Adored by the Network: Two networks used to play this movie a lot: HBO ("Hey, Beastmaster's On!") and TBS ("The Beastmaster Station"). TV Guide even said that Beastmaster had been shown somewhere in the country, every day between January 1, 1989 and December 31, 1989.
Follow the Leader: The film is clearly imitating the success of Arnie's run as Conan the Barbarian (1982), hence why it disposes of all of the plot Andre Norton's science-fiction novel The Beast Master, which involved a clash between settlers on a human colony world and the local natives, investigated by the Beastmaster (named Hosteen Storm, not Dar). About the only thing that remains is a guy with a psionic link to a bird of prey, two ferrets (meerkats in the original book) and a large cat.
On Marc Singer's first day of filming, Billy Jacobi was filming the scene where young Dar first learns that he could control animals. The bear happened to be a Russian bear, and the only bear working in Hollywood at the time. As soon as he came out, the bear broke loose and attacked his handler, sending the rest of the crew fleeing into nearby vehicles for safety. As soon as the bear was recaptured and the handler was carried off for medical attention, the crew turned and told Marc that they were ready to film his scene.
The eagle often refused to fly on cue. To shoot footage of it in the air, it was dropped from a trapdoor in a hot air balloon.
Ruh was changed from a black panther to a black tiger because panthers are less trainable and thereby far more dangerous.
Vindicated by Cable: The film's notoriety from frequent airings on cable led to sequels and a TV show spin-off.
