Masters of the Universe (film)

Masters of the Universe (film)
Masters of the Universe (stylized as Masters of the Universe: The Motion Picture) is a 1987 American superhero film directed by Gary Goddard, produced by Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan and written by David Odell. It features Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, Jon Cypher, Chelsea Field, Billy Barty, Courteney Cox, Robert Duncan McNeill and Meg Foster.
It is based on the Mattel toy line of the same name and tells the story of two teenagers who meet He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe, and his friends, who arrive on Earth by chance from their home planet Eternia and go on a mission to save the universe from their enemies, Evil-Lyn and Skeletor.
Masters of the Universe was released theatrically in the United States on August 7, 1987. It was a critical and commercial failure, grossing $17 million worldwide against a budget of $22 million, but is now regarded as a cult film. Though referred to by many as the "first" He-Man movie, The Secret of the Sword, released over two years earlier as an introduction to He-Man's twin sister She-Ra, was actually first theatrically released movie to star He-Man and feature Masters of The Universe characters.
Plot
On the war-torn planet Eternia, the evil warlord Skeletor has seized control of Castle Grayskull, the center of power in the universe. His army has scattered the remaining Eternian defenders and Skeletor has captured the Sorceress of Grayskull, imprisoning her within a power-draining field and planning to seize power over the entire universe by the next moonrise. Skeletor's archenemies - the warrior leader He-Man, veteran soldier Man-At-Arms and Man-At-Arms' daughter Teela - rescue the Thenorian locksmith Gwildor from Skeletor's troopers. Gwildor reveals that Skeletor has acquired his invention: a "Cosmic Key" that can open a portal to anywhere by utilizing musical notes. The device was stolen by Skeletor's second-in-command, Evil-Lyn, allowing Skeletor to breach Castle Grayskull.
With Gwildor's remaining prototype of the Key in hand, He-Man and his friends travel to the Castle. They attempt to free the Sorceress but are overwhelmed by Skeletor's army and forced to flee through a hastily opened portal via Gwildor's Cosmic Key, transporting them to Earth. The Key is lost upon their arrival and discovered by two California teenagers - orphaned high school girl Julie Winston and her boyfriend Kevin Corrigan. While experimenting with the device, they accidentally transmit a signal that allows Evil-Lyn to track it. She then sends Skeletor's henchmen Saurod, Blade, Beast Man and Karg to recover it.
Kevin, an aspiring musician, believes the Key to be a new Japanese synthesizer and takes it to a music store run by his friend Charlie. Back at the school, Skeletor's henchmen arrive through a portal and chase Julie until she is rescued by He-Man, who is in search of the Key. The henchmen retreat to Grayskull where, incensed by their failure, Skeletor kills Saurod and sends the others back to Earth, with a larger force under Evil-Lyn's command. Back on Earth, Kevin returns to the school to find police investigating the damage caused by Skeletor's men, and no sign of Julie. Kevin is then taken to Julie's house by Lubic, a detective investigating the disturbance. They find no trace of her at the house, but Lubic is suspicious of the Cosmic Key, which he suspects Kevin may have stolen. Lubic confiscates the Key and leaves for Charlie's music store to verify Kevin's story. Immediately afterward, Evil-Lyn and her team break into the house and interrogate Kevin regarding the Key's location using a mind-control collar, before pursuing Lubic.
Julie and the Eternians arrive and release Kevin from the collar, then pursue Lubic and the Key. They arrive at Charlie's store, but Skeletor's forces catch up with them and a pitched battle ensues. Evil-Lyn recovers the Key and summons Skeletor to Earth. Skeletor's forces capture the Eternians and Julie is wounded by Skeletor's lightning blast, which simultaneously erases the memory storage of Gwildor's Key. He-Man surrenders to save his comrades and is returned to Eternia as Skeletor's slave. Skeletor attempts to torture He-Man into submission to make his victory complete, but He-Man refuses to yield. The moment arrives for Skeletor to receive the power of the cosmos and declare himself the Master of the Universe. He uses his new powers to attempt to force He-Man to kneel.
