Masters of the Universe: Origins

[yojoebro82]

I love the 80's MOTU Movie. I watch it multiple times a year. It shocked me as a kid though, because it was nothing like the cartoon, toys, mini comics, or artwork from MOTU. And I just kept wondering "where is Battle Cat".

The three major toy lines of the 80s were MOTU, GI Joe, and Transformers and all three of those movies threw me for a loop at 6 years old.

The fact that it was live action aside, MOTU movie's aesthetics were completely different than the cartoon. "Skeletor isn't blue? What?"

GI Joe had already introduced me to the multiverse given that the comic and cartoon were both different continuities. Now, suddenly there were snake people in the cartoon? What?

Oh my God! They killed off all of the 84 line of Transformers figures! What?

And yet I watched all of those movies over and over and over again. Coping with those changes built character in 6 year old me.

 

[NORM]

I’ve still never seen the original live action Masters of the Universe movie.

 

[Damien]

I’ve still never seen the original live action Masters of the Universe movie.

Why do you hate me, personally?


MOTU '87 is so good. Genuinely one of my favorite movies of all time and I've watched it literally dozens upon dozens of times. Considering when it came out, it definitely gets far, far too much hate. I think people forget what fantasy movies in the mid-80s tended to look and 'feel' like. Compared to many of them, this was a damn masterpiece of cinema.

I'm ready for I guess what you'd call a more faithful adaptation of the material into movie form, but I will always love the '87 movie dearly.

 

[AceofKnaves]

The 87 movie had so many things I love:
-a Kirby-esque Eternia
-more “serious” reads on the characters than the cartoon
-best version of Skeletor in any media
-NO PRINCE ADAM YAAAAAAAY!!
-scary monster guys
-great Evil-Lyn

But it also had things that even as a 9 year old made me VERY ANGRY:
-EARTH?!?!? NO NO NO
-bargain versions of the Evil Warriors
-EARTH?!?!! HAVE I MENTIONED EARTH?
-no Battle Cat

Like seriously when they did the first cut to Earth I thought the film had been incorrectly spliced. I sat there in disbelief.

Still love watching the film for its good parts, but I will never forget the shock and disappointment of watching it the first time.

 

[Mr_Saver]

I love the 80's MOTU Movie. I watch it multiple times a year. It shocked me as a kid though, because it was nothing like the cartoon, toys, mini comics, or artwork from MOTU. And I just kept wondering "where is Battle Cat".

Hey, speaking of the 80's MOTU Movie. Mattel, why don't you give us Blade, Saurod, and Gwildor to help knock off some of that vintage collection you promised you'd finish.

But I'm honestly really excited about this new MOTU Movie next year. And I'm excited to see all the merch and how it's handled. There is supposedly even going to be a Prequel Animated Series.

Which is crazy, because this movie is supposed to show Prince Adam as a child, get sent to Earth to escape Skeletor killing him, and then he returns to Eternia once he grows up and finds the Sword of Power.

So, is the cartoon going to just be about Randor and Keldor before Adam is born? Maybe when King Miro is still alive and ruling.

I think this is mostly why it gets grief. Most fans watched it as kids when you wanted to see the characters you knew from the cartoon in a movie so it’s sort of instantly disappointing when you’re 5

 

[Damien]

The 87 movie had so many things I love:
-a Kirby-esque Eternia
-more “serious” reads on the characters than the cartoon
-best version of Skeletor in any media
-NO PRINCE ADAM YAAAAAAAY!!
-scary monster guys
-great Evil-Lyn

But it also had things that even as a 9 year old made me VERY ANGRY:
-EARTH?!?!? NO NO NO
-bargain versions of the Evil Warriors
-EARTH?!?!! HAVE I MENTIONED EARTH?
-no Battle Cat

Like seriously when they did the first cut to Earth I thought the film had been incorrectly spliced. I sat there in disbelief.

Still love watching the film for its good parts, but I will never forget the shock and disappointment of watching it the first time.

Yeah, I don't disagree with most of this. I'm way easier on it than I was as a kid (although I did still love it as a kid - it was He-Man, after all). As an adult I understand why there's no Orko, no Battle Cat, none of the crazier monster people, even why it wasn't entirely set on Eternia. As a kid, not knowing any of that insider stuff, it just seemed like they changed things for no reason and that upset me for sure.

Also, Beastman and Temu Tri-Klops chasing Julie through the school was legitimate nightmare fuel for very little me. And Langella was -absolutely- the best Skeletor. Such a performance. I can still recite his god speech on demand.

 

[Super Camel]

I’ve still never seen the original live action Masters of the Universe movie.

NORM! What the Hell man?

 

[Justice]

I’ve still never seen the original live action Masters of the Universe movie.

You aren't missing much. I never saw it as a kid, thankfully. I know I would have hated it back then. I saw it for the first time a few years ago and thought it was just ok, but definitely nothing I will ever watch again.

 

[yojoebro82]

Also, Beastman and Temu Tri-Klops chasing Julie through the school was legitimate nightmare fuel for very little me. And Langella was -absolutely- the best Skeletor. Such a performance. I can still recite his god speech on demand.

He took the roll because his son was into MOTU. He said he really enjoyed the part and gave it his all. It showed.

I'm actually fine with Dolph Lundgren as He-Man as well. He did his own stunts and worked with a dialect coach (the originally wanted to dub over him). I just think he adds the classic 80s action hero vibe to the whole thing. That opening scene where you see He-Man's back as the Skeletor hologram is addressing the people is just a bad ass intro.

I'm not a big Super 7 guy, but I have their movie He-Man and standard version of Skeletor and they are a couple of my favorite figures in recent years.

