Navigated to Masters of the Universe (1987) - Transcript

Masters of the Universe (1987)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Most Excellent Eighties Movies Podcast.

Want to skip those ads and get early access, become a member at true story dot fm, slash join and discover all the other great parks that come with it.

Hello and welcome to the Most Excellent Eighties Movies Podcast.

It's the podcast where a filmmaker, a comedian and their fabulous guests travel through time to solve the problems of the movies of the eighties that we think we love or might have missed with these our modern eyes.

And today we're talking about Masters of the Universe, a movie selection from nineteen eighty seven, about which Letterboxed says, a battle fought in the stars now comes to Earth.

When the evil Skeletor finds a mysterious power called the cosmic Key, he becomes nearly invincible, seizing Castle Grayskull and the surrounding city.

The Sorceress is now Skeletor's prisoner, and he begins to drain her life force as he waits for the moon of Eternia to align with the gray Eye of the Universe, which will bestow godlike power upon him.

However, courageous warrior, he Man locates the locksmith inventor Gwildor, who created the key and has another version of it.

During a battle, one of the keys is transported to Earth, where it's found by teenagers Julie and Kevin.

Now both he Man and Skeletor's forces arrive on Earth searching for the potent weapon.

I don't know, Nathan, is that better or worse than the Google descriptions.

Speaker 2

It's a better, longer description.

Okay, Yeah, we still need to find a happy medium.

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah, we do, all right, Here comes the trailer.

Speaker 3

There is a place where legends are more, where the light confronts the darker.

A world of incredible mystery, magic and adventure.

A world where colossal powers will collide in a battle to control the universe.

The place is Earth, the time is now.

Masters of the Universe.

Don Lundren is Hethen, Frank Langella is Skeletor, and Meg Foster is Evil Lynn Semesters of the Universe coming to Earth this summer, Live the Adventure.

Speaker 2

That's a pretty accurate trailer to the experience of the film.

Speaker 4

I think, I don't know.

The trailer did not have nearly as much gwilldoor as the film did.

Speaker 5

That's true.

Speaker 1

There is no will in the trailer.

Speaker 2

Out of the marketing.

Speaker 4

All my notes are how much I hate Gwildoor entirely.

Speaker 2

Oh no, that's.

Speaker 1

Okay, all right.

I'm Chrissy Lynz, one of the directors at the Neighborhood Comedy Theater in downtown Mesa, Arizona.

And with me as always.

Speaker 2

Is Nathan Blackwell, independent filmmaker.

Speaker 1

Hi Hi, and joining us today.

We have a real treat for you, gentle listeners, because we have not one, but two fabulous guests for a movie as epic as Masters of the Universe, which we've been threatening to review on this podcast for years.

Threatening we have two guests.

The first is a performer at the Neighborhood Comedy Theater and the current producer director of the musical catering company which performs at the Neighborhood Comedy Theater.

It's Jordan Collier.

Speaker 5

Hello everyone, thanks for having me, oh to have me.

Speaker 1

Excited to be here, and also one of the producers of a new hit stand up comedy show called Roll for Charisma, which fuses the fun of D and D and the chaos of stand up comedy into one ultra exciting show.

It's mister Derek Tessen.

Speaker 4

Helloa, Yeah, it's a fun one.

We had a show last night and I'm currently in pain from it with how active that show is.

Speaker 1

It's it's very active and exciting and I highly recommend it.

And at the end we'll have everybody.

We'll have you tell everybody how they can follow you and find out more and possibly come see a show.

But for now we have to talk about Masters of the Universe.

Speaker 2

The final episode of the podcast finally comes to the right if we had planned it.

Yeah, no, it's not the final episode, but it's a It is a movie that we, at least behind the scenes, been threatening to do for a long time, since the.

Speaker 1

Beginning, since the very beginning, and we just kept putting it off.

But now it's on Amazon Prime.

It's free.

You can watch it if you have Amazon Prime.

So it became very clear, very fast that the time is upon us to talk about Masters of the Universe.

Had any of you seen it before?

Speaker 4

I have not.

This is my first time watching it.

Jordan and I had a lovely dinner and watched the film together.

It was great.

Speaker 5

It was very romantic.

Speaker 4

Great experience was fantastic.

The film not so much.

Speaker 1

Yeah, Yeah.

Speaker 2

So that's that's a good that's a good tagline for the for like the movie poster, the experience is fantastic, the movie not so much.

Speaker 4

Yeah, but that only counts if you're having smothered Britos with Jordan, right.

Speaker 2

So this is so this is one of those movies that, for whatever reason, we've got, like some of those like campy sea level movies that we just end up for whatever reason growing up on and seeing like a hundred times this this, this was that for me.

Don't worry, gentlemen, you can't hurt my feelings because I probably agree with everything you'll say.

Yeah, my my enjoyment of this movie is purely on a camp level, like you know, in a nostalgia level.

So I enjoy it for what.

Speaker 4

It is.

Speaker 2

Flaws in all Again, don't feel like you've got to hold back.

This will never make my top one hundred movies of all time, but one that I find a particular level of enjoyment for top five hundred maybe.

Speaker 1

Yeah, definitely top five.

Come on, gotta be.

I think this movie should have been good.

It has all the ingredients of a good movie, and it just never the The dough never makes bread.

Speaker 2

You know, like, well, you have to understand that it's a canon films.

You know, so canon films they did like Ninja, the Domination and Delta Force, like which I loved.

Speaker 1

Delta Force is amazing.

Speaker 2

And so then so they made these beat these super b level movies, and and towards the end of Canon films, like Filmography, they tried to make a couple of they tried to go really big with a couple of big budget movies and just really like so these movies are are also notorious flops.

