I live in NJ and trust me it's as close to Eternia as you could possibly imagine, monsters running amuck, everything covered in slime, muscle men walking around with their shirts off, you name it!

As a fan of Cannon Films this was actually really good for a Cannon Production. Also Bless Frank Langella for wanting to be Skeletor because his son was a He-Man Fan.

Saw the movie just before my birthday with my friends at a two screen theater in Easton PA. That theater is now a Retro Fitness that plays 80s movies while you exercise. Cosmic alignment right there.

“...Langella’s Skeletor would ham it up like ham was going out of style & the only way to save it was to make more ham” THIS IS GOLD!!!

Seeing all the film titles listed on that 1987 box office chart filled me so much nostalgia that my heart almost exploded. Man, the 80s really were a magical time.

I remember I was 7 or 8 when I saw this film on video and I was all like "this isn't he-man!" to my family, and accused them of lying about the movie lol

Say what you will about the final product, but I love the production design of this movie. The sets, costumes, and props all look fantastic. And as others have noted, it helps that Frank Langella knew exactly what kind of schlock he was in, and chewed the scenery like it was made of bubblegum. How can you not love a movie where the villain yells "Let this be our final battle!" right before his climactic fight with the hero?

Frank L. Is amazing as skeletor. His lines are fantastic and the best parts of the movie. Meg Foster is great too. He may be too old now but if there was an ideal casting for Dr. Doom it would be Frank L.

I will never understand the hate this movie garnered. I saw it in the theater as a child and loved it. Adult me still loves it, as I watch it at least once a year. The movie's great.

I've always had a ton of fun with this movie. And the score is great

Doing filming, the high school they were filming in got burnt down when the fire got out of control doing the battle between He-Man and Skeletor's minions. Moments after that scene, you can see the fire trucks driving towards the burning school. You probably can find that video on UKposts, check it out. By the way, the special effects in this movie are real great. It's a shame it didn't have a bigger budget for it to take place in Eternia.👍

The intro to that movie was one of my favorite intros of all time.

One fun fact that I learned about this movie is that one of the cast members is Robert Duncan McNeill. For those of us who are Star Trek Fans, he was best known for playing Lieutenant Tom Paris in Star Trek: Voyager. He also appeared in Star Trek TNG as Cadet Nicolas Locarno.

After watching this I get the feeling like you are trying insinuate that New Jersey is somehow responsible for the failure of the He-man movie? As someone who is from New Jersey not only am I completely insulted by this accusation but I also realize you are absolutely correct. New Jersey has been the downfall for many great things in this world...

No References to it's stellar human cast? Courtney Cox and Robert Duncan McNeill? Okay, they were not big names back then, but Cox would go on to earn... I'm guessing trillions, on Friends and McNeill will forever be Tom Paris from Voyager. Seriously- that's already pre-written on his tombstone.

I was this many years old(43)when i found out that Masters Of The Universe wasn’t based on the He-Man cartoon.It all makes sense why it turned out the way it did now.Mind blown🤯 Youve taught me something yet again.Bravo Toy Galaxy.....bravo

As a kid I was disappointed with the movie. But looking back it's a fun 80's action film. If you take HeMan as you know him out, and just watch the flick, it's a lot of fun.

I still remember winning tickets to the movie from a colouring in competition in the local paper. I remember being so excited to see it, then really confused after I did with all the random changes....

Masters of the Universe is the best Jack Kirby's Fourth World movie we will ever get.

Masters of the Universe was actually the first movie I ever saw in theaters. I was 5 and it was amazing (to me) It still holds a special place in my dark heart

I'm pleased to say that I saw it in a small local theater here in Cape Town South Africa in 87. I was 6 and just happy to see the live action version. I do remember wondering why Orko and Battlecat were missing and why it was set on earth with lame humans 🤷🏻‍♂️

I saw Masters of the Universe on T.v when I was in High School and I loved, Frank Langella made a captivating Skeletor, way better than the cartoon version. I think It wouldve made more money if they had stuck more closely to the He- man mythology, I think the studio stretched their resources too thin and ended up losing out.

Frank Langella played that Skeletor role very well. Everyone else I didn't like in that movie.

7:50 Robocop, The Lost Boys, Beverly Hills Cop II, Full Metal Jacket, The Untouchables, Adventures in Babysitting... What a great time to be a cinema goer~

I remember seeing this in the theatre. I loved it, but just couldn't wrap my head around why it had nothing to do with the cartoon show. Now I know.

