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Masters of the Universe

image for Masters of the Universe

Short takes

Not suitable under 13; parental guidance to 14 (violence, scary scenes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Masters of the Universe
  • a review of Masters of the Universe completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 3 June 2026.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 13 Not suitable due to violence and scary scenes.
Children aged 13–14 Parental guidance recommended due to violence and scary scenes.
Children aged 15 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Masters of the Universe
Classification: M
Consumer advice lines: Violence
Length: 141 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

As a young boy, Adam (Artie Wilkinson-Hunt) felt he was a disappointment to his father King Randor (James Purefoy), who saw Adam as a weakling. Adam was taught to swordfight using sticks by the guardian Duncan (Idris Elba) but, unfairly, Randor made Adam fight him, with a real sword, and he easily beat his son who was only a child and had never used a real sword. When their planet, Eternia, is invaded by the evil Lord Skeletor (Jared Leto), the Sorceress who guards Castle Grayskull (Morena Baccarin) opens up a vortex and sends Adam through it with the Sword of Power. Adam lands on Planet Earth where he lives for 15 years.

Now an adult, Adam (Nicholas Galatzine) has a memory of his past and knows he must find the Sword of Power, which he lost during his flight to Earth. He eventually finds the Sword of Power, which draws Adam back to Eternia where he finds his former home destroyed by Skeletor and his troops. There, he finds his father and mother are still alive, Duncan has become a drunk and his friend Teela (Camilla Mendes), Duncan’s adopted daughter, is now the Captain of the Resistance. Through the power of the sword, Adam takes on the persona of He-Man, ‘the most powerful man in the universe’, in order to defeat Skeletor and return his father to the throne.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Science Fiction; Fantasy; Super-heroes; Supernatural powers; Death; Separation from parents.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is a lot of violence in this movie, including many battle scenes with opponents fighting with swords, axes, maces, scimitars, guns, laser guns etc. Many characters are killed and thrown from heights. There are also many explosions and buildings seen on fire. Some examples include:

  • Children are taught to fight with sticks. Adam gets hit by his trainer. He also gets knocked down by his father with a real sword.
  • Skeletor’s army invade Eternia in space ships, firing laser weapons onto the ground, destroying everything in their path.
  • A man who has been shot, falls through a burning window.
  • A huge, hairy creature known as the Beast comes to Earth, landing heavily on cars. He roars and chases Adam. People run away in panic. The Beast grabs Adam and throws him to the ground. Teela sends the Beast flying with her sword. The Beast throws cars in rage, then gets hit by a van.
  • Skeletor grabs a woman by the arm, twisting it sharply. Burn lines are seen on her arm. Another time, he grabs the woman by her throat.
  • A main character is killed.
  • Adam and Skeletor fight in the final battle scene. Adam is wounded and Skeletor grabs him by the throat, lifting him up in the air.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including many scary characters and scenes, such as the following:

  • Lord Skeletor is a skeleton cloaked in black with red eyes.
  • Flying dragons and burning deserts.
  • Castle Grayskull has a huge skull above the entrance gate, surrounded by clouds that roar.
  • A huge reptilian-type creature called Karg has a green face and a large hook for its hand.
  • Fisto is a character that has a metal arm, which he uses to fight off his enemies.
  • A man with a metal jaw.
  • Men with horns and bony structures over their bodies.
  • A huge, hairy man with big teeth and claws, known as the Beast, is very scary.
  • A creature with the face of a pig.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • A passage in the castle is lined with creatures hanging on it.
  • Skeletor appears in the night sky as a huge ghost.
  • Skeletor tells Adam to give him the sword or his parents will die horribly. He laughs manically.
  • The entrance to the castle is lined with skulls pierced through on poles.
  • King Randor stands on the precipice of a huge dragon’s mouth.
  • Adam has to fight a guard of terrifying creatures.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:

  • Skeletor threatens to chop off Randor’s head. Instead, he chops off the head of a statue of Randor.
  • Adam raises the Sword of Power into the air, which releases great power into the atmosphere and raises Adam up.
  • Adam returns to Earth but his two worlds are colliding. He sees characters from Eternia all around him. A man in gym gear is Skeletor who grabs Adam by the hair.
  • Adam is seen with blood on his face.
  • A pet green tiger has a man’s head in its mouth.
  • A skull is seen rolling along the ground.

Thirteen and overinfo

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Coca Cola
  • Mattel brand.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • There is some attraction and flirtation between Adam and Teela.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • As Adam transforms to He-Man, he is seen bare-chested.
  • As He-Man, Adam only wears a small battle chest-plate, a short gladiator skirt, and boots, exposing his muscular physique.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • Duncan becomes a drunk and is seen in a bad way.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Damn
  • Shit
  • What the hell?
  • Arseholes
  • Oh my God
  • Piss off
  • Some name calling such as:
    • Half wit
    • Moron
    • Fools
    • Dolts.

In a nutshell

Masters of the Universe is an action-packed movie, based on the Masters of the Universe media franchise by Mattel. While it is quite tongue-in-cheek and funny at times, the film is still very violent throughout and is therefore best suited to older teens and adults.

The main messages from this movie are to stand up for what you believe in; and the enduring bonds of family.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • The importance of teamwork
  • Bravery
  • Courage
  • Heroism
  • Loyalty
  • Friendship.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • Super powers and super heroes are entertaining but parents could emphasise that they are just fiction. Children often look up to their heroes and try to emulate them but it’s better to admire the good attributes and moral strength of a character, rather than the physical power and strength they display.