Speaker 4

So this was.

Speaker 2

Superman for the Quest for Peace, terrible movie, and then also over the top, well Sylvester Stallone.

Speaker 5

It's like, this is gonna be our opportunity.

Speaker 2

We're gonna do these big movies, except their storytelling and business sense didn't evolve, like if anything, it's like, we're gonna make these ten million dollar movies, but we're gonna make them for four million dollars.

You know, we're just gonna cut the corners and they're not gonna know we make low budget films.

Speaker 4

Yeah, well the budget on this one was like what twenty two million?

And I think it wasn't a cannon film's last movie before they shut down.

Speaker 2

It certainly could be.

Speaker 4

Yeah, they were like.

Speaker 1

No more after this, We've we've told our stories, friends, it's time for us.

Speaker 2

We finally told our final story.

Speaker 4

Yeah yeah, like five minut it's into this.

As I'm sitting there watching it, I'm like, oh, it's trying to be a star War but with black stormtroopers and a white villain.

Mm hmmm.

Speaker 1

It's definitely trying to be a star war for sure.

But like it has it has humor, it has uh like.

Speaker 2

Battles, it Shakespearean dialogue.

Speaker 1

Because Franklin Angela as Skeletor is is really selling it like he's doing.

He's in a movie that no one else is in.

Speaker 2

Honestly, Like, if it wasn't for Franklin Angela, this would not be one of those movies for me at all.

You know, It's it's all all you know.

Dove Lungren God Bless his heart, didn't speak really any English at this point.

He was Swedish.

Did a much better job than Van Dam who had been doing English movies for like ten years, you know.

But it's really frank Langella as as Skeletor.

So I will go on record saying that his villain performance as Skeletor is one of my favorite villains, you know, in terms of of of just as kind of like a scenery chewing and then really just the performance, like he sells the crap out of it and he's going for it and you don't feel like he got you know, like he's doing it because he got divorced or something and needs the money or needs a swimming pool.

Speaker 4

He definitely like has a lot of really intense direct to camera dialogue that happens.

And like the first scene going into this movie in Castle Gray or what is it Castle Gray School that they're in, I know nothing about he Man going into this outside of like the Cky two K, like right right, I Man star the Skeletor beast Man music video that they made.

So it's like that's my knowledge of he Man.

So I assume Castle Gray Skulls where Skeletor lived, not where the Sorceress and he Man lived.

But yeah, that first scene was very like it looked like like it was a play.

You're watching a play with like how it was all shot, because there's so many just like weird angles that look like you were just in the audience watching a stage play in that first scene, which was very weird to.

Speaker 5

Me, so I did so.

Speaker 2

I grew up on the he Man toys, which is probably the reason why I got my mom to rent this movie in the first place.

So, you know, there are different So like there's the he Man toys and then there was the he Man cartoon.

So there was a lot of stuff that weren't in the toys that were in the cartoon, and then there's so much that's that was in either of them that's not in the movie.

They just kind of like there was you know, they just kind of picked the stuff they liked.

You know, like there's no there's no laser guns in like in he Man, in like the toys cartoon, you know that's there.

That's their star, their star warsification of it.

Speaker 4

Yeah, that was.

Speaker 2

Yeah, they really were.

He Man really started off as kind of a oh, Conan is big, so let's do kind of a medieval fantasy mythology kind of thing Castle Gray Skull.

You know, you got two different sides.

And the whole idea with the toys is that like each villain had like a big gimmick to get the kid to buy the toy.

You know, it's like, oh, this guy switches heads, or this guy has like a robot arm you can attach different stuff, or like this this bad guy you know, squirts water, you know, right, And it was very much kind of like Conan Slash.

Speaker 5

You know.

Speaker 2

It's like, oh, they're of the bird people and and so they're like the King of the Bird people, but Skeletor has made them a minion, you know or whatever.

So the the thing of like having those like like beast Man and oh Cobra Guy and Blade of the Blade people like that.

Speaker 6

Yeah, you love Blade Jordan's Big Blade.

As soon as he's it, it's it, huh.

Speaker 1

I didn't think it was so such a weird JUSTI just juxtaposition to see he Man battling with a sword and a laser gun.

It's like these things could not be two more different, like fighting styles.

Are we doing swords or are we doing laser guns?

Like but apparently, yeah, he Man does everything.

But he Man is for being I mean, he's not the title characters called Masters of the Universe, not he Man on the Masters of.

Speaker 4

The He shares Billy.

Speaker 1

Yeah, No, he does almost nothing.

Speaker 4

He really doesn't.

It's a Gwilldoor movie.

Is He's the central like his stuff is the central conflict of it.

Everything's kind of revolving around Gildoor.

And for a character who comic.

Speaker 2

Relief story too, Yeah, he's.

Speaker 4

Must be comic relief.

But he's I think has the most screen time of anyone else.

Speaker 2

Is basically his bodyguard.

Speaker 4

Yeah, it's like, maybe what's his name, Courtney Cox's boyfriend might have a little bit more screen time.

Kevin, Kevin and Julie.

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah, I just read Courtney Cox throughout all my.

Speaker 5

Cox.

Speaker 1

Yeah yeah.

Speaker 4

I was referring to them as the actors names of the upcoming twenty twenty six Masters of the Universe movie.

So anytime Skeletor was on his on screen, like, oh, Jared let here El was on I'm like, oh Alison Brie Okay, so.

Speaker 2

My gosh, is that a live action or an animated I don't know.

Speaker 6

I'm pretty sure it's a live action.

Oh my goodness, from the very little research I did on it.

Speaker 4

Uh huh.

And then uh oh, who was it?

Speaker 5

It was I dress elbow right.

