The Movie that Ended a Franchise: A He-Man and The Masters of the Universe Retrospective | Part 4

[@MidnightsEdge]

The first 1,000 people to use this link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/midnightsedge03221

[@hamdinger7145]

Surf Shark

[@maestroaxeman]

Midnight's Edge😎 Buddy😎 You meticulously pick apart how greed & apathy combined tear great franchises to shreds in so-called "blockbusters" that are totally embarrassing flops. Do one on that horrid Super Mario Bros. w/ Bob Hoskins & John Leguizamo🤔 It's really SAD when great franchises like MOTU, Star Wars, Jurrasic Park3, Green Lantern & such are SO BAD that they "rate right down there" with Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes & The Great Land Of Small🤔🙄😒

[@MidnightsEdge]

@@maestroaxeman It's on the list

[@DanyTV79]

One of the best docummentaries about MOTU ever made. 👏👏👏

[@brucelombardo]

This is probably the best that we could have for closure on the Masters of the Universe film. Thank you.

[@RadicalValkyrie]

I had Dolph sign my Drew Stuzan poster for this movie at a Rocky 4 screening, and it was great seeing and hearing him appreciating the artwork. Beautiful poster. I bought the He-Man and Skeletor figures from the film a few years ago. So nice to finally have figures based on the movie.

[@killerbee2562]

That he-man live stage show looks awesome.

[@christopherbatista4598]

Brilliant video ..don't ever stop ..I love the insight you always bring

[@ThatsMrPencilneck2U]

I was too old for the He-Man cartoon, but, back when I had an attention span, I could actually watch this film all the way through. I took this as the writers made sure to make the film interesting enough for parents to survive taking the kiddies to the Sunday matinee. I had no idea they had aspirations for a new Star Wars. To do that, they would have needed somebody like Stanley Kubrick or Steven Spielberg. This film looked like an elaborate stage play.

[@BeholdTheTruth79]

I have a soft spot for this movie, it was a fun movie when I was young.

[@didierfavre2356]

I remember what happened when I saw it. The start was great and I left the film theatre before the end of it.

[@mariokarter13]

The follow-up is the most accurate way to gauge the health of a franchise. The audience has no way of knowing if they'll like something before they watch it, but they do remember what they thought about the previous installment. The movie didn't kill the franchise, the movie failed because at that point the franchise was already dead.

[@RedSiegfried]

That would be a very valid point if it weren't for the fact that the movie was completely unrecognizable as anything related to Masters of the Universe and that it sucked.

[@weston407]

same thing kinda happened with Dredd but the problem was that they made an actual GOOD movie that no one paid to see (although I'm proud to say I saw it twice in the theaters lol) - everyone pre-judged it based on the Stallone movie which was probably because of poor marketing and the fact that the movies weren't related beyond the fact that they were about the same comic book character

[@herbie747]

The movie was shit. I remember seeing it when I was 9 and hated it because it had nothing to do with MOTU.

[@RogerS1978]

@@herbie747 Same here, teen 11yo me was so dissapointed.

[@orumonuldor1340]

@@RogerS1978 The movie was not a he-man movie... however, if they'd actually used the script with original characters and locations, it would have been an actually good movie.

[@Richterdgf]

Honestly, this movie is a campy, fun little romp from the 80’s. Recently a buddy and I paired Masters of the Universe with Street Fighter for the “scene-chewing antagonist double feature” and a good time was had by all. The movie is worth watching just for Frank Langella’s Skeletor.

[@sirace3311]

Amazing video. Thank you so much for this hard work!

[@markfairleigh9991]

Wonderful video gentlemen. Thank you!!

[@inblackestnight9256]

Great vid as always, but now I can't unsee that unicorn poop ad! Never heard of it, so the point you were trying to make by including it is well taken.

[@seansmall9910]

frank langella's skeletor is the best part of this movie

[@mathewguglielmi8451]

The music in Cannon Film's promo teaser sounds like the theme music from the film in The Never Ending Story.

[@MidnightsEdgeAfterDark]

It is

[@twomuch77]

Fantastic video thanks for all the diligent work

[@theinvisiblemusic]

As a kid I absolutely loved this movie and will always love this movie.

