He-Man - Tal der Macht

This is the greatest animated adventure series ever made in the history of the universe. Based on a Mattel toy line originally intended to be Conan the Barbarian toys this series has every element to make a successful hero story. The animation first of all is brilliant and the production studio Filmation was the only cartoon studio in history to do all their animation entirely within the USA. This has an interesting and varied cast of characters. The aloof King Randor from whom He-Man when he is in the form of Prince Adam is always searching for approval. The strong captian of the Royal Gaurd Teela. The wise inventor and military officer Man-at-Arms. The ultimate comic relief character Orko the Trollan court jester. Then Skeletor one of the best villians of all time. Histronic, operatic, and always blaming his lackeys for the defeats he suffers by He-Man. Those lackeys are pretty good too. Beast-Man controller of all animals, Trapjaw cyborgian wizard of weapons, Triclops master of vision, Mer-Man controller of all sea-creatures, and Evil-Lyn witch of night. Watch this series and be swept off into a romantic and fantastic world that no one seems to know how to take you to anymore.

Ah, He-Man... larger than life hero of my infant years.

Yeah it all feels real campy now, but it's hard to dislike this old show, one of the most fondly remembered of the 80s era.

Prince Adam and He-Man looked exactly the same, just like Clark Kent/Superman, and no one ever caught on. Prince Adam's wardrobe could have used some work, but hey, it was aimed at little kids. In today's increasingly cynical era in which finding kid friendly shows is getting ever harder to do, parents should rest assured that this one is user friendly and shouldn't leave their children too badly scarred. Too bad they don't try to work in more morality into shows anymore.

Remade twice so far and one live action feature film. The new He-Man actually looks kind of like Dolph Lundgren of the live action film, but with a much more wildly drawn physique. Also had a spin off known as "She-Ra: Princess of Power". Whether or not that will be remade I don't know.

I always thought "Thundercats" borrowed a lot from He-Man: big burly hero, magical sword, demonic villain, lots of hideous henchmen, and lots of science fictional elements blended with fantasy elements. The biggest difference, of course, was that He-Man was smarter than Lion-O, the lead character of "Thundercats" (not that that was completely his fault).

Man, how I wish they would bring this show back! It literally transported you into another world. This show, as in other Filmation series like Blackstar and Bravestarr, had some outstanding character design, especially among the villains. I mean, Skeletor was a guy with blue skin and a skull for a head. How cool is that? Plus he had a great voice (his laughs were just creepy!) via Alan Oppenheimer. On the good side, He-Man was cool, but my favorite character was his pet tiger Cringer's alter ego, Battle Cat. (Talk about someone doing a complete 180!) A green tiger with battle armor? That's just plain COOL! (The Battle Cat action figure was neat as well, although the only thing you could do with him was take his armor off.) PLEASE someone get this back on the tube where it belongs so I can relive this great show!

There was a reason this show was the hit of the '80's and maintains a loyal fan base to this day. It wasn't the toys (every other show had toys too), and it wasn't the media hype - it was the stories. The tales were thoughtful, compassionate and relevant. As an adult looking back, I can see the underlying themes much better, but even as a child I understood that Castle GraySkull was a thinly-veiled metaphor for the viewers mind (as well as a "things aren't always what they seem" lesson) and that love was the main point. I never cared for She-Ra as much, but the credits sang out the motif clearly - "For the Honor of Love...By the Power Above...We have the Power, so can You..."

I am NOT of any particular religion, and attempts to infiltrate a dogma into a show usually irritate the XYZ out of me, but this was does well. This was done Right. They took an ordinary "Muscle-Hero" story and managed to subtly turn it on its head; to satisfy the desire for adventure while teaching kindness and morality. It was, in all, a gentle show. A unique show, like Fat Albert. I wish they would reshow it.

Many people say that it wouldn't fly nowadays, that today's kids are too sophisticated for the slower things. Maybe. But I think it's worth the try.

If you haven't seen He-Man and the Masters of the Universe either because you weren't born or because you haven't got round to it then may I suggest you get your hands on a copy.

I've always liked fantasy shows and you don't get more fantasy than He-Man. He-Man was the allegedly mightiest man in the universe and he led the forces of good against the truly wicked Skeletor who was evil personified.

The characters, the vehicles, the weapons and the stories were fantastic. Joining He-Man were the likes of Buzz-Off (a bumblebee man), Battle Cat (a ferocious tiger like cat) and Stratos (a birdman). They battled the likes of Skeletor and his crew which included Spikor (covered in Spikes), Stinkor (smelt worse than anything) and Beast Man (a big hairy creature). They battled all across Planet Eternia and He-Man always won. Also, it may be lost on young viewers but the show always tried to persuade it's audience to do the right thing in life which is a good thing. After all, wouldn't you rather have someone like He-Man giving moral guidance as opposed to some real life guy in a suit?

My favourite scenes was where wimpy Prince Adam held aloft his sword and became He-Man in a flash of light. He would then point his sword at his cowardly pet Cringer and turn him into the brave Battle Cat.

A great show-they don't make them like this anymore.