Speaker 4

I just felt that playing Man at Arms in the twenty twenty six one.

Speaker 2

Which has got to be a stage name that can't be like his birth name.

Speaker 1

Right, he wasn't a man when he was born.

He was a baby.

Was he called baby at arms?

Speaker 5

Right, infant for arms?

Speaker 1

So yeah, the movie starts out with like an info dump that like truly had me baffled, and I take extensive notes, but I was like, what on earth is happening here?

And like it was rather like a play because it just like Skeletor sashe about the place, being like I've taken over and you are captured as soon as the moon goes here, right to have your power?

And I was just like, slow down, buddy, this is too much.

This is too much information for me to take in.

Speaker 2

Right now.

Obviously part two where we're what they call media in res, right, we're starting in the middle of action.

The Sorceress has already been captured on Matte Painting World, and then the heroes basically are in like the last the third act of their adventure.

You know, they've gone through this whole thing that that Skeletor has already taken over.

Speaker 1

Yeah, but it was a little too top heavy for me, and I was just like, there's no way I can remember all this.

Let's just get to the fighting.

So he Man finally shows up it is Dolph Lundgren who are my son.

Rocket is a huge fan of Oh he's.

Speaker 2

An interesting guy.

He is interesting.

Speaker 4

Yeah, is an interesting guy.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Like again, I understand you have to understand that he did this movie not being able to just he was not fluent in English at all for this movie, you know, and that.

Speaker 1

Way they dubbed all his lines.

Speaker 2

Well, so here's here's the thing.

He dubbed his lines.

He had it contractually that he could get three attempts to do it himself in terms of the dubbing.

And again, just imagine if you had to make a movie in Swedish.

And so he did the movie.

He did the movie in real life, and then he got those three attempts to do his own voice, and they finally kept his voice, probably because they were just at a time to replace it.

But yeah, so so he dubbed his own voice.

It does sound eighty yard, but it's him.

Speaker 5

It makes so much sense now.

Yeah.

Speaker 4

There are a lot of non Dolph Lundgren adr lines going throughout this movie too, though, and it's very it throws you off, like when Skeletor's fall spoiler alert for the end of this movie.

But I don't think you need a spoiler alert if you're listening to this podcast right now.

As Skeletor's falling not screaming, and it has like the Wilhelm scream thing happening.

It was and like when like Courtney Cox and Kevin were hugging, they had like lines their adrd over.

So it's like there's plenty of like dialogue that goes in where there's no dialogue happening during the recording of it.

Speaker 1

Well, there's so much friggin' plot.

There's so much to explain, Like there's so much happening at any moment in this movie.

This does not suffer from a lack of plot.

There's bcde plots.

There's Courtney Cox's whole thing where her parents are dead and she wants to move to New Jersey to leave her boyfriend who she still loves very deeply behind.

Speaker 5

I love that dream for her straight to Jersey.

Speaker 1

If you can make it in Jersey, you can make it anywhere.

That's what they say.

Speaker 2

He's a realist.

Speaker 1

Yeah, her parents died in a plane crash, and like that's a sad fact that we're reminded of throughout the movie.

Speaker 2

And have yourself for Yeah, and we realized that it was her dad who was flying like it was so so it really.

Speaker 4

Her unbomber father.

He had he had the big old obomber glasses at the end of that film.

Speaker 2

Fun fact.

Yeah, her mom is played by Chris Pine's real mom.

Yeah, there are a lot of funny Star Trek connections with this movie.

Speaker 1

Of course there are, of course there are.

So we need to talk of a little bit about gwildor.

Speaker 2

Yeah, so Billy Party, which you've you've probably seen in like things like Willow and movies.

Speaker 4

Yeah, so with this character.

So, this character was designed specifically for this film, did not exist in the Masters of the Universe universe prior, and he was their comic relief to replace Orco from the cartoons because Orco is too hard to make work.

And it's like, like what gets me with like comic relief characters.

I enjoy a good comic relief character, but when the characters in the film acknowledge it as comic relief as well, because there's so many lines where people are laughing at gwildor for his mere existence that I'm like, why, like, like come on, I don't need to hear fake laughs about this character right now?

Speaker 2

I feel like the eterniums are are you know, like they come off as very enlightened, but they're still kind of racist.

Speaker 4

Like and I didn't need to see Gwildor attempt to talk to a cow.

Cow's cute.

I love a cow, gwildor going over his arm.

I communicate with it, and just like I just everything about Guildor just bothered me.

Speaker 2

Another thing with Gwildor is that he looks like he's melting all the time, and you feel terrible for the for Billy Barty inside m you know.

Speaker 1

The makeup was not incredible.

Speaker 2

He was very textured, exactly, Okay, So so yeah, So basically they can't afford to be in he Man Land in Matt Painting World for too long.

That's why they get portal jumped to our time, you know, And so they could have the sci fi people running around in modern and day you know, uh, small town California and and and honestly.

Speaker 4

In the middle of the desert as well when we first meet he Man.

Speaker 2

Right exactly.

And so the idea is that they've got to get this the what is it called the key, cosmic key, the cosmic key.

I'm the one who's seen it under times like I obviously don't care about the details.

They've got to get the cosmic key because Skeletor has one of those.

Gwildor made a copy, and that's going to be the thing that can get them to stop, to get back home and stop the bad guys because they're draining the sorcersus powers.

Become masters of the universe, you know.

Basically, Castle Gray Skull is where you can because receive the powers of the universe and become kind of godly, you know.

Speaker 4

Yeah.

For anyone who hasn't watched this film and has listening to this right now, Gwildor picture jar Jar Binks was the catalyst of all of the events of the film and was the thing that helped solve the problems of the film as well.

So he created the problem, he also created the solution as well.

