You really don’t have to know anything about He-Man to enjoy this movie. Masters of the Universe is a cheesy eighties adventure in space produced by none other than the Cannon film group! I don’t know how they got the rights for one of the most popular franchises of the eighties but they did. Anyways, we will be following muscular He-Man and his efforts to foil evil Skeletor’s plans. As you can notice the plot is pretty rudimentary and the same can be said about the script. You can also feel that this is a movie for kids and teenagers. However, since these are the eighties, it still has a certain punch to it. It feels like a Flash Gordon movie, to be honest.
So, Masters of the Universe is actually based on a Mattel toy line of the same name. It also tried to capitalize on the huge success of the animated television show He-Man and the Masters of the Universe which ran for two glorious years, starting in 1983 and ending in 1985. Since these people had toys to sell this meant that He-Man could not kill anyone on screen but they managed to get around that by making the bad guys robots. This is a pretty crazy movie, especially from this time distance.
You have half-naked people wielding huge swords against robots armed with laser guns, magic, futuristic technology, animals that can speak, and every other weird thing you can think of. Dolph Lundgren was the right choice for the lead but we all have to agree that Frank Langella stole the show here as Skeletor. His voice is fucking powerful and yet strangely playful here that every scene with him is a real hoot. Frank said that this is actually his favorite role. We also have Meg Foster and young Courteney Cox in one of her first movie roles.
Skeletor has taken control over the legendary castle Grayskull, and with the possession of the cosmic key. Using a copy of this key He-Man and the gang wind up on Earth, where they will have to be resourceful and find a way to get back to Eternia.
Just to make things perfectly clear, we’re not talking about Emperor’s Cosmic Keys To My Creations And Times. This is a pure eighties sword and sorcery movie but with a space twist. So, expect funny sets, epic fights, hilarious one-liners, and a lot of great action. Sometimes those things were not intentional but as I always say: eighties work in mysterious ways. You can watch Masters of the Universe as a movie so bad that it’s good, that’s for sure. Or you simply don’t have to think about that and just relax and enjoy the show.
Director: Gary Goddard
Writers: David Odell, Stephen Tolkin, Gary Goddard
Cast: Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, Meg Foster, Billy Barty, Courteney Cox, Pons Maar
Fun Stuff: Dolph Lundgren does much of his own stunts in the movie.
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093507/
