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32 out of 43 people found the following review useful:
Awesome fantasy adventure, 7 January 2001

Author: The Spectacular Spider-Man from Can you get me a cup of coffee, please?

Just as some movies that should be great turn out to be awful, some movies that should be awful turn out to be great - Masters of the Universe. Unfortunately, for a film that's based on a cartoon that today's 20-somethings used to watch in the 1980's, none of the said 20-somethings are going to admit to liking it now. Few will give it a chance and realize the direction is good, the acting is good, the music is good, that it's exciting, funny, scary, suitably epic and absolutely action-packed and that it looks fantastic. But Superhero Cinema does. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was a hugely successful mid-80's cartoon based on a line of action figures. The success of each fed the other, as well as a popular comicbook and loads of other merchandise. Finally in 1987 came the big one: the motion picture.

What looks like suicide at first glance - converting a cartoon based on action figures into a full-length feature - gets more appealing when you look at thes ource material closer. The cartoon is a epic hybrid of fantasy and sci-fi, with ancient castles and sorcerers mixing with laser guns and cyborgs. It also has a very mythic feel, mixing Ancient Greece-era monsters and challenges with fairy tale locations.

There are also hordes of exotic characters - warriors, mutants, monsters, magicians of every description, so the film makers could pick the coolest ones to bring to the screen. The ones they've chosen are He-Man and his arch enemy Skeletor (obviously), amazon-type female warrior Teela and her dad Man-At -Arms, the Sorceress of Grayskull, Skeletor's second in command Evil Lyn (which is always pronounced 'Evil-In'), and Beastman. Added to these are four characters that were created for the film - Gwildor, a dwarf-like inventor, Karg, a cross between Captain Hook and a bat, snake-like Sauron, and Blade, a sword and knife-obsessed slaphead. So that's eleven fantasy characters running about, which is a pretty good total.

Masters of the Universe succeeds because it takes the cartoon and adapts not it's superficial qualities, but it's essence into a movie, turning it into a mature sci-fi/fantasy adventure. This is where so many comic and cartoon based movies fail. They don't adapt their source material properly to make a successful feature film. You need to make the movie a natural progression from what it's based on, altering the look enough so it looks acceptable in real action, altering the characters into real people, choosing actors who can give real performances. It's not simply dressing superstars up as characters from a comic or cartoon, it's re-imagining the ideas as a movie. MotU does this perfectly. You can fault it as a film itself, of course, but you can't fault it as an adaption.

The production design is superb, with some superbly realized sets and costumes. Everything has been adapted to look more realistic on the big screen. The cast give uniformly decent performances. Nobody lets the side down - these are all 3D characters, not cartoons. Dolph Lungren proves he's one of the European bodybuilder brigade who can act. Frank Langella gives an outstanding performance as Skeletor, his powerful presence almost bursting out of the TV and into your living room. Langella gives a shining example to all actors portraying comicbook and cartoon characters in live action. There is a pervading sense of dread whenever he appears, especially during Castle Grayskull sequences, and the script gives him some awesome lines which he delivers with pure evil dripping from his voice.

The monsters are pretty bloody scary, especially for a family film, especially the Beastman (who's had a 'the' added to his name). The sequence where they invade a school gym and chase Julie around it is excellent, far more exciting and scary than similar chases in many horror films (including some of those Courtney Cox has been in). It's also, like the rest of the film, surprisingly violent, as the bad guys attack Julie with swords, claws, laser guns and high velocity darts. That she manages to escape is not unbelievable at all, because of the way the chase is staged - it's just a relief she gets out of there, the goal of any such chase scene. The sheer ammount of bad guys that the small band of heroes has to face adds greatly to the drama.

Setting half of the movie on Earth has it's advantages and disadvantages. It does give the film a human component, and two ordinary teenagers to be pulled into the adventure with. It also makes the monsters scarier - rather than being in a distant galaxy, they are in the neighbourhood, viciously attacking people and destroying whatever they come across. On the other hand, it would have been cool to see some more of the war torn Eternia and the planet's weird inhabitants and locations, but MotU had a relatively small budget, so that sort of stuff was off limit anyway. A little too much time is spent on the almost soap-opera angle of Julie and Kevin, but it helps flesh out their characters to make them believable.