Back on Earth, Gwildor repairs the Cosmic Key and Kevin re-creates the tones necessary to create a gateway to Eternia. The group, including Lubic as he attempts to arrest them, are transported to Castle Grayskull, where they begin battling Skeletor's forces. Resenting that Skeletor absorbed the power of the Universe without sharing it with her, Evil-Lyn deserts him along with his other henchmen. He-Man retrieves the Sword of Grayskull and he and Skeletor begin a final battle, in which he shatters Skeletor's staff, restoring him to his normal state. He-Man offers mercy, but Skeletor draws a concealed sword and attempts to kill He-Man. As Skeletor lunges at him, He-Man knocks Skeletor into a vast pit below. The freed Sorceress heals Julie and Gwildor opens a portal to send the Earthlings home. Hailed as a hero for his bravery, Lubic decides to remain on Eternia.
Back on Earth, Julie awakens on the morning of her parents' deaths in a plane crash. Realizing the Key has transported her back in time, she prevents her parents from taking the ill-fated flight by taking their keys, then runs outside to find Kevin. He confirms that their experiences were real, producing a souvenir from Eternia: a small blue sphere containing a scene of He-Man in front of Castle Grayskull with his sword raised above his head.
In a post-credits scene, Skeletor's head emerges from the water at the bottom of the pit, saying "I'll be back!"
Cast
Dolph Lundgren as He-Man
Frank Langella as Skeletor
Courteney Cox as Julie Winston
Barry Livingston as Charlie
James Tolkan as Detective Hugh Lubic
Christina Pickles as Sorceress
Meg Foster as Evil-Lyn
Chelsea Field as Teela
Jon Cypher as Man-At-Arms
Billy Barty as Gwildor
Robert Duncan McNeill as Kevin Corrigan
Anthony De Longis as Blade
Tony Carroll as Beast Man
Pons Maar as Saurod
Robert Towers as Karg
Peter Brooks as Narrator
Richard Szponder as Pigboy
Production
Development and writing
One of the original drafts from the script by David Odell (whose previous writing credits include Supergirl and The Dark Crystal) was reviewed in the third episode of the He-Man and She-Ra podcast, Masters Cast. The original draft included more time spent on Eternia and Snake Mountain, had Beast Man in a speaking role and revealed that He-Man's mother was originally from Earth, like the character Queen Marlena from the Filmation animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, thus linking the two planets.
Describing her character, Foster said Evil-Lyn is not villainous, "she is just doing her job and she knows how to get results, even if it means being harsh". Langella agreed, calling her a female more dedicated to Skeletor's cause than any man; she is obsessive around him because she loves him. The filmmakers considered having Foster wear contact lenses to mask her naturally pale blue eyes, but decided they fit the character better. They augmented her chest, fitting cleavage into the costume. She wanted Evil-Lyn to have a long hairstyle, rather than the short style featured in the film; Mattel objected, considering it too far a departure from the toy.
When offered the role, Langella said that he "didn’t even blink…I couldn't wait to play him". He cited his then-four-year-old son's love of Skeletor while running around his house yelling He-Man's battle cry "I have the power!" as the reason he played He-Man's archenemy.
Filming
According to director Gary Goddard, Mattel caused problems for the production crew by not paying their half of the production budget on time. A member of staff was forced to put lens caps on cameras on several shooting days, to prevent any more filming from taking place. Due to the production running out of budget, Goddard had to finance the filming of the battle scene between He-Man and Skeletor himself. Only Lundgren and Langella were present along with a skeleton crew, with the set's lighting made dark to emphasize the actors' presence.
Mattel was also initially very controlling over how He-Man was depicted in the film, insisting that the character could not appear doing anything morally wrong (such as swearing or killing). Sales of He-Man toys dipped in the middle of production, after which Goddard noted that Mattel relaxed their rules and allowed the director to have more liberties with the character.
During filming, Mattel held a contest for children for a chance to appear in the film. Richard Szponder won the competition, but his victory was announced as filming was nearing completion. All the scenes taking place on Earth had been shot, so Goddard cast him as the minion character Pigboy, who holds Skeletor's staff as he returns to Grayskull.
Two sound stages needed to be connected to film the interior of Castle Grayskull, with matte paintings filling in the pits of the central walk-way. Unhappy with Lundgren's reading of He-Man's dialogue, Goddard initially planned to have Lundgren's dialogue dubbed over by another actor, but was not permitted to do so due to contractual reasons. Lundgren's dialogue was subsequently re-recorded and dubbed over the original footage to better meet Goddard's standards.
Jack Kirby inspiration
Comic book writer/artist John Byrne compared the film to Jack Kirby's comic book metaseries Fourth World, stating in Comic Shop News #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."
