Customer Reviews

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - Season One, Vol. 2

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There's no denying it: BCI Eclipse had some incredible animated titles that risked becoming forever lost to the archives of time once the company was forced to shut its doors this past year. Fortunately Mill Creek Entertainment, which by the way is distributed by BCI's parent company, Navarre, has acquired the rights to bring many of BCI's titles to the home market once more. Even more impressive still is that these sets will be packaged up and sold as complete box sets (rather than individual season releases).

In the case of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, this set represents the complete 2002-series release by Mike Young Corporation. Coming in at a total runtime of 960 minutes, this set spans 4 discs and contains the same clear-plastic slipcase and artwork-style as the previous BCI releases.

The extras contained are only slightly less thorough than the individual season releases and include:
End of Episodes Morals
Interviews with Toyline Artists from Mattel and The Four Horsemen
12 audio commentaries
Scripts for episodes 1-40
A PDF Comic Book for unproduced episode #40

Notably missing from this set are the original art cards (a pair was included in each of the three season releases).

Now let's take a look at the show itself:

Fans are treated to what many consider the most accurate and exciting rendition of the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe saga. Debuting in 2002 under the Mike Young Productions umbrella, this latest rendition of the He-Man source material closely follows the original Filmation standard set in the early 1980s with modernized animation quality and in-depth stories that further built upon the original characters and environments. The first season consisted of the following 26 episodes:

The Beginning Part 1
The Beginning Part 2
The Beginning Part 3
The Courage of Adam
Sky War
The Deep End
Lessons
Siren's Song
The Ties That Bind
Dragon's Brood
Turnabout
Mekaneck's Lament
Night of the Shadowbeasts
Underworld
The Mystery of Anwat Gar
The Monster Within
Roboto's Gambit
Trust
Orko's Garden
Buzz-Off's Pride
Snake Pit
The Island
The Sweet Smell of Victory
Separation
The Council of Evil Part 1
The Council of Evil Part 2

Season two consisted of the following thirteen:

The Last Stand
To Walk With Dragons
Out of the Past
Rise of the Snake Men Part 1
Rise of the Snake Men Part 2
The Price of Deceit
Of Machines and Men
Second Skin
The Power of Grayskull
Web of Evil
Rattle of the Snake
History
Awaken the Serpent

In case you're just tuning in, no this isn't the Filmation version of the show so many of us recall with warm fuzzies from our youth. This is in fact the third (and most recent) animated iteration of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Produced for Cartoon Network by Mike Young
Productions, this version ran from 2002 until 2004 where it went for two full seasons (26 in the first season, 13 in the second). Along the way it managed to snag a very well deserved Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing (2004).

While there are few who could argue successfully that anything could replace the original Filmation series, Mike Young Productions managed to capture all of the elements that made the original so successful and to bring them up to modern standards of animation quality, sound work, and script writing. As a result the mythos had been brought to an entirely new generation of fans while simultaneously pleasing fans of the original.

Without giving too much away (I hate spoilers personally), I will say that the origins of Snake Mountain will begin to unfold in the second-half of the first season in addition to the complete origin of the Dark Hemisphere which imprisons Skeletor and his minions. New characters are plentiful as well and contain some slick back-story efforts, which make even the original Mattel toys a lot more desirable. Among the notables includes the stories of Two-Bad, Cobra Kahn, Cyclone, Roboto, Moss Man, Zodak, and Stinkor. Many of these characters were never fully fleshed out in the original show (if they appeared at all) and would have remained only in the imaginations of those who played with the toys if not for the spectacular effort here. We are also treated to a couple of new looks for He-Man himself including an amped up version of he and Skeletor in combat and his ever impressive winter gear which includes a flowing fur cape and a heavy battle ax.

The Snakemen element introduced in the first season develops into sheer brilliance in the second (and unfortunately final) season! Not to insinuate that the Masters didn't have their hands full as it was with Skeletor and his minions, this time around the threats to peace and justice come in from all angles in the form of the Skeletor and company, the Snake Men, and the Evil Horde! Yes, you read that correctly- She-Ra's arch nemesis, Hordak, who just so happens to have been Skeletor's mentor, shows up in Season 2 within Skeletor's origin story that finally ties all of the loose threads of Mattel's franchise together once and for all.

