Masters of the Universe is a
1987-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records.*May 9 - Actor Tom Cruise marries actress Mimi Rogers....
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
based on the
toy line by the same nameMasters of the Universe is a media franchise created by Mattel.Among others, it features the characters of He-Man and Skeletor on planet Eternia...
. The movie stars
Dolph LundgrenDolph Lundgren is a Swedish actor, director, model, and karateka.Well known for his tall stature and level of fitness, at peak, Lundgren stands at 6 ft 5 in and weighs over 240 lb...
as
He-ManHe-Man is a heroic fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise. He is the alter ego of Prince Adam and also the twin brother of She-Ra...
and
Frank LangellaFrank A. Langella Jr. is an American stage and film actor. His Tonys include two for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Edward Albee's Seascape , and Ivan Turgenev's Fortune's Fool , and for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon...
as
SkeletorSkeletor is a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise, the arch-enemy and main antagonist of He-Man. Tagged "The Evil Lord of Destruction", he is the greatest threat to present-day Eternia...
. Other actors include
Jon CypherJon Cypher is an American actor.Born in New York City, Cypher graduated from Erasmus Hall High School in 1949 and Brooklyn College in 1953. He is particularly remembered as Chief of Police Fletcher Daniels in Hill Street Blues, a role he played throughout the lifetime of the series, 1981-1987...
as
Man-At-ArmsMan-At-Arms is the primary title of Duncan, a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise.-1980s:In the 1980s animated series, Duncan is an inventor, soldier and Teela's foster father, as well as mentor to Prince Adam...
,
Chelsea FieldChelsea Field is an American actress. She played Teela in the 1987 film adaptation of Masters of the Universe. In a break from tradition and He-Man canon, she portrayed Teela as a brunette character wearing with a full costume with pants and sleeves.- Personal life :Field has been married to actor...
as
TeelaTeela Teela Teela ("Warrior Goddess!" is a fictional character from the Masters of the Universe franchise. She is the Captain of the Royal Guard at the palace of Eternos and thus responsible for training and protecting Prince Adam of Eternia. While Adam is He-Man, Teela often assists him in his...
and
Billy BartyBilly Barty , born William John Bertanzetti, was an American film actor, and one of the most famous 20th century people with dwarfism.- Biography :Barty, an Italian American, was born in Millsboro, Pennsylvania...
as
GwildorGwildor is a fictional character from the popular Masters of the Universe franchise, he was introduced into the franchise after appearing in the 1987 Masters of the Universe film.Gwildor is a member of the Thenurians, a dwarf-like race of people...
, the short
Thenorian inventor/locksmith.
The film was released in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on August 7, 1987 after the popularity of the toy line and cartoon had peaked.
On the Planet Eternia, at the centre of the universe, the forces of
SkeletorSkeletor is a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise, the arch-enemy and main antagonist of He-Man. Tagged "The Evil Lord of Destruction", he is the greatest threat to present-day Eternia...
(
Frank LangellaFrank A. Langella Jr. is an American stage and film actor. His Tonys include two for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Edward Albee's Seascape , and Ivan Turgenev's Fortune's Fool , and for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon...
) have managed to seize control over
Castle GrayskullCastle Grayskull is a fortress located on the fictional planet Eternia. It forms a central location in the Masters of the Universe comic/animation universe, and also appears in the 1987 live action adaptation....
, and after defeating (off-panel) the biggest part of Eternia's armies, capture the Sorceress of Grayskull (
Christina PicklesChristina Pickles is a British-born American actress. She has appeared in such television shows as Roseanne, Matlock, Diagnosis Murder and Murder, She Wrote, as well as the soap operas The Guiding Light and Another World. Her most famous television role is that of Nurse Helen Rosenthal in the...
).
Masters of the Universe is a
1987-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records.*May 9 - Actor Tom Cruise marries actress Mimi Rogers....
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
based on the
toy line by the same nameMasters of the Universe is a media franchise created by Mattel.Among others, it features the characters of He-Man and Skeletor on planet Eternia...
