Masters of the Universe (1987)

The heroic warrior He-Man battles against the evil lord Skeletor and his armies of darkness for control of Castle Grayskull.

Director:

Gary Goddard

Writer:

David Odell

Stars:

Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, Meg Foster

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dolph Lundgren	...	He-Man
Frank Langella	...	Skeletor
Meg Foster	...	Evil-Lyn
Billy Barty	...	Gwildor
Courteney Cox	...	Julie Winston
Robert Duncan McNeill	...	Kevin Corrigan
Jon Cypher	...	Duncan (Man-at-Arms)
Chelsea Field	...	Teela
James Tolkan	...	Detective Lubic
Christina Pickles	...	Sorceress of Castle Grayskull
Tony Carroll	...	Beastman
Pons Maar	...	Saurod
Anthony De Longis	...	Blade (as Anthony DeLongis)
Robert Towers	...	Karg
Barry Livingston	...	Charlie

Storyline

On the planet Eternia, Skeletor and his dark army overthrow the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull expecting to acquire her power. He-Man, his old friend Duncan "Man-at-Arms" and his daughter Teela are attacked by Skeletor's soldiers and they defeat them. They also rescue their prisoner, the inventor and locksmith Gwildor. He explains that he was lured by Evil-Lyn that used his invention the Cosmic Key to open the gates and seize the Castle Grayskull. He-Man and his friends retrieve the prototype of the Cosmic Key trying to release the Sorcereress but they are defeated by Skeletor and his army and Gwildor uses his key to open and portal for them to flee. They come to Earth but lose the key. Meanwhile, Julie Winston, who grieves the loss of her parents in a plane crash, and her boyfriend Kevin Corrigan find and activate the key, believing it is a foreign musical instrument. On Eternia, Evil-Lyn locates the Cosmic Key and Skeletor sends her with a group of mercenaries and soldiers to ...

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Plot Keywords:

magical sword | good versus evil | villain | superhero | key | 

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Taglines:

The live-action motion picture

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Warner Bros [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 August 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Masters of the Universe: The Motion Picture

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,883,168, 9 August 1987, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$17,336,370

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$100,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golan-Globus Productions, Edward R. Pressman Film, Cannon Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min 139 min (workprint)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Albert Pyun had planned to film a sequel to "Masters of the Universe" (with professional surfer Laird Hamilton replacing Dolph Lundgren as He-Man) at the same time as Spider-Man. Right before filming was to begin, Mattel and Marvel revoked the rights to both properties due to non-payment by Cannon Films. Cannon was going bust as a company, as a result of the 1987 stock market crash on junk bonds (which Cannon had used extensively to finance films) and poor financial management. To recoup some of the money spent on sets, costumes and props for both films, Cannon had Pyun quickly get a script written, Cyborg, for one of Cannon's promising new action stars, Jean-Claude Van Damme; although Pyun had Cannon regular Chuck Norris in mind to star. There has been some confusion over the years in some television listings for Cyborg (1989), with it being billed as "Masters of the Universe 2: Cyborg". This led some to speculate that the script for the proposed sequel had been rewritten for Cyborg. In reality, it was because of the connection of both productions during the demise of the Cannon Films studio.

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Goofs

Throughout the movie, particularly in the beginning with one of the first fight scenes, He-Man appears to have a gash on his upper chest/shoulder area. It switches from right to left and back again several times.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: At the center of the universe, at the border between the light and the dark stands Castle Greyskull. For countless ages, the Sorceress of Greyskull has kept this universe in harmony. But the armies of darkness do not rest, and the capture of Greyskull is ever most in their minds. For with those that control Greyskull, will come the Power... The power to be supreme... the power to be almighty... the power to be... Masters of the Universe!

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Crazy Credits

After the closing credits have ended, Skeletor's head, sans cowl, pops up from the waters of the pit he was thrown in, and says "I'll be back!".

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Connections

Referenced in Nostalgia Critic: Heavy Metal (2012)

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Soundtracks

Waitin' Up
Written and Performed by George Highfill (as George High Hill)
Courtesy of Enigma Records

User Reviews

I have the Power!! Oh wait. No i don't.

I was 9 when this first came out. I was amazed, excited and in awe. It was he-man! In real life! But then I started to think 'Wheres battle cat?' 'where are all skeletors henchmen?' 'why the hell isn't this set on eternia?' 'He-man can pick up mountains. Why is he getting his ass so beaten?'. And so it continued. The annoying midget took the place of Orko, was the icing on the cake! The problem with this film is, basically, that it was released 2 years too late. He-Man was hot in 1985. His popularity was on the wane. They also changed far too much. I know they probably relocated the story to Earth for budgetary reasons (a scrap yard is a cheaper place to have a battle than a 'mystical swamp'), but they could have at least kept skeletors old henchmen. Only Beastman survived and he was pretty lame. And don't get me started on the others. Aside from its cheapness and derivative nature, there are so many things wrong with this film. It is so unambitious. He-Man had the potential to weave a believable universe. It had established characters and conventions, it had mysticism and technology and a super hero lead. When you change that much you please no one. Fans of the original are disappointed and non fans have no interest. The only decent change they made was to include Mr Strickland from back to the future. That guy kicks ass! At least in the She-Ra movie they kept things the same. Now that was a tie in (note: Irony).