EPISODE 120 - Masters of the Universe

[Cam Bert 8145]

After reading what Cameron H wrote I'm starting to wonder about the ending but for different reasons. When exactly did Courtney Cox tell Gwildor the exact date of her parents death? In fact I don't remember her ever telling any of the Eternian heroes about her parents at all. The villains knew about it, well at least Evil Lyn and Karg do because he found the article in her house. After Karg shows it to Evil Lyn she keeps it as the leaves. She ran away mid-battle too, so there was no chance to recover it. That means while Gwildor was attempting to be a drag queen did he first stumble into the ransacked room of newspaper clippings of her parents death and was there more than one article written about it or did she get the same article from as many different newspapers as possible? Did Gwildor find out about it at just kept the information to himself, because at the end he's basically given her the choice. He's like "Hey, I could send you back in time so you can be with your dead parents, that is an option, read between the lines lady!" However, she doesn't think about the until the last second yet he somehow knew. The only other solution would be her telling them after the battle. Like after her leg was healed she was like "Phew, I thought I was dead like my parents who died on July 1st 1986 around 12:54 pm" there was no way for Gwildor to know exactly when to send them.

[Count Magnus 27]

 

I did this also, recording episodes of the original Muppet Show. I'd make my family watch the show in silence as I didn't want them to ruin my recordings. That I grew up to become a Location Sound Mixer... total coincidence. ;-)

 

You made recordings of Battlestar Galactica? Great idea.

 

Thanks! There's nothing quite like listening to a ferocious space dogfight on a pop-top cassette player. Really captures the magic.

 

The Muppet Show makes much more sense. Bravo.

[Cam Bert 8145]

Just a small observation I want to point out because it made me laugh. Skeletor has skulls on the fingertips of his gloves. I guess this was in guess people he was Jack Palance he could just say "No, I'm Skeletor, look" and hold out his fingers.

[StoopidChris 16]

 

In the music shop Charlie calls Kevin "Mr. Perfect Pitch" for recognizing a D flat so it's not just the melody. Still stupid for Gwildor to call him a master song writer just because he's in a shitty band in ???-town America.

 

Charlie was just mad because he couldn't show off his musical genius to aliens as quickly as good ol' Kev.

 

 

Towards the end of the movie when Kevin is trying to remember the cosmic key tones, why is the speaker Teela blasts blaring bad classical music at a time of night when the streets are deserted? In the same scene they clean Julie's lightning burn/poison wound with the gross water from an outdoor fountain. In the words of Jason, that is not hygienic you guys.

 

Like I said: because it's goddamn hilarious! They must have spent a decent chunk of change on a "master joke-writer" for this one bit before all the cash ran out. I genuinely guffawed!

[Cameron H. 23786]

After reading what Cameron H wrote I'm starting to wonder about the ending but for different reasons. When exactly did Courtney Cox tell Gwildor the exact date of her parents death? In fact I don't remember her ever telling any of the Eternian heroes about her parents at all. The villains knew about it, well at least Evil Lyn and Karg do because he found the article in her house. After Karg shows it to Evil Lyn she keeps it as the leaves. She ran away mid-battle too, so there was no chance to recover it. That means while Gwildor was attempting to be a drag queen did he first stumble into the ransacked room of newspaper clippings of her parents death and was there more than one article written about it or did she get the same article from as many different newspapers as possible? Did Gwildor find out about it at just kept the information to himself, because at the end he's basically given her the choice. He's like "Hey, I could send you back in time so you can be with your dead parents, that is an option, read between the lines lady!" However, she doesn't think about the until the last second yet he somehow knew. The only other solution would be her telling them after the battle. Like after her leg was healed she was like "Phew, I thought I was dead like my parents who died on July 1st 1986 around 12:54 pm" there was no way for Gwildor to know exactly when to send them.

 

Oh shit! Now that you mention it...

 

You don't think, like, Gwildor killed her parents, do you? Like he was screwing around with the key prototype or something and it opened a portal to our world that ripped her parents' modest (let's be honest) airplane in twain. At the end of the movie, we are being led to assume that he is sending Julie back in time to save her parents, but in actuality, he is destroying the evidence of the double manslaughter he committed by culpable negligence.