MotU is also packed with action, and we do mean packed. There is an outbreak of violence every 15 minutes or so, usually even less, and there is variety and imagination among the content, unlike many action films, which consist of repetetive shoot outs and nothing more. It could possibly be said that it's quantity over quality, as some of it, particularly the shoot-outs, are badly filmed, and none of the action ever reaches adrenalin pumping. However, it's good enough, in-yer-face and quite exciting to watch, with He-Man taking out hordes of bad guys with his sword, laser beams everywhere, mass destruction and some good old rough and tumble. And all the action grows organically from the story - none of it seems put in simply because the movie needed an action scene at a certain point.

One of MotU's greatet assets is it's atmosphere. The sense of an intergalactic civil war is tangible, as is the sheer menace of the villains, the desperation of the good guys, the growing sense of doom as Skeletor captures the Cosmic Key. There is a cower-behind-the-sofa scariness similar to that of TV's Doctor Who.

If Masters of the Universe was re-released at cinemas this summer, people would realize how good it is compared to the blockbuster summer fare we get these days. And all for $17m, which was hardly anything, even in 1987.

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15 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Cheesy but Enjoyable Sci Fi Adventure!, 20 March 2004
Author: Ben Burgraff (cariart) from Las Vegas, Nevada

I feel a bit guilty, reading some of the other reviews posted, but I liked MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE! Perhaps because I was never 'into' the cartoon series, I am more forgiving of characters or plot devices left out, and I certainly recognize that it is derivative of both STAR WARS and FLASH GORDON (particularly in Bill Conti's bombastic musical score), but there is so much energy in the film, such abundant confidence in the ultimate victory of Good versus Evil, and such a wonderfully campy performance by Frank Langella as rubber-masked Skeletor that I get a kick out of it, whenever it airs.

Physically, no actor could be more perfect as the hero, He-Man, than ROCKY 4's Dolph Lundgren. At 6'6" (that's two inches taller than JOHN WAYNE, trivia fans!), with flowing blond hair and blue eyes, the 30-year old Swedish actor combined a Herculean physique (if Marvel Comics' "The Mighty Thor" is ever filmed, he would be perfect as the Thunder God), with a knack for weapons that would earn him the future title of 'King' of 'B' action flicks. True, his English was so poor at the time of filming that his dialog was kept to a minimum, but who watches this kind of film for dialog, anyway?

Supporting Lundgren's He-Man is crusty veteran soldier, Duncan (Man-at-Arms), played by character actor Jon Cypher, who makes up for He-Man's taciturn nature by reminiscing constantly about a life in the military (with observations EVERY soldier has made, through history), and his daughter, Teela (pretty Chelsea Field, one of the busiest actresses of the decade), serving as a "Xena Lite" for the proceedings.

Opposing the Forces of Good with the irreplaceable Langella is one of my favorite actresses, Meg Foster, as the sublimely wicked Evil-Lyn, using her piercing green eyes and barely suppressed sexuality to great advantage. With an array of the cartoon's more colorful villains in support of Skeletor and Evil-Lyn, He-Man has his hands full!

The plot involves a tonal 'key', created by a dwarf, Gwildor (screen legend Billy Barty, in an initially irritating, but eventually endearing role), that can transport individuals wherever they desire. Stolen by Evil-Lyn, Skeletor uses it to capture He-Man's Castle Greyskull and it's resident Sorceress ("St. Elsewhere" alum Christina Pickles). With a hidden prototype 'key', Gwildor leads our heroes into the castle...where they are nearly captured by Skeletor, before the dwarf throws together some random numbers, and transports our heroes...to Earth.

The 'key' is lost, as the four arrive on our planet, to be found by aspiring musician Kevin Corrigan ("Star Trek: Voyager" star Robert Duncan McNeill) who thinks it's a Japanese musical instrument! With girlfriend Julie Winston (future "Friends" superstar Courteney Cox, looking young and gorgeous), the pair are astonished by the musical complexities of the device, unaware that each time it is 'played', Skeletor is getting a better 'fix' of it's location. Eventually, our planet is pinpointed, and Skeletor leads an army of villains to subdue us, and capture He-Man.

With great comic support by bald character actor James Tolkan (BACK TO THE FUTURE), as a bewildered police detective, some spectacular 'set' pieces (Skeletor's invasion force, backed by 'Darth Vader'ish music, is a highlight), and an ending that concludes that "ANYTHING is possible", MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE is great cheesy fun!

Certainly, the film is not a classic, but if you accept it on it's own terms, I think you might find it to be a lot of fun!

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18 out of 23 people found the following review useful:
Great fun!, 3 October 2001

Author: Skeletors_Hood (skeletors_hood@hotmail.com) from Kansas City

"I Have the Power!"

