In 1982, Mattel released a line of action figures known as Masters of the Universe. A science fantasy/sword-and-planet series, the toys had the mythos of a warrior called He-Man, who alongside his fellow heroic Masters, battled the evil Skeletor and his...Evil Warriors. Yeah, this stuff was hardly War and Peace. The toys would become a massive success, mainly thanks to the animated series, which ran 130 episodes. But animation would not be the only medium the franchise would appear in. Comic books, role-playing games, video games...and in 1987, a live-action film was made that starred Dolph Lundgren as He-Man. That film was a critical and commercial failure, but it's become regarded as a cult classic, and Frank Langella's portrayal of Skeletor was greatly praised.
While the franchise never reached its 1980s peak, it never really went away. For example, the Masters got another animated series in the 2000s that I personally thought was great. And it's got a couple animated miniseries on Netflix. I think those were good, too. This year, the Masters will return to the big screen with its second live-action film. Travis Knight takes the director's chair and English actor Nicholas Galitzine will be calling the power of Grayskull. Let's look at the trailer!
I've got to admit, Castle Grayskull looks pretty good. Although I am not really the biggest fan of everything looking washed out color-wise in Eternia. Really takes away from the idea of this place being this other world of adventure and magic.
Something about Eternia has always fascinated me, the idea that there's this land where sorcerers and monsters can co-exist alongside robots and aliens. Where magic and science are both the order of the day. I want to write a novel set in a world like that.
They missed out on an opportunity to put Cringer in place of Leo the Lion in the MGM logo. Maybe they'll do that in the actual film. At least, I hope so.
So, they're homaging the 1987 film by having Earth involved. Huh.
And you know certain people are losing their minds over this harmless minor gag. The guy is literally called HE-Man. Calm down.
The surname "Glenn" is an Easter Egg. In the 1980s cartoon, He-Man's mom was an Earth astronaut named Marlena Glenn.
That's an odd thing to say. People like hobbies. As long as he concentrates on his job at work time, I don't think that's much of an issue.
I like the nod to the 80s cartoon with the pink shirt.
"We're in a futuristic flying craft! How can it get any weirder?!"
I didn't recognize Man-at-Arms because of his armor. It should have had the orange-and-green of the original cartoon and toy.
Looks like we'll get lots of action. That's good. This is an action franchise, after all.
Skeletor looks good. Shame it's Jared Leto. Hopefully Knight was able to keep him on a very tight leash. How does that man keep getting work?! Does he have blackmail on various studio executives?!
Anyway, this looks...rather interesting. I don't doubt this will be a fun 'turn-off-your-brain' movie. Not everything has to be a somber examination of the human condition after all. I don't know if this will become a cult classic like the 1987 film was, but it would not surprise me if it does. I think I'll give it a watch. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!
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