When considering a classic 80s/90s toy marketing machine cartoon turned live action film, one would be hard pressed to look past the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live action film from 1990. But I will ask you to look further back. Look a few years further through the neon shimmering void and into 1987.
The 80s had A LOT of action toys marketed to, mostly, young boys. “HEY KIDS! YOU WANNA BE ROUGH AND ROWDY? THEN SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!” Cue miscellaneous beefed up action figure toy rotating into view.
But seriously, GI Joe, Transformers, Ninja Turtles, MASK, COPS and more. They all had their moment on TV and the toy store shelves. But they were all the spawn of the mighty MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (MOTU) brand. None of the above had bigger pecs and a cooler pet than He-Man. Alas, by 1987 the market had become uber saturated with He-Man toys and thus the brand did dwindle, making way for the above to take over.
Interestingly, MOTU was actually a toy brand first. The cartoon mutated out of a comic book, drawn up in aid of sales for the toy line. They had to create a universe to tie together the battles between He-Man and Skeletor in the advertisements. A gutsy, daring and totally unique concept that PAID OFF.
That was in 1983. Cut to four years later, to 1987, and we finally have Masters of the Universe, the live action feature, starring none other than Dolph Lundgren as He-Man. Now I know we’re all excited for the new Masters of the Universe film on the cusp of release, but it’s important we take time to acknowledge our elders and the stories they carry.
MOTU 1987, though unfortunately released a little too late after the He-Man hysteria had quietened, is not only a super underrated visual feast, but it’s a time capsule back to when filmmakers were cowboys and THEY GOT IT DONE. Filmed on a budget of just $22 million, with a box office total of roughly $17 million, this movie contributed to the demise of Cannon Films, alongside the outrageously poor Superman IV.
They had never put up that kind of money for a film before. In fact, the last few million were squeezed out of the company after production took a temporary hiatus simply to find more money. Cannon Films weren’t just filmmakers, they were hustlers, and that’s what brought us some of the most underrated and forgotten 80s gems in cinema history.
Let me list a few titles for you: Bloodsport • Cobra • Masters of the Universe • Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 • Delta Force • Missing in Action. Guys, those are pinnacle titles. Chuck Norris doesn’t get cast in films, he casts the film… unless it’s made by Cannon.
However, I digress. Yes, MOTU 1987 sank the boat with a creeping budget due to cast costs and technical demands. Interestingly, MOTU 87 and MOTU 26 have something in common. Large portions of both films take place on Earth. MOTU 87 was rewritten to cater to a limited budget, whereas MOTU 26 appears to use Earth as a story requirement despite its reported $200 million budget.
The original script took place on Eternia and even featured Battle Cat, but there was simply no way to produce that vision without millions more. Keep in mind, there are internal Castle Grayskull sets that are genuinely impressive, and even the external Eternia sequences are remarkable considering the budget limitations.
I remember being about six or seven and seeing this at the cinema, almost shtting my pants* because it felt HUGE and genuinely scary as Skeletor took over Grayskull. I didn’t even notice Battle Cat wasn’t in it, which is both a testament to the film and a reflection of my oblivious child self.
Essentially, Grayskull is taken over by old mate Skeletor, Evil Lyn and a bunch of other semi-MOTUish “budget limitations” monsters not from the cartoon. He-man, Teela, Man-At-Arms and another “budget limitations” variant of the classic character, Orko (but in this case named Gwildor) escape via a portal to Earth. The portal was created via Gwildor’s magical “cosmic key” that becomes the “macguffin” (Google it) everyone is chasing throughout the film. Skeletor wants the key for power, He-Man needs the key to get home, Courtney Cox HAS the key because she found it… Um in a cemetery.
Yes, Courtney Cox is in this film at a very young age. She stumbles into the He-Man insanity when she finds the key laying on the ground in the cemetery when visiting her parents gravestones.
After a series of hijinks, budget beating technical FX, chase sequences and a final showdown between He-Man and Skeletor (that was famously shot after a production break, for next to no money) good returns to the throne of Eternia and Cox is sent back to a time before her parents died.
LOOK, I know it’s not perfect. You are compromising if you’re a hardcore He-Man fan sitting down to watch a fish out of water MOTU live action movie. But damn it, this film has a tonne of heart. It’s just a fun time from start to finish. Not “fun” because I have nothing else positive to say, but fun because 90 minutes felt like 30 and I was thoroughly entertained.
For anyone who enjoys the production side of filmmaking, this movie is a showcase of determination. Dolph performed all of his own stunts, the crew battled failing props, impossible deadlines, toy company demands and even a production shutdown. Yet somehow they still delivered a polished, entertaining and heartfelt adventure.
Masters of the Universe isn’t just an old 80s movie about He-Man. It’s an exhibit of cinema history, a time capsule from an era when small cowboy film studios took enormous risks to create larger than life spectacles. Most importantly, it’s a film I still remember watching as a six year old kid in the cinema almost scene for scene.
Oh, critics didn’t like it? Yeah… who was that target audience? ME. And I still love it to this day.
Sit down with a bevvy and some mates to watch MOTU 87 before or after you see MOTU 26. If nothing else, it’s worth seeing what 40 years and $180 million can do for film production.
Review by James J