. The movie stars
Dolph LundgrenDolph Lundgren is a Swedish actor, director, model, and karateka.Well known for his tall stature and level of fitness, at peak, Lundgren stands at 6 ft 5 in and weighs over 240 lb...
as
He-ManHe-Man is a heroic fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise. He is the alter ego of Prince Adam and also the twin brother of She-Ra...
and
Frank LangellaFrank A. Langella Jr. is an American stage and film actor. His Tonys include two for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Edward Albee's Seascape , and Ivan Turgenev's Fortune's Fool , and for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon...
as
SkeletorSkeletor is a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise, the arch-enemy and main antagonist of He-Man. Tagged "The Evil Lord of Destruction", he is the greatest threat to present-day Eternia...
. Other actors include
Jon CypherJon Cypher is an American actor.Born in New York City, Cypher graduated from Erasmus Hall High School in 1949 and Brooklyn College in 1953. He is particularly remembered as Chief of Police Fletcher Daniels in Hill Street Blues, a role he played throughout the lifetime of the series, 1981-1987...
as
Man-At-ArmsMan-At-Arms is the primary title of Duncan, a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise.-1980s:In the 1980s animated series, Duncan is an inventor, soldier and Teela's foster father, as well as mentor to Prince Adam...
,
Chelsea FieldChelsea Field is an American actress. She played Teela in the 1987 film adaptation of Masters of the Universe. In a break from tradition and He-Man canon, she portrayed Teela as a brunette character wearing with a full costume with pants and sleeves.- Personal life :Field has been married to actor...
as
TeelaTeela Teela Teela ("Warrior Goddess!" is a fictional character from the Masters of the Universe franchise. She is the Captain of the Royal Guard at the palace of Eternos and thus responsible for training and protecting Prince Adam of Eternia. While Adam is He-Man, Teela often assists him in his...
and
Billy BartyBilly Barty , born William John Bertanzetti, was an American film actor, and one of the most famous 20th century people with dwarfism.- Biography :Barty, an Italian American, was born in Millsboro, Pennsylvania...
as
GwildorGwildor is a fictional character from the popular Masters of the Universe franchise, he was introduced into the franchise after appearing in the 1987 Masters of the Universe film.Gwildor is a member of the Thenurians, a dwarf-like race of people...
, the short
Thenorian inventor/locksmith.
The film was released in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on August 7, 1987 after the popularity of the toy line and cartoon had peaked.
Plot
On the Planet Eternia, at the centre of the universe, the forces of
SkeletorSkeletor is a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise, the arch-enemy and main antagonist of He-Man. Tagged "The Evil Lord of Destruction", he is the greatest threat to present-day Eternia...
(
Frank LangellaFrank A. Langella Jr. is an American stage and film actor. His Tonys include two for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Edward Albee's Seascape , and Ivan Turgenev's Fortune's Fool , and for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon...
) have managed to seize control over
Castle GrayskullCastle Grayskull is a fortress located on the fictional planet Eternia. It forms a central location in the Masters of the Universe comic/animation universe, and also appears in the 1987 live action adaptation....
, and after defeating (off-panel) the biggest part of Eternia's armies, capture the Sorceress of Grayskull (
Christina PicklesChristina Pickles is a British-born American actress. She has appeared in such television shows as Roseanne, Matlock, Diagnosis Murder and Murder, She Wrote, as well as the soap operas The Guiding Light and Another World. Her most famous television role is that of Nurse Helen Rosenthal in the...
). Skeletor is planning to exploit Grayskull's hidden powers when the "Great Eye of the Galaxy", a portal in the castle's throne room, opens and Eternia's moon is correctly aligned with it.
The remaining Eternian forces are scattered and outnumbered. One of Skeletor's patrols is attacked by Eternia's greatest warrior and Skeletor's archenemy,
He-ManHe-Man is a heroic fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise. He is the alter ego of Prince Adam and also the twin brother of She-Ra...
