Masters Of The Universe 1987 Film Review

It really is hard to believe that in just a few short days we will have a new He-Man live action movie with us. Well inorder to celebrate this I thought that i'd produce a tie in review and while yes it would have been super easy to look at any episode of the show or any of the animated movies I thought that i'd go one step beyond that and review the original He-Man live action movie and so then join me as I review the film that is more of an adaptation of the toy line then the original show with the film in question being called simply just "Masters Of The Universe" enjoy.

The plot of this film is He-Man , Teela , Man At Arms and Gwildor find themselves trapped on Earth when Skeletor finally takes over Castle Grayskull. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that good. With the films plot feeling alot less like a He-Man plot and alot more like a generic kids family friendly action film as while yes this films plot is cinematic enough for these characters as them taking there fight to earth is a good way to make the plot feel more cinematic it also oddly enough makes the films plot feel a lot less like a He-Man plot. With this films plot being alot more focused on the human characters so much so that He-Man does start to feel like an an afterthought in his own film and while having the film focused alot more of its plot on the human characters wouldn't have been a bad thing if this was new idea but given the fact that the toys were really popular and the show that was used to promote the toys not only had it's own theatrically released film but was also really popular in it's own right it would made alot more sense for this film to focus more of its plot on the characters that we actually to this film to see in the first place. Heck even the films plot does start to feel more like an after thought as there is so little attention and focus given to it that it does start to feel like that the makers of this film did forget that they had a plot in the first place with the the plot of this film not really being really rather entertaining and nor is it  really rather engaging either as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Dolph Lundgren as He-Man , Frank Langella as Skeletor and Meg Foster as Evil-Lyn. Also starring in this film is Billy Barty as Gwildor , Courteney Cox as Julie Winston , Robert Duncan McNeill as Kevin Corrigan , Jon Cypher as Man-At-Arms , Chelsea Field as Teela , James Tolkan as Hugh Lubic , Tony Carroll as the Beastman , Pons Maar as Saurod , Anthony De Longis as Blade , Robert Towers as Karg and Christina Pickles as Sorceress.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that good. While there is some good acting in this film like form a pre Friends Courteney Cox and a post Back To The Future James Tolkan alot more of this films acting is just not that good with Dolph Lundgren being as wooden as a board with him not showing any kind of emotion whatsoever with the same thing being true for both Chelsea Field and Jon Cypher as while they do both try there best there's just something that's holding them back and turning good performances in this film. With the best actor in this film being Frank Langella as Skeletor as he is the only one that is actually showing emotion and is trying to turn in a good performance alot of the time and it is something that does show as all of his scenes are alot more fun to watch as you can tell right away that while all of the other films actors know full well that there in a bad movie and are just having fun with there roles you do get the impression that he is trying to turn an OSCAR worthy performance and while that can be seen as over acting it is something that does raise the films bar when it comes to its acting as it does feel like he is the only one that has a good handle on this take of his character and that is something that does shine through in his final performance. With the acting that's in this film not really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so bad as it gives none of this films actors absolutely anything to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does lower the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Character wise this film does about as good as it does everything else in the film as while the characters from the show are done fairly decently the newer characters aren't that well written in the first place. With Kevin and Julie pretty much just being the same character in that they are meant to be the kids watching the film as they both have no personality with the only things that makes Julie interesting is the fact that even a year later she is still getting over the death of her parents and Kevin has nothing about him that makes him an interesting character with his character being one that is only there to give Julie a love interest and that's it as you could very easily remove his character from the film and you'd loose nothing important to the plot of the film. Heck even Hugh Lubic is a better character then Kevin as he at least has an arc in the film and while he is mainly there to be the human comic relief character as alot of his scenes do have him doing something silly he is also a character that due to his job as a police officer you do end up buying him when he does get involved in the films action, yet out of the human characters he is perhaps the most fun character with him also kind of being a surrogate for the adult audience watching the film as he is the one that is asking all of the questions that they themselves might be asking and while it could be argued that both Kevin and Julie also fill in that role due to them also asking those same questions given the fact that they buy the story alot more quickly then what Lubic does it does make it more better then he be the surrogate for the adult audience, the rest of the films characters are handled alot more better but this is more due to the fact that the makers of this film are just copying what the original show did with the characters without adding quite literally anything to them with the only exception being Gwildor who is an annoying character that was only added to the film so that he could replace Orko.

As was mentioned at the very start if this review this film is more based off of the toy line then the original show. Which does mean that He-Man doesn't once go by the name of Prince Adam and there are no references made to his parents or Cringer for that matter and to be frank basing this film more off of the toy line then the original show might be seen as being a bad thing as the sale for the toys were staring to faulter when this film in production where as the show whilst that did end it was still going strong thanks to the spin off series She-Ra: Princess Of Power therefor it would have made alot more sense to base this film more off of the show then the toys and heck even the films target kid audience would have been more aware of the shows storyline then that of the toys. However given the fact that the toys were still going but not going strong when this film was in production still does make it make sense for them to base this film more off of the toys as the films target audience wouldn't have had the ability to see alot of the toys in an episode of the show but even so the fact that sales for the toys were dwindling fast does mean that the makers of this film should have found a more equal balance between having things that were exclusive to the show like having He-Man be called Prince Adam and things that are exclusive to the toys like the overall look of He-Man himself as then the makers of this film could have found a way to appease both the people that just bought the toys and the people that bought the toys and watched the show. Yet they don't do that and given the fact that to alot of people He-Man was just a show and heck not even alot of them know the full title of the show as they just call it He-Man it would have worked to borrow things from the show to make it look like that your honoring both the show and the toy line and not picking one over the other.

