Masters of the Universe

Masters of the Universe is an enjoyable escape, borrowing rather successfully from E.T., Star Wars and Back to the Future. [17 Aug 1987, p.C5]

It’s a good-looking movie overall.

There are some decent special effects, but overall it's about what you'd expect from a movie inspired by a line of toys.

A misfiring, underdone epic that takes its inspiration not from life or literature, but from a toy line and the cartoon series it inspired.

Little kids at play have come up with craftier plots, better characterization and conceivably more spectacular effects -- provided their mothers let them play with matches.

I'm not going to lie to you here, this movie is a steaming pile of you-know-what. The acting is horrendous, the story is the most cookie-cutter clone of every movie after Star Wars as you can get, and the effects are downright laughable. Even an easy effect such as a laser blast looks bad here.

The first film to be based on a line of toys, this might not be the last, but it'd take something awful to replace it as the worst.

Ja, was soll ich sagen. Dieser Film strotzt nur so vor genialen Effekten, schauspielerischen Höchstleistungen, phänomenaler Verstands erweiternder Musik und einer emotionalen Geschichte die sogar Der Herr der Ringe in den Schatten stellt. Dieser Film ist das unterschätzteste Meisterwerk das ich jemals sehen durfte. Er hat mein Leben und meinen Blick auf die Welt verändert. Ein Must See, für jeden ohne Ausnahme.

Ich habe keine Zukunft, kannst du das nicht sehen. Du warst mein Held. (Skeletor war aber cooler.)

A solid but disappointing B-movie that is an in name only adaption of the animated series which is based on Mattels action figures. Master of the Universe or He-Man was really popular in my youth and nearly everywhere (Stuff for the cool kids;-). Because the animated series was also really popular many thought it would be an adaptation of the show on the big screen and the hype starts to grow. Now comes the breaking point as it was completely different. I did not know the term “In name only adaptation” back then. This is the reason many people were disappointed. It was different from expectations and source material. I think it did not harm that it was a B-movie as the source material requested to be an (enjoyable) B-movie. Lets start with a set up of the animated show: It is the classic eternal struggle between good and evil. It is set on the planet Eternia a place were science, myth and magic coexists. The main character is Prince Adam who is in secret the hero He-Man. He has the same troubles as Spiderman as he must keep this secret and his personal life suffered. Eternia is in danger as the evil Skeletor wants to conquer it. Because it is based on (selling) action figures there are many side characters on each side;-). It was an enjoyable show and did run for 130 episodes and a staple of children's TV back then. Now lets start the set up for the movie. Skeletor has made a surprise attack (Off screen / not shown) and captured Castle Grayskull while having defeated nearly all defenders. He could strangely bypass all defenses that should stop him and his forces. He-Man , Teela and Man-At-Arms are still free but outnumbered by far. They stranded on Earth and must find a way back as Skeletor plans a ritual that would make him unstoppable. On paper this set up is a really good set up especially for a B-movie. Sadly id does not work well enough. It is not cheesy enough and does not resemble the show. On the other side it is also not bad enough to be a total failure (except box office). I say it has the weaker execution of a working plot. I give always the following example. “Can you summarize the events in a way that people get excited to watch it?” The answer here is yes and it will be a disappointment. Lets go to the acting. I will apply B-movie standards here as it should be;-). Dolph Lundgren is a legendary (B-movie) actor and action film star. He had his breakthrough with his previous role in Rocky 4 as Ivan Drago. I think he delivers and is not to blame. Frank Langella as Skeletor is just an awesome villain. He make one of the best over the top bad guy performances. The rest of the cast delivers their roles as expected. The special effects look really good given the budget and time. I have seen worse from less old movies. The fight and action scenes are great for action film standards and the climax delivers. There are missteps however. Like I already said it is not close enough to the animated TV show, it is sometimes the bad kind of cheesy, the arcs on Earth are unexpected / unwanted and some parts are boring. Overall it is more an underwhelming movie and poor adaptation than a bad movie. It has its merit and good scenes but not enough to turn the tide.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]