And he is a busy only one.

Speaker 2

Yeah, and he's the only one trying to fix it, trying to get them on task, trying to you know, use the device, and then everyone else is basically fighting amongst each other or acting as security.

Speaker 5

Yeah, it's trying to protect him.

Speaker 4

Yeah.

Speaker 5

Yeah.

Speaker 1

I have such a problem with Courtney Cox though, because she was like, uh, friend to he Man because she gets caught up in the battle and he Man's like, I will save you.

Where are my cape?

And then from there on out she's just the most useless, helpless being who only exists in the story to be threatened and hurt or tricked because she got.

Speaker 2

Very Oh yeah, she was easily tricked.

She turned on them so quickly.

Speaker 5

Yeah that was that was so fast.

Speaker 2

Yeah, evil Lynne impersonated her mom, who is dead, and she immediately buys into it and it's like, oh, yes, I will steal for you, thanks mom.

Speaker 4

Just a general general knowledge, like they took the key.

Speaker 1

She took the key and it was like, no, bitch, you gave it to it.

Speaker 4

Just generally if parents comes to you and says, oh, I had to go off in secret, sorry about this.

Don't trust it.

Maybe you don't.

Speaker 1

That's only true for Spider Man, but yeah I had.

There are a lot of like weird parts of this movie, but one of my favorites.

One of my favorite things is that the principal from Back to the Future, principal Strickland, is in this movie as Lachlan the cop.

Speaker 2

Basically yeah, yeah, yeah, lubick He's basically he's basically playing himself.

He realized that he plays he's playing the same character effectively in both movies.

Yeah, and it's funny.

It's like they literally opened a portal and stole a character from another movie.

Speaker 4

Yeah, Lubick was my second least favorite character.

Speaker 1

No, he was my very favorite.

I love the.

Speaker 4

Most useless cop.

Speaker 2

Yeah, he would always be, and I also enjoyed him, but also recognized that he was a terrible obstruction all at all times.

Speaker 4

He said, no, one messes with Lubick, and everyone messed with Lubick.

He did nothing constructive.

Speaker 1

But at the end, for no reason, he decides to stay in Eternia and be a king with a girlfriend who he's like, and.

Speaker 2

They're like wait, he's like so so yeah, we're jumping to the end, but basically like the good guys win and yeah spoiler.

And then he's sitting there like dressed like royalty and he's got a woman and how much time has passed?

Like four hours, you know exactly, And I got a castle, I got a woman.

What do you know.

It's like what more than it's like wait a minute, no, no you don't get the castle.

Speaker 4

Yeah, in the room.

Speaker 2

Yeah, you can't stay in Castle Gray Skull, like we'll find you a cottage or something like.

Speaker 4

They have a way to ask to project messages to the masses in the middle of a desert apparently, So it's like, Okay, it doesn't look like the city was entirely built up around the castle, so it's like, okay, there's a this is gonna be me going against people who are power now at this point.

So it's like, okay, so the rulers of Eternia are really just keeping everything to themselves and lubicks for some reason getting a piece of that pie at the end.

Speaker 2

It favors for loyalty.

Speaker 5

Huh, yeah, there you go.

Speaker 1

I also me in my notes, like was kept making note of like how free and easy Kevin was with pushing that red button on the front of.

Speaker 2

The key, showing everyone he would press the key thing which is like the size of a blender, but a bunch of buttons all around it and it would spin at the top.

But basically he'd press the red button and then there would be glowing energy above them.

And I really loved every time they did that because I was always so fascinated to see how well the actors would look at the same spot or not, because they're just like they have nothing, no reference to look at.

Especially in eighties movies, it's always fun to see like where the eye lines are for the visual effects because they're so confused about where they're supposed to be looking, you know, and how they're gauging their reaction to it.

Some are like, wow, film thing.

Speaker 4

Maybe uh I will I will get into that in my deep cut.

Speaker 1

But then at the end he's like, I memorize the song that plays when you hit the red button.

And I was like, oh, so it's good that he hit the red button over and over.

Speaker 2

He's got the at the end right right, he's good phones because he's he's a master soundmaker.

Speaker 4

Yeah, that was another thing, like Glen Door mentioned that like, oh, music's really important blah blah blah blah blah, and like that was twenty thirty minutes prior to him being like, yeah, I do music.

I recognize this thing.

It's like did that did you not make that connection when you were next to each other and him talking about how music is essentially the way to travel like this was this was discussed in the music shop like you were, well, if not earlier, I think it was actually before the music shop that that uh uh I already forgot his name.

I couldn't remember it was a GW or g L.

But it's like he he mentions it like a couple times prior to the like, oh, we need music to be able to get us back.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

But Kevin is still he still has that moment of like refusing the call.

He's like, oh, my girlfriend is dying.

Uh, the world is on fire, Eternia is going to end.

But oh, I'm no master sound maker.

I'm just Kevin.

I can't help you.

And it's like, would you shut up and just play the chords?

Like, just do it?

Speaker 4

I recognize these chords the first us.

Speaker 2

Yeah, so like and they're amazed that he's able to remember this, and so are all Eternians like tone deaf, Like is that a thing that is native to humans?

Speaker 1

Because he's the guy at the music store did say, oh, mister perfect pitch mmm.

Speaker 4

Chekov's notes many And what also drives me insane about gwildor I'm gonna everything, I'm gonna be mad at is just a root cause of him is him being like, oh, I don't remember the tones how to get home.

But at the end of the film is like, oh, you're you want to go back, you know, two years from the date that we got you.

Fine, babe, sends you to a location that I know nothing about.

You know, I somehow know these tones.

Speaker 2

We never established the fact that it controls time at all, Like it was just always space, like they were able to go to any planet at any time.