I often like to wonder what ground Mike Young's team would have covered had the show continued. Would they have expanded to include He-Man's sister (She-Ra's) story arc? Could have writer Larry DeTillio revisited some of his wise dragon influence? A shame that we'll probably never know.

All in all, the show simply continued to build upon the foundation first set by Filmation in the 1980s and thanks to Mill Creek Entertainment, can be yours in its entirety for the cost of each of the single season releases.

Disks 1-5 will include episodes 34-65 and will be fully remastered once again! The episodes are:

- The Dragon's Gift
- Double Edged Sword
- Quest For The Sword
- Valley OF Power
- Game Plan
- The Mystery OF Man-E-Faces
- Keeper OF The Ancient Ruins
- The Region OF Ice
- City Beneath The Sea
- Teela's Trial
- Orko's Missing Magic
- The Search
- Eternal Darkness
- Return OF Evil
- Eye OF The Beholder
- Its Not My Fault
- Trouble In Arcadia
- Castle OF Heros
- Temple OF The Sun
- Dree Elle's Return
- The Sleepers Awake
- Return OF The Gryphon
- The Return OF Granamyr
- Pawns OF The Gamemaster
- The Huntsman
- The Remedy
- The Witch And The Warrior
- The House Of Shokoti Part 1
- The House OF Shokoti Part 2
- The Once and Future Duke
- Golden Disks OF Knowledge
- The Heart OF A Giant

Disk 6 has all the special features which include:
- The Stories of He-man and the Masters of the Universe Season 1 Part 2. Interviews with producers, writers, directors, and experts specifically commenting on season 1 episodes 34-65!

- He-man invades the San Diego Comic Con. Edited version of the panel at the 2005 San Diego Comic Con plus footage of signings at the convention booth!

- 50 detailed profiles of various characters, creatures, and Artifacts!

- Orko's Trivia and Fun Facts!

- Commercial spots for the dvd!
- English and Spanish Audio Tracks
- Dvd-Rom feature 5 complete episode scripts!
- 2 Collectible arts Cards by Artists Earl Norem and Gilbert Hernandez!
- Full length Animated Storyboard with interactive episode comparison for episode 40 The House OF Shokoti Part 1 !

Get this set and own the Power!!!!

I wrote reviews for both the He-Man "Best Of" collection DVD, and the Season One, Volume 1 DVD, which were fantastic. I'll be stopping off on the way home from work tonight to pick up my Season One, Volume 2 DVD...and, call me a dork, I can't wait.

Yes, I'm years removed from being that 12-year-old kid who flew off the bus after school to park his fat little butt on the chair religiously every day to watch "He-Man and the Masters Of The Universe". But, as the years go by, the memories fade, and thanks to the majesty of DVD, we can go back in time and enjoy guilty pleasures such as this wonderful show that consumed so much of my life.

Some of my favorite episodes are on this DVD collection, most of which I have not seen since at least 1985. And, like what I experienced during my viewing of Volume 1, the memories will come flying back. It was so cool watching these episodes, and somehow remembering what happens. Once you hear that music, it's like being transported back to your youth. Isn't that alone worth the money?

The treatment that this show has received in these DVD releases is nothing short of fantastic. From the DVD's themselves, to the artwork that they are packaged in. It's like 1983 all over again.

Ohhh yes, my wife will ridicule and laugh at me for sitting around content, on my same fat butt, watching these episodes. But I don't care. Let her laugh. I'm enjoying myself.

By all means, if you ever enjoyed this show, pick up these DVD's. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

"He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" debuted when I was 11 years old. I remember practically running home from school each day so as not to miss a single word. I absolutely loved the daily dose of action in Eternia, and then applying ideas gleaned from the show to playing with my action figures.

Even now at 33 years old, I still find these cartoons to be highly enjoyable. They bring back a lot of fond memories, and the morals taught in them still hold true today. They've held up over time and can be enjoyed by today's children too.

This collection of the second half of the first season contains one of my favorite episodes, "The House of Shokoti". It was the series' only two-parter that I can recall. Ram Man's continual butchering of Shokoti's name, with her finally shouting at him "Shokoti, you fool!" was priceless. The episode also contained a character simply referred to as "Mask" who never saw a plastic rendition, much to my chagrin. He perished at the end of the first half though, so that is probably why. He was still an awesome foe who would have been a welcome addition to my figure lineup.

