Review of Masters of the Universe (1987) by Jake S — 15 Sep 2008

Eternia's War, comes to Earth.

Only people with souls of blackness could truly hate the movie. Now I'm not saying it's a great movie, it certainly has it's problems. For what it is, it's pretty good. There's an innocence, and charm. The movie had little money to work with, yet it still managed to be entertaining with a nice message. Before you start tearing down my door and sacrificing me to the gods; Yes I am a He-man fan, and I still love the movie. I guess I could be considered biased being a fan of the cartoon as well as loving the movie as a kid (as did my brother, which drove our mother insane), but I did try to be fair when I re-watched it.

I liked the story, I liked the humor (which never felt forced). The tone is a bit darker, and the designs are different (yet still good).

Due to the low budget, many of the beloved characters are not included. Eternia itself seems to only be populated by like 30 people. 90% of the movie takes place on Earth. Other a few dated looking graphics the movie is visually interesting to look at.

Much of the movie seems to be heavily influenced by Star Wars. Even the music sounds like something from John Williams (but that isn't a bad thing). The music is quite good. Catchy, like "Back to the Future" or "Superman".

The movie is filled with cheese, but for what the actors had and their experience, it worked quite well. You have Dolph in one of his first roles and Courtney Cox from "Friends". Plus you have Meg Foster with those sexy eyes of hers, and Frank Langella giving a great performance as Skeletor. We even have Marty McFly's principal as a cop.

For a relativly new director and writer I feel the movie was handled quite competently. It certainly could have been infinitly worse.

It may not be all we wanted from a He-man movie, but if your not a purist then I think you'll still have fun. It doesn't talk down to you as much as many kids movies do. I know I've said this before in other reviews but the movie gives you a nostalgia and makes you feel like a kid again. That warm feeling in your heart is a good one to have and it can be hard to find in movies.

I guess even with it's problems, I don't feel cheated or let down. If you give it a chance, it's not nearly as bad as people tell you.

I HAVE THE POWER!