Masters of the Universe (stylized as Masters of the Universe: The Motion Picture) is a 1987 American sword and sorcery superhero film based on the Masters of the Universe franchise by Mattel. The film was directed by Gary Goddard, produced by Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan, and written by David Odell. It stars Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, Courteney Cox, James Tolkan, Christina Pickles, and Meg Foster with supporting roles by Billy Barty, Jon Cypher, Chelsea Field, and Robert Duncan McNeill. The film follows two teenagers who meet He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe, who travels to Earth with his friends, Man-At-Arms and Teela, to stop their archenemy, the evil Skeletor from obtaining a cosmic key that will enable him to take over their home planet Eternia and the entire universe.
Masters of the Universe was released theatrically in the United States on August 7, 1987. It was a critical and commercial failure, grossing $17 million worldwide against a budget of $22 million. At the time of release, it was met with negative reviews from film critics, but is now regarded as a cult film. Another film adaptation was released in 2026.
Plot On the planet Eternia, the warlord Skeletor seizes control of Castle Grayskull, the center of power in the universe. His army scatters the remaining Eternian defenders and captures the Sorceress of Grayskull, imprisoning her within a power-draining field and planning to seize power over the entire universe by the next moonrise. Skeletor's archenemies—the warrior leader He-Man, veteran soldier Man-At-Arms, and his daughter Teela—rescue Thenurian locksmith Gwildor from Skeletor's troopers. Gwildor invented a "Cosmic Key" that can open a portal to anywhere by using musical notes, which was stolen by Skeletor's second-in-command Evil-Lyn allowing Skeletor to breach Castle Grayskull.
With Gwildor's remaining prototype of the Key, He-Man and his friends breach the Castle. They attempt to free the Sorceress, but are overwhelmed by Skeletor's army and forced to flee to Earth through a portal opened by Gwildor's Cosmic Key. The Key is lost upon their arrival and discovered by two California teenagers—orphaned high-school graduate Julie Winston and her boyfriend, aspiring musician Kevin Corrigan. While experimenting with the device, they accidentally transmit a signal. Tracking it, Evil-Lyn sends Skeletor's henchmen Saurod, Blade, Beastman and Karg to recover the device.
Kevin believes the Key to be a new synthesizer and takes it to a music store run by his friend Charlie. At the school, Skeletor's henchmen arrive through a portal and chase Julie, who is rescued by He-Man while he and his companions search for the Key. The henchmen retreat to Grayskull where, incensed by their failure, Skeletor vaporizes Saurod and sends the others back to Earth, with a larger force under Evil-Lyn's command. Kevin returns to the school to find police investigating the damage caused by Skeletor's men, and no sign of Julie. Kevin is taken to Julie's house by Hugh Lubic, a detective investigating the disturbance. They find no trace of Julie, but Lubic is suspicious of the Key, which he suspects Kevin may have stolen. He confiscates it and leaves for Charlie's store to verify Kevin's story. Evil-Lyn and her team break into the house and interrogate Kevin regarding the Key's location using a mind-control collar, before pursuing Lubic.
Julie and the Eternians arrive and release Kevin from the collar, then pursue Lubic and the Key. They arrive at Charlie's store, but Skeletor's forces intercept them and a battle ensues. Evil-Lyn recovers the Key and summons Skeletor to Earth. Skeletor's forces capture the Eternians and wound Julie, which simultaneously erases the memory storage of Gwildor's Key. He-Man surrenders to save his comrades and is returned to Eternia as Skeletor's slave. Skeletor attempts to torture He-Man into submission to make his victory complete, but He-Man refuses to yield. The moment arrives for Skeletor to receive the power of the cosmos and declare himself the Master of the Universe.
On Earth, Gwildor repairs the Key, and Kevin re-creates the tones necessary to create a gateway to Eternia. The group, including Lubic as he attempts to arrest them, are transported to Castle Grayskull and begin battling Skeletor's forces. Resenting that Skeletor absorbed the power of the universe without sharing it with her, Evil-Lyn orders Karg to sound the retreat. He-Man retrieves the Sword of Grayskull and shatters Skeletor's staff in a duel, restoring the latter to his normal state. He-Man offers mercy, but Skeletor draws a concealed sword and attempts to kill him. To stop him, He-Man knocks Skeletor into a pit below to his apparent death. The freed Sorceress heals Julie, and Gwildor opens a portal to send the Earthlings home. Hailed as a hero for his bravery, Lubic decides to remain on Eternia.
Julie awakens on the morning of her parents' deaths in a plane crash. Realizing the Key transported her back in time, she prevents her parents from taking the ill-fated flight in the previous timeline. Kevin later confirms to her that their experiences were real, producing a souvenir from Eternia: a sphere containing a scene of He-Man with his sword in front of Castle Grayskull.
In the post-credits scene, Skeletor's head emerges from the water in the pit saying "I'll be back!"