Among the special features contained in this box set, "Commercial Spots" is mentioned. I can only hope that means the little blurbs before and after the commercial breaks featuring Orko. Remember those? There were at least four of them that I can recall. Orko's head bursting through an orange field saying He-Man would be right back, then a sad-eyed Orko repairing the hole he had made with tape. Also, Orko rapidly whipping off-screen so fast he lost his hat and cloak, then his bare arms reaching back on-screen to grab them. Plus, Orko spinning in from the distance like a tornado, saying his message, then spinning back off into the distance in the same tornado-like fashion. One other one was Orko working his magic with the little sparkles. While I'm glad that they are not included in each episode on the DVD's, I still was hoping for the opportunity to give them another look in a supplemental section. Hopefully they ARE contained here as the item referred to as "Commercial Spots". I don't know for sure.

With all the episodes this set contains, as well as the wealth of bonus materials, this would be a great buy for anyone wanting something exciting and entertaining for their children to watch, or for a child of the 80's like me who enjoys re-living a piece of his or her childhood.

This is the full series DVD set. Includes the first 10 episodes that were released separately in a previous release, so you will NOT have to purchase both to have a complete set. I have enjoyed this incarnation of the classic TV cartoon show. The show does have a lot of action, and there are definite separations between the good and bad characters in the show. The good guys are very good and the bad guys are evil. The character profiles and morals (or lack of morals) are well defined.

I do have some warnings for parents looking to buy this for there kids. The last 10 or so episodes are pretty violent, dark, and can be pretty severe for young children. Some anonymous characters are killed or more specifically "eaten" by the main antagonist. This seemed pretty gruesome to me but Judge for yourselves; watch them with your kids to evaluate the content or answer questions your kids may have. There are some minor occult references and many references to mysticism. I don't recommend this video for children under 6 years old.

Even with the previously mentioned violence, I'm pleased with my purchase and glad to add this to my cartoon collection.

This set is as well done as the first. A good amount of extras, beautiful box design and, of course, a great show! BCI does a fabulous job with their releases.

Both this release and the prior one are outstanding examples of how well an 80's cartoon can be transferred to a DVD format. Great colors, contrast, clairity, minimal visual artifacts, no popping/cracking in the soundtrack To top everything off, an excellent physical package loaded with tons of content makes this a great addition to any He-Man fan.

Well worth the price-too bad Thundercats wasn't handled this well.

Like so many people here, I'm a fan of the original Filmation He-Man series, and was quite skeptical about ordering this 2002 version. But the price was almost unbelievably low (still is as of this writing) for the entire series, so I figured I'd take a chance. And I'm glad I did, because this He-Man is actually a very good series. True, it lacks some of the lighthearted tone and cheerful optimism of the original, but the fact is, the animation is a LOT better. Almost old the old characters are here, just with more modern makeovers. I also like the fact that Prince Adam and He-Man really seem like two different characters, rather than the Clark Kent/Superman-style not-so-secret identity used in the original show.

As a hardcore fan of these characters, I'll always prefer the original series. It was, after all, the last fully American hand-drawn animated series produced by a major studio. Most every action cartoon since has been influenced by highly-overrated Japanese "anime" (this is apparent in the fight scenes of this series, though no where near as prevalent as it is in the 1990 The New Adventures of He-Man, Vol. 1). But if you'll give the 2002 series a try, you might find that it's really not SO different after all.

Amazing show and what a price! Under 11 bucks, are you kidding? Worth thrice that at least. Action packed, a perfect homage to the beloved 80's show and a darker, better animated revision to boot. I love how they explore the origin of not only several key characters but Eternia as well. This is non-stop entertainment and a lively animated He-man show that should have gotten more episodes during its run. A clean, fantastic look to this show highlights the obvious upgrades to every character from the original Masters of the Universe.

Every episode is jam packed with heavy pathos and heart-wrenching developements. Every twist and story thread matters, every character plays a role and real peril is at every corner. These are writers that know drama and the original characters and show very well. As a huge fan of the 80's incarnation, I was blown away by this. Top-notch all the way.

I happen to be a huge He man fan as I grew up in the 80s and have seen every He Man incarnation cartoon show since then. This new He Man TV Series is well produced with great storylines and animation and although it's not as good as the original animated show from the 80s it still manages to be very enjoyable. Highly recommended for all He Man fans.