Masters of the Universe - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Masters of the Universe



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
He-Man has been a staple of comic and film lore since the early 80s, and for good reason. It was one of THE Saturday morning cartoons that defined an entire generation of kids, much in the same way Transformers was. And just like Transformers, the He-Man IP has been done, redone, and redone again in a multitude of various ways. We’ve had some actually good sequels/reboots to the original comics, but we’ve also had a few stinkers, including the latest Kevin Smith attempt (which got EVISCERATED for how they changed things up) and of course the infamous 1987 live-action attempt with Dolph Lundgren. Don’t get me wrong, I fully understand that the 1987 Masters of the Universe was a horrible film, but I loved it for the bit of 80s cheese that it was. The film had very little to do with the actual lore, but instead was more of a vehicle for Dolph as he was becoming an action superstar than it was a faithful replication of the comics. So color me a little surprised and a little nervous when I heard Amazon/MGM was making a new live action reboot this year. A reboot that showed some promise from the trailers, but with the track record of recent (and old) attempts, I was a tad leery.

As his world is engulfed in destruction from the evil lord Skeletor (Jared Leto), Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) is sent to his mother’s home world of Earth by the Sorceress Supreme (Morena Baccarin) in hopes of protecting him and the sword of power that is the savior of Eternia, to be called upon when it is safe. But things don’t go exactly as planned, and Eternia stays under the dominion of Skeletor, while young Adam grows up on Earth remembering pieces of his past, but having no idea how to get home other than to find the sword (which was lost in transit to Earth along with himself). But when Teela (Camila Mendes) breaches the barrier between worlds over a decade later, she finds Prince Adam without purpose, without knowledge of what he can be. And most importantly, without the sword.

I’m going to state this up front. Masters of the Universe flopped hard when it hit theaters, and I’m talking HARD. Sporting a $200 million budget the film made a grand total of $101 million worldwide, and as we all know, most films have to make at LEAST double their budget to break even. So when I’m talking about this movie hit the deck hard, I’m talking full-blown flat on its face. And frankly, that’s disheartening considering the film is actually pretty good. After talking about this for hours with several other film buffs and reading the pulse of the world today, I feel like 80s nostalgia is finally wearing thin. The world no longer caters to people between 40-60 years of age (at this moment in time). We’re no longer “kids of the 80s” and the target demographic for media figureheads, but we’re the “boomers” now. Millennials and the youngest of the Gen Xers are the parents and grandparents these days, and the generational shift for music, movies, and art in general has moved on from us. And it showed in the box office. Kids no longer have this inexorable pull towards 80s nostalgia, and even though Masters of the Universe was a fun movie, the audience for it just wasn’t there.

I was worried after the last few years of culture war slop, we’d be in for another film where Prince Adam takes a back seat to the female characters, and we’d try to humanize Skeletor. But no, I think (for the most part) things were handled rather well. Masters of the Universe is completely self-aware of the cheesy nature of the 1983 cartoon, and leans into the ridiculousness of it all in a rather clever way. There are plenty of winks and nods to the silliness of nobody recognizing Adam and He-Man as the same character (Clark Kent syndrome), and instead of just taking the hokey names for everyone in stride, they make it so that Ram Man, Mechaneck, Trap Jaw,w and the rest don’t have those names in the film; rather, they are nicknames that Adam came up with as a child on Earth trying to remember who everyone was from his childhood. And it works for the most part. There are a few cringe-worthy moments, but overall it's tongue-in-cheek and taken in stride.

Nicholas Galitzine doesn’t have the sheer physicality of Dolph Lundgren (who actually has a neat cameo), but he works in the role and makes it his own, blending the classic goofiness of Prince Adam with a nice twist that explains WHY he is so goofy. Camila Mendes works as Teela, and actually didn’t go full girl boss on us as I expected. I was initially worried about Idris Elba as Duncan, but the tragic fallen hero aspect worked for him. Plus, Idris Elba can’t turn in a bad performance, so I shouldn’t be shocked. But here’s what actually blew me away. Jared Leto wasn’t bad in this film. Not only wasn’t he bad, but he was the lifeblood of the entire picture. Leto as a leading man is nearly always box office poison, but as a side character he tends to shine. And even though he IS the main villain, I guess he was enough of a side character for Leto’s occasional brilliance to shine. Skeletor was by far the single best part of this entire production, hamming it up to Peter Stormare levels (or Frank Langella in Cutthroat Island), gleefully playing to all of Skeletor's strengths, while not directly copying the voice and mannerisms of the cartoon. To put it mildly, without Jared Leto as Skeletor, this would have just been a “decent” film instead of the cheesy blast that it was.

Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence/action, some suggestive material, and language.




4K Video: Video:
Love or hate the movie, but Alliance Entertainment’s 4K UHD disc looks stunning in 2160p. The digital cinematography is amazing, with a wide and varied scope of different landscapes, ranging from the simple office work at Adam’s job on Earth to the heavy CGI-laden world of Eternia (which balances a tightrope between almost cartoony and semi-realistic). Fine details are jaw-dropping, showing every line and crease on Dolph Lundgren’s face, every crack in Duncan’s armor, and the rippling muscles of Nicholas equally. Colors are bright and vivid, and while I don’t have the Blu-ray to compare the SDR presentation with, the Dolby Vision just makes every color on screen just pop with vivid intensity. Black levels are inky and deep as can be, and once more, I can’t find ANYTHING wrong with this disc. I did notice a couple of soft shots (such as the beginning of chapter 4 when Adam goes into his apartment), but those are so brief I couldn’t force myself to knock a half star off the rating, and kept it at 5/5.


Audio:
And while I waffled for just a moment on whether to give the video score a perfect 5/5, the Dolby Atmos track does not spark ANY hesitation whatsoever. This is the very definition of a perfect action audio mix. Dare I say it? It has the power! And TONS of power at that. This is a highly aggressive mix, lobbing you straight into the action of things from the get-go, with swords clashing, energy weapons blasting, and statues tumbling down with earth-shattering weight. Dialog is still kept nicely balanced in the front of the room, and the quieter and talky moments are still restrained and even. It’s just that when the mix gets cooking things start shaking, and keep shaking for a majority of the movie (one major standout is that ship to ship battle in the halfway point of the film after Adam gains his abilities). This is pure audio perfection and will have you grinning from ear to ear.


Extras:
• Behind-The-Scenes Promotional Gallery
• "Masters of Light: Skies of Eternia Drone Spectacle"
• Trailers

Final Score: ​

I’ve said it in several films recently, but I’m actually kind of glad 80s nostalgia is fading, even though I absolutely love it considering that it’s my demographic. The creative arts world seemed to have stopped in its tracks circa 2009-2011, and stopped innovating and pushing forward. Movies and music alike have relied on trying to copy the magic of the 80s, with new musicians having a hard time breaking out, while legacy 80s bands got massive world tours. Even new musicians tried to copy old 70s and 80s styles (think Greta Van Fleet), and movies for the last 15 or so years have just copied and recopied old 80s movies and 80s characters to death. That time is over now, and while I fully acknowledge that its happening, I’m still going to give this film a good thumbs up, as I had an absolutely blast with it. Don’t go into Masters of the Universe thinking you’re going to come out with something truly legendary. This is just a dumb fun movie, and it’s high time we had more of those TYPES of movies (even if it’s not taken from 80s nostalgia member berries) that are just content with being fun, and not trying to be some world-building masterpiece that needs a billion dollars to break even. So yes, this was fun, the 4K UHD was great, and for any fans of the franchise, it is definitely worth checking out. Even if that demographic is aging out of the crosshairs of Hollywood.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Idris Elba, Jared Leto, Alison Brie, Morena Baccarin
Directed by: Travis Knight
Written by: Chris Butler, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French DTS-HD MA 5.1, French (Canada), Spanish, Spanish (Castilian), Japanese, German DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch
Studio: Alliance Entertainment
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 140 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: October 20th, 2026

Recommendation: Fun Watch