And it's not until it became story convenient that that that time was involved, Like at the very last five minutes of the movie, Yeah, couldn't they have traveled before Skeletor took over Castle grays Call, you know.

Speaker 4

And there's a time loop that has happened in this film, but they they don't show it because as Courtney Cox's turning around to say hey, wait and then travels off, Gwildor didn't hear what she wanted, so he had to have like brought her back.

He's like, hey, what were you trying to tell me this?

Okay, fine, We're gonna send you a year earlier.

So there's a time loop that was just cut because there's no way Gildoor knew that she wanted in her heart to go back before her parents Yo kick the bucket, because she.

Speaker 1

Doesn't ask for it.

He's like, I can send you back in time, and she's like there's no need and.

Speaker 4

He's until like, wait a minute, willdoor then flash?

Speaker 2

He just surpriser, Yeah, surprise.

Speaker 5

He's gonna love this.

Speaker 1

What if she hated it?

Yeah, I am at quilledoor.

Speaker 5

I was going to Jersey quilldor.

Speaker 2

I had a whole house to myself.

Speaker 4

Yeah.

Yeah, just attacks her mom because she thinks it's evil in again.

Speaker 1

I also love that in her house where she was moving away this night, on the night that this all happens, she was moving to New Jersey.

Her house is like hardly packed up at all.

Speaker 2

Oh yeah, full furniture, and.

Speaker 1

She left behind the article about her parents dying and a picture of them all together, like she's like, don't eat this in Jersey, so long, suckers.

She just left that stuff behind.

Speaker 4

I'm like, no, yeah, I didn't pay attention to like if they had any type of reference of time frame from when her parents passed to now, because I know they had the headstones.

I didn't pay attention to like, oh when did they pass versus is when the current setting is.

Speaker 2

Well, guilf Door figured it out.

Speaker 1

Yeah, you figured it out.

There's there's still so much I want to say, uh, why are there no people in this city?

Why are there no people in this city Skeletor there's like the guy who runs the music shop, Lubick and his uh his.

Speaker 4

Like three cops that show up at the.

Speaker 2

Skeletor taking when Skeletor is taking over the city and our dimension, there's literally no people.

Speaker 4

Yeah, the marching down the street was weird, like people.

Lynn was in a scene somewhere else and then the next scene she's marching in front of Skeletor with a I want to say Krang, but that's not right.

Speaker 5

Yes, you're right.

Speaker 6

I wanted to talk about KRK because I just love everything about what's going on there.

Speaker 2

The spot, it's on you.

Speaker 5

Uh, It's just it's like an orc with a perm.

Speaker 6

It's like the the design is just so it's so great and so awful at the same time.

It sticks out like a sore thumb, Like I just love that.

That that that's what they went with.

They saw that costume and they were like perfect, yeah, no notes.

Speaker 4

No, I can't remember his name, not beast Man, not Blade, not Card, but the fourth one, the one who's whose Skeletre is Zapps to death who did nothing wrong, like he was the most innocent of all of them.

Just yeah, yeah, it's just like we don't want their talents to be wasted.

Speaker 1

It's like, and I loved I loved Skeletor's mask, Like we talked about for how good Franklin Jela is a Skeletor.

But like his mask, the makeup is actually pretty good except for the nose.

Speaker 2

Yes, yeah, it's tough because it's got to be a skeleton nose, which is, you know, no cartilage, and so they're basically hiding the point of the nose with like black makeup.

Speaker 5

Yeah.

Speaker 6

It reminded me of like a Halloween costume, just like the very Yeah.

Speaker 2

So here's one of the fun Star Trek references.

That mask appears again in Star Trek the Next Generation.

They just for whatever reason, they reused it when Wharf fights like has a combat training program.

In the Hula deck the skull there's like a white skull head guy.

It's like, oh, that guy looks cool And I never pieced it together until I read the trivia.

So that's the Skeletor mask.

Speaker 1

I love it, huh.

I also love the part where he man is skysurfing.

Speaker 4

That was that they're standing, but they're also trying to sit at the same time, so like on a standing platform, but like in a weird like sitting posh my core.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

The thing that's so funny about the Cannon Films is that this is a sci fi movie made by people who don't know or like sci fi m M.

And so they're saying, oh, yeah, let's give them a big disc or we'll have them have swords and laser guns.

We'll give them this outfit.

Like they're not necessarily they're not making this for sci fi fans per se.

You know, they're they're coming up with their own weird stuff.

At least the people have.

Speaker 5

The knowledge of, Yeah, I.

Speaker 2

Have a feeling like the product, like I'm talking about like the the heads of the studio, Like I have a feeling like the director and like some of the production people.

They wanted to do something cool, but it was like, no, no, this is good, just do this instead from Golan and Globis from the Cannon Films, guys.

You know, like I never got the sense that even with like with like super like when they also did Superman four, like they understood Superman at all.

Speaker 1

Right, Yeah, and they didn't really understand he Man as being like a product for kids.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 4

Yeah, it definitely wasn't a kids movie, Like, no, not at all.

The series was made to sell the toys.

Like that's why he Man was made, was to sell the toy.

Speaker 2

Right, Yeah, it's they haven't done he Man so dirty because he Man itself was a thirty minute commercial for toys.

Speaker 4

You know.

Speaker 1

Yeah, But I again, I think Dolph Lungren was beautifully cast.

He is a beautiful man.

He did his best, even though he is not the star of this movie whatsoever?

Speaker 5

Uh the star, he's the star.

Speaker 4

Derek quilledor who's the villain Derek also Guildoor.

Speaker 1

But yeah, like I tried to get Rocket to watch this movie with me because he's he's a big Dolph lungering guy.

