To say that it's been quite a while since anything regarding the classic Masters Of The Universe TV show really was last talked about by me would be a huge understatement. As it's been a whopping FOUR years sine I last talked about anything from this show as such it was only about right that I put a stop to that right now and so then join me as I give you my review of the episode that has the most generic PSA at the end of it with the episode in question being called simply just "She-Demon Of Phantos" enjoy.
The plot of this episode when the Queen of a trusted ally to Eternia is suddenly put into Skeletor's control it's up to He-Man and friends to break that control before it's far to late. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as while it was yes granted a rather generic and simple plot that's also something that could be said for all of this shows episodes as the main purpose of this show wasn't to have deep thought provoking plots it was instead to sell toys and that's it and because of that they don't really need alot of plot in there episodes they just need the basic premise and the set up and that's it and that's all this episode has and while yes it would have been nice if the plot was a bit more well thought and alot less formulaic at the same time tho that would also be going against the style of the show as well but in fairness to this episode this is a plot that whilst it does work really well it's also one that's not all that good as it does feel loke a very paint by numbers plot with all of the plot beats that you know are going to happen happening but without any rhyme of reason to it which does cause the episode to loose it's heart and soul in the process as well as it's just that generic of a plot for this episode to have with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is John Erwin as Prince Adam / He-Man and Strongarm and voice acting legend Alan Oppenheimer as Skeletor , Man-At-Arms , Cringer and Mer-Man. Also starring in this episode is voice acting legend Linda Gary as Teela , The Sorceress and Queen Elmora. this shows executive producer , composer and developer Lou Scheimer as Orko , Lizard Man and Slave Driver and Norm Prescott as Stratos.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. As let's be real here nobody would expect or even want great acting from this show given that it was only made to sell the toys and that's it and yet that's really exactly what we got in this episode with it being clear as day that all of this episodes actors really are trying to turn in a good performance and make this show worth watching for more people then just it's intended kid audience and while granted this show doesn't demand great acting in it's episodes the very fact that these actors were more then willing to try to turn in a good performance does show you just how good of an actor that all of this episodes really are with it being quite hard to say just who exactly the best actor in this episode really is as to be frank here anyone of this shows actors could make that claim and it would be totally justifiable however if push did indeed come to shove i'd say that the best actor in this episode is Linda Gary just because of the fact that the three characters that she's playing are for the most part complete and total opposites of each other for large portions of the episode with her even having to make Queen Elmora still sound like a good guy when she's under Skeletor's mind control which is something that won't be that easy of a task to do in the first place with the acting that's in this very episode not really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so bad as it gives none of this episodes actors absolutely nothing to work with inters of what it is that there respective characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does hurt the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the animation for this episode is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Filmation Associates. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as even tho this episodes animation is nothing all that spectacular as is to be expected as this was done on a TV show budget there are moments of promise to be found in this episodes animation like alot of the backgrounds for example all look really good and even for a nineteen eighties TV show do look very highly detailed which does help in making Filmation one of the hidden gems of the animated world as alot of there works be for film or TV more often then not had some really good looking animation in them and yet because there not Disney , Warner Bros or Hanna-Barbera they will more often then not get overlooked by alot of people but in saying that tho much like with Hanna-Barbera the characters movements in this episode do come across as being a little bit stiff from time to time with them only getting very fluid movements during very brief and pointless scenes like for example both Prince Adam and Man At Arms only get very fluid animation after having a very brief talk with Queen Elmora and that's it as for the rest of the episode there movements are much like the rest of the characters movements in that there very stiff at best which makes you wonder why the makers of this show didn't bother to give all of the characters these really nice looking fluid movements all throughout the episode as when they do that it is something that does look really good and yet by not doing that all there doing is highlighting just how cheap there animation can be when it comes to the characters movements.
It's not unusual for this show to end on some sort of PSA with one of the shows characters usually He-Man giving the shows kid audience some sort of advice. While alot of what they say in these PSA's is usually very helpful and tied into the plot of the episode here in this episode on the other hand they go the other way with it and give us not only the most generic PSA but they also don't have to be tied into somethin that happened in the episode as here the PSA is all about safety not any particular kind of safety just safety in general which is so generic as the advice that they give could be applied to anything as it basically just boils to just be careful and that's it which is so generic that it's like the makers of this episode weren't even trying with this being made all the more laughable when you take into account that they could have done something that tie's into the episode due to the fact that Teela deliberately goes against her fathers order thus putting herself in harms way so there could have been a PSA on how the kids need to always do as there told when it comes to very dangerous situations as not doing so could end up with them getting hurt and hospital which granted is still pretty generic but it's also something that does tie into the episode and therefor doesn't really feel that out of place as the kid audience would have seen what could happen should they not follow the advice that was just given to them but for one reason or another the makers of this episode went with the most boring and most generic piece of advice that they could have given which makes it feel like that they just made a bunch of PSA's with the idea being that they could then use them in rotation for various episodes should the need to do so arise and didn't bother to come up with alot of creative ways to tie them into the plot of the episode.
Queen Elmora does seem to be a pretty good character as she is someone who is a friend to Eternia and actually has powers of her own. However tho at the same time like alot of this shows characters she does come across as being very note as all she does when she gets turned evil is hit He-Man with a few of her spells and that's it which isn't that good as we don't get to see how that impacts her as a character something which is made even more worse when Skeletor puts another spell on her so that when she sees He-Man she sees him as Skeletor which in all fairness isn't that bad of an idea but at the same time tho she does very quickly work out who the correct Skeletor is which does make that whole idea feel like the waste of a good tension building idea as she could have asked both Skeletors a question that only the real He-Man would know and heck they even could have had her attack He-Man thinking that it's Skeletor just something that would make that idea worth while but instead they have Teela interrupt before things start to get good to tell her that the person that she's seeing isn't Skeletor but is actually He-Man with her only figuring it odd when she casts a spell that she knows the real He-Man would be able to get off which again is a good ides but it's one that comes to little to late as the very fact that they had Teela interrupting the big showdown does undercut alot of the tension and whilst this is something that might have been done to appease either censors or parents groups it is something that does take you out of the story with this being somethin that should have been fixed just by not having Teela show up as then you could have scenes with Elmora struggling to work out which Skeletor is telling the truth and have her just ask them both a question that only the real He-Man would know the answer to and that's really it.
Speaking of everyone's favourite Skeleton he doesn't really have much a plan in this episode with his scheme being to replace take over the Queen's homeland which he does at the start of the episode. With him even replacing the minerals that Man At Arms and Prince Adam got to make there weapons from the Queen with some cheap knock offs which is quite literally one of the two only things that tip them off that something that's not the level as Adam points at the Elmora was acting strangely and that's it with Skeletors lack of a plan really falling to pieces once the heroes arrive back at the Queen's palace and it's something that does have you wondering what Skeletors ultimate goal is in this episode as everything he does in this episode seems to just annoy He-Man and not cause him any psychical pain which is something that des make Skeletor out to be a pretty weak and ineffective villain as if his end goal was to take over the Queen's homeland then the episode is already over before it began as he already did that before the start of the episode but if it was something else then it makes no sense as the Queen would already have access to these minerals which are meant to be the strongest in the known galaxy and very easily could have told Skeletor and his men where they are or his true evil scheme just wasn't explained at all as the makers of this episode just couldn't be bothered to give him one which does make his inclusion in this episode feel wasted as his role in this episode could have been taken up by any of the shows villains and it would have made total sense but because he's the shows main villain he just has to be in this episode even if he doesn't really have an evil plan to begin with.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running mee of exactly twenty one minuets and thirty seconds. Which to be fair to this episode is more in lone with the running time with the rest of the show as well as all of them have a very similar running time with this episode even having the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time but in saying that tho this episode really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as it's plot isn't that well developed and really can't be that well developed as the episode is more focused on just rushing along to the next predictable plot beat then it is in telling a good story and while kids TV shows around this same time did typically just tell single episode stories this is one that could have benefitted from being a two part story as that then would allow for the plot of the episode to be more developed then what it already with this having the add on effect on making Skeletor himself seem more like a villain that no only can het things done when it counts but it would also make him more of an effective villain as well with this also effecting the episodes characters since as tings stand all of this episodes characters aren't that well developed which again is more in line with other kids shows from the eighties but at the same time tho these characters could have been more well thought out and get the chance to be alot more developed then what they already since as things stand all of this episodes characters do come across as being very one dimensional and while that is fine for this kind of show it is something that does make this episode and this show come across as being a bit predictable but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is an action show that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / resented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With this episodes action being yes generic but in a fun way as we get to see He-Man and friends beat up Skeletors crew in some really fun ways with the only thing that does really let this episodes action down is the fact that we don't get see Man At Arms take down the guards that have Cringer locked up in a cell which is kind of a key plot point as it details the rescue of one of the shows main characters and yet the episode just completely skips over it like it's nothing with the best action scene in the whole episode being the final fight between He-Man and Skeletor in the Queen's throne room which works because of the fact that even tho we would have seen the two characters fight quite a few times now in the series other episodes it's what this episode adds to it that makes it good again as we get to see Skeletor be manipulative by trying to convince Elmora that he's actually He-Man which whilst it is an undercooked idea does make the action in that scene seem really good with even seeing He-Man escape this supposed unbreakable box just because he's the main character of the show is fun and campy and something that does make the action in this episode all the more interesting and fun to watch as well as it means that the makers of this show know that there making a bad show and a bad episode and therefor just willing to have some serious fun with this episodes action in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall whilst this show does do both He-Man and Skeletor better then the first live action movie could only dream of doing this episode really isn't the best example of just how fun that this show really could have been as this could have been as these two characters can be some really fun characters in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really des mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 5.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official He-Man fandom wiki page , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great the official He-Man fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on the official He-Man fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.
