Masters of the Universe (1987)

Somehow, Dolph Lundgren portrayed He-Man brilliantly!

This was an epic classic. And it had a young Courtney Cox!

Masters of the Universe, at least the cartoon and toys, were one of the reasons I am so happy I had a childhood in the 80s... along with GI Joe and Star Wars, they were some of the most defining things of 80s childhood play.

And then this came out and we all felt a little cheated that we had a knock-off Orco, but totally excited that we had a movie we could see on the big screen. And we were young enough to not see how low the budget was.

But, man, Frank Langella really sold his role didn't he? He brought his A-Game to this and knocked it out of the park.

And Chelsea Field deserved better roles, she's never been bad in any of her films, even this low budget fair.

But, watching it as an adult... it's a lot more B-Movie than it was when I was a kid, and the nostalgia and, well, Langella, are all that's really carrying it. But it's still fun. It still entertains, and is still all that matters.

**The glorious "greasy sci-fi" of the 80s: who doesn't miss the days when a rough rubber mask was a good idea in a movie?**

I'm not really a comic connoisseur. It was only when I read about this film that I realized that the characters had been taken from that literary universe and from a line of action toys created by the American company Mattel. This is something that helped me to understand the sheer confusion and goofiness of this film, which I think only toy fans will truly appreciate.

The best thing about this movie is the cast. There are some very respectable actors here, and their commitment and talent is remarkable, raising the quality of a cheesy movie quite a bit. Frank Langella's involvement is particularly good. He gave life to the great villain, a being called Skeletor, who looks like Darth Vader in the day he decided to go to Halloween dressed as Death. The character himself isn't impressive, he's a huge cliché without any intimidation ability, but Langella is really enjoying and having fun with this work. On the opposite side is Dolph Lundgren, a herculean and apparently invulnerable young man who came out of the world of combat sports, who doesn't know how to play and has the dramatic qualities of an avocado, but who manages to respond to what is asked of the character. Meg Foster, the proud owner of one of the most beautiful pairs of eyes of her time, has a charisma of her own and does a very good work.

But let's be honest, is anyone going to see a movie just for the cast? I do not think so. It's a good argument, but it doesn't take anyone to the theatre by itself. Does the movie have anything else? Do you have qualities? Is it really worth it? There are audiences for all types of cinema, including kitsch, trash and B cinema. The proof of this is the success of some films that would never convince a person with the least amount of good taste. Therefore, I believe that lovers of “oily sci-fi” will be delighted with this magnificent piece of cheese with a very characteristic taste of the 80s. We have everything: stilted action scenes, choreographed like a Russian ballet, extraordinarily cheap special effects, “DIY” level, a very poor script, characters reduced to sketches, dialogues more melodramatic than a Mexican soap opera, crude make-up (Langella's mask is particularly bad) and many laser shots, in the golden age of lasers and neon. One last word for the soundtrack, bloated and arrogant like a 16-year-old on steroids.