Power of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2017) Review
Power of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2017) Review
In the early 1980s He-Man arrived on the scene and hit the world with a punch as powerful as the character himself. Designed in the wake of Conan the barbarian and under the shadow of Star Wars, He-Man’s surprising popularity spawned a multibillion dollar empire that included toys, comic books, cartoons, live-action movies and a literal sister spinoff show – She-Ra – and continues to appeal to a ravenous fan-base today. Watch as artists, creators and collaborators dig deep, tell tales and share the surprising developments of an unlikely, unparalleled pop culture success in this Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Do you have the power?
For someone who knew very little about He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, having viewed it as simply as a fad at the time, I still found this documentary very compelling. Detailing how Mattel were losing money on toy tie-in’s to films such as Clash of the Titans (1981) and Conan the Barbarian (1982) – Conan was awarded with an R-rating killing the prospect of making money from a toy tie-in – Mattel came up with their own take on a muscle-bound hero, He-Man! Charting the evolution of the toys and their subsequent success makes for riveting viewing, filling in the blanks on a phenomenon that I paid little attention to at the time. As with all success stories there’s a sudden fall from grace – effectively happening when the money men kill the creativity and in the process killing their own golden goose.
A sizable portion of director Randall Lobb and Robert McCallum’s documentary concentrates on the fiasco that was the 1987 live-action film tie-in release – now that I DID see! And what an awful movie it is, yet another project that the Cannon group managed to royally bugger up! Dolph Lundgren is very positive about his experience starring as He-Man in the film whereas Frank Langella is refreshingly honest. As at the time of writing it’s been announced that one of our favourite filmmakers Kevin Smith, along with Netflix, are looking to revive the original Masters of the Universe animated series. This documentary covers a lot of ground at a fluid pace without ever leaving the viewer lagging behind. If you’re a fan of the MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE brand then you’ll need no prompting to see this, if you were never a fan this is STILL worth a look at.
