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Masters of the Universe, a review by Tom

Title: Masters of the Universe
Year: 1987
Director: Gary Goddard
Rating: PG
Length: 105 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Surround, French: Dolby Digital Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Dolph Lundgren
Frank Langella
Meg Foster
Billy Barty
Courteney Cox

Plot:
Planet Eternia and the Castle of Greyskull are under threat from the evil Skeletor, who wants to take over the planet. A group of Freedom Fighters led by the heroic He-Man are accidentally transported to Earth by a mysterious Cosmic Key which holds the power to make Skeletor all-powerful. Once on Earth, He-Man joins alliances with two teenagers as they attempt to find the key and return home.

Extras:
Character Profiles
Closed Captioned
Commentary
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailers

The first time I saw this movie, I was disappointed, that there was no mention of Prince Adam. But this can be explained away with him already being He-Man at the start of the movie and no opportunity to change back.

There was a time, I enjoyed this movie more than I did now. Maybe it's because I recently watched the rebooted animated series again and saw what could have been.

I have not a major problem that most of the movie plays on earth. As a matter of fact, in the old Filmation cartoon Earth existed in the same universe. Prince Adam's mother was from there (though this fact has been done away in the reboot). It just could have been incorporated better. Too much focus was set on the Earth characters. And when Skeletor appeared on Earth with his army and fought He-Man, no soul was on the streets to see this. Strange.

Another sad fact is, that only very few characters have made the transition to the big screen. We have He-Man (I like this portrayal except for the bad accent), Skeletor (best transistion of all characters), Sorceress (a shadow of what she was in the cartoon), Man-At-Arms (okay I guess), Teela (could have been better), Beastmen (reduced to a man in costume who growls) and Evil-Lyn (liked her). The rest are new characters or simply some random stormtrooper type of cannon fodder.

Much of this movie reminds of Star Wars. The black stormtroopers, Skeletor made up like the Emperor (they both even are defeated in a similar way) and the music. Especially the theme and Skeletor's entry.

My biggest problem was Gwildor. This is a subsitute character for Orko, because the visual effects were not ready for him at the time. This comic relief character is just really out of place here. He only annoys. In the most ridiculous scenes are the ones with him. Like for example he refitted with no parts from Eternia available a car in five minutes to be more futuristic.

Also some lazy plot holes. Like this one: The whole aim of Skeletor was always to conquer/enter Castle Greyskull which he achieved here with the help of the cosmic key invented by Gwildor. When He-Man asked Gwildor, if they can use the cosmic key to get into Greyskull, he said no as Skeletor would know where they are when they use the key. So they took a tunnel from Gwildors house which lead directly into Greyskull. WTF!

I am really hoping, that a new movies will get done (which has been in development hell for a while with recent rumors that it will be out in 2011). I think it could be really great if done right. I wished they would hire some of the people behind the animation reboot as consultant though. They seem to know what the old fans expect.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on June 11th, 2009)

The Big White, a review by KinkyCyborg

Title:The Big White
Year: 2005
Director: Mark Mylod
Rating: 14A
Length: 105 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: DTS: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: French

Stars:
Robin Williams (1951)
Holly Hunter
Giovanni Ribisi
Tim Blake Nelson
W. Earl Brown

Plot:
So what's a nice guy with with good intentions but bad business sense to do? The answer lies frozen in a dumpster outside of Barnell Great Escapes - a dead body that Paul (Robin Williams) hopes to pass off as his long-lost brother, Raymond (Woody Harrelson), then collect his life insurance in order to help his beloved wife Margaret (Holly Hunter). Unfortunately, investigator Ted Watters (Giovanni Ribisi) and his girlfriend (Alison Lohman), are not about to let Barnell walk away with a million bucks. Adding to Paul's avalanche of problems are two aspiring hit men-turned-kidnappers (Tim Blake Nelson and W. Earl Brown) and the stunning return of the supposedly dead Raymond, who now has an axe to grind with his brother. Desperation is running high in the "big white," and if Paul is smart, he'll blow the snow, and take the money and run!

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Gallery
Closed Captioned


A great cast that was wasted on what was largely a bore of a movie. Holly Hunter was fun as the wife with Tourette Syndrome but the rest of the cast, especially Robin Williams, looked like they mailed it in on this one. 

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on September 6th, 2010)

Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews, a review by Tom

Enterprise
Season 3.11 Carpenter Street
Writer: Rick Berman (Writer), Brannon Braga (Writer)
Director: Mike Vejar
Cast: Scott Bakula (Jonathan Archer), John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox), Jolene Blalock (T'Pol), Dominic Keating (Malcom Reed), Anthony Montgomery (Travis Mayweather), Linda Park (Hoshi Sato), Connor Trinneer (Charles "Trip" Tucker III), Leland Orser (Loomis), Matt Winston (Daniels), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Xindi-Reptilian #1), Michael Childers (Strode), Donna Duplantier (Prostitute #2), Billy Mayo (Officer #1), Dan Warner (Officer #2), Erin Cummings (Prostitute #1)

Archer and T'Pol travel back in time to the year 2004. Sadly a rather boring episode.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews on October 16th, 2013)