Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time

Plot

Dar, the Beastmaster, learns of a previously-unknown half-brother, Arklon, who plans to conquer the land with the help of a sorceress named Lyranna. Both escape to present day Los Angeles through a dimensional portal. Dar and his animal companions, Ruh, Kodo, Podo and Sharak, must follow them through the portal and stop them from obtaining a neutron bomb. During his visit, Dar meets a rich girl named Jackie Trent, and they become friends.

Cast

Production

Jim Wynorski was originally meant to direct and wrote a screenplay with R.J. Robertson for producer Sylvio Tabet. Wynorski later said:

We wrote him a helluva good screenplay. Then at the last moment, he pulls the rug out from under me and says he’s directing it himself. And then tops it off by threatening to take our writing credits off the picture. I took the bastard straight to court. He hired big time attorneys to stall paying out the final script installments. I hated his guts. But I got the last laugh when Republic Pictures picked up the show. They wanted a picture totally clean of legal entanglements. So they came to me to make a deal and I held them up but good. Cleaned up. I still remember Tabet’s pained face when I told him what it would take to get me to sign off. Even my own lawyer whined!

Shooting locations include Glen Canyon and Antelope Canyon. Director and co-writer Sylvio Tabet was a producer on the original film. Andre Norton's novel The Beast Master was credited as an inspiration. After reading the first film's screenplay, Norton had her credit removed, but her agent talked her into allowing it for the sequel.

Release

Beastmaster 2 was given a limited release in the United States, where it grossed between $$773,490 and 869,325.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 17% of six surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 3/10. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it "a silly, ill-advised sequel" that is not funny despite Singer's "likable presence". Roger Hurlburt of the Sun-Sentinel wrote that the film is tongue-in-cheek enough to make audiences forgive its frivolity. Hurlburt also complimented Douglas' acting. Chris Hicks of the Deseret News wrote that the film is not clever or funny enough to overcome its silliness. TV Guide, in rating it 2/4 stars, wrote, "The satire in Beastmaster 2 hardly breaks new ground, but it's a tonic that makes the minutes pass more or less agreeably." Like Beastmaster, it was broadcast regularly on American cable television stations TBS and TNT.