My favorite of the Skeletor henchmen was Saurod, yeah, he was nightmare fuel. But of course he's the one that gets vaporized.

 

[Damien]

He took the roll because his son was into MOTU. He said he really enjoyed the part and gave it his all. It showed.

True story that you may or may not know already; Viggo Mortensen was originally going to turn down the role of Aragorn in PJ's Lord of the Rings trilogy because he didn't know anything about it and it didn't sound interesting to him. It was his son, a big LOTR fan, that convinced him to do the movie. Viggo not only agreed, he read the books, kept them with him on set, and actually became a big fan himself.
Let's give a big 'hey-ho' to all the nerd kids out there that got us some of our best nerd-related movie performances.

Also agree about Lundgren. He's terrific as He-Man and I'm ACTIVELY a bit sad that he's not going to play Randor in the new movie (although I am a HUGE fan of James Purefoy, so I'll be okay).

Saurod looked really cool. Of course, being a sword guy from birth, Blade was my dude. I almost liked him more than He-Man sometimes. The only cast members/characters I remember actively disliking as a kid were Karg and Lubic. The former because I didn't understand what the point of him was and he was a gross looking little doofus that couldn't even fight He-Man or do magic. To this day I still don't give a shit about Karg. Didn't like Lubic just because he was a random earthling guy that somehow got a lot of screen time without actually being all that plot-relevant (at least Kevin existed in the movie for a reason).

 

[AceofKnaves]

He took the roll because his son was into MOTU. He said he really enjoyed the part and gave it his all. It showed.

I’m legitimately a massive Langella fan (I watched the 1979 Dracula film he stars in, like, maybe a couple months before I saw the MotU movie and was SO CRAZY EXCITED that Dracula was Skeletor) and I’ve even seen him do Strindberg’s The Father live on stage, and damned if I don’t think his Skeletor is actually one of his greatest roles of all time. And his chemistry with Meg Foster is off the chain. Fantastic stuff.

I'm actually fine with Dolph Lundgren as He-Man as well.

Agreed. He’s great in the role, very mini-comics He-Man, which is my favorite He-Man.

To this day I still don't give a shit about Karg.

Heheheheh I’ve done some theatre over the years with the daughter of the actor who plays Karg.
. . . I don’t give a shit about Karg, either.

 

[yojoebro82]

Saurod looked really cool. Of course, being a sword guy from birth, Blade was my dude. I almost liked him more than He-Man sometimes. The only cast members/characters I remember actively disliking as a kid were Karg and Lubic. The former because I didn't understand what the point of him was and he was a gross looking little doofus that couldn't even fight He-Man or do magic. To this day I still don't give a shit about Karg. Didn't like Lubic just because he was a random earthling guy that somehow got a lot of screen time without actually being all that plot-relevant (at least Kevin existed in the movie for a reason).

Yeah, Karg kind of sucked, Skeletor should have vaporized him and left Saurod alone. Karg headed up the team that come back empty handed, he was the one running his mouth when they got back, giving excuses.

Evil Lynn was great. Even as a kid I knew that was a trick with her pretending to be the mom in the alley. but the scene played really well.

I could take or leave Lubic. At the time I just took for granted that he was in all the movies I watched (Back to the Future, Top Gun).

And Kevin went on to be Star Trek's Tom Paris.

 

[Damien]

Yeah, Karg kind of sucked, Skeletor should have vaporized him and left Saurod alone. Karg headed up the team that come back empty handed, he was the one running his mouth when they got back, giving excuses.

Evil Lynn was great. Even as a kid I knew that was a trick with her pretending to be the mom in the alley. but the scene played really well.

I could take or leave Lubic. At the time I just took for granted that he was in all the movies I watched (Back to the Future, Top Gun).

And Kevin went on to be Star Trek's Tom Paris.

I feel like somewhere deep in the minds of the creators, maybe Karg was more important originally? Like he was the 'tech guy' for the team that was going to figure out something with the cosmic key or whatever, and that's why he had to be left alive for the time being? It seems fairly well known that quite a lot of idea-level stuff was left on (or never made it to) the cutting room floor. And we'll never know what all of that stuff is, which is such a shame.

I was in my teens before I even realized Lubic was in other stuff. Child-me never made that connection at all. He was just the annoying human guy that seemed to be doing most of the Man-at-Arms stuff, and I found that annoying.

I imagine Julie also went on to probably do more acting roles, but who knows where she ended up. Probably barely scraping by in some local theatre. Poor thing.

 

[docsilence]

Just got a few of these shipped my way and it's funny, I'm both waning on interest with Origins, like I think I'm pretty happy with the collection as it stands, but the shipment includes Bow and Shadow Weaver so it's actually two NEW characters to the collection instead of repaints/reworks so my enthusiasm's kicked up. I think I might be burned out on cartoon collection figures that repeat existing figures though - I'm wildly meh on Whiplash but didn't cancel him anyway.

 

[Super Camel]

Just got a shipping soon e-mail for Fright Zone from BBTS. I shall now join you all in Frightening Zone ownership. I'm pumped.


Also, I agree docsilence. Sometimes I feel a little burnt out too when we get Cartoon figures of characters we already got from the more toy inspired section of Origins. I really just want Mattel to finish the vintage 80's collection in Origins form, and I do want any new first-time characters that weren't part of the 80's toy line, but even those I'd prefer to look more like they are based on the toy line, like the upcoming Sting-Or figure for example.

And it's about to get worse lol. Because we will start all over again now with the 200X Cartoon line. Once again getting characters we already have figures of, just in a different look. It does make you feel burnt out a bit when you keep getting the same character over and over. But at the same time, I love MOTU so much I can't pass up on any of it.