Desperado

Don't mess with el Mariachi puñeta!

Desperado is a very interesting piece of film work. This was my first movie watching Spanish actor Antonio Banderas in a rated R movie, and I really wasn't sure what to expect - boy was I surprised. This movie is highly entertaining and packs a punch in multiple genres. For the most part, this is one big shoot 'em up movie. Although much of the action scenes are the same, they still somehow end up being exciting to watch no matter how many times you've seen it. This is not your regular western, where people have their little revolvers and twirl them with one finger, no. This is about a man getting revenge for the sake of his loved one using any weapon he can find.

As I said before, Antonio Banderas stars as El Mariachi who looks to find revenge on the man who hired a couple of thugs to kill his wife and permanently damage his playing hand. Co-starring with Banderas is actress Salma Hayek. Although back then she was not well known, this is the film that started her career. I think these two actors really do a good job. Not only do they work well together, but also they look good together.

Part time Musician and...

...Full time avenger.

Making things even more awesome are the action scenes. The way El Mariachi fires upon the bad guys, the way he leaps and rolls; is just really exciting to watch. The style of the film is done differently than the usual action movies. Out of all the people that are killed by El Mariachi, you would almost think that he's villain, but he's not. The bad guy's henchmen just keep getting in between the cross hairs.

Although much of this movie is shooting people, Banderas has many moments of comedy. And it's not like, "Haha! That was a good joke". It's more of, "These guys better watch out, because they don't know who they're messing' with". El Mariachi says it himself, he's just looking for a man. And when he says the man's name, everyone starts shooting at him! He's just looking for a certain guy, why does it matter to them- ...Oh well...that's their fault. Those guys got what was coming for them. They just didn't know that.

Finally for the music used in this movie was by Los Lobos. I think Lobos did a great job with the musical score. With the Hispanic tone in every part of the music, it really gets the blood flowing. Because the story is about El Mariachi, it has a lot of guitar. That is what gives the film its zest. 

El Mariachi is not alone.

All bad guys wear expensive suits.

Director Robert Rodriguez has recreated El Mariachi and made it into a high spirited "boom" "pow" movie that can make the viewer start jumping out of their seat. With fun performances, loud action and great music, this film is bound to get the attention it wants. 

This one is my favourite of the "El Mariachi" series because it tells the best story without being too over the top or too pretentious. The first movie is good despite the resources Rodriguez had to work with but, it still could have been more action packed and had less silliness in it. "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" was good too, still I think it went too over the top even by "El Mariachi" standards. "Desperado" is an excellent part of the "El Mariachi" series. Though, I've always wondered why being a mariachi is such a deadly occupation in this series of film. It is a great shoot 'em up, tells a great story, and is cheesy only to a point where it puts a smile on your face.  

Tough Mexican citizens.

Blazing couple.

Desperado's Trivia

Kinky Crew.

 

Director Robert Rodriguez said in his DVD commentary that the day they shot Salma Hayek's love scene with Antonio Banderas, the entire crew showed up to see it.

Buscemi's part.

Steve Buscemi's character's name is "Buscemi" because the part was written with him in mind.

Tarantino's part.

Though Quentin Tarantino wasn't initially cast in the movie, the character he plays was based on him. Steve Buscemi was originally cast in the role, but when Tarantino expressed an interest he was immediately given the part.

Banderas, 100% Mariachi.

Antonio Banderas performed all of his own guitar work, including "Cancion Del Mariachi" during the opening credits. 

 

El Mariachi rides...

The Corona Club.

The bar in the beginning of the film where Steve Buscemi and Cheech Marin talk is an actual bar in Acuna, Mexico called the Corona Club. The bar is a lot cleaner and bigger in reality, but it's like walking right into the movie. They also have quite a few pictures of the stars and crew of the movie on the walls.

Quick draw.

The scenes with Steve Buscemi and Cheech Marin had to be shot quickly because they could only afford Buscemi for seven days and Cheech for six.

Scary Fake Blood gun.

For most of the killings they used a gun that essentially fired fake blood at the characters instead of squibs. This unfortunately created too realistic of an effect resulting in them having to edit out much of the deaths for the censors.

The more you want...

This film cost approximately $7 million to make, 1000 times the amount of money Rodriguez spent to make El mariachi.

 

...So does the bad guy.

Mr. Bison as Bucho.

Raul Julia was cast as Bucho, but pulled out due to declining health.

Banderas, the director.

The bathroom scene before the 2nd bar shootout was directed by Antonio Banderas. Robert Rodriguez said he didn't like using 2nd unit crews and Banderas asked if he could direct the scene, so Rodriguez agreed.

Chingón's music did not make it to Desperado.

Robert Rodriguez had originally written a rock version of the song "Malagueña Salerosa" into the screenplay. It would later be performed by his band "Chingon" during the end credits of Kill Bill: Vol. 2

 

Formerly known as Navajas, now known as Machete!

Cheech Marin, the invisible.

During the shoot out in the bar Cheech Marin's character is rarely seen. This is because they could only shoot his scenes in the six days they had him, so they made an approximation of what the shot up bar would look like and shot his scenes with it, putting his character behind it for most of the shootout.

Stuntmen for charity.

Due to the film's relatively low budget, the same two stunt men were used throughout the movie.

 

J Lo for the win.

 

Jennifer Lopez tried out for the part of Carolina.

 

The Gunman.

 

The movie was originally entitled "El Pistolero" ("The Gunman") to be consistent with the first film (El mariachi (1992)) but was changed at the request of the studio. In Mexico it was released as "Pistolero" and "La Balada del Pistolero" 

 

El Mariachi knows how to make your girl cum.

Happiness comes from a warm facial.

Santa Cecilia.

Santa Cecilia (St. Cecilia) is the patron saint of music, which is an obvious reference to the Mariachi theme. Both Henry Purcell and George Frideric Handel wrote Odes to St. Cecilia's Day (22 November 1683, and 1739, respectively). Few hard facts are known about St. Cecilia who may not have existed at all, other than in legend.

 

Partnership beyond Desperado.

A week after finishing shooting this film, Robert Rodriguez and Antonio Banderas were back in the studio, working on Rodriguez's segment of Four Rooms (1995). 

 

Here's the movie trailer:

 

Robocop (2014)

Your move creep!

In a time where we are bombed by hundreds of unnecessary remakes in the big & small screen nothing seems to outdo the original source. We've had the Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider, The Bionic Woman, The A-Team, Spiderman to fill a very extensive list of boring updated versions that lacked the guts the originals all had.  Robocop is a classic, having felt much trepidation about the direction the remake was going in (a PG-13 rating for god's sake!) I went in with fairly low expectations but still something of an open mind as I really wanted this reboot to faithfully kick-start a new, successful Robocop franchise.

I was pleasantly surprised by the first hour of the film and how Murphy's quite horrifying physical transformation was depicted (there wasn't much left of him) and the emotional impact upon him. I particularly liked the first few scenes of him coming to grips with his new form and his little meltdown in the Chinese factory in which he was built. Unfortunately the film starts to take a significant nose dive at the point of Robocop's big public unveiling. A stupidly convenient plot device whereby the entire Detroit PD database including 17 years worth of the city's CCTV is uploaded to Murphy merely minutes before he's about to make his big appearance. This causes Robocop to overload requiring a change to Murphy be necessitated resulting in him then becoming more robotic and ultimately making an arrest for murder upon his big unveiling. This was a clumsily handled plot device done for the advancement of the plot but defied logic. Why give him a massive upload at such a crucial time? Others have pointed to a lack of a true antagonist and this is very true. Main criminal Antoine Vallon is utterly woeful compared to Kurtwood Smith's vile Clarence Boddiker and even Micheal Keaton can't hold a candle to Ronny Cox's performance in the original. There is also little chemistry between Alex and Clara Murphy both before and after his transformation. 

I used to be Batman you know.

So what? I was a jedi, a superhero and 100% muthafucka!

The film is best when it isn't trying to ape and nod towards the original. The use of Basil Poledouris' majestic music in Pedro Bromfman's new score is particularly jarring and poorly orchestrated. When I watched Man of Steel at about the 50 minute mark I realized I hadn't heard John Williams classic Superman theme but also realized that this was a new take on the Superman mythos that didn't need to borrow from it's predecessors. Shame this film didn't follow suit.

The effects are generally good but alas the Robocop/ED-209 battle is just a typical modern day CGI fest and has none of the weight of the same scene from the original. CGI is so overrated these days that it has become a dated cliché already.

Batman? Ironman?

Dead or alive you're coming with your children to this lame PG-13 version.

The film's biggest issue is undoubtedly caused by the constrictions of the PG-13 rating. Hearing arch criminals talk without any swearing pulls me out if the film and destroys any sense of realism. In one scene as Murphy approaches a drug factory to make a bust images of the classic drug factory shoutout of the original came to mind. Alas this version turns out to be a total anti-climax almost totally devoid of the carnage so required from such a scene. This follows on to Robocop taking down Vallon in a night vision shootout where men are shot but no blood, death or injury are shown in even any mildly satisfying manner. This shows clearly that gritty subject matter is not befitting of a teenage rating and similar target audience. Would something like The Wire work if it was aimed at a teenage audience? No. 

Behold the future!

And you want me to masturbate with this robo-hand?

There aren't any particular standout performances other than Gary Oldman who almost always delivers no matter the role or movie. Kinnaman is somewhat wooden in places but gives a decent enough performance even though at times he looks uncomfortable with the role. One aspect of the film that did nothing for me was Samuel L Jackson's character who opens and closes the film and offers his very one sided views throughout. If this is their replacement of the satire of the original they can keep it. It's ham fisted and provides little more than uninteresting commentary on the power of the media and plot exposition. It tells us nothing interesting that we don't already know and Jackson does his shouty thing to excess, especially at the cringe-worthy end.

I wholly embrace the need to make this reboot from a fresh angle to that of Verhoven's original but Sony MGM have played it way too safe with something that would clearly play better if it were aimed at an adult audience. I genuinely believe that an R rated movie, devoid of such tight restrictions would have been a far more satisfying experience. The original Robocop franchise died when they aimed at a younger demographic. Hollywood greed I fear has caused a repeat of this mistake. It's not a bad film per se, it's just painfully average and therefore unable to get out from the vast shadow of its forebear and like the Total Recall remake, it tries too hard too often to remind you of the original whilst offering nothing new to compete with it. I doubt there's even a harder cut tucked away for home release and even if there was there are plot issues that damage the film as much as the tame approach. Other gripes include a lack of clarity as to Omnicorp's role (if any) in Murphy being blown up, and plot threads not being followed through to any satisfying conclusion such as Murphy's relationship with his family. The best bits revolve around Murphy's initial awakening as a cyborg which are very well done indeed. 

This is the homage suite.

Michael Bay's Transformers?

Alas there's not really that much else that's in any way as memorable as the 1987 classic it's based on. As an example of how modern Hollywood has become all about excessive studio control above creativity and maximizing ticket sales at the expense of a film's overall artistic quality then this film succeeds. In all other aspects it's a bit of a wasted opportunity really. This is Robocop without what made Robocop an interest movie/comic book: Cyberpunk ultraviolence. Watch at your own risk...

Anyways, here's the movie trailer:

Masters of the Universe (the Movie)

I have the fucking power!!!

The 80's spawned a great selection of cartoons/animé that are remembered to date as breakthrough pieces of art. We had The Transformers, Robotech, Thundercats, G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K., and a long selection of Animé featuring Gatchaman, Space Adventure Cobra, Captain Harlock and a growing selection of direct to video OVA. Despite sharing a popularity that spread overseas, there was only one cartoon that would make it to the big screen: He-Man & the Masters of the Universe. Luckily, I was an 80's kid and my dad took to the movies the day He-Man became a real live action intergalactic hero.

Masters of the Universe unlike many of the later live action attempts (Super Mario Bros., Double Dragon, Street Fighter, Silent Hill, Transformers, G.I. Joe to name a few) is a film where the direction, acting & music are solid good. The overall experience is that of an entertaining recipe: action, plot, surprise, special effects and more action. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was a hugely successful mid-80's cartoon. The success of each fed the other, as well as a popular comic book and loads of other merchandise. Finally in 1987 came the big one: the motion picture.

