When the original 1987 Masters of the Universe film debuted in theaters, it wasn’t exactly embraced by critics or audiences. Cannon Films was nearing the end of its run, and the film itself was plagued by problems. Director Gary Goddard approached the film in a way quite different from the cartoon series.
For better or worse, Masters of the Universe has become quite the cult classic. As for me, I’ve always been a huge Dolph Lundgren fan, and this film is quite wild. It’s far from perfect and has several issues, but it’s still an absolute blast. Toy Robot is the new sub-label from Arrow Video, and they’ve delivered a pretty impressive two-disc set featuring the film’s first domestic 4K release.
When Skeletor (Frank Langella) and his army storm Castle Grayskull, Eternia’s greatest evil finally appears poised to claim ultimate power. But He-Man (Dolph Lundgren), Man-At-Arms (Jon Cypher), Teela (Chelsea Field), and Gwildor (Billy Barty) escape through a portal, landing on Earth and inadvertently losing the powerful Cosmic Key along the way.
Unfortunately for them, two unsuspecting Earthlings, Julie Winston (Courteney Cox) and Kevin Corrigan (Robert Duncan McNeill), stumble upon the device and mistake it for a strange musical instrument. Now, with the Cosmic Key in the wrong hands, Skeletor unleashes his forces to hunt down He-Man and recover his ticket to absolute power!
Masters of the Universe takes quite a few liberties with the source material, so, naturally, fans were upset. There was no BattleCat or Orko, and very little Eternia. Not all the effects worked, and the final battle between He-Man and Skeletor was a bit lackluster, but it never takes away from the fun.
Lundgren is just fine in the lead, but we all know how brilliant Frank Langella was as Skeletor. In fact, the entire cast is fully committed, and that commitment always shines through. The 4K transfer is vibrant and crisp, and this is exactly the type of film the format brings to life.
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This is another one I received for review without packaging, so I’ll move on to the special features. The two-disc set includes archival commentary with director Gary Goddard, a behind-the-scenes featurette, a theatrical trailer, a teaser trailer, a stills gallery, and a production design gallery on one disc.
The second disc really knocks it out of the park with the newly restored “preview version” of the film, which runs just over four minutes longer and brings back some great character moments that help smooth out the story and character arcs. There’s a new commentary on this version of the film by William Stout, along with interviews with Stout, Anthony De Longis, and Robert Duncan McNeill.
As a fan of Cannon Films and Dolph Lundgren, I love the content they’ve included. I’m happy to see the classic fantasy adventure film get a release backed by the Power of Grayskull.
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