I basically spent the 80s watching Cannon films. So damn bad they were all classics. That weekend my dad too me to see Masters and Robocop. Ahhhh good times.

I saw this film with my father when I was 6. The local mall had a theater with a sticky floor. It was great. I still like this movie and watch it every five years or so.

I remember being in the theater and when it jumped to the Earth scenes, even my 7 yr old self wondered if I was watching the right movie or if somebody “switched the films” upstairs. Bonus points for multiple New Jersey jokes in the same video that isn’t about a Kevin Smith film.

I remember seeing this in the theatre when I was 7 and obsessed with all things He-Man. To say I was... CONFLICTED would be the understatement of a lifetime.

I didn't see it at the movies but I remember my mom renting it for my brother and I after it came out. As a kid I actually liked it and didn't see what was so bad that everyone hated it. It was fun and goofy and I had a good time. Plus I really liked Langella's Skeletor.

I like how He Man in this movie looks like an 80's hair metal barbarian like Ator or the Beastmaster.

I was still playing with He-Man toys when this movie was released, but still I never saw this movie until I was 40. Even 10-year-olds were saying this movie sucked when it came out, and Transformers were delivering the goods.

The Jersey setting explains He-Man's mullet.

I always have and always will, absolutely and unwaveringly, love and support Masters of the Universe 1987! I even held a watch party in my new apartment on the 30th anniversary of its theatrical release! Also, let's not forget, the actors who played the teenagers found themselves some mega prime-time success within 7 years of the film's release..it was not a total failure!

'In Eternia we don't say good video we say good journey.' ;)

I didn't own the VHS of this until I found it this year at a local comic con. I grew up watching a tape one of my dad's co-workers recorded when it aired on Showtime. They stopped it before the MOTU credits ended and went to Pee Wee's Big Adventure. When I saw it in the theater, we didn't stay for the end of the credits. Imagine how surprised I was when this movie was released on DVD, and I watched it with the commentary track right out of the package. Mind = blown over the He-Man movie post credits scene I discovered in my early 20s.

I saw it in theaters as a child, I loved he-man so it was okay, I just kept thinking, who the hell is that weird dwarf.

I did my part! I saw that movie twice in theaters, and rented it at least 2 dozen time (to the chagrin of my entire family) from Phar-mor. Even though I loved the cartoon, I remember not at all caring that the movie took place on Earth. I was just so happy to see a He-Man movie, they could have done anything and I would have loved it. Frank Langella's Skeletor was so good, and that performance alone is worth watching this movie.

I watched the movie as a child with my sister in a small cinema in Bebra, Germany. That was the first time ever, that we were alone in a cinema screening. No other audience showed up. I totally liked the movie at that time and still have an earworm from the soundtrack. What a pity the movie was not successful.

I've got 'Masters of the Universe' new, watched only once by myself on laserdisc. And it feels a little dirty to say that.

It's got engaging performances from everyone in the cast.

I take it setting the sequel on Earth was an attempt to keep from building another VERY expensive Castle Greyskull set?

The Cosmic Key...I can imagine Megatron turning green with envy at all that potential power at Bonehead's grasp

I saw this film in the theater. I was old enough that He-Man wasn't in my toy box much anymore, but the story and costumes seemed alright to me. I didn't hate it, perhaps even had some fun with it!

the movie was filmed in Southern California. Eternia was Vasquez Rocks. I use to play there often as it was only a half hour away from Santa Clarita where I lived. I think "New Jersey" was Whittier? They scouted some places in Iceland early on before the money dried up...

I was born in 81' and gotta say I like this movie. I watched it as a kid and still watch it today.

He Man was my childhood . I would hold my imaginary sword up and scream by the power of Greyskull

12 year old me was excited to see this in 87. 12 year old me walked out of the theater pissed off. I grew up in NJ and I couldn't figure out why it was set in NJ.

Frank Langella! To this day blows me away how amazing he was!

I watched it on VHS. It was one of the first VHS tapes completely in English (no subtitles) we had at home.

Canon Films gave us so much in the 80's and early 90's that it's hard not to give them a pass for this and Superman IV. Delta Force, Death Wish, Over the Top, scores of ninja movies. The list goes on and on. But maybe Dolph should have played Nuclear Man in Superman IV instead.

Loved this movie. Growing up, I saw it on cable numerous times. When my daughter turned 5 I introduced her to this movie. Was fun reliving it with her.

