About Heroes

This Review Was Submitted by Spider-Ben

Writers: Larry Ditillio, Bob Forward, J. Michael Strackzynski, etc.
Voice Talent: John Erwin, Melendy Britt, Alan Oppenheimer, George Dzunda, Erika Scheimer, etc.

Disc One: He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword

It was a time before I got into Spider-Man. It was a time when I didn’t know anything about the X-Men, or how important Batman and Superman were. Heck, it was a time before I even went around yelling “cowabunga”
while watching the ninja turtles. It was 1985, the year when He-Man’s sister was revealed. He-Man was my first super-hero, and he still holds a warm spot in my heart. But Filmation studios decided to up the ante and create a spin off series featuring the adventures of He-Man’s twin sister, Adora. To this end, She-Ra:
Princess of Power was born.

Filmation decided to hit the ground running with this series by having the pilot be a five-part adventure.
During production, Filmation realized that if they trimmed the five episodes down to 90 minutes they could introduce She-Ra into theaters as a movie. Thus, He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword was born.
Secret of the Sword is the story of Prince Adam and his faithful companion Cringer venturing to the distant world of Etheria. The Sorceress of Greyskull gives Adam a sword that looks exactly like his own power sword, except that there is a jewel in the center of this new sword. He must now find someone very special to wield its powers. On Etheria, Adam befriends the great Rebellion in their struggle against the forces of the evil Horde, led by the maniacal Hordak. During an attack, the rebels are quickly overwhelmed by the Horde. Adam sneaks off and screams “I have the power!” and He-Man arrives, ready to kick Horde butt! Truly this moment gives me Goosebumps every single time I watch it. It’s just that damn powerful and good!

To speed things along, He-Man is captured by Adora who is a force captain for the Horde. He-Man realizes Adora is the one he seeks to claim the powers of the Sword. The rebels save He-Man, but he ventures off once more to the fright zone to find Adora. After getting captured, He-Man’s life force is fading due to Hordak’s new machine. The Sorceress contacts Adora through her sword and tells her of her destiny: she is the daughter of King Randor and Queen Marlena, and she is He-Man’s sister. Adora realizes she is good, and lifts her power sword into the air screaming “For the Honor of Greyskull!” She-Ra is born, and quickly frees He-Man and the two destroy Hordak’s new machine.

Later, He-Man and She-Ra realize the truth. When they were babies, the Horde attacked Eternia. Hordak managed to capture Adora and force her to work for evil, unaware of her true origin. Now the two return to Eternia for a reunion, but Hordak follows. Hordak meets up with his old student, the deadly Skeletor.
The gruesome twosome decided to join forces and capture Adora. At the palace, Randor and Marlena are thrilled to have their baby girl back. As they feast, Skeletor makes his move. He and Hordak capture Adora and return to snake mountain. One of the best lines of the movie happens here. Cringer runs off screaming for help, and Skeletor states “Blast! That mangy cat will bring the palace guards!” It’s very funny stuff in a very intense moment.

He-Man and Man-At-Arms go to Snake Mountain to save Adora and meanwhile Skeletor tricks Hordak and sends him back to Etheria. Adora pretends to faint, and quickly gets her sword and transforms. She-Ra proceeds to kick Skeletor’s butt, and He-Man introduces his friends to She-Ra. Skeletor replies this is the worst day of his life, being defeated by a female He-Man!
Great moment!

Adora tells her parents she must return to Etheria to help the rebels save their world. Adam takes her back to Greyskull to return home. As Adora and Spirit, her horse, walk off, Adam and Cringer have followed them wanting to help give the rebellion an extra hand. The two quickly transform when Horde forces attack. The rebels fight to reclaim the kingdom of Bright Moon, and with He-Man and She-Ra they are victorious. With the rebellion having an advantage, He-Man returns home to Eternia but tells his sister if she ever needs his help, just call.

Disc Two: The Best Five Episodes of She-Ra

Disc two contains the top five fan episodes of She-Ra. “Of Shadows and Skulls” which guest stars Skeletor is number five. Number four is “Sweet Bee’s Home” which guest stars He-Man and is a great episode.
Number three is “Horde Prime takes a holiday” which was thought of by JMS, and features He-Man and Skeletor. Number two is “The Stone in the Sword” and features Adora fighting to regain her powers after the crystal in her sword is broken. Finally, number one is “The Price of Freedom” and guest stars He-Man and Orko. This episode shows how evil the Horde really is, and how Etheria is a planet conquered by evil.

Bonus features include a documentary on the making of She-Ra and scripts to the episodes. The scripts can only be accessed on a DVD-Rom though. On the Secret of the Sword disc, there is commentary on the movie, “I have the Power” music video, and trailers to the movie.

Thoughts/Comments:

I love this set! Secret of the Sword is a wonderful movie; I forgot how good it really is. Plus, the theme song to the movie “I have the Power” is a beautiful and moving song. Really fits the theme to the movie about a brother and sister being reunited. I always had this huge crush on She-Ra, and re-watching her adventures I realize I still love her as much today as I did back then. Of course, my thoughts were cleaner about her when I was a kid opposed to those of a 23 year old guy! This is touching stuff for an animated feature. The five episodes on the second disc were pretty good as well, but there is one character I hate. It’s a character called Loo-Kee I think. It’s some damn rainbow raccoon or something, and he hides in every episode and does the moral at the end of the show. He’s annoying and a pain in the ass, but that’s my only complaint. So go check this set out if you love action and good solid storytelling. This gets a huge A+ from me!