Originally a stage play, The Beast is a war story full of powerful symbolism. Its simple premise is that a lost Russian tank is hunted by a band of Mujahedeen guerrillas, and neither side will give up. It's the second year of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan (1981). Taj (Steven Bauer) is eager to prove himself in life, while tank commander Daskal (George Dzundza) feels he has nothing left to prove. As explained by a chanced-upon Holy Man, Taj (the rebel's Khan) is David, while the tank is symbolically Goliath or The Beast. The one person in the middle of all this... is the gunner Koverchenko (Jason Patric) who experiences more than just a crisis of faith. With the tank lost in the Valley of the Jackal and pursued by a wild pack, it soon becomes hard to tell the three protagonists apart. Bloody and shocking, this is a tautly directed film by Kevin Reynolds (who went on to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Waterworld) once you get over the Russians having American accents On the DVD: the 1.85:1 presentation beautifully shows off the wide-angle photography of never endingly blue skies. A three-channel surround is good enough to pick up the echoing canyon walls. The extras are half-hearted, however, with just filmographies and, almost as an afterthought, trailers for two other movies. --Paul Tonks [show more]
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