He's a big he's a big Drago guy.

He just wanted to tell me facts about Dolph Lungren and then leave the room.

He wanted no part of Masters of the Universe.

Speaker 4

Why does your son know so much about Dolph Lungren.

Speaker 1

Because he loves Ivan Drago.

Speaker 4

Oh yeah, I'm gonna I list.

Speaker 1

He would just come in and say, Mom, is your movie still on and I'd be like, yeah, it has like.

Speaker 2

To your movie to yeah, your movie to rocket.

Speaker 1

He would say, you know, Dolph Lunggren's a genius and he is like eight degrees and like he's a doctor of science and medicine.

And I was like, okay, thanks.

Speaker 5

I do noutes mom.

Speaker 1

Uh huh uh.

This movie was definitely longer than it needed to be, Like I paused it a lot.

I paused a lot and walked away, and then you know, had to come back and be like, how is there still forty minutes left of this movie?

Speaker 4

Uh?

See, I didn't pause it because if I would have paused it, I wouldn't have continued watching it.

Speaker 5

Yeah, we just had to just let it happen to us.

Speaker 2

Just come through, just submit, all right.

Speaker 1

Who who has something in their notes we haven't talked about yet?

Speaker 4

All right?

Speaker 2

I feel like, let's see.

Speaker 4

There is one line of dialogue and that the IMDb page age has.

This is like one of their only quotes that are on there.

But when when skeletor as he's like about to defeat he man before he just falls into a pit, that like, uh tell me that the loneliness of good he man is equal to the loneliness of evil.

It's like, oh yeah, hurt you.

I could fix them.

Speaker 1

I read that Franklin Jella wrote that line.

Speaker 5

That's great, that's crazy.

Speaker 2

He also he also has a Shakespeare quote in the movie.

I forget what it is, but one of my favorite lines I wrote this down was beast Man full force attack at my command.

Speaker 1

It's like a little haiku mm hmmm.

Speaker 6

I like gwildor at the very beginning he says I don't like adventures.

Speaker 1

Yeah, thank you.

Speaker 4

It was like right.

Speaker 2

It was like right before they go through the portal or something, wasn't.

Speaker 6

It Like it was like we're getting all the exposition, we're setting things up, and he just.

Speaker 2

He's a Bilbo Baggins.

Speaker 4

Or when Evil Limb's like, oh gray skulls ours and the skills is like no mine, it's like oh damn.

Speaker 2

Oh yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1

I also love that Gwildor when he first is inviting them over to the house, he's like unlocking his door and he's like, remember when we used to not lock our doors.

We'll get back there someday.

Speaker 2

Color.

Speaker 4

But the one thing I do like about Gildoor is and it only was it was only Kevin and Lubic, who are both like what the what, what the hell is this thing?

Like it was a scene where he's like, I'm wearing We're wearing the local clothing, so no one will recognize us dressed like yeah, yeah, he'ss et when they like the checker glasses on and and then lu Bek was like, what the hell is that?

It's like, yeah, that should have been the reaction of everyone who saw.

Speaker 5

Gwildor for the whole movie.

Speaker 4

You had one of those like large orange like orangutang faces where it's kind of like.

Speaker 1

And at the end when they're all in their Eternia finery, he's got little bow's.

Speaker 2

Os yeah, like and is like like the Star Wars Awards ceremony, look.

Speaker 4

Yeah, where he's got the look on his face where the look on his face is just saying I'm a silly guy.

And I know I'm a silly guy, and I just like hat it.

I hate it.

So I am irrationally angry at Gwildoor and all of his choices the silliness.

Also when he when he transitioned the car from being a rudimentary internal combustion to Eternia Magic, where did he get parts that has attorneyal language on it.

Speaker 2

M that's the that's the biggest plot hole in this movie, that's for sure.

Speaker 4

I also like how they just throw out random sci fi terms that had no like, oh, we just need a displacement regulator.

Oh, I got one gator.

Oh I got one of those here.

Speaker 5

It's like I wrote, I wrote that down.

That was one of my quotes.

If I can find it.

Speaker 6

Yeah, I had to go back and like get those lines verbatim because they were wonderful.

Speaker 5

I can find them.

Speaker 4

Who is Duncan?

Okay, I'm going through quotes right now, and they referred to him as Duncan.

I'm like Duncan.

Speaker 2

So did the actress who played the Sorcerer.

Her name was Christina Pickles.

Speaker 1

Yeah, she's She's Monica, So it's a it's a friend's tie in.

She's Monica and Ross's mom on Friends.

Speaker 2

Oh that's funny.

Speaker 5

Oh wow.

Speaker 4

Okay.

The one thing cinematically like in terms of just set design that I did like is when they were doing the portal key to get back to Gray Skull, and it was like, since it wasn't like the portal key that was creating a portal, but it like it where it like did an orb of where it took the scenery with them scenery.

I thought that was cool.

I did enjoy that the set design, it would have been great.

Willdor wasn't there when it happened.

Speaker 1

Look, but Lubick is there.

And that's how it gets to So on a scale of one cosmic key to ten cosmic keys, Mmm, how many cosmic keys do we give Masters of the Universe.

Speaker 4

It it was bad, go for but not so bad that it's good, right, I mean it's like a three to four for me.

Speaker 1

Wow, Okay, three to four, my goodness, is not very many cosmic keys.

You did?

You did, and you're gonna have to watch it a third time just to be sure you don't like it.

Speaker 4

Yeah, I'm gonna watch it right before I watched the twenty twenty six Masters of the Universe.

Speaker 2

There you go, there you go.

Speaker 6

For academic reasons, I would give it.

I'm a little higher than Derek.

I gave it five cosmic keys, okay, because.