(
Dolph LundgrenDolph Lundgren is a Swedish actor, director, model, and karateka.Well known for his tall stature and level of fitness, at peak, Lundgren stands at 6 ft 5 in and weighs over 240 lb...
), veteran soldier
Man-At-ArmsMan-At-Arms is the primary title of Duncan, a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise.-1980s:In the 1980s animated series, Duncan is an inventor, soldier and Teela's foster father, as well as mentor to Prince Adam...
(
Jon CypherJon Cypher is an American actor.Born in New York City, Cypher graduated from Erasmus Hall High School in 1949 and Brooklyn College in 1953. He is particularly remembered as Chief of Police Fletcher Daniels in Hill Street Blues, a role he played throughout the lifetime of the series, 1981-1987...
) and his daughter
TeelaTeela Teela Teela ("Warrior Goddess!" is a fictional character from the Masters of the Universe franchise. She is the Captain of the Royal Guard at the palace of Eternos and thus responsible for training and protecting Prince Adam of Eternia. While Adam is He-Man, Teela often assists him in his...
(
Chelsea FieldChelsea Field is an American actress. She played Teela in the 1987 film adaptation of Masters of the Universe. In a break from tradition and He-Man canon, she portrayed Teela as a brunette character wearing with a full costume with pants and sleeves.- Personal life :Field has been married to actor...
). During the battle, He-Man rescues a Thenorian inventor and locksmith named
GwildorGwildor is a fictional character from the popular Masters of the Universe franchise, he was introduced into the franchise after appearing in the 1987 Masters of the Universe film.Gwildor is a member of the Thenurians, a dwarf-like race of people...
(
Billy BartyBilly Barty , born William John Bertanzetti, was an American film actor, and one of the most famous 20th century people with dwarfism.- Biography :Barty, an Italian American, was born in Millsboro, Pennsylvania...
), who reveals to his rescuers his newest invention: a "Cosmic Key", which can open a portal to any location in time and space. Skeletor stole the key from him and used it to get into Castle Grayskull, but Gwildor kept the prototype. Gwildor leads the others into a secret passageway straight to the Castle before a field commander of Skeletor's armies named Karg could storm inside the house of the Thenorian.
At Grayskull, the group is surrounded by Skeletor and his troops. Gwildor uses his key to open a random gateway through which the group escapes to Earth, but on arriving there, the key is lost and the Eternians split up to find it. Nearby, a pair of teenagers named Julie (
Courteney CoxCourteney Bass Cox , also known as Courteney Cox Arquette, is an American actress, best known for her role as Monica Geller on the sitcom, Friends. Courteney has also starred in Dirt and the Scream series, and has guest-starred in Scrubs. She is currently starring in Cougar Town.-Early life:Born in...
) and Kevin (
Robert Duncan McNeillRobert Duncan McNeill is an American actor, producer, movie director, and television director who is best known for his role as Lieutenant Tom Paris on the television show Star Trek: Voyager.-Acting career:...
) discover the key in a crater and start pressing its buttons. At Grayskull, Skeletor's second-in-command,
Evil-LynEvil-Lyn is a fictional character in the popular Masters of the Universe toy line and the accompanying cartoon series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe....
(
Meg FosterMeg Foster is an American actress who starred as Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter , Ingrid in Ticket to Heaven and Holly in They Live .-Life:Foster was born in Reading, Pennsylvania...
), tracks the key to Earth and prepares a small team of mercenaries to recover it. They consist of Saurod, Blade,
Beast ManBeast Man is a fictional character in the popular toy line and cartoon series Masters of the Universe; the savage right-hand man of Skeletor, he has control over many wild creatures and has brute strength.-Figure:...
. Karg is appointed as their leader.
Kevin and Julie are spending the evening at their high school, because Julie is moving away that night following the deaths of her mother and father in a plane crash, and wants to say goodbye to Kevin and the rest of her friends. However, Kevin is curious about the key, and thinking it to be a Japanese
synthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument that is capable of producing a variety of sounds by generating and combining signals of different frequencies...