[@stonebaxter]

Epic drop! Getting the popcorn.

[@kreese-yi2nb]

Now that's an epic story. Even had its own Weinstein twist near the end... All hail Albert Pyun, regardless!

[@Nicholas.Rogala]

I was born in 83, so I was too young to be into the cartoon, toys, or movie when they came out. But when I did see the movie in the early 90s, I loved it. I still love it. Skeletor really saves the movie. You can really tell the actor enjoyed the role (probably because he was writing his own lines), and I'm amazed at how much they got out of $20 million.

[@kitcat7538]

Beautifully constructed video. A wonderful job organising one's thoughts so that these complicated interactions become clear. André's is the best voice for narration I've ever heard.

[@Cleron_O_Andarilho]

Finally, the last part. I would love to see this in portuguese for people here in Brazil. I would do it if i could

[@GodzillaSunday]

Great video lots of knowledge bomb! I do suspect Skeltor had a crush on heman in this one 😂

[@michaelbeacom8277]

It's here! The first movie ever where I said "I am totally rooting for the "Villain". Skeletor Rocks!!

[@michaelhart7569]

Amen to that. Skeletor was the main man. I love watching clips of skeletor's best insults. And the Money Super Market adverts are works of genius.

[@MrOrcshaman]

I loved he-man as a kid in the 80s, still do, but looking back now, I adore skeletor, he's just hilarious, a pure classic dastardly villain

[@uriamudeltoro5075]

He really does....the final battle is still epic

[@marcomarterer7232]

I love Frank Langellas performance of Skeletor. I also think for most of the Superhero movies the importance for a skilled actor lies with the bad guy. Gene Hackman, Jack Nicolson, Ian McKellan, Jeff Bridgess where the bigger stars among the cast in these Milestones.

[@gm2407]

@@gregelchert752 Yeah he treads the line between Shakespearean and full on scene chewing brilliantly. I think lots of actors would love to have a huge part in a film where they get given that sort of task. Monologing must be super fun if you are well practiced.

[@pdzombie1906]

Great as usual, Thanx!!!

[@sethbrundels]

I went to go see this for my 5th birthday, Aug 7 1982 smh that was my saddest birthday ever

[@kylepatrickmurphy4058]

Great vid man! Always a treat!

[@rodster6campingprepper]

After my initial childhood shock that it wasn't exactly like Filmation, I ended up loving the film. I love how 80s it is. The practical effects and costumes are great and the villains all give great performances. Teela and Man-At-Arms are pretty well cast too.

[@mazimadu]

33:01 "in August 1987, the movie was *Unleashed* unto the public .." What a cruel choice of words!

[@DrTechnoBabel]

So in short, it's the opposite of what most people thought. The movie bombing didn't cause the fall of He-Man; the fall of He-Man caused the movie to bomb. Fantastic work on this retrospective. Even though I'm not a He-Man fan, and wasn't even born during its height in popularity, it's always fascinating to learn about this sort of thing by people who are passionate about it.

[@LoneWolf-gz9mr]

I'm not really sure the movie would have succeeded even if the franchise wasn't in it's "final hour"..... It was TOO different than what had been established already... To put a more modern face on it.... Think "spider man unlimited" when it was still just stories of the week in the cartoons.... It wouldn't really have went over too well... The franchise basically sank because they pulled the cartoon that created the thing. You don't pull out the battery on your computer and expect it to keep working.

[@mrburns366]

The movie was shit

[@azhorsley]

Best KZbin video from any creator I've seen of 2022 so far. Excellent work, thank you.

