Movies - The Beast of War

Home > Listing Index > Movies > The Beast of War

	Movies - The Beast of War

The Beast (aka The Beast of War) is a Columbia Pictures movie about a Soviet T-62 tank lost in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1981. The movie was released in 1989.

It was based on a Walter Mastrosimone play entitled Nanawatai.

It was directed by Kevin Reynolds, who later directed Waterworld
.

It starred George Dzundza, Jason Patric, Steven Bauer, and Stephen Baldwin.

Plot summary

The Soviet tank is part of a force in Afghanistan that "clears out" a village, including destroying its minaret, and running over a captured prisoner with their tank treads. Some of the villagers then revolt, and the tank is slightly damaged in the resulting battle. Fleeing the village, the tank gets separated from its comrades, and gets lost in a cul-de-sac valley without an exit.

Mujahadeen warriors, lead by Taj, declare that they will seek revenge against the tank, since it was the same one that ran over Taj's captured brother, and they begin to pursue the tank on foot, following its tracks in the sand..

The Muslim tank crewman Samad teaches Konstantine about the three Pashtu terms, melmastia meaning hospitality, badal meaning revenge, and nanawatai which requires even an enemy to be given sanctuary if he asks.

Commander Daskal, known as "Tank Boy" during the Great Patriotic War for destroying a number of German tanks in the Battle of Stalingrad, grows more psychotic as the movie goes on, even to the point of killing Samad after a dispute about prayer.

After Konstantine threatens Daskal for killing Samad, Daskal orders Golikov and Kaminski to tie Konstantine to a rock, with a grenade to booby-trap him to slow down the Mujahadeen.

Konstantine is saved from a stoning by the women of the village, when Taj's men intervene when he asks for sanctuary, and they take Konstantine with them into a cave where he fixes their RPG, and says that he will help them track the tank.

After a firefight with the tank, it is destroyed, and the Mujaheddin offer to let Konstantine join them, but when a Soviet helicopter comes overhead, Konstantine returns with it, as Taj orders his men not to shoot the dangling Konstaine, suspended from a rescue-halter.

Notable details

The T-62 normally had a crew of four. In "The Beast" there was a crew of five.
Several actual T-62 tanks were used in the film although the helicopter used in the film was not a real Mi-8. The tank in question in the movie is actually an Israeli modification of a captured Soviet T-62, redesignated as the TI-67. Many of these conversions were used by the Israelis during the 1973 war against Egypt. The film's military advisor, Dale Dye
, has written that he negotiated the purchase of the tanks over drinks with Israel Defence Force officers in a Tel Aviv hotel. He also states, apparently incorrectly, that they were T-55s.
Throughout the entire movie, the only Russian accents were the ones heard on the music radio.
The language spoken by the native Afghani was Pashtu.
The character Moustafa wore Soviet medals, including the Order of Lenin, the Soviet Army 20 year service medal, the Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star, and a couple of others, all of which were scavenged from dead Soviet troops.
The tank used obviously had a T54/T55 chasis, as can be seen from the gap between the front two, of five wheels. Israel captured a number of T55s and modified the turret, allowing for a 105mm gun. (this looks similar to the 115mm gun of the T62 with a bore extractor 2/3 down the barrel). The standard 100mm T55 gun had the bore extractor at the muzzle. The tank used in The Beast was clearly a modified T55. Israel renamed this unusual configuration the Ti67.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Beast of War ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article The Beast of War; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay