10 Things You Didn’t Know About Masters of the Universe
Long before the Transformers and G.I. Joe made the jump from the toy aisle to the world of live action movies, Cannon Films helped bring He-Man and the Masters of the Universe to life way back in 1987.
Recently I sat down and watched the Blu-ray release of the film starring Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella. One of the special features included a commentary with Director Gary Goddard and it was that commentary that was the source material for this post as I present 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Masters of the Universe...
1. Dolph Lundgren was the one cast member that Director Gary Goddard did not have a part in casting. Lundgren as He-Man was already attached to the project when Executive Producer Ed Pressman approached Goddard about directing the movie.
2. Due to budget constraints, Cannon would not authorize a second unit for Masters of the Universe, meaning Gary Goddard had to direct every shot in the movie.
3. The movie’s budget woes also changed the location for the opening scenes on Eternia. Originally these scenes (which were some of the last scenes to be shot for the film) were supposed to be shot in Iceland, instead the shoot was moved to Vasquez Rocks in Agua Dulce, California.
4. The Castle Grayskull throne room set was so massive… (How massive was it?) …It was so massive that it had to be built across TWO sound stages.
5. One of the things that fans most remember about the movie is The Cosmic Key created by Stuart Ziff. Prior to his work on Masters of the Universe, Ziff worked on visual effects for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. Speaking of The Cosmic Key, the tune that The Cosmic Key played had to be established prior to Bill Conti composing the score for the film so Conti could incorporate it in his score.
6. The legendary Billy Barty was in the make up chair for three and a half hours each morning to transform him into Gwildor the locksmith/inventor. Creating Gwildor’s work shop was no easy task either as 7 weeks were spent constructing the set. Goddard admitted that the Gwildor character was a replacement of sorts for the Orko character from the popular animated series. For those unfamiliar with Orko, his character does not walk on land and gets around by levitating which works fine for a cartoon, but would have added a huge expense to a live action film before the days of CGI.
7. The scenes on Earth were all shot in Whittier, California with much of the shoot taking place in downtown Whittier. The streets would shut down from sundown to sunup every night. There was a bit of a snafu the night they shot the scene where Detective Lubic (James Tolkan) gets in a shoot out with Skeletor’s troops outside the music store. When Skeletor’s troops fire back at Lubic, a car parked on the street blows up… the explosion caused the windows on the local businesses on the street to blow out and the crew had to board up all the windows until the windows could be replaced.
8. Walter Scott was not only the movie’s stunt coordinator, he also played the role of Julie Winston’s father. Anthony De Longis, who played Blade in the movie, also worked as Frank Langella’s stunt double and trained Dolph Lundgren for the final fight scene between Skeletor and He-Man.
9. The name of Kevin Corrigan’s band in the movie is The Illusions, named after the band Gary Goddard played in during his high school days. The members of Gary’s high school band are given special thanks as The Original Illusions in the end credits.
10. Mattel, the creators of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe toy line, held a contest where one lucky kid would get a part in the Masters of the Universe movie. That winner was Richard Szponder, who could be briefly spotted as Skeletor’s diminutive guard in the Castle Grayskull throne room that hands Skeletor his staff when he returns from Earth. Szponder’s character was credited as Pigboy.