For one reason or another the makers of this film tought that it was good idea to have the vast majority of this film take place on Earth. Don't get me wrong this is great for saving money which given who made and released this film might have been the very reason why they shifted alot of the action to Earth in the first place but given the fact that this is a He-Man movie there action should have mostly been on Eternia as that's the place that we want to see more of on the big screen and yet for one reason or another the makers of this film thought it was a good idea to make a He-Man film and strip away alot of the thing that would actually make it a He-Man film as none of the shows characters get alot of time to shine and the main bulk of the film takes place on Earth with only the beginning , ending and a few short scenes in the middle taking place on Eternia. This is just such a cheap thing to do as no one going to this movie who is a fan of these character and that world wants to see them take the fight to Earth as we are watching this film to escape Earth, while yes grated it does make the plot feel more cinematic as now there is basically a thirty party caught in the middle of this war that party being us humans that doesn't mean that it makes sense for the story to take place on Earth as the land of Eternia is so rich and full of characters in the first place that you could have had He-Man and his friends go on an quest across Eternia to find this magic key after using to escape Skeletor and have them racing to get back to Castle Grayskull which is essentially what the man plot of this film as in the first place and yet by basing it more on Eternia it does open up the possibilities for there to be more unique looking alien designs whereas just setting the story on Earth does do a huge disservice to the film as it just adds an air of cheapness to the film. 

Perhaps the biggest departure from the show to this film is how Skeletor is portrayed and written as in the show he is nothing more the the goofy main villain someone who He-Man could and more often then not does very easily beat thing Rita Repulsa from Power Rangers but less skin and you'll get the idea. Yet here in this film he is someone who is always one step ahead of He-Man and his friends at every turn with him even being more of a threat to the characters this time around as here we actually see him reach his end goal from the show and take Castle Grayskull for his own and because of that we do get to see not only how powerful that this character could be but also how threatening that he could be as he does have He-Man whipped near the end of the film as a way for him to break He-Man's spirit and he does kill one of his own people when they fail to kill He-Man and his friends. With his end goal being pretty consistent with his character as he does want He-Man dead and we do get to see him go to certain lengths to archive that goal with him only really changing his mind when he realises that if he did kill He--Man he would be turning him into a martyr and therefor he does settle for breaking his spirit as either one would mean that He-Man is no longer a threat to him. This is actually a pretty good plan as it not only adds stakes to there ending fight as now either He-Man or Skeletor could die as He-Man does spend a small portion of that fight in a more weakened state and it does make Skeletor seem like this more powerful villain who does actually know what he's doing where as in the show it did seem like that he just throwing anything at the wall to see what would stick here we see him use his head and thing and due to that we do end up getting a more better villain out of it.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and forty five minuets and forty three seconds. Which to be fair to this film is something that could be seen as a being a solid running time as alot of kids action films from around this same time did have a very similar running time to them but at the same time tho this film is also a bit on the long side as the film doesn't spend the time to set up anything both in regards to its plot and characters and nor does it take the time to give us a reason to care about its plot or characters therefor this film could have been a bit more shorter as that would allow the film to focus alot more on its plot and alot less on the characters getting up to goofy adventures on Earth. However tho this film does have the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time in the first place and yet the film doesn't really use its running time all that wisely as the film doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot. As the film does spend alot of time on Earth and yet in not one of those scenes does the film take the time to add anything to the plot that would make it more worth while with this being something that it very easily could have done by not having both Kevin and Julie be alot of the focus of the film and give the screen time saved to making the plot of the film be all the more better and more well developed. This is something that does also effect the films character development as none of the films characters apart from Lubic get any kind of character development whatsoever with the only character development that Lubic gets is the fact that he learns to trust Kevin and that's it which yes is something small but it's alot more better then what the rest of the films characters got which was nothing, heck even the characters from the show aren't that well developed with it being made clear as day that the makers of this film cared more about the human characters then they did about the characters that people are coming to this movie to see but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is an action film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. With it being made clear as day that not only did alot more thought and effort go into this films action but so did alot of its budget as we do see alot of special effects going off during many of this films action scenes and they are things that do help to make the action in this film be all the more exciting. With the films best action being a the fight between He-Man and Skeletor not because of the fact that something cool happens or that it's a genuinely good fight scene but rather because of the fact that the the film ran out of money to film it and therefor the films director Gary Goddard had to use his own money to pay for it which is way when the two of them start fighting it just cuts randomly to an empty set that's shrouded in darkness which is something that does make the scene alot more funnier to watch as your just seeing how cheaply made that this film was and your seeing a stressed out director do whatever it takes to get his film finished, the thing could have made this films final fight scene be all the more better was if we got to see shots of the other characters something which could have been possible just from using alternative takes from earlier on in that same scene as it would remind us that those characters are still there and they still are fighting the good fight but to be fair the fight does still work without them in it with the rest of the films action scenes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall no matter how bad the upcoming Masters Of The Universe film ends up being at least it not only won't be as bad as this film but it also won't help bankrupt the studio that helped to make it like this film with this film being fun but flawed film that might be based left forgotten in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that re in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 4.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images hat I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.