, I think the story might have worked better if they'd kept the tone dark and threatening like the first film. So instead of the villain stealing a nuclear device (so easily in a far fetched and a dumb idea I might add) from our world to use in his own, they could have had him simply cause havoc on Earth with his evil power. The Beastmaster then comes after him through the same time portal, to stop him and save the day.Another thing I didn't care for was, they paired the Beastmaster up with a dumb, annoying teenager. Why didn't Seth (his fighting buddy from Beastmaster 1) come with him to battle the villain? And they could have met a more mature character in present day Earth to assist them and show them around!It's still watchable for a laugh and a bit of escapism and definately not to be taken seriously (well you couldn't if you tried!!) But this sequel feels like it doesn't really have anything to do with the other film. The tone is just too lighthearted and the film can be best describled as a 'Carry On Beastmaster' type parody of the original film.The creators of the first film had nothing to do with this one I hasten to add, which is a shame as I think a sequel by them would have been great!There's still some enjoyment to be had here though, and there are some good moments in this film. But the fact that this film is still only available on VHS probably speaks volumes as to how poorly it was received upon release in 1991.

Beastmaster 2,like One previous reviewer points out,seems to go more toward a Younger Audience.Maybe this has something to do with reaching a larger demographic of Viewers and maybe it's because the Original Director whose Forte lies mainly in Horror was not involved in this or Part 3.Still a lot of fun though with the great Marc singer coming back to light up the screen Once more.

Audio English 5.1 Dolby digital. The video is a direct transfer of VHS.

Great Seller. Would Use Again. Thanks, Ron!