The-Secret-of-the-Sword
September 2nd 2011 01:51
The Secret of the Sword - Review
Synopsis:
After experiencing traumatic nightmares of a time now past, the Sorceress summons Prince Adam and Cringer to Castle Grayskull to give Adam a precious, jeweled sword and send the pair to the planet Etheria to investigate its secrets. Unsure of what they are expected to find, the Prince and his companion befriend the Great Rebellion, a small group of citizens fighting a huge intergalactic army, known as the Evil Horde, ruled by the vicious tyrant Hordak. During a titanic battle, Adam transforms into He-Man to help the rebels, but is soon captured by the Horde's Force Captain, Adora, and placed under Horde surveillance. Adora is disturbed from her sleep by a strange voice, which leads her to the site of the imprisoned He-Man, where she is greeted by the Sorceress of Grayskull, speaking to her through the jewel in the mysterious sword The Sorceress reveals the terrible truth behind Adora's past - she is a Princess. not only that, she is He-Man's twin sister - kidnapped by the Horde when she was just an infant! Ador a seizes the magic sword, holds it high above her head and summons the power of Grayskull! With this, she is transformed into the magnificent She-Ra, Princess of Power, and frees her brother. Reunited at last, the Prince and Princess vow to return home to bring the Eternian Royal Family together again and attempt to free the Kingdom of Bright Moon from Hordak's reign of terror!
It should be noted that the opening credits for this fiasco was way ahead of its time on the importance front - we're treated to stills of the characters with the voice actors getting their name recognition, while in the background the corniest and most addictive song ever blasts. When we found this thing a few weeks ago, I spent three hours listening to the mp3 of it on repeat, feeling progressively more and more like a master of the universe and less and less like a 22-year-old. The credits serve a purpose - they lay to rest any potential nagging doubts over who's voicing Hordak. Its of course George Dicenzo, who when you add up his appearances on Go-Bot movies and Swiss Family Robinson, has a pretty fucked up resume. Suffice to say, this is his greatest role, since Hordak's arm can transform into a cannon solely used to blow up his own equipment in frustration. But, we'll get to that in due time...
The Sorceress, who prior to this flick hadn't really given us any indication that she had any emotion, dreams about some vile creature robbing babies and running through portals. If only I reviewed this when that whole Elian thing was going down, I could've made a time sensitive joke sure to be quoted by Entertainment Weekly. The Sorceress wakes from the dream to find a mysterious sword floating around in midair and attempting to point to one of the enigmatic doors that litter the castle. Pretty standard day at Greyskull, so don't think the Sorceress finds any of this a little odd.
As it would turn out, the dream and the floating sword were all a sign - there's something the Sorceress has been waiting for for years, and it looks like today's the big day. So she calls over Prince Adam and tells him to go into another dimension with the new sword. She refuses to divulge any details whatsoever about his mission - who he's looking for, where he's going, what he's supposed to be doing...but then again, the Sorceress never liked to make things easy for Adam. Its her that demanded his true identity remain a secret, despite every possible fraction of evidence pointing to him being He-Man. Basically, because of this cruel rule, Prince Adam was constantly reminded that his family were a bunch of bloomin' idiots. Adam will be talking to his mother about Skeletor's latest attack, step out for a minute, and dissapear for hours on end when a guy who looks exactly like him takes care of business. Either his parents aren't too astute, or they're pretty negligent with giving the kid some attention.
Nevertheless, Adam knows he shouldn't defy a woman who can morph into a big colorful eagle, so he accepts his mission.
The best part about watching this movie again for me was being able to jump back into my mind the way it was when I was six or seven - I remember watching this thing thinking as if Adora was a real person, and being on the edge of my seat waiting for her to come to her senses. That's something you definitely lose over time as you gain more cynicism - kids can totally lose themselves in these fake worlds, and if we had the memory power to remember, I'm sure a lot of us spent adolescence pondering things that never existed as if they were complete and total fact. When we get older, all we get to do is debate religion. That's what was so fun about being a kid.
Grade - B (plus) - This is one of the true animated classics for me - and unfortunately nigh-impossible to find today. In comparison to the shows it competed with at the time, He-Man comes off a little more dated. As as much as I make fun of it, it was a great little show. From the hardcore fan perspective, I'd say this is easily the best episode(s) of the series entirely. Well worth your time to check out.
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