Speaker 1

My reasoning.

Speaker 6

There was there was entertaining pockets of it, and I did enjoy elements of it.

Speaker 5

But as you said before, there's just so much going on.

It's confusing.

Speaker 6

It's not something that I will revisit because it's so bad.

It's good, but I was entertained in some parts.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I think that's fair for sure.

So Nathan, this is a childhood favorite.

Speaker 2

Okay, so okay, so I fully so this is I'm doing it on nostalgic personal entertainment.

This is not an objective opinion on it.

Like if if I was going to be objective in terms of the quality of the movie.

Speaker 4

Like.

Speaker 2

If if I had like an amnesia episode and then had to rewatch it, I would go, what the fuck is this movie and give it give it something way lower.

But I'm going to give it a seven.

I'm sorry it you know again, I'm this is not one of my top one hundred films.

But it's just tied to a silliness of one of those movies you saw, like Beast Master or whatever, or or even Buckeroo Bonzai, like that doesn't make any sense to most people, but just because it got programmed early in your brain.

Yeah, you know, like the stuff I remember and the stuff I like is is has very little to do with the story or the dialogue.

You know, it's the general silliness and setting of it, and really frankl Angela.

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah, he's great part.

Speaker 2

Yeah, so.

Speaker 1

Excellent.

So I'm all gonna go right in between you guys.

So we're gonna cover all the bases.

We're gonna have three, four or five, six, okay, and seven from Nathan.

So I give it a six because I really thought this should have been a good movie, Like if if they had given a better editor another pass.

I think there's a good movie in here.

Speaker 2

They just couldn't if there was less movie.

If there was less movie.

Speaker 1

There was significantly less movie, it would have been much much better.

Yes, I agree, less movie, but it just needed to be chiseled out a little bit more.

Speaker 4

So.

Speaker 1

Yeah, so I give it a six.

But I didn't have a bad time when I was watching it.

The number of times that I paused it and was just like, good lord, there's so much aside.

I was like, okay, all right.

Speaker 4

Let's.

Speaker 2

Where are they gonna take this?

For forty five more minutes?

Speaker 5

Yea more minutes.

Speaker 1

Let's see, let's see what Eternia has to say about this.

Also, what was the significance of the little ball of Eternia she had at.

Speaker 4

The end, Like, I don't well, I think they were trying to because there's originally a sequel planned for this movie.

Ew, so that might have tied into what this is one of those men?

Speaker 2

Yeah, being before they even made the first one they said there's gonna be a sequel to this.

You know, this is them trying to manufacture a franchise.

Speaker 6

That's that Star Wars brain again, thinking that they're going to have a trilogy.

Speaker 1

Right, yep, yep, yep, yep.

All right, so let's talk about deep cut.

Recommendy that's my new theme song for it.

Uh, what can we recommend based on liking this movie or experiencing this movie, not necessarily liking it, but experiencing this movie, you should also experience what Derek.

Speaker 4

The episode of Community intro to Recycled Cinema, if you love Gildoor, they got Garrett playing glip Glop, which he has a he has a tennis ball at the end of the stick, and there was the do we look at Garrett?

Do we look at the tennis ball?

It's like, why would you why would it be I hold in the tennis ball if you were looking at but his voice exactly the same as Gilldors But it's just a little green alien guy with boxing gloves that's doing this example, Like, so yeah, if you if you enjoy this movie, you would unironically enjoy the episode intro to Recycled Cinema because it's similar production value.

Speaker 1

Excellent, And that's an episode of Community.

Speaker 4

Yes, do you know what?

Like?

Speaker 1

Season or episode is?

Speaker 4

Season six, episode number eight?

Speaker 5

I need to go back and watch that.

Speaker 1

Making a note, make a note.

But what about you, Jordan, what is your deep cut recommendation?

Speaker 6

Yes, I said before, I'm not sure how deep cut this is, but I recently watched this movie, like maybe two months ago.

Speaker 5

Big Trouble in Little.

Speaker 1

China Nathan's favorite movie.

Speaker 5

Oh there you go.

Speaker 6

It's like the like so much going on, and like the fantasy elements and like the humor.

Speaker 5

I obviously I think A.

Speaker 6

Big Trouble Little China is much better, but it just kind of like if you like, if you like that, then you know, check out there.

Speaker 2

It is signed by John Carpenter.

Speaker 6

That is super exciting.

I'm making my way through his filmography and I told I told.

Speaker 2

Him that it was the best movie ever made.

Yeah, I don't know, and he said, yeah, no, that's literally what he said.

I don't know about that.

Speaker 1

So he agrees, Jordan, have you gotten to They Live yet?

No?

Speaker 6

I want things to be on streaming, So I'm waiting for that one to be on streaming.

Speaker 4

That's a good.

Speaker 2

That's a good, like climax to the marathon rather than to have because I'm kind of a John Carpenter officionado like that.

That's that's honestly, even though I Big Trouble is my favorite, like They Live is probably his.

Speaker 6

Okay, So yeah, I'll get through some of the other ones first and then I'll kind of leave that one, yeah, towards the back.

Speaker 1

All right, great recommendation.

I love it, Nathan.

What have you got for me?

Speaker 4

So?

Speaker 2

I would say, so a movie that kind of does that's more accessible and kind of actually has the camp and so bad it's good and actually is kind of fun and campy and and does what this kind of what we wish it would have done is the nineteen eighties Flash Gordon you know, soundtrack by Queen.

Speaker 7

Yeah, it's it's, it's it's You could run them back to back and think that they reuse some of each other's sets and costumes, but Flash Gordon is is more cohesive.

Speaker 2

It's it's one of those movies I didn't grow up on.