[@Kevin_Street]

Thank you so much for this amazing video! You guys went all out on this one. It's wonderful. Man, 1987 is the absolute ground zero for Gen X nostalgia, and this movie is right in the middle of a web of connections that pretty much includes everyone and everything cool in the 80's. Take Teela, for instance: Chelsea Field was also in Commando, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, and The Last Boy Scout - three of the coolest action movies of the era. And she married Scott Bacula. David Odell is the man behind the Dark Crystal. (And if there was any justice he'd be writing an ongoing Age of Resistance series right now.) Frank Langella, Dolph Lundgren, Courteney Cox, William, Stout, even Mobius and Ralph McQuarrie... Everybody was involved with the movie at some point. And silly, silly Mattel... Spending money in the wrong places. If only they'd seen He Man as a unique opportunity and not just a money making property to be maximally exploited. As you said in your other video, all they had to do was commission some more seasons of the Filmation cartoon. The cartoon was the wellspring that powered toy sales. It's true there were many competitors ready to grab a piece of the toy business, but with their established market share Mattel could have kept He Man mania going for at least a couple more years if the cartoons had been there to back them up. They didn't need to make a live action movie.

[@nabahmadi5012]

That post credit scene!!!🤣😂 never knew about it

[@louesorg]

Excellent documentary!

[@MidnightsEdge]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@danielwilliamson6180]

Masters of the Universe is a great movie. 34:39 The after credits scene wasn't scripted and was director Gary Goddard's idea. Gary Goddard had BOSS Studio prepare a vat of pink liquid. Gary Goddard shown the pink liquid to Frank Langella and told him what he wanted him to do and Frank Langella agreed to do it and it was filmed and done in 1 take.

[@lucascoval828]

Frank sounded like a trooper.

[@MrDeejf]

Incredible research and synthesis, great job! In the areas where I'm something of an expert, Cannon Films and, in particular, Albert Pyun's career, you are SPOT ON. The only quibbles I have are that you pronounce Pyun's family name in the more common way, but not the way that he always pronounces it ("Pyoon", instead of "Pie-oon"); and that you didn't include a couple details about *Cyborg* that, while not important to He-Man lore, are notable. It was made, as you note, to amortize the losses of MOTU 2 and Spider-Man. What you do not note is that, with those sunk costs, and with its budget of $750,000, it still made a profit after a box office run of $10 million (before counting video sales, even). But these are, as I said, quibbles, and don't bear on the He-Man story you are telling at all.

[@john-evanbear8783]

I gotta say this is one of the best Making Of documentary videos you have made yet!

[@lolbroklol]

Skeletor was the absolute best thing about this movie.

[@Wardner213]

7:16 Now that's a savage mullet XD

[@AeternusNox.]

I must've watched this movie at least once a week as a kid.

[@ryanlynn]

I loved the movie when it came out and still love it today

[@sovereign41]

I loved this movie as a kid. And I could still put it on and watch it happily. I'd love to see a sequel to this film...

[@kviesgaard]

Made that movie a part of my DVD collecting.

[@darrenrenna]

WOW! So amazing to look back on these properties I loved as a kid and now revisit the behind the scenes maneuvers as a businessman. I cannot wait to see the follow up episodes. This will rank as one of the best analysis of a classic franchise and thank you so much for all the work that clearly went into it!

[@yellowgut]

Another great video. As for the movie, I remember sitting there wondering who the heck all these characters were, and why the characters I did know looked all wrong. Your video just answered my question. 🙏

[@vladpiranha]

That Drew Struzan Masters Of The Universe poster is still a masterpiece.

[@teddkave327]

I never gave a single f*$k about He-Man, but i have to say, this was informative and entertaining. Excellent Work!!

[@themightydr.illusion2909]

Really enjoying the MOTU and Conan film retrospectives. Thank you!

[@RaikenXion]

those movie versions toys look really cool, great analysis

[@adamjenson9369]

Excellent work as always.

[@NebLleb]

The long wait is over. Part four of the History of Masters of the Universe is finally here, baby!

[@QuestforaMeaningfulLife]

Love the in-depth content. No detail is too small. Really bringing out the epic story behind the story.

[@oldsgamer72cutlass19]

That was fantastic. Tom thank you for the sleepless hours of putting this together and Andre for the research and narration of the show.

[@MidnightsEdgeAfterDark]

[@pferreira1983]

You guys need to cover the 90's He-Man cartoon series. I feel it's underrated.

[@MidnightsEdge]

We will, eventually

[@pferreira1983]

@@MidnightsEdge Yahooo! 😁

[@ZontarDow]

Finally, it has arrived.

[@PiggyPickem]

Thank you so much for getting back to this He-Man series of editorials. Excellent job.

