Heading to Kanopy where you can stream it for free with a library card on April 24th is 1987’s Masters of the Universe. Directed by Gary Goddard, the film stars Dolph Lundgren as He-Man along with Frank Langella, Courteney Cox, James Tolkan, Christina Pickles, and Meg Foster. The film was the first live-action movie in the Masters of the Universe franchise but was both a critical and commercial failure. However, in the decades since, fans have come to have a fresh appreciation for the film, elevating it to cult classic status.
Masters of the Universe Is a Classic ‘80s Sword and Sorcery Fantasy
Image Courtesy of The Cannon Group
Look, no one here is going to try to convince you that the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie is cinema. It’s arguably not even a good movie and the critics were fairly accurate in their assessment of it being corny and fully of choppy, campy action. However, that’s a huge part of the film’s charm. Masters of the Universe fully embodies everything about the excess of the 1980s. The movie has a big, comic booky feel to it and everything feels a little plastic and a lot oversized. Sure, the story is a little out there — two teenagers meet He-Man who has travelled to earth with his friends in an effort to stop the evil Skeletor from obtaining a cosmic key that will allow him to take over not just their home planet Eternia, but the entire universe — but that’s what makes it great. It’s larger than life. It’s got big action and high stakes and a little bit of otherworldly adventure for the teens wrapped up in things.
The film also gives us something truly outstanding in Langella’s Skeletor. Not only is he fantastic in the role, but you can tell he’s enjoying every single scene that he’s in, something that elevates the villain in ways that the animated portrayals of the character just can’t touch. If we’re being honest, the one thing about the upcoming reboot that we’re not sure about is Jared Leto’s Skeletor, not because Leto can’t pull him off, but because Langella set the bar so high that we’re not sure anyone can ever be that good. Langella himself has even previously said that he considers Skeletor to be one of his favorite roles of his career. With the reboot on its way, now is the perfect time to experience the delight that is the character for yourself — and for free. Oh, and bonus: the original animated series is also available to stream for free on Tubi this month as well.
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