Music
Soundtrack
The musical score of Masters of the Universe was composed by Bill Conti. It was recorded by several European orchestras, chiefly the Graunke Orchestra of Munich (the only one to be credited on the soundtrack album) and conducted by a number of conductors, chiefly Bruce Miller and Harry Rabinowitz (Rabinowitz received sole credit). Conti did not conduct his score because it could not be recorded in the United States as "there was a musicians strike or something like that…So it went to various places." He and the score mixer Dan Wallin assembled the score from the various recorded takes, because there were problems with the orchestral performances ("We didn't have anything that went from beginning to end without a problem").
The soundtrack album was released on record, cassette, and compact disc by Varèse Sarabande in 1987; it was subsequently issued in an expanded version by Edel. In 2008, La-La Land Records released a two-disc edition with the complete score and the original album presentation; in 2012, Intrada Records issued the complete score (the entirely of disc one and tracks 1–5 on disc two) on one disc.
Home video
Masters of the Universe was released on DVD October 23, 2001. A 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Disc was released by Warner Home Video on October 2, 2012.
Reception
Box office
Prior to releasing the film, The Cannon Group touted Masters of the Universe as the Star Wars of the 1980s. Despite releasing alongside the height of the success of the toy line, animated series and related merchandise, Masters of the Universe began as the third-highest-grossing film of the weekend in North America on August 7, 1987, earning $4,883,168, behind Stakeout ($5,170,403) and The Living Daylights ($7,706,230). It quickly left the charts, with a North American gross of $17,336,370.
The film was released in the Philippines by Solar Films on September 10, 1987.
Critical response
Masters of the Universe received generally negative reviews from critics and holds a 22% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 27 reviews. The critical consensus reads: "Masters of the Universe is a slapdash adaptation of the He-Man mythos that can't overcome its cynical lack of raison d'etre, no matter how admirably Frank Langella throws himself into the role of Skeletor." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 35 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Variety called it a "Conan-Star Wars hybrid ripoff" that is "a colossal bore." Walter Goodman of The New York Times wrote, "If you liked the toy, you'll love the movie." Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times called it "a misfiring, underdone epic." Johanna Steinmetz of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the film, while predictable and derivative, entertains audiences through its side plots set on Earth.
Several reviewers praised Frank Langella's portrayal of Skeletor, including Rose DeWolf in the Philadelphia Daily News (though saying his costume looked like a Halloween mask) and Roger Hulburt of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
In a retrospective review, Glenn Heath Jr. of Slant Magazine called it a "jarring mix of corny screwball comedy and choppy action heroics." Chris Eggertsen of HitFix, in an article identifying the film's campy, positive qualities, called it "an objectively bad film with a big heart." Joshua Winning of Digital Spy wrote, "…beloved of '80s kids but scorned by critics, it's a high camp oddity that we should celebrate on its own terms."
Actor Frank Langella told the press he loved playing Skeletor and worked very hard to make the role as exciting as possible, remarking that it was a positive experience.
Legacy
The commercial failure of Masters of the Universe, among other films such as Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Lifeforce, contributed to the eventual closure of Cannon Films. Cannon Films had intended to create a Masters of the Universe sequel, indicated by the end credits with a revelation that Skeletor survives his fall. The sequel, titled Masters of the Universe 2: Revenge of the Beast, was written; the script featured He-Man returning to Earth to battle Skeletor, who had returned to Earth and possessed the body of a big business entrepreneur named Dark, taking control of the technology of Dark Industries in a new effort to take over the universe. On Skeletor's trail, He-Man was to take on the guise of a professional quarterback to pursue his enemy undercover. Pro surfer Laird Hamilton was set to replace Dolph Lundgren as He-Man. With a low budget of $4.5 million, the sequel was to be directed by Albert Pyun, consecutively with the aborted Spider-Man movie. The project was abandoned when Cannon was unable to pay Mattel's fees. The already-made costumes and sets were instead utilized for the low-budget sci-fi film Cyborg, which led to this film occasionally being screened as Masters of the Universe II: The Cyborg.
Masters of the Universe was Lundgren's first leading role in a feature film following his success in Rocky IV and he later labeled it as his least favorite film role. Conversely, Langella considers Skeletor one of his favorite roles.
Skeletor's question to He-Man ("Tell me about the loneliness of good, He-Man. Is it equal to the loneliness of evil?") is slightly reworded in the crossover comic miniseries, Injustice vs. Masters of the Universe.
Reboot
A new He-Man film directed by John Woo was reportedly being developed in 2004, but despite many rumors circulating the Internet 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 to Mattel.
