Power of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

This was a comprehensive documentary going over the creation of the He-Man/Masters of the Universe toy line as well the subsequent spin-offs, the comics, the cartoons, including She-Ra, and the live-action movie.

A well-packaged film. Power of Grayskull does a surprisingly good job of keeping you invested in the history of a children's franchise. The interviews consist of various creators and producers from all aspects of He-Man. They are all infectiously proud of the work they've done. It's especially entertaining to see esteemed actor Frank Langella waxing nostalgic far more than you thought he would about playing Skeletor. You learn about the atmosphere of the eighties toy industry and how the restrictions of times affected the creators of the toys and other media and how some choices were matters of convenience.

The only nitpick I have is that I would've liked them to talk about The New Adventures of He-Man show more. This one gets surprisingly short shrift compared to how much they discuss the original, She-Ra, and the 2000s reboot.

If you have absolutely no interest in He-Man, this won't be for you. Still, if you're even slightly curious, you may find this very informative.

Power of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2017)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Highly entertaining documentary that covers the creation of Mattel's action figure, which would eventually take off like no one expected.

Directors Randall Lobb and Robert McCallum do a marvelous job with the subject and really deliver an entertaining film that fans of the toys are going to love. What I enjoyed the most about this documentary is how fast-paced it was as it goes through one piece of history to the next and I just really loved the way this was constructed and how the story was told.

I honestly didn't know too much about this story going into the film so I found it to be extremely interesting how the toy idea came out, how it developed and the various changes that had to be made to sell it. The most interesting thing was just seeing the various stages of production and how much work and time it actually takes to get something off the ground only to run into one problem after another. The attention to details were wonderful and I really loved how everything played out.

Some of the greatest stuff comes from the MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE film, which as we now know was a major bomb when it was released. We get some terrific stories about the pre-production and the various issues that Mattel had with the script. Best of all is that we get new interviews with Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella who talk in great detail about their roles and the production. Langella insists that his character in the film remains one of his favorites.

At just 95-minutes there aren't any wasted material here as the documentary is right on the mark and discusses everything that you hoped it would.

I just finished watching "Power of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" on Netflix, and I must say that I was adequately entertained.

Sure, as a life-long fan of MotU then there weren't all that many surprises to be experiences here. But still, there was information and bits and pieces that I was not familiar with, and it was nice to have this extended information added to the knowledge of the MotU series and toys.

The documentary offers a good insight into what made He-Man, how it was at its pinnacle, how it evolved, what happened to its after its glory days, its early 2K return and the state of affairs today. So there is a little bit of something for everyone here.

There are good insights into Filmation's creation of the animated series, the crew and people behind the figures from Mattel, and also interviews with prominent people from those places, as well as with Frank Langella and Dolph Lundgren whom both starred in the live-action movie.

Regardless if you are a newcomer to the MotU franchise or a life-long fan, then "Power of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" definitely was entertaining. Sure, it was not something that you would watch more than once, but still worth the time and effort to do so.

There is a consistent, non-stop combination of buzzing and bass as the background audio for this documentary. It overwhelms the voices and in the few moments where the bass stops, the documentary appears to actually be watchable.

After 15 minutes, I had to turn it off due to the horrendous soundtrack.

Being a kid of the 80's I was a huge fan of He-Man. This documentary brought a lot of rose tinted 80's clad memories flooding back.

From the inception of the Toy line through to the sad demise and disappearance of the character his documentary really does take you back

Fascinating looks at the toys the series , the movie and that god awful reimagining the new adventures of he man

Also Interesting insight into the making of the movie with interviews with dolph lundgren and frank langella and the problems that plagued the production and led to the flop of what should have been a home run

Nostalgia trip

Enjoy.