, takes it away to a music store to get a second opinion, leaving Julie alone. A portal then opens, with the mercenaries storming into the gym where Julie is, before she narrowly escapes. He-Man is searching nearby and hears Julie in distress. He-Man attacks the accompanying troops and saves Julie, and Man-At-Arms and Teela chase the mercenaries away. On their return to Grayskull, Skeletor is infuriated by the mercenaries' failure and kills Saurod. He then sends them back to Earth with a larger force under the command of Evil-Lyn.
Kevin returns to the school, which has nearly been burnt down from the melee. The detective on scene, Lubic (
James TolkanJames S. Tolkan is an American actor, often cast as a strict, overbearing, bald-headed authority figure.-Personal life:He was born in Calumet, Michigan, the son of Ralph M. Tolkan, a cattle dealer, and attended the University of Iowa, Coe College, the Actors Studio and Eastern Arizona College...
), takes Kevin to Julie's house to look for her. Over the phone, Julie reveals to Kevin the importance of the Cosmic Key, but Lubic confiscates it from Kevin, suspecting it to be stolen. Immediately afterwards, Evil-Lyn capture and interrogate Kevin, then leave to acquire the Key from Lubic. Julie, along with He-Man and his comrades, meet up with Kevin and then proceed to the aforementioned music store, where Lubic has taken the key for expert advice. Lubic suspects the Eternians to be responsible for the attack at the school and attempts to arrest them, but is interrupted by the arrival of Evil-Lyn and her troops. A battle ensues, during which Evil-Lyn, masquerading as Julie's dead mother (
Gwynne GilfordGwynne Gilford is an American actress. She appeared in several television series in the 1970s and 1980s, including A New Kind of Family, The Young Lawyers and The Waverly Wonders, and had a role in the 1987 film version of Masters of the Universe.Gilford was born in Los Angeles, California, the...
), persuades her to steal the key. Julie acquires the key, which Evil-Lyn uses to open another doorway through which Skeletor arrives on Earth.
He-Man manages to retrieve the Key back from Evil-Lyn, but Skeletor captures his friends and threatens to kill them all unless He-Man surrenders unconditionally. He-Man surrenders and returns to Eternia with Skeletor, but during the course of these events, Julie is fatally injured by Skeletor's magic and the second Key is damaged. Gwildor tries to repair it, but says that the tones needed to return to Eternia were erased. Kevin, an amateur musician, however, remembers them, and uses a keyboard to recreate the tones and open a portal. He is pursued by Lubic, who continues to seek the arrest of him and the Eternians.
On Eternia, Skeletor, tortures He-Man in order to persuade him to kneel before him, but He-Man refuses. When the Great Eye opens, Skeletor absorbs an enormous amount of power from the universe and is transformed into an armored warrior god. He continues to try to force He-Man to swear allegiance to him, but is interrupted by the arrival of He-Man's friends, Kevin and Lubic, who arrive through a portal that they managed to open. He-Man is freed, and along with his friends engages Skeletor's forces in combat, during which he breaks Skeletor's staff, causing him to lose his newfound powers. Skeletor continues to engage He-Man with his sword, but as a result, is vanquished by falling into a deep pit.
After He-Man's victory, Julie is healed by the Sorceress, and along with Kevin, says good-bye before leaving through a doorway back to Earth. When Julie awakens in her bed, she finds her parents downstairs, alive and well, about to take their fateful flight. Julie stops them from leaving and finds Kevin, who confirms their shared experiences was not a dream, and holds out a souvenir from Eternia: a blue, marble-sized sphere showing the image of He-Man.
After the credits roll, Skeletor's head pops out of the pink liquid at the bottom of the pit that he was thrown into and says "I'll be back!"
Production
The original draft of the script by David Odell was reviewed in episode 3 of the He-Man and She-Ra podcast,
Masters CastMasters Cast, the first He-Man and She-Ra podcast, is an Internet radio show that focuses on the highly popular Mattel action figure property, Masters of the Universe, often focusing on the cartoons and other literature based on the original toyline...
