Masters of the Universe (1987)

[Edd Grayson]

Yeah, it's cheesy, it has a cop-out by sending the characters to the 80's Earth, a battle in a record store, Dolph Lundgren  really looks like a circus act, but who cares? It's a lot of fun and has an awesome villain.


It's like the 60's Batman for He-Man.


And James Tolkan, how can you go wrong with that man?

Trailer:

[johnnygobbs]

I love the final line: "I'll be back!"

Umm, no you won't...

[Silver Nemesis]

I love this movie. I used to watch it all the time when I was a kid. It never really bothered me that most of it took place on Earth. As a child, I just found it mind-blowing to see He-Man fighting Skeletor in live action. I had a similar experience when I saw Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the first time. I was so used to seeing these characters as cartoons and action figures, and then suddenly there they were in the flesh, as real as anything. It was awesome.

Dolph was perfect for the role of He-Man. I'd rank this up there with Rocky IV (1985) and Dark Angel (1990) as my favourite movie of his. And Langella was fantastic as Skeletor. You could tell he was having tremendous fun playing the role.

It's great to see such a distinguished actor take on a part most thespians would dismiss as childish, and to approach the movie with the same sense of fun and enthusiasm as the kids who went to see it.

And of course a shotgun-wielding James Tolkan sorting the men from the slackers. How can you go wrong with that?

I've also got to give credit to Bill Conti for his fantastic score.

Even though it is a rip off of John Williams' Star Wars (1977) and Superman (1978) themes, as well as Miklós Rózsa's score for Ben-Hur (1959). Listen out for the Cosmic Key melody at 0:26:

Yeah, it's goofy. But it's got everything little boys want from a movie: lasers, sword fights, alien monsters, a cool hero, a scary villain, and a pretty damsel in distress (a young Courtney Cox, no less). And the final showdown between He-Man and Skeletor was epic.

I love the final line: "I'll be back!"

Umm, no you won't... 

And yet Michael Bay's Transformers gets a seemingly endless chain of sequels. It's not fair.

[johnnygobbs]

And yet Michael Bay's Transformers gets a seemingly endless chain of sequels. It's not fair.

I don't entirely share your enthusiasm for Masters of the Universe.  I loved the cartoon as a kid but like the wretched Super Mario Bros movie (which is admittedly far worse) this seemed far too dark an interpretation, both in terms of mood and style, for what was fundamentally meant to be a kids film.  However, I do have a certain amount of affection for the movie and Bill Conti's score, James 'slacker!' Tolkan, an unrecognisable Frank Langella, and of course the always gorgeous, and in this case very young, Courtney Cox (did anyone notice that Christina Pickles who plays the Sorceress in the film also played Cox's mother in "Friends"?) in particular.  Meg Foster also deserves credit for playing a very creepy and convincing Evil-Lyn.

Still, I'm not sure why Evil-Lyn and Beast Man were the only two henchmen/women from the TV show but I suppose Mer-Man and Trap Jaw would have looked absurd.  I did find the new henchmen quite interesting though, although I never understood why Skeletor singled out Saurod for zapping.  Personally, I would have preferred him to wipe the grin off the permanently smirking Blade instead.

And yes, Masters of the Universe is much superior to the atrocious Transformers movies.

Still, all that being said surely it's time for a reboot, preferably one that features She-Ra. 

[Silver Nemesis]

I don't entirely share your enthusiasm for Masters of the Universe.  I loved the cartoon as a kid but like the wretched Super Mario Bros movie (which is admittedly far worse) this seemed far too dark an interpretation, both in terms of mood and style, for what was fundamentally meant to be a kids film.

Fair enough. Objectively speaking, I'd never say it was a good film. My affection for it is based purely on nostalgia, so I've never really had an issue with the tone of the movie. From what I've read about the production, it sounds like the director, Gary Goddard, was struggling against Hasbro to make it more violent. Hasbro wanted it to be like the cartoon show where He-Man never killed anyone. But Goddard was trying to make an action film that could compete with the likes of Rambo and The Terminator. The end result fell somewhere between those two objectives. If we accept that Skeletor's armoured henchmen are robots – which I think they're meant to be – then technically He-Man doesn't kill anyone. But the villains do some pretty nasty stuff, like the scene where they torture He-Man with the light whip, or the gruesome injury Skeletor inflicts on Cox's leg. I grew up watching movies like Temple of Doom from a young age, so Masters of the Universe never seemed that bad to me. But I can see why some people would feel it was too dark.

The Super Mario Bros movie however did disturb me when I saw it on the cinema. I was only 7 at the time and I was a huge fan of the Mario games and cartoon show. Nowadays it seems really goofy, but at the time I found it quite frightening. I especially hated seeing Yoshi get stabbed in the neck with a switchblade. That was just horrible. It's strange to think it was directed by Roland Joffé. Back in the eighties he'd been one of the top up-and-coming directors. The Killing Fields (1984) and The Mission (1986) were nominated for 14 Academy Awards and 24 Baftas between them. How could the same guy have stooped to the level of the Super Mario Bros film?

I did find the new henchmen quite interesting though, although I never understood why Skeletor singled out Saurod for zapping.  Personally, I would have preferred him to wipe the grin off the permanently smirking Blade instead.

That's a bit of a Han/Greedo who-shot-first moment. If you watch carefully you can see Saurod drawing his sidearm at the same moment Skeletor zaps him. Some fans have speculated he was about to assassinate Skeletor and that's why he was singled out. To me it looks more like he was trying to defend himself because Skeletor had singled him out. I guess we'll never know for sure.