For those of us who grew up in the 80's, that phrase is all too familiar. Especially for those who would rush home after school to watch our favorite strongman face off against the forces of evil that threaten the safety and security of his homeworld. For my money, it was never better than when He-Man faced off against Skeletor for the struggle for Eternia.

I also remember the fantasies that I and my friends would have of traveling away to that world of magic and fantasy, to fight alongside He-Man as he defends Grayskull. It truly was a series that was out of this world.

And now it's on Earth.

When I first heard about a live action movie, (mind you, I was twelve at the time), I was overly excited about it. But I didn't get to see it until my late teens. And I must say that it was very well done, especially in its presentation. In fact it brought back those far away childhood memories of those late afternoons in front of the tv, or outside with the toys a make-shift Eternia setting with my friends.

I'll grant a few things that were wrong with the movie though. There were times that I think the script was either badly edited, or just too rushed at certain points. I'm also not thrilled about them being on earth, but understanding budget constraints and the idea to make these characters more real than fantasy help feed into that decision, so I let that one go. I would have also liked to see more of the characters from the toys in the movie, but have no complaints that they made up a few cool characters, like Blade.

The casting choices, I felt, were really good. Dolph Lundgren worked as He-Man, even though he can't act. He looked the part, and even pulled off the role. I could tell that he wasn't walking through the part, as many actor will do with character roles (right Mr. Clooney?). And Frank Langella the PERFECT choice for Skeletor. Langella managed to bring that character to life in a way that gave me chills. Skeletor is perhaps one of the greatest villains ever imagined, but the cartoon made him a cackling villain, who was more a buffoon than anything, therefore he didn't seem threatening. But seeing Langella make Skeletor more dark and evil put my faith back into the conviction as a great villain.

You don't have to be a die hard fan of the series to enjoy the movie. It's great fun, imaginative, and it captures a moment in time. Don't scrutinize the movie because it's different from the cartoon. Look at it for what it is, and don't focus on its faults. It had the power to recapture my imagination, so its not all that bad.

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17 out of 23 people found the following review useful:
I have the power!!!!!, 29 June 2005

Author: pax03 from United States

I love this movie, yes it has bad acting and cheesy effects but so did the original star wars movies, right?? the only thing star wars had was that intangible you cant describe when talking about movies. it had "it" Masters of the universe had "it" as well but i think it had a different kind of it. Frank Langella has probably the most underrated performances as the evil and sinister Skeletor, one of my votes as baddest bad guy in movie history if they had something like that... this is the Jack Nicholson performance of the Joker before Batman. I don't know why people are giving it such a low rating, there are a ton of movies that are a lot worse out there. You have to realize that this was made in 1987 and SFX weren't as good as they are today, but this had heart and it shows if you watch it. If you go into it watching for deeper meanings and all this other stuff that art fans go for, i can see why you'd bash it afterward. But if you go into it expecting a fantasy story and great sci fi action, you will not be disappointed... you might actually be surprised with it!

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13 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Great Fantasy., 28 January 2002

Author: wink12345 from Canada

Some people say it was the Star Wars of the 80's and some people say it was completely horrible. I wouldn't quite agree with either statement. Though not as good as Star Wars, it really isn't that bad of a movie. Especially if you remember growing up watching He-man on TV and pretending that you could hold a magic sword above your head and become all powerful. Yes, some of the lines are cheap and the acting is stilted and questionable at times, but it is still a fun movie. If you forget what I've just mentioned and just sit back and enjoy the fantasy and the adventure, and you will enjoy the movie. Some memorable scenes are the battles in the junk yard, the flying hover craft fight and the final fight between He-man and Skelator. If you're a fan of He-man or any action movie made in the late 80's, I would recommend that you rent this movie.

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13 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
WITHOUT QUESTION THE GREATEST SWORD AND SORCERY EPIC EVER!!!, 31 August 1999

