Masters of the Universe (25th Anniversary) (2012)

Warner Bros was able to put just enough effort into this release to get the film onto a bluray disc and nothing more. There is a perfunctory commentary track from director Gary Goddard and a well preserved theatrical trailer and that is it. The lack of extensive extra material might be excusable if this was a first rate high def transfer but unfortunately it never manages to look very good. I suspect this is the same transfer used for the previous DVD release. The colors are bright and well saturated but there is an enormous amount of grain and noise throughout the film (and not just in the effects shots where you might expect it) and there is a fair amount of wobble and instability in the print. They have not even bothered to put art on the disc itself, just plain black (a more and more frequent occurence with major studio releases). The disc comes in a thin, ultra cheap eco case. Warner did nothing special whatsoever for this disapointing "25th Anniversary" edition and if you already have the DVD you might want to save your money. This disc IS a bit of an improvement but it is definitely not the dream edition fans of the film have probably been hoping for. They didn't even bother with a 5.1 mix for the soundtrack. You get stereo and thats it. It seems the major studios have lost all interest in putting out quality editions of catalog titles on bluray disc. This one is about as ho hum as they get. A great fun film, with a cult following deserved better treatment than this for its (barely) high def debut. At least the retail price is cheap. It should be because this is a very shoddy cheap release. Sad.

While I was reading the other customer reviews of "Masters of the Universe" on this page, I was shocked at how many negative reviews there were. I absolutely love this movie! It is one the most fun movies you could ever see, and has been one of my favorites ever since I was a kid. When I was little, I had all of the toys, and watched the cartoon series religiously. Now I know that the movie doesn't stay true to the cartoon series, but you have to think of it as a seperate entity of a central idea. The makers of this film were trying to appeal to hardcore fans of the series, and also to attract new viewers to the series. In one review by Access Hollywood in the 80's this movie was hailed as "The Star Wars of the 80's" I believe that this movie is as good as Star Wars when you compare them as fantasy films. The special effects are great in this movie, when you consider the time that this movie was made. And they make a stunning transfer to DVD! This movie looks as gorgeous as it did when I first saw it in the theatre as a kid. I also love the acting in this movie. Frank Langella as Skeletor is simply fantastic. He gives a very theatrical quality to the character, and has just the right amount of sinister evil, and operatic intensity that he captures the character perfectly, without going over the top. In my opinion Langella deserved an Oscar nomination for his role, he was brilliant. As far as casting He-Man, the film makers had a quite a task on their hands, because He-Man is the ultimate super hero. Dolph Lundgren was a great choice. He had the ripped, muscular body, but could also do the fight scenes, and act as well. Other great casting was Courtney Cox, now Courtney Cox-Arquette from "Friends" where her character Monica Gellar is my favorite! Cox plays the Earth girl Julie, who becomes entangled in this battle of the cosmos. Also Meg Foster was brilliant as the evil warrior goddess Evil-Lyn. She was absolutely spellbinding. She captured the icy wickedness, and also sultry, seductive, evil beauty of the character. If I were a member of the Academy, I would have also given Cox and Foster nominations for Best Supporting Actress. Unfortunately until the recent 11 Oscar wins for the most deserving "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" the Academy did not honor fantasy films. "Masters of the Universe" was just a little ahead of its time. Don't pay attention to the negative reviews on this sight, this is truly one of the greatest fantasy films of our time!

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Ok, so the movie did not stay true to the cartoon. This is still a kickin' movie. He-Man, the strongest man in the universe, and hero to all who live on the mystical planet of Eternia, comes to the big screen. He-Man comes from one of Mattel Toys biggest sellers in their history, and toy history. The line was called 'Masters of the Universe'. Mattel spun off the line into a cartoon for the small screen that was produced by animation group, Filmation. The cartoon and toys was so popular amoung youngsters and even adults, that a live action movie came about.

Now, I have read the original script for the movie. Much better than what actually made it to screen. The only fault of the movie is too much Earth. People want to see it on Eternia. But, the movie is still cool, with great effects and a nice score by Bill Conti.