If it were up to me, I'd have killed Karg. He was rubbish. At least the other three could fight.

[johnnygobbs]

Fair enough. Objectively speaking, I'd never say it was a good film. My affection for it is based purely on nostalgia, so I've never really had an issue with the tone of the movie. From what I've read about the production, it sounds like the director, Gary Goddard, was struggling against Hasbro to make it more violent. Hasbro wanted it to be like the cartoon show where He-Man never killed anyone. But Goddard was trying to make an action film that could compete with the likes of Rambo and The Terminator. The end result fell somewhere between those two objectives. If we accept that Skeletor's armoured henchmen are robots – which I think they're meant to be – then technically He-Man doesn't kill anyone. But the villains do some pretty nasty stuff, like the scene where they torture He-Man with the light whip, or the gruesome injury Skeletor inflicts on Cox's leg. I grew up watching movies like Temple of Doom from a young age, so Masters of the Universe never seemed that bad to me. But I can see why some people would feel it was too dark.

I think I took more exception to the dark, murky look of the film rather than the content.  Even TOD is a relatively colourful movie, despite all the violence (i.e. heart-ripping and child-slavery).  I was about ten when I first saw the film with my brother and we were effectively baby-sitting the seven-year-old son of one of my mother's friends.  The kid was practically wailing throughout the entire film so clearly it was not a film designed with children in mind despite the source material.

The Super Mario Bros movie however did disturb me when I saw it on the cinema. I was only 7 at the time and I was a huge fan of the Mario games and cartoon show. Nowadays it seems really goofy, but at the time I found it quite frightening. I especially hated seeing Yoshi get stabbed in the neck with a switchblade. That was just horrible. It's strange to think it was directed by Roland Joffé. Back in the eighties he'd been one of the top up-and-coming directors. The Killing Fields (1984) and The Mission (1986) were nominated for 14 Academy Awards and 24 Baftas between them. How could the same guy have stooped to the level of the Super Mario Bros film?

I know.  What a sad decline.  However, the film was not directed by Joffé but simply produced by him.  The direction went to Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, a pair whose biggest claim to fame was devising Max Headroom (remember him?)

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.

That's a bit of a Han/Greedo who-shot-first moment. If you watch carefully you can see Saurod drawing his sidearm at the same moment Skeletor zaps him. Some fans have speculated he was about to assassinate Skeletor and that's why he was singled out. To me it looks more like he was trying to defend himself because Skeletor had singled him out. I guess we'll never know for sure.

If it were up to me, I'd have killed Karg. He was rubbish. At least the other three could fight.

Good point.  Karg was a bit crap and the failure of the group's mission was arguably his fault.  Also what was with his would-be rock-star silver mane?

Out of the four of them Saurod was my favourite henchman though.  It's one of those inexplicable things but I didn't care for the sneery Blade, Karg was useless and Beat-Man, the one henchman I was familiar with, was much more terrifying and brutish than he ever appeared in the TV show.  Saurod for what ever reason, possibly his visor, looked kind of cool to me.

[Silver Nemesis]

I know.  What a sad decline.  However, the film was not directed by Joffé but simply produced by him.  The direction went to Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, a pair whose biggest claim to fame was devising Max Headroom (remember him?)

True, but there is a longstanding rumour that the bulk of the movie was ghost-directed by Joffé and cinematographer Dean Semler. Supposedly when they realised what a disaster they had on their hands they let Morton and Jankel take the fall. It might not be true of course, but it's a chilling thought: that the man who directed The Killing Fields might also have directed Super Mario Bros.

Speaking of Super Mario Bros, did you know Michael Keaton was offered the part of Koopa? At least according to this article: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/10/23/schwarzenegger-and-hanks-were-almost-in-super-mario-bros?abthid=5086ff974feb735f550004ab
But he turned it down to appear in Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing (1993). I'll bet that career move haunts him to this day.

Out of the four of them Saurod was my favourite henchman though.  It's one of those inexplicable things but I didn't care for the sneery Blade, Karg was useless and Beat-Man, the one henchman I was familiar with, was much more terrifying and brutish than he ever appeared in the TV show.  Saurod for what ever reason, possibly his visor, looked kind of cool to me.

I know what you mean. There's something special about nonhuman characters in movies when they're created using practical effects, as opposed to computer animation. And Saurod's a good example of that. He just looks cool.

[johnnygobbs]

Speaking of Super Mario Bros, did you know Michael Keaton was offered the part of Koopa? At least according to this article: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/10/23/schwarzenegger-and-hanks-were-almost-in-super-mario-bros?abthid=5086ff974feb735f550004ab
But he turned it down to appear in Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing (1993). I'll bet that career move haunts him to this day.

You know what Dennis Hopper said when he was asked why he took the role of Koopa?  Apparently his kid, Henry, asked him "Dad, why did you do the 'Super Mario' movie?"  Dennis told him "Well Henry, I did that so you could have shoes," to which Henry replied "Dad, I don't need shoes that badly." 

[gordonblu]

The best thing about the Super Mario Bros. film was casting Bob Hoskins, I thought he was perfect for the role.

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

[Silver Nemesis]

You know what Dennis Hopper said when he was asked why he took the role of Koopa?  Apparently his kid, Henry, asked him "Dad, why did you do the 'Super Mario' movie".  Dennis told him "Well Henry, I did that so you could have shoes," to which Henry replied "Dad, I don't need shoes that badly."   

Lol, that's harsh. You know you've made a bomb when even your own son disses the movie.