I’m a great fan of war movies and enjoy all types and eras but one part of our modern forces that has been sadly overlooked is our modern cavalry - the boys in tanks. Besides this film I can only remember seeing one film devoted solely to the interactions of a single tank crew, the superb but not often seen Sahara, starring the immortal Humphrey Bogart as a WWII tanker in North Africa. The Beast, however, concerns itself with the Soviet 1980s war in Afghanistan, and, that’s right, we are along with the crew for the ride of a lifetime. Thankfully theirs, not ours!

The movie opens with a humorous but sobering graphic:

When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains,
And the women come out to cut up your remains,
Just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains.
And go to your Gawd like a soldier. Rudyard Kipling.

The star of our film is a 40-ton T-62 Soviet tank. We get introduced to him right away as he and his brothers demolish a Mujahideen village. One shot from the 115mm cannon can demolish an adobe house and the tanks make short work of all visible structures, leaving not a stone unturned as it were. The Afghani fighters respond by throwing rocks and eventually produce some Molotov cocktails. The tankers show they are flexible by buttoning up and releasing poison gas which squelches the remaining resistance.

We get introduced to the tank crew as they egress and quickly mop up the resistance. To extract information they take one of the Mujahideen and put him under the tread, gunning the engine so he knows they are going to run him over if he doesn’t talk. Their interpreter tells them he is praising Allah for now he can go claim his 70 virgins for dying fighting a holy war. The tank rolls forward…

Somewhere in the excitement the rest of the tank column has moved on and the tank commander (George Dzundza) orders the crew to roll on and catch up. They come to a fork in the road and in that dry, dusty environment they take the wrong turn. It seems that they’ve headed into a box canyon with no way out except the way they came in, but they don’t know that - yet. The few scattered Mujahideen regroup and plot vengeance. That night there is little peace for the tank as the sure-footed mountaineers pursue them further and further away from the canyon‘s entrance.

Throughout this process, we have gotten to know the warriors on both sides, the tank’s crew, played with aplomb by George Dzundza (Daskal), Jason Patric (Koverchenko), Stephen Baldwin (Golikov), Eric Avari (Samad), and Don Harvey (Kaminsky). The Mujahideen have one well-known face, Stephen Bauer, whom you will recognize was Al Pacino’s sidekick in Scarface. The rest of the Mujahideen are unknown actors. Of course there are the women, as Rudyard Kipling noted…

The story introduces conflicts on both sides, and they keep building especially among the tank crew and their mentally deranged commander. Dzundza begins to suspect the crew is not loyal, and to act on his suspicions…

Meanwhile, the tankers have found the dead end of the canyon, fuel and ammo are running low, no water, and the tank is starting to show signs of wear and tear… I will leave the resolution of the tankers’ plight to your viewing pleasure.

Kevin Reynolds directed The Beast and did a bang up job, if you ask me. Plenty of interesting shots, fades, and lighting effects, and no filler I could see. The 111 minute movie is 100% watchable and maintained my attention the entire time. The unfamiliar, but strangely beautiful landscape of that barren territory was beautifully framed and recorded by cinematographer Douglas Milsome. Casting was excellent, particularly George Dzundza who played against type as a wonderfully sinister character. The viewer will note that the Russians speak perfect American English while the Mujahideen speak their native Pushtu but with English subtitles. I found it a logical way to make the film intelligible without having to make it all subtitled. Steven Bauer had to learn his lines phonetically and did a fine physical acting job to make his actions suit the foreign words.

The Beast was filmed in Israel with most of the cast of the correct middle Eastern appearance. The Russian equipment was genuine and must have been captured in one of their frequent altercations with their neighboring countries. The Columbia DVD is in gorgeous 1.85:1 Widescreen presentation with subtitles in several languages.

For fans of war movies, you will be hard pressed to find a better film than The Beast. Also, check out Humphrey Bogart in the WWII classic Sahara. http://www.epinions.com/mvie-review-76E0-3C9E737-38D24DEF-prod4

This is my third anniversary writing movie reviews for Epinions and I want to thank everybody for reading and leaving comments over the years. It is appreciated!







Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening