u/fuzzy_dice_99

It’s hard to find anything funny about the presidency these days but I revisited one of my favorite movies.

The premise is absolutely absurd but under Ivan Reitman’s direction and Gary Ross ‘script, it never feels insulting to the viewer, even if at times you know running the federal government isn’t that simple.

The cast is stellar and is why the movie works as well as it does. Kevin Kline as Dave, a guy who happens to really look like the president (also played by Kline) is called to serve his country when the real president falls into the coma. He brings the right level of every man relatability that we all wish our leaders could have. “I once caught a fish T H I S big”

Frank Langella as the scheming Chief of Staff is a great antagonist.

Sigourney Weaver as the aloof First Lady who learns to fall back in love.

Ving Rhames and Ben Kingsley make the most of small but pivotal roles. Rhames’s expression when he realizes he technically would be taking a bullet for Dave says so much.

And a few funny cameos from Oliver Stone and Arnold Schwarzenegger are a nice surprise.

Can’t recommend this enough if you’re looking for an easy watch that makes you feel good about our country when it’s over.

I wanted to revisit this movie before seeing the new one this weekend. As an 80s kid, I loved the cartoon as most boys my age did. I remember seeing this movie and was profoundly disappointed this was nothing like the cartoon beyond the surface level.

The major characters were there. But no Orko. Or Battlecat. And henchmen that I had never heard of. And probably the biggest offense was that 90% of the movie took place on Earth.

Revisiting it now, it still doesn’t hold up great, but if you don’t go in with a preconceived notion that it should be like the cartoon, then parts of it does work.

The major casting of He-Man and Skeletor work. Frank Langella is the standout at Skeletor. You can tell he’s having fun without hamming it up too much that it overshadows everyone else. The make-up is pretty good for the time period it was made.

Dolph is fine as He-man if only because Prince Adam doesn’t exist in this movie. He doesn’t have to play that duality. He-man isn’t Shakespeare, so he captures the alpha male hero well. And Meg Foster as Evil-Lyn is a joy to watch.

Everyone else is… fine. Billy Bart as some weird Orko replacement gets annoying. Man-at-Arms and Teela are there just for support. The worst characters are by far the Earth characters, with Courtney Cox being the most recognizable. I get they’re meant to be the audience stand-in, but I just didn’t care about their dead parents storyline.

Overall, it’s an easy watch and worth seeing if you grew up on He-man just to see these characters in live action.