10 Genius Moments In Otherwise Irredeemable Films
3. Masters Of The Universe - Skeletor's Closing Monologue
Critics were not kind to Masters of the Universe when it was first released in 1987, and time has not helped its reputation. Very loosely based on the popular He-Man cartoon series, the movie really does resemble a live-action cartoon, but probably not in the way its creators intended.
Watching Dolph Lundgren as He-Man is like eating a cardboard cut-out of a hamburger. It looks tolerable from afar, but the more time you spend with it, the more your gag reflex wants to murder you from the inside out. Lundgren's supporting cast, which includes the super green Courtney Cox, is just as one-dimensional.
The lone bright spot is Frank Langella as Skeletor. There's some sexual depravity to the character, and the perverse pleasure he takes in the torture of his nemesis suggests he might be into some serious bondage stuff whenever he's not actively trying to rule the world.
But it's his final, pre-battle monologue that stands out the most:
That, folks, is what a motherf*ckin' super-villain sounds like. No one can polish a turd better than Langella.