User Reviews

So, this precious little gem, from the 80s, still remains a special gem in our minds. First of all, let me be clear, this is movie is bad, not the worst, but really bad and campy. I don't know how Cannon pictures took over the rights for this film, and how no other well-known, or larger studio didn't take the rights of something so popular. Really, He-Man and Masters of the Universe were quite popular and favorite show for kids (and to mention all that toys sales…), but was it a good idea? Was it necessary? Even for the 80s?

Now, the budget was ridiculously low, and the movie did not worked well at box office, but it has, even today, a loyal cult following. The story is funny, it's just a movie adaptation of some typical (not exactly) episode about a cosmic key that is wanted by Skeletor. Now, the story and directing, including script are cheesy, meant for kids of course, but when you get older, you realize how dumb that clichéd that was. They did not follow the original idea entirely, the characters do not look too much as themselves from the original TV show, they did not even put their original super powers, or special abilities, He-Man doesn't even have his Battle cat. So, that makes things disappointing. The acting is ridiculous, except maybe for Meg Foster… and of course Frank Langella… I'll talk about him soon enough.

I have to admit that Dolph Lundgren was a pretty good choice for He- Man, but, the guy can't act, and he looks pretty much older and they never referred to him as "Adam". Meg Foster was good as Evil-Lyn and I think she was a good choice and she put some of her charm and poisonous sexiness to her character… I vouch for her. This was one of the first major roles of Courtney Cox, thought she did not tried that much, nor her character was all that developed. Her boyfriend Kevin (Robert Duncan McNeill) was just ridiculous. Other actors as James Tolkan (who played a cliché detective who waits his retirement), Neil Cypher (Man at Arms was not that special) was solid, Chelsea Field (Teela was not that much developed also, she was there to look good in her tight white battle-armor… ). I think that supporting actors as Bill Barty (who played Gwildor) was good. Though I also think that they made up this character, because they didn't have a budget for Orko. And also… Anthony Longinus was good as Blade, though he could do more fighting scenes with his character.

Now, for Frank Langella… what to say… Everyone who studies acting, want to become an actor, or is already an accomplished actor… must swear to Langella's performance here. I think that Langella saved this film. He was easily the best actor in the film. So this is a prime example of good actor, overshadowing all other actors. He just steals the entire show and he was glad about it, because his sons wanted him to play Skeletor. And look at him, that is the actor who had so much fun with his character and that would be a good advice to other actors… just have fun with it. Just like for example… Raul Julia in Street Fighter (1994).

The costumes and make up were not entirely bad, but the costumes could have been better. They could make them to identify more with the TV show characters. The costumes of Skeletor's storm troopers were too generic… too usual. The interior and exterior of planet Eternia was bad… it was just bad and unimaginative… So most of the scenes were filmed on earth. There are also people who thinks that this movie has gay overtones and make jokes about it… Really, some people can't notice something far more important in the film… Overall, I do recommend this gem, because it's a good, family fun, of course not to take for granted. And, yes… watch after credits.

On the planet Eternia, Skeletor (Frank Langella) and his dark army overthrow the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull (Christina Pickles) expecting to acquire her power. He-Man (Dolph Lundgren), his old friend Duncan "Man-at-Arms" (Jon Cypher) and his daughter Teela (Chelsea Field) are attacked by Skeletor's soldiers and they defeat them. They also rescue their prisoner, the inventor and locksmith Gwildor (Billy Barty). He explains that he was lured by Evil-Lyn (Meg Foster) that used his invention Cosmic Key to open the gates and seize the Castle Grayskull. He-Man and his friends retrieve the prototype of the Cosmic Key trying to release the Sorcereress but they are defeated by Skeletor and his army and Gwildor uses his key to open and portal for them to flee. They come to Earth but lose the key. Meanwhile Julie Winston (Courteney Cox), who grieves the loss of her parents in a plane crash, and her boyfriend Kevin Corrigan (Robert Duncan McNeill) find and activate the key, believing it is a foreign musical instrument. On Eternia, Evil-Lyn locates the Cosmic Key and Skeletor sends her with a group of mercenaries and soldiers to vanquish He-man and his friends and bring the key back. Will they succeed?