What looks like suicide at first glance - converting a cartoon based on action figures into a full-length feature - gets more appealing when you look at the source material closer. The cartoon is a epic hybrid of fantasy and sci-fi, with ancient castles and sorcerers mixing with laser guns and cyborgs. It also has a very mythic feel, mixing Ancient Greece-era monsters and challenges with fairy tale locations. In addition, to give MOTU a more realistic look, the film scenery borrows ideas previously seen in Star Wars, Flash Gordon & Conan the Barbarian which by the way do not look as cheap copies or trying to rip-off from somebody else's creativity.

He-Man exists, I believe!

Skeletor!

There are also hordes of exotic characters - warriors, mutants, monsters, magicians of every description, so the film makers could pick the coolest ones to bring to the screen. The ones they've chosen are He-Man and his arch enemy Skeletor (obviously), amazon-type female warrior Teela and her dad Man-At -Arms, the Sorceress of Grayskull, Skeletor's second in command Evil Lyn (which is always pronounced 'Evil-In'), and Beastman. Added to these are four characters that were created for the film - Gwildor, a dwarf-like inventor, Karg, a cross between Captain Hook and a bat, snake-like Sauron, and Blade, a sword and knife-obsessed slaphead. So that's eleven fantasy characters running about, which is a pretty good total.

Masters of the Universe succeeds because it takes the cartoon and adapts not it's superficial qualities, but it's essence into a movie, turning it into a mature sci-fi/fantasy adventure. This is where so many comic and cartoon based movies fail. They don't adapt their source material properly to make a successful feature film. You need to make the movie a natural progression from what it's based on, altering the look enough so it looks acceptable in real action, altering the characters into real people, choosing actors who can give real performances. It's not simply dressing superstars up as characters from a comic or cartoon, it's re-imagining the ideas as a movie. MOTU does this perfectly. You can fault it as a film itself, of course, but you can't fault it as an adaption.

The production design is superb, with some superbly realized sets and costumes. Everything has been adapted to look more realistic on the big screen. The cast give uniformly decent performances. Nobody lets the side down - these are all 3D characters, not cartoons. Dolph Lungren proves he's one of the European bodybuilder brigade who can act. Frank Langella gives an outstanding performance as Skeletor, his powerful presence almost bursting out of the TV and into your living room. Langella gives a shining example to all actors portraying comic book and cartoon characters in live action. There is a pervading sense of dread whenever he appears, especially during Castle Grayskull sequences, and the script gives him some awesome lines which he delivers with pure evil dripping from his voice.

He-Man sidekicks.

He-Man, Teela & The Sorceress.

The monsters are pretty bloody scary, especially for a family film, especially the Beastman (who's had a 'the' added to his name). The sequence where they invade a school gym and chase Julie around it is excellent, far more exciting and scary than similar chases in many horror films (including some of those Courtney Cox has been in). It's also, like the rest of the film, surprisingly violent, as the bad guys attack Julie with swords, claws, laser guns and high velocity darts. That she manages to escape is not unbelievable at all, because of the way the chase is staged - it's just a relief she gets out of there, the goal of any such chase scene. The sheer amount of bad guys that the small band of heroes has to face adds greatly to the drama.

Setting half of the movie on Earth has it's advantages and disadvantages. It does give the film a human component, and two ordinary teenagers to be pulled into the adventure with (something that Michael Bay never got right in the Transformers trilogy). It also makes the monsters scarier - rather than being in a distant galaxy, they are in the neighborhood, viciously attacking people and destroying whatever they come across. On the other hand, it would have been cool to see some more of the war torn Eternia and the planet's weird inhabitants and locations, but MOTU had a relatively small budget, so that sort of stuff was off limit anyway. A little too much time is spent on the almost soap-opera angle of Julie and Kevin, but it helps flesh out their characters to make them believable.

MotU is also packed with action, and we do mean packed. There is an outbreak of violence every 15 minutes or so, usually even less, and there is variety and imagination among the content, unlike many action films, which consist of repetitive shoot outs and nothing more. It could possibly be said that it's quantity over quality, as some of it, particularly the shoot-outs, are badly filmed, and none of the action ever reaches adrenalin pumping. However, it's good enough, in-yer-face and quite exciting to watch, with He-Man taking out hordes of bad guys with his sword, laser beams everywhere, mass destruction and some good old rough and tumble. And all the action grows organically from the story - none of it seems put in simply because the movie needed an action scene at a certain point.

