Kevin Reynolds – The Beast of War (1988)

Excerpt from bandsaboutmovies:
Why Columbia Pictures released The Beast in only two theaters (for a $160,000 take against $8 million), then both mothballed it — even with rave reviews from the Lost Angeles Times, PBS-TV Sneak Previews, The Christian Science Monitor, and the Lost Angeles Daily News is anyone’s guess. The film, however — based on its many Euro IMDb reviews — received a wider, as most failed U.S. theatricals do, overseas theatrical release.

…

The Beast follows the exploits of a Soviet tank crew that becomes lost in the desert during the 1981 invasion of Afghanistan** (the invasion began December 24, 1979, ended on February 15, 1989, the U.S.S.R fell on December 26, 1991). Following the heartless assault of a Pashtun village and the resulting slaughter of mujahidin freedom fighters by a tank unit, that lone tank commanded by Daskai (an incredible, Oscar-level turn by George Dzundza; he campaigned hard for the role and went on a heavy diet and workout routine prior to filming, losing over 50 pounds) becomes lost in a mountain pass.

That wrong turn becomes the catalyst for the tribe’s new khan, Taj (a really incredible Steven Bauer of Scarface fame; later of TV’s Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul), to ban with Moustafa, his warring, desert scavenger cousin (a fine Chaim Jeraffi; sorry Sam, he was the Jiffy Dump Guy / Jiffy Park Guy in two Seinfeld episodes). Together, reluctantly, they gather up the survivors and, manned with a captured RPG anti-tank weapon, seek bloody revenge. The same stress and betrayals also plague the Soviet tank crew, jeopardizing their escape (the crew stars India-born Erick Avari of Stargate (1994) and The Mummy (1999) fame as the crew’s Afghani guide).

To say anymore would be plot spoiling: this is a film to be experienced and not by a review read. Everything works in this second, overly ambitious film by Kevin Reynolds — and foretells his directorial skills in pulling off the “Mad Max on the Water” effort of Waterworld, itself a film that languished in development hell since 1986 because no one knew how, or was confident enough, to make that liquid apoc’er, work. The Beast truly is a tour de force masterpiece in writing and directing, acting, set design and costuming. I loved Waterworld . . . but I love The Beast, even more. This is a repeat-viewing movie.

The.Beast.of.War.AKA.The.Beast.1988.576p.BluRay.AAC.x264-HANDJOB.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 49 min
Size: 	2.76 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1024x574 
Aspect ratio:  	16:9
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	3 233 kb/s
BPP: 	0.229
Audio
#1:  	English 2.0ch AAC LC @ 279 kb/s
#2:  	English 2.0ch AAC LC @ 85.9 kb/s (Commentary by author David J. Moore)

https://nitro.download/view/A17BECF6A92F535/The.Beast.of.War.AKA.The.Beast.1988.576p.BluRay.AAC.x264-HANDJOB.mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:Engish