The Secret of the Sword

The Secret of the Sword
Directed by Ed Friedman
Lou Kachivas
Marsh Lamore
Bill Reed
Gwen Wetzler
Produced by Arthur H. Nadel
Lou Scheimer
Written by Larry DiTillio
Bob Forward
Starring John Erwin
Melendy Britt
Alan Oppenheimer
Linda Gary
George DiCenzo
Erika Scheimer
Lou Scheimer
Music by Erika Lane
Shuki Levy
Haim Saban
Edited by Joe Gall
Production
company
Distributed by Atlantic Releasing
Release dates
  • March 22, 1985

Running time
 87 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget US$2 million[1]
Box office $6,500,000[2]

He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword is a 1985 American animated feature film produced by Filmation. Although released before the series She-Ra: Princess of Power began, the film was a compilation of the first five episodes with minor edits made.[3] The film was part of a trend of theatrically released animations created by producers of TV shows and toys during the 1980s.[4]

Plot

The Sorceress sends Prince Adam to the world of Etheria. Adam is to give a very special sword to someone who lives there. But when Adam discovers that Etheria is ruled by an intergalactic army known as the Horde, he becomes He-Man to help a band of rebels fight the Horde. But during the battle, He-Man is captured by the Horde's Force Captain Adora and taken as a prisoner. However, Adora is really He-Man's long lost twin sister kidnapped from their home land of Eternia by the Horde when she was a baby. Brother and sister battle until He-Man and the powers of Grayskull open Adora's mind to reveal her true identity. [5]

Cast

Reception

No consensus among critics is currently available at Rotten Tomatoes, though 72% of users have given it a positive rating.[5][6] Janet Maslin of The New York Times and Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times likened the film to a Saturday morning children's cartoon extended to feature film length. Maslin in particular cited the film's plot as "complicated but entirely predictable".[7][8]

DVD release

References

  1. ↑ Harmetz, Aljean (May 1, 1985). "Video alters economics of movie animation". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). Retrieved September 18, 2010. The Secret of the Sword, which cost $2 million and consists of three half-hour television programs stitched together, is faring less well. Mr. Scheimer said he was planning a high-budget movie starring He-Man for the summer of 1987.
  2. ↑ "A Rally For G Ratings Clubhouse Gets Bandwagon Rolling For Family Entertainment". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2011-10-01.
  3. ↑ Douglass Jr., Todd (July 3, 2006). "The Best of She-Ra - Princess of Power". DVD Talk. Retrieved November 7, 2009.
  4. ↑ Maltin, Leonard (1987). Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. New American Library. p. 351. ISBN 0-452-25993-2.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Villarreal, Phil (August 4, 2006). "Phil Villarreal's Review: Still a surefire hit with 6-year-olds". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
  6. ↑ He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  7. ↑ Maslin, Janet (May 18, 1985). "SCREEN - 'SECRET OF THE SWORD' - Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-10-01.
  8. ↑ Solomon, Charles (March 26, 1985). "'SWORD' SHOWS ITS KIDVID ROOTS". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-10-01.
  9. ↑ "The Best of She-Ra - Princess of Power". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2012-05-26.

External links