Bring it on!

Sexy Evil-Lyn.

One of MOTU's greatest assets is it's atmosphere. The sense of an intergalactic civil war is tangible, as is the sheer menace of the villains, the desperation of the good guys, the growing sense of doom as Skeletor captures the Cosmic Key. There is a cower-behind-the-sofa scariness similar to that of TV's Doctor Who.

If Masters of the Universe was re-released at cinemas this summer, people would realize how good it is compared to the blockbuster summer fare we get these days. And all for $17m, which was hardly anything, even in 1987.

Secrets of Masters of the Universe revealed.

Superman & He-Man where close to having a common enemy.

 

Sarah Douglas was initially approached to play the part of Evil-Lyn, in an attempt to cash in on her success of playing wicked evil ladies in Superman, Superman II and Conan the Destroyer, but the interest came to nothing and ultimately Meg Foster played the part.  

a film based on action figures or a cartoon? 

Many viewers reviewed the motion picture in comparison to the cartoon, when it really was an adaptation of the toys only (which initially depicted He-Man as a barbarian in the first mini-comics (not Prince Adam or Orko). Ed Pressman was interested in the property before the cartoon was even aired and purchased the movie rights of the Mattel characters, not Filmation's who had no involvement whatsoever in the film. Also it was logistically too complicated and expensive to include creatures such as Battle Cat.  

Meg Foster's FX.

Many viewers of the film commented on actress Meg Foster's eerily effective contact lenses which gave her character of Evil-Lyn a sinister and unearthly air. Actually she wore no contact lenses, her eyes naturally having blue/grey irises and tiny pupils giving her a striking appearance. She has often been cast in sci-fi/fantasy roles because of them and jokes that she appeals to casting directors as she brings her own special effect with her for free.  

Enter the world of Eternia.

Lundgren speaks no English.

Director Gary Goddard had planned to have all of Dolph Lundgren's lines dubbed by another actor, as Lundgren had only limited acting experience, a thick Sweedish accent, and was not yet fluent in English during filming. Lundgren, however, had stipulated in his contract that he would have at least three opportunities to re-dub his lines in post production. With the film running behind schedule, Goddard decided to use Lundgren's natural voice instead. 

The Terminator stole Skeletor's line!

 

When the extra scene after the end credits where Skeletor says "I'll Be Back!" was filmed. Frank Langella, wearing his skull mask, was placed into a tank filled with red water. When director Gary Goddard called "Action!". Langella would surface, look back at the camera and give his line.  

Mattel & the ultimate contest.

Mattel, the toy company that produced the original He-Man toys, ran a contest where the winner would get a role in the new He-Man movie. But since the movie was already under the gun to be finished in time and over budget, director Gary Goddard had to squeeze in the contest winner into the shoot. The winner, Richard Szponder, is featured as "Pigboy" who hands Skeletor his staff when he returns from Earth. 

Friends?

Jack Kirby was not here.

Director Gary Goddard clarified in a letter to John Byrne's 'Next Men #26' that Byrne was correct in his comparison of the film to Jack Kirby's New Gods stories and characters for DC Comics, but the film was also an homage to all of Kirby's Marvel Comics work as well. Goddard had tried to hire Kirby as a conceptual artist, and had also planned to dedicate the film in the closing credits to him, but the studio, Cannon Films, objected to both ideas. Despite one of the studio's other licensed properties in development at the time being Spider-Man, Goddard's vision of a "motion picture comic book" take on the film was met with the studio stance that "comics are just for kids."

Castle Greyskull, the largest set ever.

 

The Throne Room set of Castle Greyskull originally were two large, adjoining sound stages. The wall between the sets was knocked down to make one gigantic sound stage. At that time, it was the largest set Hollywood had seen in over forty years.

Masters of the Universe II.