 

That's how he knew when to send her back!

 

We're on to you, Gwildor!!!!

 

[Darbler Cheesegarbler 1110]

"Her costume weighed 45 pounds and the actress sustained injuries to her groin and breastplate"

 

"I'm listening..."

 

 

 

Also, I really can't lie, the more I look at him the more I see June:

 

[Cam Bert 8145]

 

Oh shit! Now that you mention it...

 

You don't think, like, Gwildor killed her parents, do you? Like he was screwing around with the key prototype or something and it opened a portal to our world that ripped her parents' modest (let's be honest) airplane in twain. At the end of the movie, we are being led to assume that he is sending Julie back in time to save her parents, but in actuality, he is destroying the evidence of double manslaughter by culpable negligence.

 

That's how he knew when to send her back!

 

We're on to you, Gwildor!!!!

 

Yes! A thousand times yes!

When they were pinned down by Skeletor's robo army, which let's face it was just a rip off of Hordak's Horde Troopers, they were trapped with no way out. Gwildor had to input a destination into the magic Japanese synthesizer but as he stated before it takes time. What if he were to punch in some random keys and they jump through the whirling time and space hole only to end up in the middle of their sun? That could have happened. So the first thing he does is remember the first sequence he popped in that actually worked, which happened to sequence to Earth. That first time he stumbled across it was an accident which led to the accidental death of a modest middle class couple! Gwildor quickly thought "It works, but at what cost. I must never play those tones again" however in the pressure of battle it was all he could think of!

 

 

Also I believe that gif is one of the few times both his eyes were the same size

[Cameron H. 23786]

Yes! A thousand times yes!

When they were pinned down by Skeletor's robo army, which let's face it was just a rip off of Hordak's Horde Troopers, they were trapped with no way out. Gwildor had to input a destination into the magic Japanese synthesizer but as he stated before it takes time. What if he were to punch in some random keys and they jump through the whirling time and space hole only to end up in the middle of their sun? That could have happened. So the first thing he does is remember the first sequence he popped in that actually worked, which happened to sequence to Earth. That first time he stumbled across it was an accident which led to the accidental death of a modest middle class couple! Gwildor quickly thought "It works, but at what cost. I must never play those tones again" however in the pressure of battle it was all he could think of!

 

Dude! We Fucking Nailed it!

 

[Cam Bert 8145]

 

Dude! We Fucking Nailed it!

[GiveMeYourBaby 102]

Right, you fuckers, I am totally depressed by England's poor showing in the rugby world cup, and I need you to cheer me up. I know the lovely Americans amongst you don't even know what I'm talking about but I need you to lift my spirits. Help me out here.

 

I know exactly what you are talking about. At least the US won't do much better and rugby sevens is coming up for Rio 2016 so you won't have to wait 4 years for some redemption. Go Scotland I guess.

[esdeem 1]

Another long time listener first time poster who was absolutely thrilled to hear this movie was going to be on the podcast, and wow did it not disappoint! I was a kid who grew up with He-Man... it was a dark day when my plastic He-Man sword cracked beyond repair. I was inconsolable. Well, at least until I discovered Transformers and He-Man suddenly wasn't as cool. But I had to share a few fun memories, plus my young child take on the time travel issue.

 

First of all, for some reason I still remember two things I read about this movie. The first was a film review where the critic, obviously at a loss to describe what he'd just witnessed, instead spent half of his review recounting the heated argument between two children a few rows ahead of him over whether or not a version of Oscar Statue Skeletor would be released. Surprise, Masters of the Universe didn't have a screening for critics! The second was in an article about the movie where people involved with the production called podcast favorite Karg "Little Hitler". Because there just aren't enough Nazi references in children's entertainment.

 

One thing that bugged me about this movie, even as a kid, was when Skeletor killed Saurod. Let's ignore for a minute it was probably the Magical Finger of Budget Reduction that got rid of what looked to be the most complicated costume, but if you rewatch the scene you could really argue Saurod was far from the least effective member of the team. I guess you couldn't kill Beast Man because he was one of the few familiar characters, and the guy who played Blade was also the sword fight coordinator and a double for Dolph, so he was cheaper. Sorry Pons Marr, enjoy Theodore Rex.

