As Masters of the Universe brawls its way to Prime Video, fans have started to revisit the first live-action film in the franchise on the platform. The film that came out decades earlier, whose lead actor appeared in the 2026 adaptation, received poor reviews upon arriving in theaters. Now, it’s making a streaming comeback, finding a new audience as fans compare the two projects.
2026’s Masters of the Universe was the second live-action adaptation of this Mattel franchise. The first was released nearly 40 years ago and featured a different cast and told a slightly different story from the recent feature. Unfortunately, this adaptation didn’t perform well and was seen as a commercial failure, along with Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, which led to the sequel being scrapped and years passing before Mattel gave this franchise another live-action attempt.
1987’s adaptation of Masters of the Universe starred Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and Frank Langella as Skeletor. This adaptation was unable to recoup its reported $22 million budget, earning only $17.3 million. Over the weekend, this nearly 40-year-old adaptation of He-Man’s story landed on Prime Video’s Top 10 Movies worldwide, sitting at #9 between Boulevard and The Housemaid. Meanwhile, the 2026 adaptation continues to dominate the charts, sitting at #1. This shows that there is an audience for the Masters of the Universe franchise, even if it doesn’t do well at the box office. While the 1987 version didn’t get a sequel, it’s currently unknown whether the 2026 adaptation will get a second installment, especially as the film’s end-credits scene teased another iconic character who has yet to appear in this live-action universe.
Collider Exclusive · Universe Personality Quiz Which Iconic Universe Do You Belong in the Most? Star Wars · Lord of the Rings · Harry Potter · Game of Thrones · Star Trek
Five legendary universes. Five completely different visions of what the world could be — or already was. One of them is the world your instincts, your values, and your particular way of existing were built for. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🚀Star Wars
💍Lord of the Rings
🧙Harry Potter
👑Game of Thrones
🖖Star Trek
01
What gives your life its deepest sense of meaning? Every universe is built around a different answer to this question.
02
Which kind of world do you most want to inhabit? The environment shapes who you become. Choose carefully.
03
How do you prefer your conflicts resolved? The shape of a world’s conflicts tells you everything about its soul.
04
Who do you want beside you when things get difficult? Your ideal companions reveal the world you were made for.
05
What is your relationship with power? How you seek, wield, or resist power is the map of who you are.
06
How does your universe treat good and evil? A world’s moral architecture tells you more about it than any map.
07
What role would you naturally fall into? Every universe has archetypes. Which one fits you without trying?
08
What do you ultimately believe about the future? The answer to this is the clearest window into which universe already lives inside you.
Your Universe Has Been Chosen You Belong In…
Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.
You are drawn to the moral clarity of a universe where hope itself is a form of resistance.
You’d find your people in the Rebellion — a ragtag coalition of true believers held together by conviction more than resources.
Star Wars is fundamentally a story about ordinary people choosing to matter in an extraordinary conflict — and that is exactly your kind of story.
The Force may or may not be with you. But the will to use it for something larger than yourself certainly is.
Middle-earth
Lord of the Rings
You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world’s beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.
Middle-earth is a world of ancient wonder, deep friendship, and a darkness that only retreats when enough small acts of courage accumulate.
You would thrive here because you value the fellowship more than the glory — the road more than the arrival.
Tolkien’s universe rewards patience, loyalty, and the willingness to carry something heavy across a very long distance.
Those are not burdens to you. They are simply how you move through the world.
The Wizarding World
Harry Potter
You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what’s right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.
The Wizarding World is a place of wonder hidden in plain sight, where learning is transformative and the bonds you form at school follow you into every battle.
You would flourish here because you take both the magic and the friendships seriously — and you understand that one without the other is incomplete.
Harry Potter’s universe ultimately rewards those who choose to stand for something even when standing is terrifying.
That choice — made quietly, without guarantee — is something you understand completely.
Westeros · The Known World
Game of Thrones
You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.
Westeros is a world that rewards intelligence, adaptability, and the willingness to understand that every alliance is also a negotiation.
You would survive here — possibly thrive here — because you don’t confuse the world as it is with the world as you’d like it to be.
Game of Thrones is a story about what happens when the idealists and the realists collide. You are sharp enough to know which one lasts longer.
Winter always comes. You are already prepared.
The United Federation of Planets
Star Trek
You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.
Star Trek is a universe where the questions matter as much as the answers, and where encountering something utterly alien is cause for wonder rather than fear.
You would belong here because you are fundamentally optimistic about what intelligence and decency can achieve — while being honest about how hard that achievement is.
The Federation is the universe’s most ambitious thought experiment: what if we actually got better?
You don’t just hope that’s possible. You think it’s the only thing worth working toward.
Is the 1987 ‘Masters of the Universe’ Film Worth Watching?
When the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie came out, it was nominated for Best Science Fiction Film, Best Costumes, and Best Special Effects at the Saturn Awards. However, the feature received low reviews, earning a 21% critics’ score and a 41% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 2.5-star rating on LetterBoxd. Critics claimed that this old adaptation of Masters of the Universe was boring and unamusing, the special effects were unimpressive, and one critic even suggested that kids playing with Masters of the Universe toys would have done a better job than this feature. Meanwhile, Masters of the Universe received mixed reactions from audiences, especially as this old adaptation has become available on Prime Video. Some claimed that they “regretted” watching this movie as it was “basic” and unwatchable. However, some praised Masters of the Universe for its casting, with a handful of people claiming it was entertaining.
Both the 1987 and 2026 Masters of the Universe movies are available to stream on Prime Video. Follow Collider for more updates.
