Masters of the Universe (1987)

[Pink Ranger]

It was an early crossover.He-Man meets John Hughes.

You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a winged warrior, and an ocean warlord, and a savage henchman, a warrior goddess, and a cosmic enforcer. Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Masters Of The Universe.

 

[Dark Raven]

Yeah. I remember even as an 8 y/o being disappointed that she was wearing that full body,powder blue jumpsuit,unlike the cartoon style "swimsuit".

For an 80s movie, where it wasn't all about being gritty and realistic at the time, I found this quite disappointing that Teela would be so dressed up in battle armour. I wanted the swimsuit too. Even in Return of the Jedi they had Leia in her slave outfit, and many other women in barbarian outfits in sword and sorcery movies.

If we couldn't get it in the 1980s, when things were a little less PC, what chance do we have of Teela dressing like that now?

And what are the chances of her ever dressing like this?

 

[Human Torch]

I think back then it was more a case of "Think of the children!" since He-Man was known primarily as a cartoon/toy line.

Nowadays, it'll never happen because of PC. A woman showing bare legs automatically is deemed as being "objectified". But,not to worry. We'll be sure to get our bare chested He-Man in his furry briefs at any rate. To the delight of women and gay men everywhere.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Nowadays, it'll never happen because of PC. A woman showing bare legs automatically is deemed as being "objectified". But,not to worry. We'll be sure to get our bare chested He-Man in his furry briefs at any rate. To the delight of women and gay men everywhere.

Those aren't furry briefs. There's no manscaping on Eternia.

 

[Panthro]

10 Things You Didn't Know About Masters of the Universe -

http://whatculture.com/film/10-things-didnt-know-masters-universe.php


Among other things, Dolph Lundgren was almost dubbed, and apparently director Gary Goddard (who never made another film) and someone at Mattell really wanted to have him dubbed, 'cause ya know, compared to such powerfully articulate fellows like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, Dolph was practically mumbling the whole time.

The director also apparently really wanted Matthew Modine to be He-Man. Not really feeling that idea...

 

[norse_sage]

Very interesting, thanks for the link!
Which reminds me, any idea when we might see the "Toymasters" documentary?

 

[Brian Braddock]

Yeah. I remember even as an 8 y/o being disappointed that she was wearing that full body,powder blue jumpsuit,unlike the cartoon style "swimsuit".

Hell, to this day I'm disappointed. Although we do get a pretty sweet 1 second jumpsuit ass shot.

 

[Dark Raven]

I think back then it was more a case of "Think of the children!" since He-Man was known primarily as a cartoon/toy line.

Nowadays, it'll never happen because of PC. A woman showing bare legs automatically is deemed as being "objectified". But,not to worry. We'll be sure to get our bare chested He-Man in his furry briefs at any rate. To the delight of women and gay men everywhere.

Well how can that be, when the cartoon showed Teela in a swimsuit and her action figure, if you could find it, also had her wearing that?

I wish we would just get more of a swords and sorcery type MOTU film where everyone can be fully barbarian and dress the part without having to be clad in full body jumpsuits. Even TV shows like Xena had women in barbarian outfits which showed off their legs and a decent amount of skin.

 

[Human Torch]

Well how can that be, when the cartoon showed Teela in a swimsuit and her action figure, if you could find it, also had her wearing that?

I wish we would just get more of a swords and sorcery type MOTU film where everyone can be fully barbarian and dress the part without having to be clad in full body jumpsuits. Even TV shows like Xena had women in barbarian outfits which showed off their legs and a decent amount of skin.

For some reason,it seems to work on the same principle as the comics/cartoons. You can have Wonder Woman in the swim suit on "super friends", but when a live action version comes out...well then everyone loses their minds!

It seems to me there's always been this kind of misplaced concern over "protecting" little boys from seeing the female form. We're not giving boys a chance to appreciate them from a young age. That's why you get more boys growing up interested in the same team,these days. Give boys a reason to have an interest in women again.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Dang it, if only there was some way for young males to be able to access images of nude or nearly-nude women, possibly via some kind of electricity-powered device. Oh well, mankind can only dream.

 

[Human Torch]

Dang it, if only there was some way for young males to be able to access images of nude or nearly-nude women, possibly via some kind of electricity-powered device. Oh well, mankind can only dream.