Author: ross harrison (soccer@istar.ca) from ottawa, canada

Not only does this film stand tall on it's own achievements but it is also clearly the inspiration for that well loved classic "Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time". It follows the mythos of the original He-Man mini comics (the ones that came with the toys) more than the plot of the animated series, as such He-Man is not secretly Prince Adam. (My fellow post teenage virgins as well as losers in general will probably understand what I'm talking about.) Anyway Langela proves the perfect Skeletor. Unlike the cartoon character he proves to be convincingly pure evil. I must say that he honestly did succeed in being one of the most terrifying villains in movie history. Hat's off to director Gary Goddard and the cast for taking the story entirely seriously and not just dismissing it as a campy hour and a half long toy add. It's that kind of conviction that distinguishes between art and commercial shlock. This movie also taught me some valuable life lessons. For instance, if a guy with a skull head gets massive god-like power the only real change he will make to his life is giving himself golden armour. (Both Skeletor and the Red Skull have done this.) I also learned that when some one gets god-like power, to defeat them all you need to do is push them into a muddy ditch. Having the characters travel to late 1980's earth made this movie all the better specially since they got to meet Courteney Cox (what a babe. Grrrowwlll). Why doesn't anybody ever ask her about this movie when she's on talk shows? Oh wait it's cause there's no reason they should care. Anyway if you don't have anything better to do give it a rent... and wait till the end of the credits for the secret surprise. You can probably find it at your local Blockbuster Video! Make it a Blockbuster Night!

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13 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
Great lazy Saturday afternoon movie., 13 October 2000
Author: lartronic from Akron, Ohio.

If you're looking for a film to sit back and take in on a lazy Saturday afternoon, look no further. "Masters of the Universe" is one of the best examples of this type of film. There is no deep thinking, you just sit back and watch. I really enjoyed watching this, it's the kind of movie you can get wrapped up in, just like "The Ice Pirates". All in all a worthwhile view.

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14 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
It is much better that regarded, 27 July 2005

Author: rar2 from United States

I have read a number of reviews on this movie and they are accurate and good for the most part. My credit is to Gary Goddard for all he endured and still getting a credible and succinct movie made.

The fight scenes are real and actual so they seem methodical but they're great. The hair, clothing, make-up, special effects, and down the list we go, is so caked in '80s gunk it would be hard to fight for this as a classic. It is the only He-Man movie out there, and although a sequel beckons, eighteen years have passed without a stir.

If a sequel were to made Langella would have to be Skeletor. I mean the best acting from both he and Lundgren comes when He-Man is being led by the Centaurian. Langella saying "I give you a choice: return to Eternia with me as my slave and save their despicable lives, or perish with them here on this tasteless, and primitive, planet." It's cold and dark and it's authentic. It's chilling and you get chills. Langella overacts sometimes but mostly is great. He took Skeletor from a whiny, irritating, and downright pathetic worm of a guy to a believable, earthy, credible, and despicable evil-doer. We get a taste of the importance of He-man and all that he does, here in this scene, too.

Goddard did something brilliant here, he made the movie personable. He puts these people on Earth, interacting with Earthlings, and putting a grasp on how out there these "aliens" are. But it is also probably why this movie is so widely disregarded, because it doesn't have great and illustrative fight scenes. Instead they are sensible and plotted. To see this movie remade could be a real treat.

Gwildar is, essentially, Orco. He was easy, sensible, irritating, but not nearly as annoying, and unfairly Billy Barty was nominated for a Razzie. The story interlocks with this missing "key" as created by Gwildar. This cosmos idea of God-like power through the manifestation of a fourth dimension is highly advanced. This is why the movie is good. Portals are doors and He-Man is definitely a science fiction adventurer. This puts an Earthy spin on an idea wiling out.

Teela works and Man-in-Arms (Duncan) is good as a faithful sidekick to He-Man. That's what he is. He can hold his own but mostly is fighting for duty of right, and he follows He-Man for he is the epitome of it. Teela's gritty and pitched voice, with her desperate actions, are very formidable. Duncan is best when inspiring Kevin. Kevin is a sensitive guy with a talent. What these Eternians do is showcase pessimism on Earth for their planet is dying at their own hands. They are their own good and evil and it is hard to differentiate, so why care? By the end of the movie Courtney Cox and Robert Duncan McNeill (Julie and Kevin) see that. So does Lubic. The Eternians have no planet and yet they continue to hold hope and forge ahead: He-Man.

Tolkan is not so much a distraction as he is pretentious. McNeill yelling to Tolkan "Lubic this is for real" as he dodges a Centaurian blast doesn't hold much weight, or reality. It is about unity, division, and strength. Both literal and figurative.