"Masters of the Universe" is a silly but entertaining fantasy adventure film. The movie is a ripoff Star Wars, with the introductory credits rolling on the screen, the score and Skeletor's army, and Conan, with the strong Dolph Lundgren. The plot has silly moments, like Julie delivering the Key to her deceased mother or the comic attitudes of Detective Lubic. But "Masters of the Universe" is cult and entertaining for the fans. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Mestres do Universo – O Filme" ("Masters of the Universe – The Movie")

This film came out in 1987 which was two years after the Transformers movie (the cartoon). It also came on two years after the last new episode of the cartoon was made. Basically, it pretty much was a done franchise when the live action adaptation hit the big screen. I was a fan of the cartoon, so I went to this film, but even at this young age I was not the fan I once was. Transformers took the mantle of my favorite cartoon. Still, I thought it would be cool to see a live action He-man, which I remember reading about in my He-man monthly magazine. What graces the screen is a mixed bag. You find yourself saying 'that is pretty cool' while at the same time going 'this really isn't much like the cartoon'. The film was released by Canon, which is odd mainly due to the fact they mainly released 'R' rated, over the top violence and bloody movies during this time. Here they release a children's film and do so with a rather large budget...over 20 million. They cast Dolph in the role of He-man and had a few other stars of note in what would be a doomed franchise in that it never made it passed the first initial film.

The story has Skeletor basically in charge. He has taken over Castle Greyskull, he has the sorceress in his evil clutches and he has He-man and his two allies Man-At-Arms and Teela on the run. So already it is nothing like the cartoon as I just do not remember any episodes where Skeletor was this ahead of the game. It is kind of like the Transformers film in that in that one the Decepticons were winning despite never really challenging the Autobots during the course of the show. It is also more forgiving here as this is a live action movie, independent of the cartoon, while the Transformers were a continuation of the show. Well He-man and company run across a little creature named Gwildor. I do think they should of just named him Orko and be down with it, cause that is obviously who he was in essence. Well this creature has a device that transports our gang from Eternia to Earth and thus Hollywood once again uses the trick of setting what should be a battle on a fantasy world to Earth. Earth, the place where sets are not as expensive. We also get these two teenagers who have drama in their lives, making me wonder, who the heck were these two characters trying to appeal to? Not me, or my friend as we both found their romance and storyline boring. Well there are battles aplenty and when the film is focused on the action it is pretty good.

Dolph is okay as He-man, he certainly has the looks. Still, he does not look at home in a child friendly film in costume. Frank Langella seems right at home though as the evil Skeletor and he does a commendable job. He also has the coolest scene in the film, where his giant throne like ship comes rising up behind our characters. The rest of the cast do okay, get rid of the two teens and their asinine sad plot and this film could of been great. Not saying we should not have an earthling for the gang to interact with, but not the girl from the Bruce Springsteen video! Seriously, were they trying to attract teens that would not want to see a He-man film in a million years or what? If they were looking to attract teen guys, all the simply had to do was put Teela in the costume she wore in the cartoon.

So basically the film has some good and some bad. A bit more good than bad. The film plays like other films like Star Wars and Krull with the added additions of the He-man and Skeletor characters. I do not understand the inclusions of the newer characters, because at this point the toy was finished so why not have more of the characters from the show. Why Gwilder instead of Orko? They at least had Teela, Man-At-Arms, Evilyne and Beastman, but those new characters were just lame. Well Sauron was cool and not in the movie for long. Karg and Blademaster were just embarrassing looking. The film though has some good action, between the melodrama and this film while not perfect did probably the best it could with the budget and the source material. Had the rights been bought by a bigger film company I am sure it could have done better. This film reminds me of the Dragonball: Evolution film, it too was released well after the show's popularity had fallen, only this one was not the failure it was, because even it followed the source material better than that film. So an okay action flick with some fantasy touches.

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!

I haven't seen this movie in years, and with good reason.

When I was a kid I was OBSESSED with He-Man. yet I still didn't like this movie. That may very well have been the problem; I knew everything that was wrong with it.

The only thing they got right were the portals, and those portals were used more often in She-Ra than He-Man. He-Man doesn't transform, Cringer/Battlecat is nowhere to be seen, Orco is nonexistent (instead there's just this hairy dwarf that wasn't in the cartoon). Most of He-Man's friends are gone, except for man-at-arms.

Most of the movie is set not in Eternia but on Earth. I suspect this was to save money.

Worst of all, Skeletor had lips! His lips actually moved and changed shape as he spoke! Since when does a skull have lips? Skeletor has a skull for a head, everyone knows that. And everyone knows that his jaw just goes up-and-down as he speaks.

Again, they decided it would be cheaper to cover a human with make-up then design a working skull for Skeletor. And it's not like it was impossible at the time, there were lots of horror movies made in the 80's, many of them had animatronic skeletons/zombies, or stop motion.

