 "No Bad Movie collection is complete without this shameless ode to modern consumerism." | 2009-04-18 |
| - Reviewed By michaelanderson65 |
Somewhere along the line, while HE-MAN, the animated series/half-hour toy commercial was at its peak, some enterprising, self-proclaimed studio genius must have said, "Dolph Lundgren! He'd be a perfect He-Man!" The error lay, of course, in not realizing the differences between the two: one is a lifeless, two-dimensional caricature of masculinity; the other is a cartoon character.
So instead of a faithful adaption of the cartoon series, the producers offered this stripped-down rendition (scaled back, one would suppose, to the thespian abilities of its star). Lundgren -- blond, brawny and with a set of pecs that would give Dolly Parton pause -- playsthe superhero locked in an eternal, epic battle with Skeletor, a power-crazed supervillain played by scenery-shredding "superham" Frank Langella. They move through the story, such as it is, as statically as their counterparts in the afternoon kiddie cartoon.
Langella, (made up to look like Jack Palance with leprosy), aims to take over the planet Eternia, a war-torn paradise ruled by the Sorceress of Greyskull Castle ("St. Elsewhere's" Christina Pickles, wearing what appears to be a chandelier on her head), but her champion He-Man opposes him with his mighty sword. The titanic battle is brought to Earth when a brilliantly grating little troll (Billy Barty) magically transports them to Colby, Calif., via his Cosmic Key.
Actually they were headed for another planet, but a stray power bolt (or perhaps a chintzy producer) altered their orbit. Why build an out-of-this-world set when you can just go down to the mall and shoot off sparklers? So Earth waitress Courteney Cox and her boyfriend Robert Duncan Mitchell are drawn into the otherworldly warfare when they happen to find the key, mistaking it for some sort of Japanese stereo speaker.
Director Gary Goddard had previously created mythical kingdoms for Universal Studios -- "Kong on the Loose" and "Conan." And let's just say he hadn't quite made the leap from tourist traps to feature films. The actors are basically on their own -- either hamming it up behind a mask ( Langella), or nearly numb (Lundgren). It sounds as if the Scandinavian-born muscleman had been studying under Stallone's diction coach, but he has a sort-of-sweet, shining charisma, grinning and glistening, wearing thongs and things and accentuating his hunkiness with plenty of grease. (It takes a lot of Wesson Oil to make a movie like Masters of the Universe.) Goddard later went on to direct the live action segments for the Terminator 3-D ride.
Over the years, Hollywood keeps threatening to remake He-Man. Please -- Make them stop.
|
| |
| "love this movie" | 2009-04-10 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3V3RQSNBQKWQJ |
| movie is a blast for those who love he-man and for any who are not familiar this would be good start. This may not be exacting to the animated series but it does absolutely capture its spirit through and through. Just good ol' fun and exciting experience |
| |
 "very,very good" | 2009-03-28 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3EF3UI7V8X2HU |
| saw this movie years ago with my son,and for some reason i kept thinking about it since then.(could be evilyn,but thats something else) so just had to buy it. it a pretty good movie,you'll like it. |
| |
| "HE-MAN Un clásico de la niñez de muchos..." | 2008-07-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3JTHTJCFRYQRW |
| Masters of the Universe the Motion Picture, es una película de perfil medio en realidad creo mucha más expectativa de lo que la pelicula muestra; para mi lo mejor es la actuación de Frank Langella como Skeletor; muy soberbia irreverente y magistral; por su parte la trama es floja pero para mi es un grato recuerdo de mi niñez. |
| |
| "20 Years Later....." | 2008-06-02 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2SAIQS6E0CZ6F |
| When my son was young, he LOVED He-Man - so when this movie came out we couldn't wait to go see it. I thought it was pretty awesome back then. Now, I've bought it for my grandson. I don't know if I'm jaded or just more savvy - I still enjoyed the movie, but the story line was even hokier than the cartoon show - and poor Dolph Lundgren. He's awesome to look at but he can't act - his performance was pretty flat/deadpan. My grandson loves the movie, however, so I guess that's what matters. I strongly recommend this for 20-something parents who have known the joy of sharing He-Man with their kids!! |
| |
| "Ivan Drago Meets Dracula" | 2008-05-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1YB29BIDULEYE |
| As a child, I watched the cartoon. It was not long before I became bored with it. He Man was just too powerful, and Skeletor was not really an intelligent or strong enough of a rival for He Man. Well, I feel the movie was a MAJOR improvement. Generally speaking, I don't like it when people try to make cartoons into movies. The characters and scenes often look strange. (The live Scooby Doo movie was a perfect example.) I think one reason this movie, worked as well as it did was because they did NOT try to make the live people look EXACTLY like the cartoon characters. Also, while they brought back some familiar characters like He Man, Teela, Man At Arms, Skeletor, Beast Man, and Evil Lynne, they also added some new ones like Blade. Onto the review. While this is a fantasy environment, somehow, we accept it as real from the point where Frank Langella marches into Castle Greyskull. Frank Langella (formerly Dracula) is PHENOMENAL as Skeletor. He makes him evil, intelligent, and a villain who instills major fear. (Yet we still like him in a way, most probably through Frank Langella's great acting.) We then meet our heroes He Man, Man At Arms, and Teela. In the movie, they are NOT the stiff, boring, and invulnearable characters they were in the cartoon. He Man is strong, but he does get injured from time to time. Man At Arms emphasizes that they have to eat. And Teela gets a bit impulsive from time to time. GREAT! Dolph Lundgren will probably always be most known as the sociopathic boxer Ivan Drago in "Rocky IV" who had a really limited vocabulary, killed Apollo Creed, and left Rocky with brain damage and unable to fight anymore. But in this movie, Lundgren shows his abilities as an actor MUCH more. He sets the 1st end of the circle in motion when he tells Skeletor: "It was always between us." Skeletor gains the upperhand, and our heroes escape to our time, where they make friends. (One of them is a girl who lost her parents in a plane accident.) The movie does drag at times, but not too often. When an effort to capture He Man fails, Skeletor puts Evil Lynne in charge of the effort. In an especially evil moment, Evil Lynne manipulates a girl's most vulnerable emotions. Evil Lynne is an interesting character in that while she stands up to Skeletor from time to time, she seems to be able to manipulate the fact that Skeletor likes her. But she also serves him very well. Moving on, Skeletor's powers increase, and despite his evil, it's virtually impossible for us to not like him in a way. In a huge climactic moment, He Man's forces and Skeletor's forces clash. While we can guess who will come out on top, there is something unforgettable about how He Man restates something he said in the early part: "I told you it was always between us," to which Skeletor responds: "Yes! Let this be our final battle!" While I feel it could have went a bit longer, the final fight between He Man and Skeletor is a great end to this excellent film. While not quite a masterpiece, it was an excellent movie, and a major improvement over the cartoon. Between the well written story, the plausible feelings of sorrow Julie feels over her lost parents, the heroic but flawed He Man, Man At Arms, and Teela, the well done photography, the well placed and not overdone action scenes, interesting villains, the wicked, but still charming Evil Lynne, and the phenomenal energy Frank Langella put into Skeletor, this is a real GREAT flick. |
| |