In September 2009, Sony took over the rights from Warner Bros. to produce the live-action adaptation after Mattel and producer Joel Silver, who was previously involved with a potential film, couldn't agree on creative direction for the film. Sony and Escape Artists' Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch were to start developing the project from scratch for Columbia Pictures. In April 2010, Sony hired screenwriters Mike Finch and Alex Litvak to draft a new script. Warner announced that John Stevenson, director of Kung Fu Panda, would direct the upcoming feature. On May 12, 2009, it was announced that the scripting duties had been handed to Evan Daugherty, with Stevenson still attached to direct.
In late 2012, it was reported that Jon M. Chu was in talks to direct the film. Original He-Man actor Lundgren did an interview with IGN about a possible role in the film as King Randor. On October 12, 2012, Richard Wenk was hired to rewrite the script for the film. On March 28, 2013, Chu said that the film is still early in the experimentation and also it won't be campy but an origin story. On October 7, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Terry Rossio would script and that Black, Blumenthal, and Tisch would produce the film and it would be set on Eternia; the report stated Chu would not direct the film.
On January 10, 2014, Schmoes Know reported that Joe Cornish (Attack the Block), Rian Johnson (Looper), Andrés Muschietti (Mama), Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders (The Croods), and Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The Lego Movie) were named as frontrunners to direct the film. On February 26, it was reported that directors Mike Cahill, Jeff Wadlow, Harald Zwart, and Chris McKay are on the short list to direct. On April 9, Schmoes Know reported that Wadlow would direct the film, but The Hollywood Reporter announced that he's rewriting the script of the film.
On August 19, 2015, it was announced that Chris Yost had been hired to write the film.
On January 22, 2016, Deadline reported that McG would direct the film and would also oversee a rewrite of the latest script by Alex Litvak and Mike Finch, while Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch as well as DeVon Franklin were on board as producers. On June 24, 2016, Kellan Lutz tweeted that he had scheduled a meeting with both McG and Mary Viola about the role of He-Man. On April 27, 2017, it was announced that the film would be released on December 18, 2019. At the same time, McG left the film and David S. Goyer was hired to rewrite the script.
In December 2017, it was reported that Goyer was now set to not only write but direct the film. In February 2018, Variety reported that Goyer had decided to step away as director to focus on other projects, but he would remain on board as an executive producer and screenwriter and the studio was said to be very happy with the script he turned in and was currently meeting with potential replacements. Carlos Huante, a creature designer and former artist at Industrial Light & Magic who also worked on the original Filmation cartoon, was hired by Goyer to work on his film; however, in an interview, Huante said that Sony felt that Goyer's script would be too expensive to bring to life as Goyer intended for the movie to be on the epic scale of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and that his ideas for the film would no longer be used.
In April 2018, Variety reported that the Nee Brothers (Aaron and Adam Nee) would direct the film. In January 2019, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway were brought in and it was announced that they would rewrite a new draft for the film. Principal photography on the film was scheduled to begin in mid-July 2019 in Prague. On March 20, 2019, it was reported that Noah Centineo was in talks to play He-Man with Centineo confirming a month later on April 29, 2019, that he had been officially cast to play He-Man. Sony then announced that the film's release date would be changing to March 5, 2021. In January 2020, the film was pulled from Sony's release schedule, with its March release date filled by Uncharted (which was later pushed back several months). In April 2021, it was reported that Centineo exited the film, vacating the role of He-Man. On January 28, 2022, it was announced that Netflix had officially acquired the film from Sony and that Kyle Allen would now play He-Man. It was also revealed that Dave Callaham had written a new draft of the screenplay along with The Nee Brothers. Filming will now be scheduled to begin in New Mexico in 2023.
References
Sources
External links
1987 films
1980s fantasy adventure films
1980s science fiction films
1980s superhero films
American fantasy adventure films
American science fantasy films
American superhero films
American sword and sorcery films
1980s English-language films
Films about orphans
Films about time travel
Films about witchcraft
Films adapted into comics
Films based on Mattel toys
Films based on television series
Films directed by Gary Goddard
Films scored by Bill Conti
Films set in 1986
Films set in 1987
Films set in New Jersey
Films set on fictional planets
Films shot in California
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films set in castles
Golan-Globus films
Live-action films based on animated series
Masters of the Universe
1987 directorial debut films
Sword and planet films
Films produced by Menahem Golan
Films produced by Yoram Globus
Films with screenplays by David Odell
Alien visitations in films
1980s American films