 

But let's get to the biggie, the question of Julie's parents. Now remember I said I was a big He-Man cartoon fan back in the day, and given the roughly five thousand other things this film lifted from Star Wars, young me expected a different reveal at the film's end. In the cartoons, He-Man is also Prince Adam in a civilian disguise that makes Clark Kent look like Lon Chaney. Prince Adam's mother was actually FROM Earth, an astronaut who crashed on Eternia. So yes, I was fully expecting a big reveal at the end that, whoops, He-Man is the child of both or at least one of Julie's parents, completely ripping off the Luke and Leia reveal from Return of the Jedi. That it never happned, and thus were prevented the inevitable Courtney Cox as She-Ra sequel it would have led to, is a major disappointment.

[Lee Danger Hawken 17]

Hands down one of my top five favorite episodes! A few notes about just how bonkers the cartoon is(sorry if I'm repeating anyone's previous comments)...

 

He-Man's mother, Marlena, is an astronaut from Earth who's spacecraft went off-course. Charlton Heston got Apes. She became royalty.

 

Teela(Man-At-Arms/Mustacio's daughter) is actually the magic clone of The Sorceress that Mustacio raised as his own.

 

Skeletor is the half-brother of He-Man's father, Randor, making him He-Man's uncle. Skeletor was born Keldor, a bastard of king Miro, He-Man's grandfather. Miro brought Keldor home to raise alongside his legitimate son. Keldor was essentially Jon Snow with blue skin. Then, like all twentysomethings, Keldor accidentally Two-Faced himself, giving us one of pop-culture's most charasmatic failures.

 

Thanks for yet another terrific episode!

 

PS, google "Cosmo Skeletor by Johnny Sampson".

[Cameron H. 23786]

I recognize that the last romantic bone in my body withered and died long ago, but am I the only one who was a bit weirded out that Kevin and Julie have apparently been dating since they were twelve years old? As Julie is leaving the diner where she works, her friend implores her to not break up with Kevin before moving to New Jersey.* In reply, Julie says, "[it's] not the seventh grade anymore! Kevin's changed. I've changed!"

 

Um...you're seniors in High School now, I should bloody well hope you've both changed some since Middle School!

 

Is it possible that the proposed Masters of the Universe sequel would've just gone ahead and omitted He-Man entirely and instead focused on Kevin and Julie moving to the big city where he would pursue his true passion of running a small, local pharmacy while she gets more and more wrapped up in the dark underbelly of the marriage counseling racket--sinking inexorably downward into a quagmire of drugs and illicit sex?

 

 

 

*New Jersey? Really? Okay...

[Count Magnus 27]

Is it possible that the proposed Masters of the Universe sequel would've just gone ahead and omitted He-Man entirely and instead focused on Kevin and Julie moving to the big city where he would pursue his true passion of running a small, local pharmacy while she gets more and more wrapped up in the dark underbelly of the marriage counseling racket--sinking inexorably downward into a quagmire of drugs and illicit sex?

 

 

 

*New Jersey? Really? Okay...

 

Oh my god. It really couldn't be anything else. It just makes sense. Brilliant.

[seanotron 2307]

 

I did this also, recording episodes of the original Muppet Show. I'd make my family watch the show in silence as I didn't want them to ruin my recordings. That I grew up to become a Location Sound Mixer... total coincidence. ;-)

 

You made recordings of Battlestar Galactica? Great idea.

 

Until this ep I really thought I was the only weirdo that did this. My grandpa bought me a mini-cassette recorder and I pretty much solely used it to record bits of Star Trek when they were on TV. I honestly could not tell you what the purpose of this act was, but I definitely got some kind of thrill out of it.

[Molly L. 99]

*New Jersey? Really? Okay...

 

For real, though, did she ever say what she was going to do in New Jersey? As June mentioned, it didn't looked like she'd packed up anything in her house...honestly, it didn't seem like she'd thought through it at all...

[souprman 10477]

hey guys. it's souprman here. did a spooky october name change.

 

yesterday i pulled a movie/podcast double feature. did maximum overdrive and masters of the universe straight through.

 

it was exhausting. i have to listen to the very end of the masters pod cause i was fading hard.

