Off
the toy counter and onto the big screen flies He-Man, biceps
rippling, pecs glistening, to do battle with evil Skeletor,
colored waves flashing from every perverse pore, over who
will be master of the universe. Specifically at stake in "Masters
of the Universe," which can be found at the Warner and
other theaters, is possession of the Cosmic Key, invented
by the cute dwarf Gwildor, which can transport you anywhere
in any galaxy. He-Man and his allies, Man-at-Arms and Teela,
whose close-fitting battle suit reveals almost as much as
He-Man's, find themselves in Colby, Calif., where they get
involved with a couple of teen-agers and are pursued by Skeletor's
minions and a local cop. If you liked the toy, you'll love
the movie.
Everybody flies around and fires off colored jolts of electricity.
Skeletor has the numbers, but his troops, got up like clones
of Darth Vader, are rotten shots. Their weapons make a Fourth
of July sparkler show, but they almost never hit anybody.
He-Man, meantime, is blowing them away wholesale. It's relatively
bloodless combat; the villains go up in lights and that's
that. The most satisfying scene is the destruction of a music
store filled with synthesizers and amplifiers.
You don't get to see as much of Frank Langella, who plays
Skeletor, as you do of Dolph Lundgren, who plays He-Man, but
the bad guy has the good lines. ''I must possess all or I
possess nothing,'' intones Skeletor. ''Assemble the mercenaries.''
''The Alpha and the Omega. Death and Rebirth.'' ''I am not
in the giving vein this day.'' Sure he is; it's not every
day an actor gets to spout such stuff.
Finally, as He-Man and Skeletor get ready for their climactic
face-off, Skeletor announces, ''Let this be our final battle!''
If you can believe that, you'll have no trouble believing
the rest of it.
"Masters of the Universe" is rated PG (''Parental
Guidance Suggested''), probably because of the battles.
THE CAST - MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, directed by Gary Goddard;
screenplay by David Odell; director of photography, Havania
Baer; film editor, Anne V. Coates; visual effects producer,
Richard Edlund; music by Bill Conti; production designer,
William Stout; produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus;
released by the Cannon Group Inc. At the Warner Theater, Broadway
at 47th Street; the UA Gemini, Second Avenue at 64th Street;
the Waverly, Avenue of the Americas at Third Street; the Coliseum,
Broadway at 181st Street; Movie Center 5, 125th Street between
Powell and Douglass Boulevards; the Cosmo, 116th Street between
Lexington and Third Avenues, and the Nova, Broadway at 147th
Street. Running time: 106 minutes.
This film is rated PG.
He-Man...Dolph Lundgren
Skeletor...Frank Langella
Evil-Lyn...Meg Foster
Gwildor...Billy Barty
Julie Winston...Courteney Cox
Detective Lubic...James Tolkan
Sorceress...Christina Pickles
Kevin...Robert Duncan McNeill
Man-at-Arms...Jon Cypher
Teela...Chelsea Field