Cast
Dolph Lundgren as He-Man, the champion of Eternia Frank Langella as Skeletor, the leader of the Evil Warriors and He-Man's archenemy Meg Foster as Evil-Lyn, a witch who is a member of the Evil Warriors Billy Barty as Gwildor, a Thenurian who invented the Cosmic Key. He was created to replace Orko, who was going to appear in the film, but was scrapped due to his design being too complex to produce in live action. Courteney Cox as Julie Winston, a teenager on Earth who finds the Cosmic Key Robert Duncan McNeill as Kevin Corrigan, a teenager and friend of Julie who finds the Cosmic Key Jon Cypher as Man-At-Arms, an ally of He-Man Chelsea Field as Teela, the daughter of Man-At-Arms and ally of He-Man James Tolkan as Hugh Lubic, a detective that has his encounters with the Eternians Christina Pickles as Sorceress, the protector of Castle Grayskull Tony Carroll as Beastman, an animalistic member of the Evil Warriors who makes animalistic sounds Pons Maar as Saurod, a lizard man member of the Evil Warriors Anthony De Longis as Blade, a sword-wielding member of the Evil Warriors who wears an eyepatch Robert Towers as Karg, a bat-like member of the Evil Warriors who commands Skeletor's soldiers and interprets for Beast Man Barry Livingston as Charlie, a music store owner and Kevin's friend Gwynne Gilford as Catherine Winston, Julie's mother Walter Scott as William Winston, Julie's father Walt P. Robles as Carl, the janitor Cindi Eyman as Gloria, Julie's friend and co-worker Peter Brooks as narrator Richard Szponder as Pigboy, a member of the Evil Warriors with a pig-like face who gives Skeletor his staff
Production Development and writing The Masters of the Universe toyline started in 1982, which was then followed up by the animated television series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe from 1983 to 1985. In 1985 the animated film The Secret of the Sword was the first theatrically released film to star He-Man and feature Masters of the Universe characters. Work then started on producing a live action Masters of the Universe film. One of the original drafts from the script by David Odell included more time spent on Eternia and revealed that He-Man's mother was originally from Earth.
Describing her character, Meg Foster said Evil-Lyn is not villainous, "she is just doing her job and she knows how to get results, even if it means being harsh". Frank Langella agreed, calling her a female more dedicated to Skeletor's cause than any man; she is obsessive around him because she loves him. The filmmakers considered having Foster wear contact lenses to mask her naturally pale blue eyes, but decided they fit the character better. They augmented her chest, fitting cleavage into the costume. She wanted Evil-Lyn to have a long hairstyle, rather than the short style featured in the film; Mattel objected, considering it too far a departure from the toy. Orko was initially supposed appear in the film, but he was too complex to produce in live-action so he was replaced by an original character Gwildor.
When offered the role, Langella said that he "didn't even blink ... I couldn't wait to play him". He cited his then-four-year-old son Frank III's love of Skeletor while running around his house yelling He-Man's battle cry "I have the power!" as the reason he played He-Man's archenemy.
Filming According to director Gary Goddard, Mattel caused problems for the production crew by not paying their half of the production budget on time. A member of staff was forced to put lens caps on cameras on several shooting days, to prevent any more filming from taking place. Due to the production running out of budget, Goddard had to finance the filming of the battle scene between He-Man and Skeletor himself. Only Lundgren and Langella were present along with a skeleton crew, with the set's lighting made dark to emphasize the actors' presence.
Mattel was also initially very controlling over how He-Man was depicted in the film, insisting that the character could not appear doing anything morally wrong (such as swearing or killing). Sales of He-Man toys dipped in the middle of production, after which Goddard noted that Mattel relaxed their rules and allowed the director to have more liberties with the character.
During filming, Mattel held a contest for children for a chance to appear in the film. Richard Szponder won the competition, but his victory was announced as filming was nearing completion. All the scenes taking place on Earth had been shot, so Goddard cast Szponder as the minion character Pigboy, who holds Skeletor's staff as he returns to Grayskull.
Two sound stages needed to be connected to film the interior of Castle Grayskull, with matte paintings filling in the pits of the central walk-way. Unhappy with Dolph Lundgren's reading of He-Man's dialogue, Goddard initially planned to have Lundgren's dialogue dubbed over by another actor, but was not permitted to do so due to contractual reasons. Lundgren's dialogue was subsequently re-recorded and dubbed over the original footage to better meet Goddard's standards. Langella told the press he loved playing Skeletor and worked very hard to make the role as exciting as possible, remarking that it was a positive experience.
Director Gary Goddard has revealed that the original cut featured a longer and emotional farewell scene inspired by The Wizard of Oz where Julie Winston (Courteney Cox) had individual lines with each Eternian. The studio demanded the scene be tightened up, but the footage still exists.
Jack Kirby inspiration Comic book writer and artist John Byrne compared the film to Jack Kirby's comic book metaseries Fourth World, stating in Comic Shop News #497:
Director Gary Goddard clarified this in a letter appearing in John Byrne's Next Men No. 26, in which he stated:
Brian Cronin, author of the "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed" column, concludes that "the film itself was not intended to be literally a reworked Fourth World, although the intent WAS to make the film a tribute to Jack Kirby—just a tribute to ALL of his work, not just the Fourth World."
Music