Meg Foster is great as Evil-Lyn because she improves the movie rather than take time from Skeletor. Goddard lets most of the acting chops fall to the incomparable Frank Langella. He-Man is the ambassador of good. He is to talk slow, be level-headed, and search for justice. Lundgren does all of these things. He mission isn't to be malicious and blood seeking. When he runs into Julie (and a great fight sequence ensues) it is Duncan and Teela doing some leg work. He-Man is a protector. He'll abate killing Skeletor to keep any and all safe. In all honesty how many lines can you give someone? Someone suggested Brad Pitt as He-Man for a remake. I don't mind Pitt, but he would ham up the screen like some feel Skeletor did. Skeletor's was good, He-Man's would not be. Lundgren, in all honesty, is great. He has a mullet but looks the part, and contrary to popular belief, acts it. He wields the Sword of Grayskull gracefully, yet with force and some clumsiness. It's heavy, but he's well-skilled and versed in the sword. These oppositions are found in the Soceress. She would normally seem bad to us; however, she is the greatest power of good. Christina Pickles gives great lines of philosophy allowing for good banter and humor with Skeletor. And her love for He-Man is very evident and clear with solid acting.

The cartoon is hardly to be found here, aside from the characters and Eternia. Battle cat, and all other characters good and bad, could cloud a remake. But it would be great to see history revealed for He-Man like the new Batman series has done. People forget we like to see depth in our characters. And the character Charlie is filler, not unimportant, but certainly not integral. He's written well. All in all watch this movie because it's really, quite engrossing.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
More than life, 18 July 2005

Author: Case from United Kingdom

Okay, let's face it. We all have our own opinions on films. Some say the Godfather is one of the best films made. Personally i could name 10 films that easily beat it (Masters of the Universe isn't one of them by the way) but there are much better films out there. But despite our professionalism when it comes to rating films, there's always a special place in our hearts for those really cheesy childhood movies that made on hell of a difference to our upbringing one way or another. Masters of the Universe is one of those films. Frank Langella, Skeletor, plays the part of He-Man's nemesis better than anyone else i could dream of. Dolph was perfect for the part of He-man. Sure there were some good old fashioned bad guys missing. And where was battlecat? I'll tell you where, at the bottom of the budget. At least we had Air Centurions and a damn sexy Evil Lynn. But above all, we had some bad ass lines in there. I think they done well with what they had. Even the tune is good (thanks for Rocky too Bill). If you don't like this movie it's cause you've got no soul. Masters of the Universe is a masterpiece in every way, shape and form. There hasn't been a bad guy like Skeletor (with the exclusion of Darth Vader) who was able to do the role justice. You probably grew up on a steady diet of westerns (that didn't include Clint Eastwood) and therefor have no imagination. If you don't like Masters of the universe then there's a good chance you don't like other classics like Big Trouble in Little China and other such masterpieces. In which case go back to watching so called classics and pick out another sweater from bland wardrobe and rot.

Look for more down to earth reviews coming soon (big Trouble in Little china, Rocky, Predator, etc)

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11 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
Nothing Great, unless you grew up with He-Man cartoon/toys., 7 June 2002

Author: LebowskiT1000 from Escondido, California, USA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I'm not going to lie to you! This is not a very good movie, but I still loved it. I love this movie cause it reminds me of all the he-man figures that I used to play with when I was a child. The story of this film is loosely based on the story from the cartoon series. I say loosely, because other than the names of some of the people (He-Man, Man-At-Arms, Teela, Skeletor, Beast Man) and the names of some of the places (Castle Grayskull, Snake Mountain, Eternia), the two stories don't seem to have a whole lot in common. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, although, it was sad that some of the key/favorite characters from the cartoon series didn't make it into the film. It would have been cool to see Battle-Cat in the film, although very hard to execute. I think a lot of people would have liked to see Orco too...but I never liked him much anyway, so that was just fine with me to cut him out.

As for the cast, I thought they were actually pretty good. It seems most people disliked Dolph Lundgren playing He-Man, but I thought he was great! No, he's not the best actor in the world, but I thought he did a fine job. I really enjoyed seeing Courteney Cox in her early work, and at such a young age, she was quite the looker back then too. As for Frank Langella (Skeletor), I thought he did a great job with the role! And I thought his make-up was incredible! Very good job! I thought the rest of the cast did a great job too. People that deserve a special mention is Bill Barty (Gwildor), James Tolkan (Det. Lubic) and Chelsea Field (Teela).

The only major complaint about the movie that I have is why did they have to kill off Sarod and not Karg? Saurod was cool looking and Karg was just plain stupid. He talked stupid, he looked stupid, his clothes were stupid...all around stupid! Saurod was cool!

Anyway, in a strictly movie sense, this movie isn't really very good, and if you don't know anything about He-Man, then are almost sure to dislike it. But in a nostalgic sort of way, the movie is pretty cool. Also, you have to keep in mind that this IS a kid's movie, so it's not really intended to be anything really mind-blowing. Nonetheless, I loved the movie! I hope you like the film as much as I did. Thanks for reading.

-Chris

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