I was kinda hoping for something a little more in line with "family entertainment", but point taken.t:

 

[Pink Ranger]

I was kinda hoping for something a little more in line with "family entertainment", but point taken.t:

In any event, Ariana Grande is doing her part for the boys of America, and then some. Seriously, give that girl the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

[Schlosser85]

Frank Langella's "I...am...a...GOD!!!!" belongs among the greatest villain monologues ever.

 

[Sundancer]

I was always disappointed that we got guys like Blade and Saurod when you could have used established characters.

 

[Pink Ranger]

I was always disappointed that we got guys like Blade and Saurod when you could have used established characters.

I don't mind Blade so much, we got an awesome MOTUC action figure out of him. It would have been nice to see at least one more established henchman besides Beastman. Come on, Mer Man is a core character.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I was always disappointed that we got guys like Blade and Saurod when you could have used established characters.

True... But De Longis is an actual master swordsman so that ALMOST made up for it. He looked so badass in the film, one of the few things that don't need nostalgia goggles for me to say, "That looks good still."

 

[Dark Raven]

True... But De Longis is an actual master swordsman so that ALMOST made up for it. He looked so badass in the film, one of the few things that don't need nostalgia goggles for me to say, "That looks good still."

So is Tri-Klops, and he could've played that role instead of Blade.

Even Beastman didn't look anything like his comic or toy counterpart.

It's like they were lacking a budget, which was in fact the case going by that article above.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Like I said it ALMOST made up for my disappointment that familiar characters weren't used.

 

[Loki882]

My biggest problem with it is the same problem that I had with the 2011 Green Lantern film. You have this cool and pretty unique "alien" world, and you hardly spend any time there. I want to see He Man kicking ass on Eternia, not running around New Jersey with Monica from Friends.

On the positive side, Frank Langella was great as Skeletor and Meg Foster is really good as Evil-Lyn as well (and boy does she make evil look sexy). In fact, the villains really are the best part of this movie. Dolph Lundgren certainly LOOKS the part, but I don't think that he quite had the charisma to pull off playing He Man.

 

[Dark Raven]

My biggest problem with it is the same problem that I had with the 2011 Green Lantern film. You have this cool and pretty unique "alien" world, and you hardly spend any time there. I want to see He Man kicking ass on Eternia, not running around New Jersey with Monica from Friends.

On the positive side, Frank Langella was great as Skeletor and Meg Foster is really good as Evil-Lyn as well (and boy does she make evil look sexy). In fact, the villains really are the best part of this movie. Dolph Lundgren certainly LOOKS the part, but I don't think that he quite had the charisma to pull off playing He Man.

According to that article above, Cannon Films didn't have the money to do Eternia justice, which is why they set it on earth. They even had Mattel put up half the money, and then failed to live up to their end of the deal and wanted Mattel to put up the other half.

And apparently the final battle between He-Man and Skeletor was nearly not finished because of production costs etc, and that didn't bother them. They were just going to have them fight and then the film fades out.

 

[Airwings]

I was always disappointed that we got guys like Blade and Saurod when you could have used established characters.

Agree. Among the good ones, Fisto wouldn't be that difficult to translate to live action.

So is Tri-Klops, and he could've played that role instead of Blade.

Apparantly, they "changed" the name on some classic characters and also re-designed them. I don't believe it was for creating new, cool action figures. It was all about the budget.

I don't mind Blade so much, we got an awesome MOTUC action figure out of him. It would have been nice to see at least one more established henchman besides Beastman. Come on, Mer Man is a core character.

So is Tri-Klops, Trap-Jaw, Stratos and Ram Man.

I wonder how they (including Orko) would have looked if they appeared in the film.
I know it's too much to ask for, but maybe a skilled artist among you wants to do some work on this?

 

[Rowsdower!]

My biggest problem with it is the same problem that I had with the 2011 Green Lantern film. You have this cool and pretty unique "alien" world, and you hardly spend any time there. I want to see He Man kicking ass on Eternia, not running around New Jersey with Monica from Friends.

I don't think that's an accurate comparison though. GL has always returned to Earth and done battle with enemies in his homeworld. Granted, the best GL stories are usually the ones that take him out to Oa and other worlds, however, it's not exactly inaccurate to have him earthbound for the majority of the movie.

He-Man, on the other hand, never visited Earth to my knowledge outside of this movie.

 

[Mr.M]

Never realized Langella was Skeletor until coming in here.

 

[Dark Raven]

Never realised Langella played any other role apart from Skeletor until coming in here.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Langella's Skeletor is a great old school mustache twirler.