[@peppermintspacecapsule9898]

SAUROD; The coolest new design in the movie... and they (SPOILER) kill him off straight away! (face-palm) William Stout is a great chap. He gave me a copy of the dragon design He-Man wears on his chest throughout the film!

[@atomicninjaduck9200]

I cannot wait for that Unicorn Poop movie!

[@yaldabaoth2]

When you mouse over the thumbnail, it shows the unicorn poop part. Ahaha!

[@MidnightsEdge]

Lol, had to be those seconds...

[@lurkingOldman]

Loving these videos.

[@owenwildish331]

In a hilarious in hindsight scene, there's a funnily ironic moment in Ghostbusters 2 where some kids at a birthday started yelling for He-Man when the Ghostbusters pay the kids a birthday visit as special guests, even though in real life the popularity of Ghostbusters had overshadowed He-Man it seems, hmm..? (I wonder if there's any backstory to that at all?)

[@KasumiKenshirou]

I always assumed that the Ghostbusters II script was written at a time when He-Man was popular and the line just never got updated.

[@michaelkrull3331]

I remember that line. And thought little of it. He-Man was supposed to have lost popularity by the late 80s, you wouldn't know it where I was living at the time. He-Man was still the shit.

[@gm2407]

Yeah as a little boy that confused me at the time as He-Man was well past its peak and Ghostbusters was huge. I suppose that it is an in universe joke that Ghostbusters actually did something real and heroic but nobody cares and a cartoon is more popular than them. Hence "Ungreatful yupy lavé. After all we've done for this city."

[@xOubax]

This was a great walk down memory lane! Well done Andre! 👏

[@SkyStarNova]

Awesome video!

[@Darksmirk1]

I loved the movie as a kid; but once the 90s TMNT movie came out, I rarely watched it. I had a Gwildor & Blade action figure. It’s a shame they didn’t go with the original script and show more Eternia.

[@white-dragon4424]

What I find is that if you target a franchise purely at little kids then you mostly get short-term benefits, because kids' interests are extremely fleeting, but if you target an older audience, especially the teenage market, then you get a franchise that's far more enduring. That's because the teenage market, like Marvel Comics, can also be enjoyed by little kids and adults. That's the main reason why the Star Wars OT, in particular ANH and ESB, can be enjoyed by far more people than the later films, even by today's kids.

[@AlexLopezMan]

FUN FACT: in the LatinAmerica dubbed version (exclude Brazil and Argentina) use the cartoon voice actors for He-man, Skeletor and Man-at-arms. He-man´s latin dub voice is epic btw.

[@MidnightsEdge]

That .... that IS epic. South America rocked that movie.

[@jmmusic9297]

Fantastic.

[@SuperSupersoda]

GOAT-tier comment in this video: "where they hook up with Courtney Cox, who mourns her dead parents, and her boyfriend, Tom Paris." Bravo, those people can play any role in the world, but we'll always know her as Courtney Cox, and Robert Duncan McNeil, no matter what else he does in life, will ALWAYS be Tom Paris, to me.

[@KasumiKenshirou]

And also Wesley Crusher's academy friend who has the exact same backstory as Tom Paris but has a different name for some reason.

[@hatuletoh]

"The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" is one of those gems that almost no one knows about today. The governor's "side step" song is hilarious, and Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds have good chemistry together.

[@MidnightsEdgeAfterDark]

I bring it up whenever possible

[@rubix4195]

Also, before Whitney, Dolly Parton was singing "The Bodyguard" song: "I Will Always Love You" long before Kevin Costner started being a bodyguard!

[@warreng3238]

Let’s not forget Dom DeLuise as Melvin P. Thorpe. 😁

[@greyjedi6430]

I've always loved this movie He man fucking rules

[@tommyc4641]

Absolutely fascinating! Thank you for these videos, that provide such amazing insight into the inner workings of the film industry. It goes to show just how hard it is to make a movie that realises it’s potential, given all the background politics and business decisions.

[@oliverbelmonte7077]

Hope you can review the 1989 New Adventures of He-Man and the 2000's He-Man review one day. Or perhaps a review of Motu comics done by synonymous comic book artists.