Director Albert Pyun had planned to film a sequel to 'Masters of the Universe' (with professional surfer Laird John Hamilton replacing Dolph Lundgren as He-Man) at the same time as Spider-Man. Right before filming was to begin, Mattel and Marvel revoked the rights to both properties due to non-payment by Cannon Films. Cannon was reaching their end as a company at the time, as a result of the 1987 stock market crash on junk bonds (which Cannon had used extensively to finance films) and poor overall financial management. In order to recoup some of the money spent on sets, costumes and props from both intended films, Cannon had Pyun quickly get a script written, Cyborg, for one of Cannon's promising new action stars, Jean-Claude Van Damme; although Pyun had Cannon regular, Chuck Norris, in mind to star at first. There has been some confusion over the years in some TV listings for Cyborg (1989), with it being billed as 'Masters of the Universe 2: Cyborg'. This lead some to speculate that the script for the proposed sequel had been rewritten for Cyborg. In reality it was due to the connection of both productions during the demise of the Cannon Films studio.

Overall, a wonderful sci-fi movie that is way better than what they say.

Here's the movie trailer:

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

Legendary cartoon.

When it comes to a cartoon that had brute force and action, nothing can go past the 1983 series of ‘He-man and the masters of the universe'. In an era that had so many great cartoons, ‘He-man' stood tall and was a great success. He-man would have to go up as one of the great cartoons of all time. Once Prince Adam held up his magical sword and turned into ‘the most powerful man in the universe', every kid in the 80's was in for the ride of their life.

In the mystical planet of ‘Eternia', lives Prince Adam, a prince who leads the lazy life of royalty. Known by only a few close friends/allies, when Prince Adam holds up his magic sword, and says ‘by the power of Grayskull', he turns into the mighty hero, ‘He-Man'. Together with his friends (such as Teela, her father, Man-at-arms, mysterious Orko and Adam's wimpy cat, Cringer, who turns into Battle Cat), He-Man must battle ‘the masters of the universe', who strive to gain control of Eternia and the secrets of Castle Grayskull. Grayskull is the magical centre of Eternia, from where He-Man derives his powers, and is the one place he must defend from the evil Skeletor. 

He-Man & the mighty Battle Cat.

Secret identity.

I believe He-man was successful for many reasons. There was some real inventive character in He-man. Our hero himself was an impressive and imposing character and drawn up to perfection. Other good people include Orko, Man-At-Arms (Duncan), The Sorceress, Ram-Man, Stratos, Teela, King Randor and Queen Marlena. The Bad guys include their leader, Skeletor, who is as evil a character I have seen on a cartoon. Behind Skeletor are Evil-Lyn, Beast Man, Tri-Klops, Merman and TrapJaw. They are all different types of people, with strange powers and abilities.

The voice-overs for He-man come from a limited amount of people, showing how good these people's voiceover talents really are. Talents such as John Erwin, Alan Oppenheimer, Linda Gray, Lou and Erika Schreimer, have a great variety of characters to voice, with some of the voices such as Skeletor's and Orko's, quite remarkable. 

Orko & Teela.

I love the world that was designed for this cartoon. Having it be as magical-a -place as ‘Eternia', where it has great magical powers was really interesting. To then add fascinating little facets such as Castle Grayskull (the magical home of Eternia), Skeletor's hideout Snake Mountain, the palace in the centre of Eternia and the crystal sea were good for the story. The talents behind the ideas for the He-man's characters, home planet and storylines included all sum up for a masterpiece like only the 80's could have delivered.

Can there be any hero that can top ‘He-man'? I believe there is not, because he was good to watch as a kid, giving us all the belief to do what is right and to not follow the path of evil. My favourite characters in the series have to be Orko and Skeletor, who had interesting stories behind them. He-man also had a twin sister named ‘She-Ra' who had all the same magical powers as He-man, (with a great TV cartoon movie, titled ‘The Secret of the Sword'). It was interesting to learn how She-Ra comes to be and how she was taken away from her parents as a baby. I was surprised to learn that there was a new version of ‘He-man', released last year. Although it is a little different, in my opinion the new He-man looks great. While I might be a bit old to get into it, the ‘kid' in me will be on lookout to see a few episodes. 

Skeletor, agent of evil.

The Masters of the Universe Trivia

Prince Adam is supposed to be a teenager; however, to save on animation costs, he was animated with the exact same design as He-Man.

