Movie Night! ‘Masters of the Universe’ vs… ‘Masters of the Universe’
I love going to the cinema but these days (what with the cost, my being a grumpy middle-aged man and oh yes, my job coming to an end), I don’t go as often as I’d like. Basically, if I am going to go, it has to be the kind of movie where you can’t imagine watching it on the TV without having seen it in the cinema first. You know what I mean ;o)
I’ve been pretty excited about the new ‘Masters of the Universe’ film but it didn’t quite meet the threshold for a cinema trip; don’t ask me how I came to that decision, it just didn’t. What I wasn’t expecting though was for the movie to end up on Prime (and free to watch) quite so quickly… I don’t follow the numbers too closely but I had heard that the movie didn’t do too well at the box office; was Amazon trying to claw a little extra revenue back by dropping it into Prime early? Or was I just overthinking it when I could have been watching the movie…? Either way, I thought I’d give ‘Masters of the Universe’ a go, so that’s what I did last night.
And then, as the film was finishing, Prime Video did that thing where it automatically switches to another, similar, movie. And when that movie turns out to be the original ‘Masters of the Universe’, well… This post was born :o)
I’ll get into the two films in a second but for those of you who have seen both movies, just a quick question. Which ‘Masters of the Universe’ would you say is the more ‘eighties’? The movie made at the tail end of the actual nineteen eighties? Or the movie that came out this year? I’ll be honest, I really can’t say either way.
Anyway, the movies…
‘Masters of the Universe’ (2026)
For fifteen years, Prince Adam has been an exile on our world; safe from the predations of Skeletor but stuck working in Human Resources. Not for much longer though, Adam has been reunited with the Sword of Power and must somehow return to Eternia to save his people. But can a career in HR really prepare him for a fight against the greatest evil on Eternia?
I enjoyed ‘Masters of the Universe’, as a kid, but it wasn’t the fandom that stuck with me (‘Star Wars’, ‘Doctor Who’ and well, just fantasy books really). I knew the movie would be an entertaining one then but I wasn’t expecting loads from it, that’ll teach me not to make assumptions… :o)
‘Masters of the Universe’ owes a lot to ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ (‘found family’ having to learn to work together and so on…) but still finds the time to be a really affectionate homage to the original cartoon, while also being all too willing to poke fun at itself. I loved that all the times I said things like, ‘if they don’t stand there and laugh at the end of the movie’, or ‘if Orko doesn’t deliver his lessons learned...’, the movie not only paid its respects to those moments but also gently reminded us that those moments were a bit daft really, weren’t they?
The plot itself is fairly straightforward but not only is this kind of the whole point, the movie is also is saved by the aforementioned ‘self-mockery’ and a really touching plot thread that shows Adam as a stranger on both our world, and his. Oh yes, and a soundtrack that’s heavy on ‘Queen’ :o) You can’t ask for a lot more than that really, I didn’t.
‘Masters of the Universe’ (1987)
Eternia has fallen to evil and Skeletor is only hours away from taking complete control. A raid on Castle Greyskull goes wrong and after retreating through a dimensional gateway, He-Man and his companions find themselves on a world that looks very familiar… All they have to do now is somehow find their way back to Eternia…
Yesterday, I was having a little moan about stories that ‘don’t nail the setting’. The good news for ‘Masters of the Universe’ is that Skeletor is iconic enough that the backdrop doesn’t matter too much, just call it ‘Eternia’ ;o) Having said that though, for me, the movie pushes these differences as far as they’ll go. It’s still ‘Masters of the Universe’ but dressed up differently enough (from the original cartoon) to make you go ‘oh…’ in a slightly bemused way.
And it’s a slightly darker movie, in tone, as well. I didn’t mind that but your mileage may vary; depends what you’re after really.
On the whole though, I enjoyed what was another very straightforward ‘Masters of the Universe’ movie. Straightforward but a lot of fun and very easy to get caught up in all the spectacle. I have to say though, if I had to choose between the two…? Well, the 2026 movie would be the clear winner; its a lot more affectionate about the source material but is very honest about what it is and is able to lean into some of the daftness a lot more effectively as a result.
