Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with today’s Behind the Scenes Pic!
Yes, in a column that has featured such greats as Hitchcock, Curtiz, Lean, Leone, Redford, Peckinpah, Welles, Spielberg, Sturges and Cameron I’m now spotlighting MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE.
As a kid He-Man was a big deal. What little boy in the ‘80s didn’t want his own Battlecat or his own Grayskull playset? The world of He-Man isn’t exactly the most nuanced fantasy world of all time, but for a whole generation there’s a nostalgia at play that goes beyond rationality.
Part of that nostalgia is the movie version of the cartoon, which is an oddly violent real-world take on the Fantasy toon. Dolph Lundgren is the embodiment of He-Man and they somehow were able to get Frank Langella to play Skeletor, so despite how awful the movie gets there’s a strange “Holy shit, can you believe they just did that”ness to the movie that’s still appealing to me to this day.
Due to budget, I’m sure, the majority of the movie is “present day” Earth, which is the biggest failing of the film. There is no Prince Adam/He-Man dynamic, no Battlecat (the biggest sin of the movie) and instead of Orco we get Billy Barty (God rest) as Gweldor aka mini-Harry Knowles. The real-world setting takes away that crucial Fantasy aspect that makes Masters of the Universe so appealing… but we did get a young Courtney Cox, James “Slacker!” Tolkan and a giant musical dildo, so I guess I can’t complain.
I’ve got a couple Masters of the Universe pictures for you, thanks to reader Dan Lacey. One features director Gary Goddard and Billy Barty, the other featuring He-Man himself.
Hope you guys enjoy!
Tomorrow’s Behind the Scenes Pic has never missed that board before!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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