The Brains of Lou Scheimer & Satan!

Executive producer Lou Scheimer was instrumental in developing the concept of He-Man Mattel Toys and D.C Comics. The character had originally appeared in D.C. comics as a Conan the Barbarian-type character living in a post-apocalyptic world. Scheimer called the story "the most vile thing I'd ever read". Taking inspiration from the character Captain Marvel from an earlier Filmation series, Scheimer developed the concept of Prince Adam as He-Man's alter ego, the character of the Sorceress as his benevolent mentor, and Orko as the jester-style comic relief, to make the show more kid-friendly. Despite these changes, the show still came under fire from some groups as too violent, with some even accusing it of having hidden Satanic messages.

French were afraid of Skeletor!

Episodes in which the character Skeletor appeared were never broadcast in France. The image of his skull-face was considered too terrifying for television.

Who the hell was Gorpo?

Orko's name was originally Gorpo in early concepts for the shows. The character's name was changed to save on animation costs: Animators were able to flip animation cells, thus using them twice, because of the symmetrical "O".

Man of a thousand voices.

The writers would deliberately give Alan Oppenheimer's characters lines in quick succession, so they could watch him, quite amusingly, switch between characters during recording sessions. 

Saturday mornings would never be the same.

First cartoon to air in the USA on weekday afternoons instead of Saturday Mornings.

Credits Typo.

Linda Gary's name was sometimes misspelled as "Linda Gray" in the closing titles. 

Kissing cousins.

Mekaneck's secret identity.

Lou Scheimer provided the voice for Mekaneck in all of his appearances, but used different two different vocal characterizations. 

Toys your kid will love.
 

While the show was conceived to help advertise the action figure line, several characters were created for the show and then later made into toys. These include Prince Adam, Orko, King Randor and The Sorceress.

Action Figures Leftovers.

Several action figures which were made in 1986 were added to the cast of She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985) because production on Masters of the Universe had ceased: Rokkon, Stonedar, Snout Spout, Multi-Bot, The Horde Trooper, Rattlor, Tung Lashor, and a character named "Colonel Blast" who appears to have been based on the figure Rio Blast. 

One of the largest toy collections ever.

Life advice from your Cartoon Heroes. 

At the end of each episode He-Man, Man-at-Arms, Teela and Orko give the younger viewers tips and advice about life.

Conan the Barbarian rated PG.

Legend has it that Mattell had originally planned to make a line of toys based on the 1982 movie Conan the Barbarian (1982), but balked when the finished movie was rated R. (This was before the advent of MacFarlane toys and other action figures aimed at adults.) Instead of scrapping the line, they created He-Man. Most sources agree that, while He-Man was influenced by Conan, there was no direct connection.

Do you remember Jitsu?

Skeletor also had a lesser-known henchman by the name of Jitsu. He only appeared one time during the series. The character design made him look like he was Asian. He had a large golden hand that was used to give karate chops to his enemies. 

Did the Castle of Greyskull actually have a secret worth fighting for?

The secret of Castle Greyskull was supposed to have been that it contained a collective entity that was the combined consciousness of Eternia's ancient scholars contained in a sphere. This had to be dropped, although references to the secret remain in various episodes of the series. However, the idea was used in the new series from 2002. 

I don't like my soup cold.

He-Man & Friends cameos.

Even though this series ended in 1985, several "Masters of the Universe" characters (including He-Man, Orko, Skeletor, and Battle Cat) would make occasional guest appearances on the spin-off show "She-Ra: Princess Of Power", which ran from 1985 to 1987. The character of She-Ra was He-Man's sister. 

He-Man's  secret almost revealed!
 

The character of Ram-Man was the only person who came close to realizing that Prince Adam and He-Man were the same person. 

She-Ra &  He-Man crossover.

The Evil Horde, the antagonists from She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985), make an appearance in one episode, "The Origin of the Sorceress". In that episode during a flashback, we see several reptilian soldiers wearing Horde logos functioning as scouting party before they're chased off. 

Here's the original opening:



Hope you enjoyed this little review that allows us to travel back in time to a time where everyone knew those were the days. He-Man was so popular it even had a live action film which, will be the next review. Until then live long and prosper and may the force be with you.