I remember my parents renting the Masters of the Universe vhs tape for me as a kid. I'm only twenty-one, so I didn't grow up at the peak of the franchise, but I watched the 2000's show, and that told me enough that it wasn't that good of a film. I still like it as a smorgasbord of 80's action and aesthetic, but I couldn't ever love it.

Cyborg was an ok movie. Imagine my surprise when I found out it was originally meant to be a MotU sequel

My folks never took the bros and I to see any of the movies based on the cartoons/toy lines/popular culture of our generation. I had to wait until this was out on VHS - and then I had to wait even longer for my folks to actually get a VCR. One rental later, and suddenly, we were hearing about this cool new series about ninja turtles.

This movie is ALL kinds of Nostalgia for me. The bulk of the Earth scenes were filmed in my hometown of Whittier, CA. I remember as a kid the excitement that filming MOTU in OUR town brought (although we DID find it odd that a fantasy movie about castles, monsters, and magic was being filmed in a small sleepy suburb in LA, it kind of gave us a heads up of where the script was headed). We went to go see the filming and props when it was filmed. Shortly after the movie was filmed and released, we experienced the Whittier earthquake of 1987, which devastated A LOT of the buildings in the area that it was filmed. So now, every time I see it being played on tv, the nostalgia doubles for me for both just being the MOTU, AND that i can see portions of the town I grew up in BEFORE the earthquake! on a side Note, James Tolkan, who was in MOTU, was also in ALL of the Back to the Future movies, which parts 1 & 2 were partially shot in Whittier as well, so im sure he is well aware of the town.

I grew up watching the movie on VHS. Then subsequently bought it on DVD and then Blu-ray. Acts 1 and 3, aka the stuff on Eternia, are pretty great. Act 2 the middle of the movie in Jersey sucks until Skeletor arrives on Earth. Learning about the backstory of the movie, I'm coming to understand Canon Studio Shady dealings, and learning that a lot of the movie was inspired by Jack Kirby's New Gods and fourth world comics make the movie infinitely more enjoyable. Also learning good Frank langella took the role because of the children and his family and their enthusiasm for He-Man, and learning that Skeletor happens to be his favorite performance of his career, also make the movie that much more enjoyable to experience. Also, saurod and beastman looked awesome. And Meg Foster as evil Lyn was rather attractive in a disturbing and intimidating kind of way.

When I was 7 yrs old, I remember seeing the trailer on TV and then the toys at store and I was offended by it all. I pretty much wasn't interested in He-Man as much. I expected this is how it would be from then on. I just watched the film for the first time last month (free on UKposts) and I have to say it's a gem. It's like you said, Dan a slice of a time capsule. It's a nice piece of 80's film goodness. And, that's it.

Good god, the sequel would have been *another* Earth-based movie?!?! What the HELL was wrong with them?

I loved it when it came out and I still love it now. Langella's performance as Skeletor is the stuff of legends!

I still have a real soft spot for this film. Yes, at the time i was a little disappointed that the He Man and Skeletor on screen, didnt look exactly like my figures. But, what the Hell. I grew to love the Film versions, and the film. On day the film was due into my local video rental shop, i ran up to the shop 3 times, to see if it had arrived yet. Great times. Great memories. Miss you so much Mum❤.

I was born in '87, so I missed the original He-Man series and toyline. However growing up in the 90s, I used to watch the movie all the time.

I'm seriously hooked on this freaking series. I was born in 1979 and grew up in the 1980's, so all this stuff...the He-Man movie, Captain Power, Mighty Orbots, Bionic 6...I remember every bit of it fondly. SO, you've done the Masters of The Universe movie...now do The New Adventures of He-Man. Because WTF was that?

I was fan of the animated series growing up and loved the movie, still do. I even have an original movie poster from the theater.

I was so eager to see this when it came out. I grew up to the animated series. Very let down when I did see it. Oh well, at least I had the Beastmaster at that age.

I saw it in theaters when it came out. I was 13. I left thinking"that wasn't so bad" but I remember in the days following I kept thinking why wouldn't they match the cartoon.

I still love this film. Designs, soundtrack, even casting looks great to me. Its greatest problem was bringing the story to Earth, and all characters about it. Had it got decent budget, keeping the story fully set on Eternia, and with more characters from the original franchise, it would have become memorable.

