Masters of the Universe
Short description
Masters of the Universe follows He-Man, the champion of the planet Eternia, after the villainous Skeletor seizes Castle Grayskull and takes control of the world. He-Man and his companions are forced to flee through a portal, but Skeletor needs a cosmic key that can open passages anywhere in the galaxy, and the device ends up on Earth. There, two teenagers become caught up in the struggle between He-Man's group and Skeletor's forces, and the decisive battle takes place far from Eternia.
The film is based on the animated series and the toy line behind it. Gary Goddard directed from a screenplay by David Odell, with Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus among the producers. Dolph Lundgren plays He-Man and Frank Langella plays Skeletor; the cast also includes Billy Barty as Gwildor, Jon Cypher as Man-at-Arms, James Tolkan as Lubic and Courteney Cox as Julie Winston. It was released in August 1987 and runs 106 minutes.
The production cost around 22 million dollars and returned roughly 17 million worldwide. A film critics' rating of 3.6 out of 10 from 28 reviews sits below the audience scores of 5.3 on IMDb, from more than 43,000 votes, and 5.9 on TMDB, from over a thousand votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- At the 6th minute of the film, the wound is on He-Man's left shoulder. The next time He-Man appears on screen, it is the right shoulder that is scratched and bleeding.
- One of the musical compositions in the film "Purple Haze" was written and performed by the legendary rock musician Jimi Hendrix.
- The role of the alien being Gwildor, a jack-of-all-trades and creator of the "Cosmic Key," was written to replace the character Orko from the "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" cartoon series (1983-1985).
- Almost all of the downtown buildings shown in the film no longer exist, as they were destroyed after a series of earthquakes in the 1990s.
- Most of the film's scenes, including the battle in the music store and the scenes with the villains marching solemnly down the main street, were shot in the city of Whittier, California.
- Dolph Lundgren performed all of his own stunts in the film.
- Sylvester Stallone was offered the role of He-Man.
- The teeth for the role of Beastman (lord of beasts) were so large that the actor couldn't close his mouth.
- Due to financial difficulties, filming finished three days ahead of schedule. The film was completed two months later.
- Evalyn should have played Sarah Douglas, who was known for her villainous roles in "Superman" (1978), "Superman II" (1980) and "Conan the Destroyer" (1984), but they eventually settled on Meg Foster.
- After the end credits and listing of the film's creators, in a farewell shot, Skeletor's head pops out of a bottomless pit, where He-Man threw him, and says, "I'll be back!" This was a hint at a possible sequel, but it was never filmed. Although a sequel script was written, it was reworked and became the basis for the film "Cyborg" (1989) starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.
- When He-Man is hanging upside down, hiding from Skeletor's warriors, his long white hair doesn't fall with him. It's clear that the frame was simply flipped during filming.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