I actually grew up on more of the nineteen thirties Flash Gordon stuff, So I kind of scoffed at the eighties silly version.

You know, it's the eight The eighties Flash Gordon is almost like like a musical, a rock musical where no one sings, you know, it's the music itself that kind of becomes a rock musical, like the Queen music.

But it's a lot of fun, and so it kind of it's kind of a better version of Masters of the Universe.

Speaker 1

Should we review it for this podcast?

I've never seen it, I think.

Speaker 2

So yeah, and I only saw it like maybe four five.

Speaker 1

Years ago, So oh nice.

I would love to see it, and we'll bring you both back to discuss it and you can compare Masters of the Universe.

Speaker 4

Is there a Gwilldor?

Speaker 2

There is there?

They have a Russian scientist that's the closest to gwildor okay, okay, there's no, there's no.

There's kind of aliens, but there's not really aliens.

Speaker 4

They've got that's so concerned about aliens as I am come a.

Speaker 2

Jar jar right, Yeah, No, I would say, no, there's not there's there's Timothy Dalton.

Speaker 1

Oh, I love Timothy Dalton.

Speaker 2

A young Timothy Dalton.

And then there's also Brian Blessed with hawk Wings so interesting.

Yeah, who played Boss Nasts.

So it's kind of a jar jar connection, but not really.

He's kind of worth it though.

Speaker 1

Mmm.

I love that.

I just realized while you were talking that this movie really reminds me of a better version of it, Ice Pirates.

Speaker 4

Mmmm Pirates.

Speaker 1

Ice Pirates is amazing Pirates.

Speaker 2

I feel like Ice Pirates is a slightly like lateral move.

Speaker 1

Yeah, that's not my deep cut recommendation.

Speaker 2

They're in the same shelf.

They're in the same shelf, absolutely, Yeah.

Speaker 1

Their posters are next to each other in someone's living room for sure.

Speaker 4

Yes.

Speaker 1

But my deep cut recommendation, and Jordan you actually touched on it was that I immediately knew when Gwildor was like I hate Adventures, that my deep cut recommended was going to be the Lord of the Rings because you got little guys who hate adventures and hate leaving their little hometown being forced to go on an epic adventure.

But at the opposite of He Man, where we're saying he Man needed less movie to be better.

Lord of the Rings you couldn't give us enough of that movie.

We wanted extended cuts that were four hours long.

We were like, more of this movie would make it a good movie.

So it's the exact opposite.

Speaker 2

Until the Hobbit.

Speaker 1

I hat until the Hobbit, Yes.

Speaker 4

The animated Hobbit movie.

I got a little sad after Bilbo stole the ring from Smiegel.

I'm like, all, poor.

Speaker 1

Guy, yeah, poor little guy.

Speaker 4

I was a very I was a very ampathetic child.

Speaker 1

Mmm, you were ampathetic.

Speaker 4

Yeah, it was empathetic, but amped up.

I'm not me doing a verbal flood.

Speaker 5

That's the thing.

Speaker 1

I also say ampathetic.

Speaker 5

Yeah.

Speaker 4

Sure, my accent came out and I you know what my accent is?

Speaker 1

All right, lovely, Well, thank you so much for listening, Thank you for being with us.

Here at the end, we are going to let you know where you can find us and friend us and follow us and do all that fun stuff.

Let's start with Let's start with Derek.

We've been starting with you.

Let's start with you.

Where can people fine follow and friend you and support your work?

Speaker 4

Yeah?

So the biggest thing to report my work?

If you follow on Instagram, roll for Charisma comedy all one word it is the D and D theme stand up show where we assign abilities to performers that they have to roll dice and then there's a whole table of punishments that they have to survive through their ten minute sets.

So roll for Chrisma Comedy on Instagram is how you can find me and the work that I'm doing.

Speaker 1

Excellent And Jordan, where can people support you and the Musical Catering Company?

Speaker 6

Yeah, so we are at the Neighborhood Comedy Theater first Friday of every month.

We have an Instagram which I believe is just Musical Catering Co.

Yes, very active on that, of course I know that information.

Yeah, first Friday of the month, we do about an hour and a half musical all made up on the spot.

Speaker 5

It's a ton of fun.

Speaker 4

It is a fun show.

Speaker 1

It's great.

It's great and I love it and you can definitely see it in the Neighborhood Comedy Theater first Friday of every month.

Go to Nctphoenix dot com for more details on that to come out and see us do that show.

Nathan, where can people follow your filmmaking endeavors?

Speaker 2

Yes, those Squishy Studios dot com you can find our movies and web series and things like that, and our feature film, The Last Movie Ever Made is on Amazon, Apple.

Speaker 1

And two B so yes, and it is worth worth watching, worth buying.

Speaker 2

Chrissy's in it, as is Dorian's voice.

So if you're at then there's you can say there.

Speaker 1

Yeah, excellent, And so you can listen to me in other places on the Gank That Drank a supernatural drinking game podcast, also a true Story FM product.

But if you're here with us at the end and you're like, look, I need more of this of this quad Drupel Powerhouse episode, you want to hear more from us.

You want the bonus content, baby, you need to become a member.

Go to true story dot fm and click on join and you can become a member and you get episodes early.

What that's great, Early, it's amazing.

You get them ad free what no ads at the top of the thing.

That's wonderful, And you get the bonus content at the end.

And I'm going to ask these cats, what is the worst movie or TV show or book that you love?

Speaker 2

Oh, and mine's not going to be Masters of the Universe.

Speaker 1

Okay, okay, it's okay if it is.

But so you can get that on the bonus content and more so, thank you so much for listening, and when you're out there in the world, please keep the most excellent eighties movies podcast model in mind, be excellent to each other, and party on, Party on, dudes,

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