The true highlight of the movie is Frank Langella as Skeletor. He was made to play the role. He is very scarey and at most very evil in the movie.

Also, Friends fans of Courtney Cox will love the movie too, she is in it as Earth girl Julie who finds the Cosmic Key and aids the Eternians on Earth.

I give the movie 5 stars because that is what it should get. I am a huge He-Man and She-Ra fan and this movie is part of He-Man's history.

By the power of grayskull.... YOU have the power!

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Masters of the Universe is a sort of "lost classic" of the 80's. Almost anyone who lived through the 80's heard something about "He-Man" and "Skeletor"... and likely heard the phrase "I have the powwwweeeer!". That's Masters of the Universe for those not in the know.

This is the motion picture version of the franchise that brought us a hot selling line of toys, a hit cartoon series, and practically invented the modern notion of using a series franchise to sell toys and other offshot products. "Masters of the Universe has a simple enough plot. The Evil Skeletor has used a device called the cosmic key to teleport his forces into, and subsequenlty capture Castle Greyskull and the vast cosmic powers which it somehow holds (why it has this sort of significance is unexplained). his arch enemy, the heroic He-man, has been teleported with his friends to the far off world of earth during the fighting and Skeletors forces now pursue them to capture the key and seal once and for all, skeletors place as supreme ruler of the land of Eternia.

But this is not a movie you will watch for the story of course. Even those who were fans of He-man may be dismayed to know that the movie doesnt hold firm AT ALL to the sorce material. Heman's famous tiger is missing. And his powerful sword is just a sword in the movie. Much of it indeed was thrown together and altered. You'll see bits and pieces of everything that was sucessful in 80's cinema throughout this movie. Many times it feels like you're watching a really bad version of Star Wars. Skeletor is made to resebmle the emperor from that more sucsessful franchise, and anyone who doesnt think gwildor looks like yoda is kidding themselves. The end scene of the movie practically mirrors the end of Return of the Jedi! Skeletor shooting lighting from his fingers telling heman to kneel, and finally being tossed down some sort of shaft to a firey demise... Im surprised the dont get sued! Not to mention the hover boards are certainly inspired from back to the future 2!

No you wont be intellectually or emotionally involved. What you WILL watch this movie for, is 1) Nastalgia, and 2) fun. The movie is full of fairly effective comedy and decent action. As far as cheesy 80's movies I loved as a kid go, this one doesnt make me ask myself how stupid I must have been to enjoyed it. The acting is also quite decent, although lundrin is no oscar winner. The character of Skeletor is given a very powerful voice and performance for a movie of this type (which was obviously aimed at young teen boys).

of course the problem is you cant take this movie serious... any movie with charcters named "he-man" and "man-at-arms" and has bad costumed man-creatures running around wearing plastic looking armor and fake looking weapons is bound to have problems keeping an adult audience from chuckling. This is compounded by the fact that Lundrin, while he at times puts forth a noble effort, cant deliver a very effective presence in a lead role. Not to mention everything seems a lot sillier when seen in the context of a subburban USA battleground.

But if you can let go of that and just watch this movie with a light heart for fun and for nostalgia, you'll probably enjoy it and find it to be a lot of fun and find a basic tale of good and evil, action, comedy and a half-way-decent attempt to make it a sort of "almost epic".

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This movie was once called, "a Star Wars for the eighties". Now, I'd have to disagree with that, because this movie is a bit too silly to be compared to Star Wars, which was a very lofty title. Nevertheless, this movie is just plain fun to watch. It's quite different from the cartoon, which is kinda disappointing, but in the long run nobody cares. It has everything you would expect from a campy, and pretty bizarre, comic-book style world. A super-strong hero with a magic sword, an array of weird bounty hunters out to get him, a diabolical fiend whose body is nothing but bones, a magic trans-dimensional key that sounds like a synthesizer from the Sharper Image, a pair of naive humans who are fascinated by the new world they've sicovered, and a wild showdown in a futuristic palace. You can't take it too seriously, but that just makes it all the more enjoyable. See it!

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