 

anyway read a bunch of both forums. great stuff. i have nothing to add except that i really enjoyed both these ep's. live sound on max od was i think the best live sound i've ever heard an earwolf podcast. it was like wait wait don't tell me good.

 

also i think MOTU is a fucking great film. i'm not kidding. i don't see why these jerks are making fun of it.

 

okay. that is all.

[jarrycanada 2483]

also i think MOTU is a fucking great film. i'm not kidding. i don't see why these jerks are making fun of it.

 

okay. that is all.

 

and it makes a great mothers day gift

 

I am going to go an search Ebay and see if I can find that mother who's got a unopened copy up for sale.

 

Oddbomb- it's all part of the HDTGM vision test.

 

 

inspired from here,

[RyanSz 3140]

I watched this movie and I have no idea how they could have made it as bad as they did outside the fact that they did not have the technology to create Eternia at that time. It makes me wonder why they didn't just go with an animated movie instead of live action, but I think the failure of the Transformers movie the year prior played a part in that decision.

[JonathanEaton 6]

 

I've been meaning to draw some fan art for HDTGM for a while now, and the latest quote from June seemed to be the best time to start.

[souprman 10477]

I was searching for this video about how She-Ra teaches kids about the occult that I saw years back, but I couldn't find it.

 

I did find this.

 

[SevenDollarsWorthofHoobastank 226]

To add on to what Paul and others have said: My older brother and I used to audio tape record (and listen back to,) episodes of "Hulk Hogans Rock 'n' Wrestling" back in the days. As well as record ourselves playing Atari so we could do the same.

 

He, my sister and I used to also have a contest in which each of us would take the tape recorder into a separate room, record a minute of ridiculous shit, and then see if we could get each other to laugh.

If it wasn't for Serial, I'd say we were the ones to invent podcasting.

[Cockney Mackem 514]

By the way, has there ever been a more pointless example of a cumbersome and difficult costume than Meg Foster's as Evil Lin? It's just a hat, a long black tunic, a cape and some accessories. What benefits the film for it to be so heavy she suffers groin damage, for fuck's sake? And what materials did they use?

[Cockney Mackem 514]

OK so here's a few things I wanted to add, sorry if anyone's raised them already.

 

It feels like they missed out the first half hour of the film, which would have set up the world of Eternia and the struggle between He-Man and Skeletor. They don't do that, but they keep referring back to these events that we have no knowledge of and aren't invested in.

 

At one point the locksmith expresses nostalgia for a time when people didn't need to lock their doors, and hopes that time will return. What an idiot - he's a locksmith, he'll be unemployed.

 

Also, the character of Kevin is supposed to be the hero but he's a complete dick. He sees what he thinks is a valuable Japanese synthesiser and just steals it and takes it to his sound check. When he gives a description of his missing girlfriend to the police, he complains about the cop writing down the description saying "is that what you're going to do? WRITE stuff?" Yes you moron, to help him find your missing girlfriend. Then when people are trying to explain to him what's going on and that it's quite important to listen and co-operate, he argues and holds everyone up.

 

Skeletor appears to have a staff shortage in this film. "It's vitally important to my plans to control the universe that we catch He Man and retrieve the key. Send those three guys."

 

Julie is also a complete idiot. In the middle of a battle with strange beings she doesn't suspect a thing when her mother just appears and asks her to help the bad guys.

 

Small point but it's weird that Teela sees the cow in the woods. Firstly, do cows live in the woods now? Also, she says it's ugly when it fact that's a damn pretty cow.

 

And where does the ginger goblin find all the equipment to galactically pimp his ride? Later on he has none of the gear needed to make his magic key work, and is lucky that the three strangers he's randomly met happen to have the parts needed for interdimensional travel. "An octode rectifier? Why, I think I've got one in my bag here..."

 

 

[NotQuiteOnTopic 1]

Just wanted to ask a few questions about this... thing.

This holographic lost and found projector looks cumbersome as fuck!

Do they carry this around all over to ask everyone if they've see this item?

Does the holographic image creating thing show other items?

Can people in Eternia upload pictures of a lost pet to show to neighbors and the like?

Was this thing created solely to show the key?

Why is a photo not good enough in this situation?

And the most important question, is it limited to just inanimate objects? Could one watch 3D porn on this thing?