I remember being stoked as a kid to see this movie, having been obsessed with the MOTU cartoon... But, it turned out to be my first experience leaving a theater saying, ‘Wow, that was awesome!’ But feeling, at the same time, like something was really off with it. In my later life, having revisited it once or twice, it mostly felt like a grand missed opportunity. And yet, I still have a small fondness in my heart for it.

I'm glad you talked about the mini comics. I loved those as a kid and felt betrayed when the cartoon came out. I was very disappointed that the cartoon didn't follow the original story and my interest in the toy line really diminished after that. I didn't start collecting them again till well into adulthood. Great vid as usual!

The next time I see it on DVD in some dirt cheap discount bin I'll pick it up.

I remember watching that movie as a 9 year old kid and hated it, never watch it again and now that is on a remastered blu-ray I still have no intention on watching it, it'll only ruin my day if I watch again and re-live those childhood awful memories 😂

I love this movie when i discovered it as a child in 1990 or so. I loved it when i bought it on dvd and i loved it when i bought it on bluray. Frank langella skeletor is awesome

I loved this movie when it came out. Saw it three times when it was in theaters. I still stand by it. Meg Foster absolutely killed it and Frank Langella is still my favorite Skeletor.

There actually was a sort-of use of the movie continuity later on. In the final two issues (12 and 13) of the Marvel/Star Comics MOTU, Adam had to travel to a bad future where Skeletor had won because he obtained 'something called the Cosmic Key'. Actually a very good story, much less kiddie than the rest of the series. This may have even had a nod to the cancelled sequel, since it said Skeletor used the key to seal Eternia off from Etheria. The Cosmic Key was almost all that was in there, since these comics were 90% based on the Filmation continuity. In other news, young male lead Kevin so impressed with his aid of He-Man, he was taken into the future and managed to disgrace himself in Starfleet Academy - twice, before finally getting it right.

Definitely saw it in theaters and was very confused as a seven-year-old. Somehow, it was still exciting, though, to have anything on the big screen using the names He-Man and Skeletor.

Definitely saw this with my 4 best friends at the drive-in WHILE we were holding our action figures and making them fight. The oldest among us was 6 years old. NONE of that helped to make this a better movie experience. And we TRIED! We really tried.

Maybe an animated film, Mattel really giving a serious budget to Filmation, would have been a better way to go?

Still has one of my favorite favorite lines in any movie adapting a toy/comic. Teela while eating some stolen BBQ ribs: "Why do these humans put their meat on such funny white sticks? " Sure it's funny, she doesn't know what a BBQ rib is.. but then you think about it.. What kind of meat do they eat on eternia if they aren't familiar with bones?! It wobbles the mind.

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I love your channel and wish we had more content from Toy Galaxy. I know y’all spend a lot of time on production, but I wouldn’t mine lesser production quality if it meant we could get more content. Keep up the great job and thank you!

I saw it in theater, and would continually rent it on videotape from the video store. Sure the differences between it and the cartoon first bugged me, I must have found something endearing about it since I kept renting it. Oh FYI. Should anyone be inclined, this movie is available to watch legally and for FREE on UKposts, or Tubi TV on Roku.

"To ham it up like ham was going out of style and the only way to save it is to make more ham."

I love this film. The casting was perfect and He-man even said “I have the power!”. Maybe it’s just my nostalgia.

Sadly, HeMan the Movie did not have the power...and in the end, New Jersey lost as well! Still I liked it. Going to pick up a couple of the movie inspired toys too... As always a great, through review

Your content gets my attention just by the titles. And after watching I'm never disappointed.

I thought for sure this video would include some stuff about how they grafted Jack Kirby’s New God’s ideas, the Mother Box etc, onto the MOTU script. Oh well.

This, Turtles and Big Trouble in Little China are 3 of my favorite movies. Saw all 3 in theaters between the ages of 9-12 when they came out. Movies didn't have the super effects of today but the imagination and uniqueness of those movies is untouchable for me.

Rich Kids Castle Greyskull, Car beds... Silver Spoons, Diff'rent Strokes

Watching the Masters of the Universe movie from 1987 is now a yearly tradition on the first evening of the German fan convention #GrayskullCon called „Dolphen“ and this year we can hold our movie figures in the meantime. 😂

I remember my older brother taking me to see it in theaters. As a huge fan of both He-Man and Dolph Lundgren, I was still very unhappy. I've never even attempted to re-watch it, after all these years. It was that disappointing.

As I recall, Canon was responsible for Life force, another genre mashup that did poorly at the box office.

