DarthBill
A fairly bold retelling of the 1980s classic "He-Man & The Masters of the Universe", the callow, carefree young prince Adam of Eternia, goof off son of the highly respected King Randor, is informed by the beautiful, mysterious Sorceress of Castle Grayskull that he is destined to become He-Man, defender of Eternia, champion of the oppressed, protector of all that is good and just. Initially skeptical of all this, Adam learns it is very true after his father is kidnapped & his home torn up by the evil Lord Skeletor, formerly Keldor, an old enemy of his father. After becoming He-Man (voiced in both forms by Cam Clarke, best remembered as Leonardo from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon), joining forces with his mentor Man-At-Arms, gal pal Teela, and the Heroic Masters (Stratos, Ram-Man, Man-E-Faces, Buzz-Off, Mek-A-Neck, Roboto, Sy-Clone and Fisto), our big brawny hero finds himself once again battling the evil forces of Skeletor, Count Marzo, King Hiss & the Snakemen, with occasional assistance from Zodak. And yes, Orko and Cringer/Battle Cat are also back and so is Queen Marlena.For the most part, very well written, with stronger characterizations and personality contrasts to the previous versions. About the only thing they did wrong was that Skeletor's henchmen were too stupid (seriously, the 21st century, I thought we were beyond the dumb evil henchmen by now). Though head & shoulders above many lesser shows of today, sadly, Cartoon Network cut this wonderful remake off just when it was starting to get really good. The eventual idea was to bring in Hordak and the Horde, introduce a re-imagined She-Ra, have Teela learn the truth of her heritage (the Sorceress of Grayskull is her mom), but alas, these ambitions were never realized.DAMN YOU CARTOON NETWORK!Well, it's all on DVD now, so they can't take it away from us. Little bit of Trivia: before this series, Cam Clarke had voiced the Marvel comics hero Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic for a Fantastic Four guest spot on Spider-Man's animated series circa 1994. In 2006, Brian Dobson, who voiced Skeletor/King Hiss/Buzz-Off/etc. in this series, would take on the role of Ben Grimm/the Thing for "Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes".
steelcaltrop
Some people seem to think that this ruined the original and the makers themselves have been hit by idiotic comments like that. While I wouldn't go so far as to say that this show is really that good, it does better the original in every single aspect. The technical aspects are incomparable and I guess that charm of the original is what was missing but then how old were we when we actually saw the original and how impressionable were we then? The animation is good, OK for 21st century quality, the story lines are passable or average when they stand alone or somewhat better when they tie in together for the bigger plot. The action does suck though and the hitting and punching is quite annoying. He-Man is also disturbingly muscular and unrealistic. But having said all that and given the limitations of the concept itself, I don't see how the developers could have done any better, except for providing better music?
Derek MacDonell (ThePaladin1)
I was born in 1983 (the same year the original series first came out) so it's not too far of a stretch to say that I literally grew up with it, in any case it remains one of my all time favourites. So, when I heard they were coming out with a remake I was hopeful, but skeptical. I've seen too many fall flat and too many are blatant money ploys with little bearing on the original (like a certain movie that I won't name.).That said, when I first watched the series I was pleasantly surprised. This is obviously a labour of love that gives as much respect to old schoolers like myself as it does to those who have never even heard of Eternia. I was amazed to see the amount of detail, from Evil-Lynn's hair to the long standing Keldor/Skeletor rumour, that was brought into it.The characterization is also terrific and they've even expanded on as are many of the details and relationships that weren't as heavily addressed in the old one. The animation is much richer and smoother and the series lacks the classic "80s cheese" (oh well).Not to say that there aren't some points that I don't think work well ie: my biggest problem is Cringer not talking, though that's a rant I've done elsewhere. This is a strong series that I've really enjoyed up to now and is, so far, a worthy successor to the original.
Doc_ock_4mugen
He-man and MOTU 2002 Version awakens nostalgic feelings on those who were fans of the original 1983 He-man and MOTU. The show is really well made and has a great cast of Voice Actors and Actresses. The characters are mostly 98% similar to their 1983 counterparts with a few exceptions of course. Fans of the original He-man and MOTU might find a few references to the original series like the show's Intro Speech by Adam, Cringer's pose in the Cringer/Battlecat Transformation. The show is a bit more action packed than it's '80s counterpart. Skeletor was fearsome back then now he's a force to be reckoned with. Now you can see the difference between Adam and He-man. Some characters have gotten more important than before like Teela. Other characters have lost their chemistry like Orko and Man-At-Arms, and I liked their chemistry. A few things that are missing from the original are the theme song which is etched into my mind, He-mans echo(Thank goodness it's gone because it was annoying sometimes) and the Morals at the end. But nonetheless it's one great show for He-man Veterans and Newcomers alike. I only wish that Cartoon Network could show back to back episodes of He-man the 1983 and the 2002 versions...