I hadn't seen this for 16-17 years and was hoping to be kind to it. I loved the old cartoon and toys when I was a kid, but this movie just does not have what it takes to be good in any way.

First of all, the story is terrible. Bringing He-Man to the cheesy 80s United States was a major mistake that could not be overcome. I mean, where's Prince Adam and Eternia? All we ever see of Eternia are 8 guys in bad costumes looking up at a projection of Skeletor on a stage.

The plots of the cartoons were actually totally superior (which is sad).

Dolph Lungdren is big, but has absolutely no charisma as He-Man. The other characters are simply there for the sake of being there. There is no connection between characters that shows any emotion. Not so ironically the best acting comes from teenager Courtney Cox. She doesn't have good lines, but at least she comes across as sincere, which is a talent of hers.

Evil-Lyn and Skeletor's mercenaries are completely wasted. Evil-Lyn does nothing other than continually walking onto scenes leading the drone troops.

We don't get to know any of these characters. In one of the many "what could have been" moments, Evil-Lyn puts an electronic choker around the teen boy's neck. The director stays on a dumb side-angle two shot of the two of them, when a good director at that moment would have gotten close-ups of them or of the device. We could then have seen the fear in the boy's eyes, or the glimmer of evil in Evil-Lyn's. Finally, when we do see a close-up it is way too late to evoke any emotion at all - the moment has passed. I could go on and on about such similar moments, but this is what distinguishes good directors from bad. Do you think Spielberg would have missed that moment?

Ultimately, the cheesy 80s decor, weak costumes, and awful opening titles also betray the film. Langella can't even save it with his hamming. It probably shouldn't have been made and came almost two years after He-Man's heyday of 1983-5. The effects were not able to do what was necessary and most of all, there are so many great characters from the toys and cartoons that are absent. Where's Stratos, Ram-Man, Trap-Jaw, Mer-Man, etc.??? Only Beastman, Teela, Man-at-Arms, and Evil-Lyn are here. What's worse is each is wasted.

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.

How to mess up a great cartoon with tripe. Just rubbish

What we have here is a campy movie about our world colliding with one that has superheroes, and adventure. Meg Foster as Evil-Lyn, and Frank Langella as Skeletor, were perfect casting. It has all the ingredients of a Fantasy/Science Fiction film for the day. Special effects, dudes in loin cloths, and Billy Barty. What more could you want?

Okay, so forget that it is supposed to be about He-Man. This movie doesn't come close to the old cartoons. And "Star Wars of the 80's" it is not. (I have the original VHS case and one of the movie reviews on the film case says that.)

This movie is one of those that are so bad they are good.

This IS a great film. You just have to have been a child in the 80's to appreciate the magic of it all.

I was 6 years old when my dad took me to see this on the big screen. At age 6, this movie was about as enjoyable as going to Disneyland. Frank Langella's Skeletor was absolutely terrifying for me. But of course, anyone familiar with Frank Langella's acting knows that he can take any role and make it work. Even in a goofy fantasy film like this, his acting comes off as epic and strong.

The only real reason anyone would have any beef with this movie is if they are die hard fans of the comic or cartoon, as this movie obviously took plenty of liberties with canon.

That being said, if you can ignore that, it's a REALLY fun movie! And if you enjoy 80's special effects, this movie has a plethora.

A corpulent hero named He-man , a veteran warrior (John Cypher) , his daughter (Chelsea Field) , a likable midget (Billy Barty) fight in Eternia against a vile villain named Skeletor (Frank Langella as a Darth Vader clone) in a fantasy/Sci-Fi about rebel forces battling for the sake of freedom and engaged in a life or death war with the tyrant leader of a far planet . They transport themselves by means of a mechanism that creates a time hole to Earth in which nothing less the future of the universe is at stake . There they meet an intimate and youthful couple (Courney Cox , Richard Duncan). Meanwhile , Skeletor wants to get a chance by destiny to receive the powers of Grayskull . From a distant galaxy... they have come to Earth. A battle fought in the stars, now... comes to Earth. The live-action motion picture . Only the universe could hold adventure this big!

This is a medium-budgeted live-action rendition of the cartoon roles' feats in the ¨Star Wars¨ mold and characterized by He-man , Skeletor and many others . All of them blended together with wonderful and terrific special effects courtesy of Richard Edlund and special designs by Moebius .¨Masters of the Universe¨ is basically a lot of spectacular fight-scenes with a tiny bit of plot movement , full of sympathetic dialogue and flashy blasts of light and energy . It features stunted and disjointed action, as well as the hilarious but quite conventional characters partially fitting to the animated series . It includes abundant breathtaking images , which laboriously and mightily attempt to reproduce the source materials in some impressive scenes and eye-popping look .

