I first watched this film in the 80's, as a child who was already a big fan of the franchise. I enjoyed the cartoon and I had a lot of the action figures and other toys. When I saw the film I was as happy as I was disappointed, before I go into that, and provide a review, let me tell you something about the film.
A long time ago in a distant galaxy (sound familiar?), evil Skeletor (Frank Langella) is mounting an attack on Castle Greyskull, a fortress of goodness and power supreme. The castles protector, the Sorceress Christina Pickles), has been captured by Skeletor, and only He-Man (Dolph Lundgren), the sorceress's champion and defender of good could save the day. He-Man is currently fighting his way to the castle with the help of Man-at-Arms (Duncan) (Jon Cyper), and his daughter, Teala (Chelsea Field) - head of the kings guard. On the way to the castle they have an accidental meeting with Gwildor (Billy Barty), an inventor and locksmith. His invention, a cosmis key, has allowed Skeletor the advantage in his attack on Castle Greyskull, Skeletor is hunting him to prevent him from inventing something to rival the original invention, little does Skeletor know, he's already made a duplicate key. A fight ensues, and in order to save themselves; Gwildor uses the cosmic key and opens a gateway, taking the good guys to Earth. In order to return to Eternia, the good guys have to work with native Earthlings - Julie (Courtney Cox) and Kevn (Robert Duncan-McNeil), while trying to stop them; Skeletor has opened a gate too and sends his henchmen. Can He-Man and his friends get back to Eternia and prevent Skeletor from becoming the master of the universe?
So then, first of all this is a decent fantasy - if you forget that the characters are based on cartoons, which are ultimately based on toys. The plot isn't that taxing or complex which makes it easy for a younger audience to follow, which will be run of the mill though, and familiar to older audiences. Other than Dolph Lundgren's acting as He-Man, the rest of the cast are conceivable and deliver well - notable mention to James Tolkan as Detective Lubic for playing a wise cracking hardened detective well. The choreography is generally quite cheesy and predictable, but it doesn't look stupid. The musical score by Bill Conti is actually really good, and Gary Goddard as director manages to push the film thematically and as a motion picture spectacle in a decent direction. The problems arise when you have a vested interest as a fan. I remember sitting in the theater thinking that He-Man didn't look right or sound right, the other characters didn't look or sound right, some characters and technology were made up for the film and didn't previously exist, and some were completely omitted. There were Stormtrooper like armies that Skeletor commanded (new and made up), there were characters missing such as Orco and Battlecat (albeit, these two would have been hard to execute as CGI character in the 80's). In fact, it's fair to say, the characters and places which did exist originally were just name sakes rather than a filmatic duplicate of what fans had come to expect. Writing all this makes me sound like an old fanboy with a chip on his shoulder about this film, but I truly enjoy it, maybe it's just nostalgia that drives that enjoyment but it's definitely not the worst film ever.
To summarise, if you like fantasy films that look like a cross between Star Wars and Flash Gordon with a twist of Back to the Future technology, then you'll find some enjoyment in this. I've got to give it 7 out of 10, because "I have the power"... to award it that much ;) Enjoy!
A long time ago in a distant galaxy (sound familiar?), evil Skeletor (Frank Langella) is mounting an attack on Castle Greyskull, a fortress of goodness and power supreme. The castles protector, the Sorceress Christina Pickles), has been captured by Skeletor, and only He-Man (Dolph Lundgren), the sorceress's champion and defender of good could save the day. He-Man is currently fighting his way to the castle with the help of Man-at-Arms (Duncan) (Jon Cyper), and his daughter, Teala (Chelsea Field) - head of the kings guard. On the way to the castle they have an accidental meeting with Gwildor (Billy Barty), an inventor and locksmith. His invention, a cosmis key, has allowed Skeletor the advantage in his attack on Castle Greyskull, Skeletor is hunting him to prevent him from inventing something to rival the original invention, little does Skeletor know, he's already made a duplicate key. A fight ensues, and in order to save themselves; Gwildor uses the cosmic key and opens a gateway, taking the good guys to Earth. In order to return to Eternia, the good guys have to work with native Earthlings - Julie (Courtney Cox) and Kevn (Robert Duncan-McNeil), while trying to stop them; Skeletor has opened a gate too and sends his henchmen. Can He-Man and his friends get back to Eternia and prevent Skeletor from becoming the master of the universe?
So then, first of all this is a decent fantasy - if you forget that the characters are based on cartoons, which are ultimately based on toys. The plot isn't that taxing or complex which makes it easy for a younger audience to follow, which will be run of the mill though, and familiar to older audiences. Other than Dolph Lundgren's acting as He-Man, the rest of the cast are conceivable and deliver well - notable mention to James Tolkan as Detective Lubic for playing a wise cracking hardened detective well. The choreography is generally quite cheesy and predictable, but it doesn't look stupid. The musical score by Bill Conti is actually really good, and Gary Goddard as director manages to push the film thematically and as a motion picture spectacle in a decent direction. The problems arise when you have a vested interest as a fan. I remember sitting in the theater thinking that He-Man didn't look right or sound right, the other characters didn't look or sound right, some characters and technology were made up for the film and didn't previously exist, and some were completely omitted. There were Stormtrooper like armies that Skeletor commanded (new and made up), there were characters missing such as Orco and Battlecat (albeit, these two would have been hard to execute as CGI character in the 80's). In fact, it's fair to say, the characters and places which did exist originally were just name sakes rather than a filmatic duplicate of what fans had come to expect. Writing all this makes me sound like an old fanboy with a chip on his shoulder about this film, but I truly enjoy it, maybe it's just nostalgia that drives that enjoyment but it's definitely not the worst film ever.
To summarise, if you like fantasy films that look like a cross between Star Wars and Flash Gordon with a twist of Back to the Future technology, then you'll find some enjoyment in this. I've got to give it 7 out of 10, because "I have the power"... to award it that much ;) Enjoy!