[@OceanbornAngel]

18:38 I cannot hear this music and not picture riding on the back of Falcor from Neverending Story.

[@DJDoena]

The music in the trailer at 19:00: Isn't that from The Neverending Story?

[@MidnightsEdgeAfterDark]

yes

[@mitchfletcher2386]

This was most informative. I can hardly wait for the next part!

[@grb351]

Well done! Great retrospective. And I love how Andre pronounces Lundgren! 👏👏👏

[@jeffreyskoritowski4114]

This is the OG example of how not to make a movie based on an existing IP. Nothing about this film felt like the He-Man we knew. Not bringing in Filmation was the biggest mistake that they could've made. They had a fleshed out universe complete with animated story boards. The end product looked like something that Rodger Corman could've done for 20% of the budget.

[@billybarnett9518]

Yet, the movie is somehow more He Man than Revelation...

[@jeffreyskoritowski4114]

@@billybarnett9518 We shouldn't talk about that.

[@dirkjewitt5037]

I remember paying to see the MOTU movie at least four times when i was a kid.

[@chrisw207]

Wow, that sequel has real "Legend of Chun Li" vibes.

[@Halbared]

Marvellous video chaps, thank you.

[@EatWave]

44:30 At the very least those of us who were wondering about it finally know why they could never find a Movie Skeletor or He-Man figure.

[@ryanjacobson2508]

I think the movie and toyline would've done better if the toyline had featured all of the new characters and character redesigns from the movie. But that's Mattel's fault for not securing the rights.

[@gc3k]

I always liked the movie character designs, they look great as toys

[@FilmViper]

Very informative. An excellent documentary on this cult classic. The best I’ve seen up to now. Bravo!

[@carlosalbertolealrodriguez5529]

I agree with your vision of Cannon, but nevertheless, I am a big fan of Cannon Films, they produce the best ninja movies I ever saw.

[@DillAvery]

I’m still waiting for a ThunderCats movie…

[@popculturemanchildren376]

great video

[@ursuskineto3221]

Honestly, I always enjoyed watching the movie. Yes, it aint a masterpiece, but I enjoyed its originality.

[@brianleblancart736]

I really love William Stout's design work. In my opinion, his designs was the best thing about Return of the Living Dead. He elevated low budget movies.

[@FracturedO1]

Andre talking about a Conan connection. I'm definitely in the right reality.

[@Chrismw81]

Interesting that She-Ra's last episode was December 87, same month Ninja Turtles premiered.

[@KyoKensabre]

I’m looking forward to seeing the hard work put into this video guys. I’m not much of a HeMan classic fan, but I enjoy viewing the history you are bringing to the front.

[@usa1mac]

2:37 to skip the ads and excessive intro

[@DanielBMS]

4:55 This sounds like something Skeletor would say

[@fenix23]

Awesome video, much appreciated.

[@aidangreen7006]

Amazing video guys! Been subbed for these deep dive videos since 2015. Keep trucking!

[@futuramayeah]

i didn't know about the first script all set on Eternia, that was probably the movie i wanted to see, they should have taken the Warner Bros deal, all we got from them was some movie called Batman

[@SuperCosmicMutantSquid]

I think one of the biggest reasons this movie is so liked is the same reason the original Street Fighter movie is liked; it's cheesy as fuck but within that cheese is entertainment. You can point out what is wrong but it's not done in such a callous, mean spirited way along the lines of what Revelations did where there was no love towards the original at all and we had someone who believed they knew better than the creators and the fans to give the fans what they thought they should ACCEPT. Making a He-Man movie was a constant uphill battle but it seemed like they had people who understood it and its inspirations on the team, but in terms of finances and management that's where shit broke down. This was also an early attempt at bringing a toyline to live action so there really was no 'example' to learn from and they were going in blind, on top of being restricted between Mattel and Filmation that left characters they wanted to use out. In a way, it's not surprising that the results came out the way they did but within that they created a B-Movie that was at the very least so bad it's good.

[@DavidMoore-eu3jv]

I pretty much moved on to Thundercats when the He-Man cartoon ended. I did liked the movie. The toys I felt like should have been made better where the legs did not brake so easily.