. The script revealed that the movie intended to be more faithful to the original source material. The original draft included more time spent on Eternia, Snake Mountain, Beastman had a speaking role, and even revealed that He-Man's mother was originally from Earth, thus linking the two planets.
Comparison with Jack Kirby's Fourth World
Comic book writer/artist
John ByrneJohn Lindley Byrne is a British-born Canadian-American author and artist of comic books. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on nearly every major American superhero....
compared the film to
Jack KirbyJacob Kurtzberg , better known by the pen name Jack Kirby, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor. Growing up poor in New York City, Kurtzberg entered the nascent comics industry in the 1930s. He drew various comic strips under different pseudonyms, ultimately settling on Jack Kirby...
's
comic bookA comic book is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog and often including brief descriptive prose...
metaseriesA metaseries includes stories which reference each other and some overall similar chronology, cast, and/or background, but are not similar enough to be considered direct sequels....
Fourth World The Fourth World is the popular name given to a metaseries of interconnecting comic book titles written and drawn by Jack Kirby and published by DC Comics from 1970 to 1973. Originally intended to form a finite epic story, the books were canceled for unknown reasons...
, stating in
Comic Shop NewsComic Shop News is a free weekly newspaper distributed throughout comic book specialty stores. It was launched in 1987 by Cliff Biggers and Ward Batty, both of whom continue to edit it today.- History :...
#497:
Director Gary Goddard clarified this in a letter appearing in
John Byrne's Next Men #26, in which he stated:
Brian Cronin, author of the "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed" column, concludes that "the film itself was not intended to be literally a reworked Fourth World, although the intent WAS to make the film a tribute to Jack Kirby - just a tribute to ALL of his work, not just the Fourth World."
Reaction
With a budget of $17 million, the movie grossed $17,336,370 in the U.S., and an additional combined $1.5 million in Germany and Australia. It is referred to as a "flop" by
VarietyVariety is a weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the Daily...
magazine, and has a 13% "rotten" rating at
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films. The name derives from the historical cliché of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad.- History :...
.
Sequels
Cannon Films intended to create a sequel, which is indicated after the end credits when it is revealed that Skeletor in fact survives his fall. The idea was abandoned when Cannon wouldn't pay for Mattel's fees and the production used the already-made costumes and sets for the improvised action movie
CyborgCyborg is a 1989 martial arts action sci-fi film directed by Albert Pyun. Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as Gibson Rickenbacker, an underdog street fighter who battles a group of sadistic outlaws led by Fender Tremolo along the east coast of the United States in a post-apocalyptic near future...
.
A new
He-Man movie directed by
John WooJohn Woo Yu-Sen is a Chinese film director and producer from Hong Kong. Recognized for his stylized films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, Hard Boiled, and...
was reportedly being developed, but despite many rumors circulating around the
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
regarding the film's production status and casting, the project was never officially green-lit. The film rights to He-Man have reportedly since reverted back to Mattel.
As recently as fall of 2008, there was a new feature film in development entitled
Grayskull: Masters of the Universe, produced by
Joel SilverJoel Silver is an American Hollywood film producer, director and co-inventor of the sport of Ultimate.-Biography:Silver grew up in South Orange, New Jersey. He attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey and Northfield Mount Hermon School, where he is credited with inventing the sport...
and written by Justin Marks. The film would reportedly employ
visual effectsVisual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot...
to a large degree, as was done with
300300 is a American action film adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller, and is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant...
. An alleged script has been leaked. Recently, the studio announced that
Kung Fu PandaKung Fu Panda is a American animated comedy film. It was directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne and produced by Melissa Cobb and stars Jack Black as Po. The film was produced by DreamWorks Animation's studio in Glendale, California and distributed by Paramount Pictures...
director John Stevenson will take on directing duties, probably with a new screenplay.
External links
Actors
Production