Still like the movie despite its warts. Visually its still a great looking movie. I loved Frank Langella and Billy Barty and a very young Robert Duncan McNeill before his got his part in Star Trek Voyager.

(Basically echoing comments I've made about the 1987 movie a dozen times before), I'm a lifelong hardcore MOTU fan. By the time the movie came out (a couple of years too late, it would have been a bigger hit if released earlier) the line itself was very much on it's last legs, with an over-gimmicky "anything goes" feel that was taking it's toll. However... even as a boy I LOVED the 1987 movie. I think I was very forgiving as I was very familiar with the early mini-comics and various other versions of the lore (of which there were many); furthermore I was and am a "pre-Filmation" fan, with no Prince Adam and rougher more barbarian feel. So I was immediately forgiving that there wasn't more Filmation-inspired content in there. (Also, as well as budget, it is actually possible that copyright issues were encountered with a lot of Filmation-created elements; similar issues were encountered in the first couple of years of the MOTU Classics toyline). Dolph Lundgren's voice was... well, it wasn't good, but he certainly looked the part (I think in my young mind I just put the accent down to 'broken barbarian'). But the true star of the movie is undoubtedly Frank Langella, making an awesome Skeletor with near-Shakespearean lines at times; and Langella's enthusiasm for the project really shines through in his performance. In certainly was disappointing that SO MUCH of the movie took place on Earth for budgetary reasons; but it was also a shame a few of of the familiar existing characters weren't used - instead, mostly new Evil Warriors were created, as well as cost-saving Orko-replacement Gwildor, mostly as a way to try and flog some new characters to kids; but I do think using more of the iconic existing characters instead of the newbies would have certainly helped audiences warm to the movie. But in spite of that... even all these years later, I still love this movie. Sure, I love of that is novelty and nostalgia - hey, it's live action He-Man! But even beyond that... look past the differences in lore, this is actually a very enjoyable B-movie-like adventure, and with some very decent action set pieces, you do get a lot of bang for your buck considering it's very low budget nature and the era. Although it's one of those movies '80s nostalgia fans love to pick apart, I think it's become on of those that has a certain reputation attached to it but one that actually has more genuine fans that is often recognised. ...That's my mini-essay. I can write reams on this movie!

5:27 "City-state planet universe dimension whatever" is vocalized and phrased in a brilliant fashion.

I had the pleasure of watching this film with my Grandma in Summer '87 at the Plaza Bonita Mall's, Mann 6 Plaza Theater back in San Diego. I enjoyed the film as well as the trip to Kay-Bee Toy store afterwards.

He-Man was my first "fandom". 3rd birthday was He-Man themed. I watched the cartoon daily. I had a He-Man alarm clock, a kid sized power sword and shield, a large assortment of figures. You name it. I absolutely loved it. I was nearly 5 years old when the film came out. I saw it in the theater. And it absolutely sucked. It effectively killed He-Man for me. Years and years later I saw it again and loved the bits on Eternia. If film had just been set there, it could have been great. And Frank Langella as Skeletor is really the best part of the entire thing.

I remember liking the movie the first time I watched it as a kid, but I was confused as to why they replaced Orko with Gwildor. The only disappointment I remember having was that they had changed Skeletor's voice actor for the movie's dub, since he sounded so different (I'm Brazilian, so I was watching the local dub, obviously). Many years later, as an adult, due to the magic of the internet and old movie clips shared on youtube, I realized that they didn't change the voice actor, he was just doing a different voice, more suited to the movie version of the character. And, frankly, the guy is AWESOME in both incarnations of the character (and as Wolverine as well). Having watched the movie in english as an adult, I have nothing but praise for the amazing performance Frank Langella delivered. Now I need that movie Skeletor toy!

I bloody ADORE this film and it’s massively underrated. Skeletor is more complex and compelling then nearly all of the great cinematic villains. His dialogue shows such depth The fact the film got made at all is a wonder I enjoy it way more than Star Wars

I was big into MOTU as a kid but was almost completely unaware of movies/etc; some time after I or my brother had the VHS as a gift one birthday and we thought it was 'ehhhh'. I feel that by that point MOTU was all but done anyway, we had started to favour Transformers and Thundercats by then.

This movie still haunts my childhood memories.

Great vid Dan! I saw Masters of the Universe in theaters and no lie 10 year old me thought it was the greatest thing ever, lol. It wasn't until my later years that the whole "being on earth instead of Eternia" thing irked me. To this day I still enjoy watching it and thought that the movie designs of He-man & Skeletor were great.