I’ve been pretty excited about the new ‘Masters of the Universe’ film but it didn’t quite meet the threshold for a cinema trip; don’t ask me how I came to that decision, it just didn’t. What I wasn’t expecting though was for the movie to end up on Prime (and free to watch) quite so quickly… I don’t follow the numbers too closely but I had heard that the movie didn’t do too well at the box office; was Amazon trying to claw a little extra revenue back by dropping it into Prime early? Or was I just overthinking it when I could have been watching the movie…? Either way, I thought I’d give ‘Masters of the Universe’ a go, so that’s what I did last night.
And then, as the film was finishing, Prime Video did that thing where it automatically switches to another, similar, movie. And when that movie turns out to be the original ‘Masters of the Universe’, well… This post was born :o)
I’ll get into the two films in a second but for those of you who have seen both movies, just a quick question. Which ‘Masters of the Universe’ would you say is the more ‘eighties’? The movie made at the tail end of the actual nineteen eighties? Or the movie that came out this year? I’ll be honest, I really can’t say either way.
Anyway, the movies…
‘Masters of the Universe’ (2026)
For fifteen years, Prince Adam has been an exile on our world; safe from the predations of Skeletor but stuck working in Human Resources. Not for much longer though, Adam has been reunited with the Sword of Power and must somehow return to Eternia to save his people. But can a career in HR really prepare him for a fight against the greatest evil on Eternia?
I enjoyed ‘Masters of the Universe’, as a kid, but it wasn’t the fandom that stuck with me (‘Star Wars’, ‘Doctor Who’ and well, just fantasy books really). I knew the movie would be an entertaining one then but I wasn’t expecting loads from it, that’ll teach me not to make assumptions… :o)
‘Masters of the Universe’ owes a lot to ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ (‘found family’ having to learn to work together and so on…) but still finds the time to be a really affectionate homage to the original cartoon, while also being all too willing to poke fun at itself. I loved that all the times I said things like, ‘if they don’t stand there and laugh at the end of the movie’, or ‘if Orko doesn’t deliver his lessons learned...’, the movie not only paid its respects to those moments but also gently reminded us that those moments were a bit daft really, weren’t they?
The plot itself is fairly straightforward but not only is this kind of the whole point, the movie is also is saved by the aforementioned ‘self-mockery’ and a really touching plot thread that shows Adam as a stranger on both our world, and his. Oh yes, and a soundtrack that’s heavy on ‘Queen’ :o) You can’t ask for a lot more than that really, I didn’t.
‘Masters of the Universe’ (1987)
Eternia has fallen to evil and Skeletor is only hours away from taking complete control. A raid on Castle Greyskull goes wrong and after retreating through a dimensional gateway, He-Man and his companions find themselves on a world that looks very familiar… All they have to do now is somehow find their way back to Eternia…
Yesterday, I was having a little moan about stories that ‘don’t nail the setting’. The good news for ‘Masters of the Universe’ is that Skeletor is iconic enough that the backdrop doesn’t matter too much, just call it ‘Eternia’ ;o) Having said that though, for me, the movie pushes these differences as far as they’ll go. It’s still ‘Masters of the Universe’ but dressed up differently enough (from the original cartoon) to make you go ‘oh…’ in a slightly bemused way.
And it’s a slightly darker movie, in tone, as well. I didn’t mind that but your mileage may vary; depends what you’re after really.
On the whole though, I enjoyed what was another very straightforward ‘Masters of the Universe’ movie. Straightforward but a lot of fun and very easy to get caught up in all the spectacle. I have to say though, if I had to choose between the two…? Well, the 2026 movie would be the clear winner; its a lot more affectionate about the source material but is very honest about what it is and is able to lean into some of the daftness a lot more effectively as a result.
I too was completely taken by surprise this past weekend to see MotU on Prime for free of all things. I did watch it, but the "princes of the universe" song really shouldn't have been in it. That is Highlander and Highlander only. The rest of the songs were better.
ReplyDeleteMy main issue with the new movie was that it didn't seem to know who it was for. Was it for the adults who grew up with the cartoon? Was it for kids today to reignite a franchise and toyline? HeMan was as much about the toys as the show and I don't see this movie inspiring that at all.
Overall, it wasn't bad but I don't see myself ever watching it again.