Masters of the Universe Soundtrack

After the runaway success of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe in 1983 led to a spate of toy-based series that were broadcast in syndication in America, He-Man returned in 2002, after the toys had been redesigned. Adam lost his Dutch boy hair cut and his body looked even more overdeveloped. The premise remained the unchanged: With the aid of the enchanted Sword of Power, Adam, the slacker-dude Prince of Eternia, becomes He-Man, the heroic defender of the realm against the evil machinations of Skeletor and his minions. Like Superman, Adam has to keep his alter-identity secret. But instead of spunky newswoman Lois Lane, his love interest is Teela, who insults and belittles him. From Snake Mountain, Skeletor hatches schemes to conquer Eternia, only to be thwarted by He-Man, with some help from Teela, Man-at-Arms, et al. With the possible exception of Evil-Lyn, Skeletor's henchmen are such doofuses, they don't feel like much of a threat. The battle between good against evil is so simplistic, it makes Dragon Ball look nuanced. The filmmakers try to capture some of the excitement of anime fantasy-adventures, but they pull their punches--literally and figuratively. Although the combatants twirl swords and pole arms like martial artists, no blood is shed and no one gets seriously injured. He-Man only uses his Sword of Power to deflect energy blasts: he slugs bad guys and monsters. The disc of extras includes video commentaries and animatics for three episodes, audio commentaries on five episodes and an extensive image gallery. (Rated TV Y7: violence) --Charles Solomon