Masters of the Universe (1987)

[Azrael]

Similarly I love Frank Langella as Skeletor, he maintains his dignity throughout which is not an easy thing to do in this film.

Frank Langela. He's the kind of actor one can enjoy despite the quality of the movie he's in. That said, Masters has nostalgic value. To a 5 year old in the theater, this movie was the coolest thing on the planet. Now... an entertainingly cheesy film is always better than a mediocre and boring one.

I have still yet to see a half-decent video-game movie (although 'Prince of Persia' came closest IMHO) but I've always thought that Super Mario Bros had the most potential of all the well-known video game properties when it came to a potential film adaptation because of its wealth of fun characters and its variety of gaming formats.  Unlike Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat and other beat-em up games, or the more structurally-limited like of Tomb Raider, I think there is scope with Super Mario for a good, if not necessarily great, film but only if filmmakers embrace the colourful, humorous aspects of the game rather than going 'dark' as seems to be the trend in Hollywood.

Couldn't disagree more. Silent Hill was pretty good actually. Nowhere near close to the first two games in the series, but still pretty good. As for what gaming IP had the most potential for a good movie - there were maybe a few, but Mario would be pretty low on the list for live action, at least not with 90s SFX. In modern times, however, a movie that looked in places like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or even Alice...  What is weird is that they never made a lavishly produced animated movie, it would have made money, and Mario with Disney-grade animation would certainly work. Now... if they borrow a page from Sega and add dialogue and cutscenes (a-la Sonic Generations) in future installments, the games themselves can be as good as animated movies.

As for Mortal Kombat, it borrows elements from martial arts movies, like Enter the Dragon and Bloodsport. The fact that they didn't make a good movie doesn't mean there's no potential for one (that said, the first MK is fun as a 90s relic/B-movie and the recent Legacy web-series is pretty good actually).

(I took a vow against rants. Broken...)

[Silver Nemesis]

When it comes to video games and movies, I always prefer the films that inspired the games over the ones adapted from them. Jacob's Ladder (1990) for Silent Hill, Escape From New York (1981) for Metal Gear, and the classic George Romero trilogy for Resident Evil.

Here's a fan trailer for the one video game adaptation that should have been made back in the nineties:

[thecolorsblend]

Is there going to be a "comics to screen" comparison for this? I wouldn't be the first to point out that the movie is a New Gods movie with the MOTU characters name standing in for copyright purposes.

[Silver Nemesis]

That's a good idea. Unfortunately I know very little about the New Gods beyond the character of Darkseid, so I wouldn't be much help with the analysis. I do know that Gary Goddard confirmed the influence of the New Gods on the movie and even tried to get Jack Kirby onboard as a production designer. If anyone can offer a more detailed insight into the connections, I'd be very interested in reading it.

[thecolorsblend]

Orion is He-Man, Kalibak is Beast Man, Kanto is Blade, and Darkseid is Skeletor. He-Man and co. arrive on earth using something that looks a lot like a boom tube.

Beyond that, you're on your own.

[Edd Grayson]

 Men who crave power look back over the mistakes of their lives, pile them all together and call it "destiny". - Masters of the Universe, 1987


It seems that a new He-Man and the Masters of the Universe film is really in the works!

[The Joker]

Recently watched the entertaining, Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films documentary, and the "Masters of the Universe" segment, much like most of the documentary itself, had a humorous point of view on the making of the film.

According to the doc, Stallone, evidently during his involvement with Cannon with the making of "Over the Top", once visited the set of "Masters of the Universe". Saw that Dolph had numerous lines to say, and remarked, "You gave that guy lines?"