Masters of the Universe

The 80's were littered with sci-fi and fantasy films after Uncle George showed how successful the genre could be. Of course, most of them, like Krull, Dragonslayer and this were variably terribly. They did, however, provide more than enough leverage for composer to go completely over the top with swashbuckling scores and Masters of the Universe is no exception. Bill Conti was in pretty high demand during the 80's after the success of Rocky and The Right Stuff gave him a high film music profile. In some ways, he seems an unlikely choice given the genre, but he tackled it with enthusiasm, even if the results aren't exactly earth shattering.

The Main Title is firmly planted in the post Star Wars blustering fanfares, although to his credit, Conti does avoid repeating it ad nauseum throughout the score. The theme for Skeletor (an anemic, poor man's Darth Vadar) is a little more than inspired by Mars from that old favourite source of sci-fi scoring inspiration, Holst's Planets. The liner notes to this album feature a brief interview with Conti where he is pressed on this point, but he says that it's just a rhythm and so it's not really stealing. Reasonable, perhaps, but given that it's quite a famous off kilter rhythm he's hardly helped himself by using it. I'd also argue that it features very similar harmonies to Holst's original which again suggests that Conti isn't helping himself avoid criticism. The theme doesn't actually appear many times through the score, but does rather stick out whenever it does.

Otherwise, Conti's underscore is variable. Some of the action sequences are genuinely thrilling, particularly during The Power of Greyskull. However, many are just crunching brass chords and become a bit repetitive after a while. The few token romantic moments don't add much, but are just a breather in between one orchestral onslaught and the next. Any 80's sci fi score junkie will probably love every overwrought minute of Conti's score, indeed the somewhat hard to find album is quite sought after. However, the score is a bit hit and miss with some passages seeming interminable, but then out of nowhere Conti throws in something truly effective. Fun, but undemanding.