To celebrate our one year anniversary, we’re doing a special outdoor screening of the live action He-Man movie – Masters of the Universe!
Today, making feature films based on kids’ toys may seem commonplace (Transformers, Battleship), but back in 1987, it was revolutionary.
When Mattel Toys unleashed the well-muscled Eternian warrior He-Man in 1982, he became a sensation with sales of the hero, his nemesis Skeletor and assorted allies and villains making over a billion dollars. A cartoon show followed and was watched in 32 countries and soon, there wasn’t a child alive in the 80s who didn’t know the catchphrase “By the power of Greyskull!”
It made sense that a feature film would follow.
Two years was spent developing the script while director Gary Goddard looked for his cast, which includes Oscar winner Frank Langella as Skeletor and Courtney Cox in one of her first film roles.
“It was important to me that all the characters in this film live and breathe,” says Goddard. “Which is why, rather than looking for superficial muscle-bound types when it came to casting, we deliberately set out to find actors and actresses you don’t normally associate with this type of material.”
So, he cast Rocky IV star Dolph Lundgren as He-Man, who despite his superficial muscle-bound appearance, actually has a master’s degree in chemical engineering. So there.
Despite being touted as the ‘new Star Wars’, the film was not a hit at the box office, but over the years has developed a passionate cult following.
When: 8.00pm, Saturday 23rd August 2014
Location: Victoria Park, on the hillside overlooking St. Luke’s Road.
Only a severe weather event will put us off! We encourage everyone to bring picnics and make an evening of it.
Tickets: As it’s a family film, we want to make sure everyone can enjoy it, so children under the age of 10 can attend for FREE!
However for everyone else…
£5 (in advance)/£6 (on the night) (all profits going to Victoria Park Action Group)
Heroic He-Man (Dolph Lundgren) battles the evil Skeletor (Frank Langella) for possession of the Cosmic Key on the planet Eternia. A live-action development of an animated series which also served as an advertisement for a range of action figures.
“The first film to be based on a line of toys, this might not be the last, but it’d take something awful to replace it as the worst.” – Empire Magazine
“Little kids at play have come up with craftier plots, better characterization and conceivably more spectacular effects — provided their mothers let them play with matches.” – Rita Kempley, Washington Post
“Halfway through this live action version of the popular early 1980s kiddies TV show, I wondered what I had done wrong to deserve all this pain and suffering.” – James O’Ehley, Sci-Fi Movie Page
You must be logged in to post a comment.