After his nasty roles in in ¨Rocky 4 (85)¨ and ¨A view to kill (85)¨ , the Swedish muscle mountain Dolph Lundgren starred this film and followed by ¨Red Scorpion (90)¨ and ¨Universal soldier (92)¨ in his successful period during the 80s and early 90s . Lundgren has certain acting ability and charisma enough to play this kind of heroes . Based on cartoon and famous toys by ¨Mattei Inc¨ that proved to be one of the biggest hits of all time . However , the characters and story may aim a little more at kiddies than teenagers and adults . For comical relief in charge of Billy Barty with his antics , sympathy and jokes . Other support actors giving enjoyable acting in brief appearances are as follows : James Tolkan , Meg Foster , John Cypher , Chelsea Field , and Christina Pickles as the imprisoned sorceress . The special effects are well made by the presitigious Richard Edlund , all they're cracked up to be and set a new cinematic standard for realistic realization . Action scenes have the zip and excitement you'd expect . The motion picture was well directed by Gary Goddard in his only filmmaking ; subsequently , he has dedicated to production and 3D . This would-be epic , surrounding the genres : ¨Sword and witchery¨ and ¨Sci-F¨results to be an entertaining and fun romp through space and time.

So unfaithful to the original cartoon from the 80,s, they really need to do a reboot of this turkey, one that MOTU fans can appreciate.

"great movie"? "excellent"? "wonderful acting"? What the heck were you people thinking? So far, sickink2's comment is the only one that has pegged it dead on the nose (though i'd give only give the movie a 2...maybe a 2 1/2 for some of it's hillarity). The movie was like a train wreck: it was a horrible thing to watch, but i just couldn't look away. it should've never scored higher than a 3.5. and if, god forbid, they make a sequel or remake - do the poor beloved cartoon some justice and stick to it's cast of character's and their struggles. GEEEEEZZZZ.

On distant Eternia, Castle Greyskull has finally fallen to the might of evil Skeletor. Only He-Man can prevent him assuming power - but he is stuck on Earth!

It's unfortunate that this film gets a lot of negative views. Sure it's cheesy and hokey, but that makes it even more fun. It's an enjoyable romp right through with some good set-pieces, rousing 80's style action and a brilliant He-man in Dolph Lundgren, who fits the role to a T. But, of course, the actor who really boosts this film a few notches is Frank Langella, who literally eats up the screen. His portrayal as Skeletor eschews the whininess of the cartoon Skeletor, and delivers a gargantuan performance that oozes real menace and an evil mind.

Masters of the universe rips off a bit from Star Wars and isnt totally faithful to the cartoon, but it still an enjoyable romp that,unlike a slew comic book film adaptations of today, doesn't take itself seriously.

He-Man travels to earth to retrieve a key which can free the good sorceress who has the power to defeat the unspeakable evils of skelator. Along the way two annoying kids tag along with our heroes for a (boring) match between good and evil. Masters Of The Universe can be seen as two things. 1)It can be seen as how little creativity and life goes into products made for children. 2)It can be seen as a low point for all involved. (Yes even Dolph Lundgren) The special effects are okay but hardly impressive and the bad guys are straight from the Star Wars replicant store. Movies like this live or die by the imagination invested in them, Masters is of course bankrupt in all these essentials.

* out of 4 (Bad)

This film is a Gem to children and needs to either be remade or polished, an absolute fantastic film for the ages of the 80s, an personally, one of my favourites as a youngest, synth, noir, more of a PG Conan the Destroyer, ace of a film.

Tried watching this movie many times, can't sit through one frame of it, Horrible acting.

"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.

Skeletor conquers Castle Grayskull. He-Man (Dolph Lundgren) and his friends escape with the help of the Cosmic Key. They land on earth but the Key goes missing. Teens Julie Winston (Courteney Cox) and her boyfriend Kevin Corrigan find the Key but are unable to understand it. Evil-Lyn (Meg Foster) tracks the Key with her minions.

To say that this is cheesy is to say the Pope is catholic. This is a live action movie based on the cartoon. It has cheesy FX. It has cheesy character costumes. It has cheesy acting from Dolph Lundgren. Yep the cheese is all over this thing. This certainly have its moments. It has some fun both intentional and unintentional. It's also noteworthy to see a younger Courteney Cox. I don't think it's quite cult classic or campy fun.