As an incentive, here is my brief review and rating (as they appear in the book) for "Reign of the Monster"...
As soon as the episode begins we realize that the heroes are not the stars of this script. Skeletor is written to be pure evil, and his alliance with the Torgs sets the episode apart from many others. Of course, the one thing that we cannot help but focus on during the course of this episode is Molkrom; easily one of the best monsters to grace the series. Often the monsters in the series would have some visual quirk to make them less frightening, but Molkrom is hideous and frightening through and through. Although the character dialogue throughout the story is nothing special, the plot and the battle outside Castle Grayskull make this one of the series' great episodes. 8/10
Now, may I ask; what is YOUR rating?
6 comments:
Definitely one of the greatest action episodes that keeps you on the edge of your seat! Molkrom is an unstoppable threat to the heroes, and he gets a lot of screen time, considering he basically appears at the very end of the first half of the episode (He is featured very briefly in the Sorceress' magic window during Act One). I like the concept of Molkrom having the power to destroy Castle Grayskull, so this idea has the heroes (and the viewers) concerned. What also makes this episode a serious one is no appearance of Prince Adam nor Cringer, as both He-Man and Battlecat are featured right from their very first scene in the episode, so no transformation sequence for the first time! I also enjoyed the scene with the "Stratos clones" and the heroes taking on the Torks and the cavern monster ... I love the random amusing quotes from the heroes like "Why aren't things ever easy?" and "I have a feeling this wasn't a good idea!" My only criticism was that I thought an animated cell of the drawbridge to Castle Grayskull should have been used, to show damage, as Molkrom strikes the gate for the first time, instead of the usual background features ... That way, when Skeletor states, "The Castle is strong, but not strong enough," the scene would have worked a little better. Not a major problem though. I think that the real moral message to the episode should have been, "Don't let monsters out of glass prisons by using a magic staff." :) Thanks for reading and God Bless! ~"KevyGuy" :)
Um.... Why do you keep teasing us with this book if it's sold out?
The great thing about this episode is that it feels like a VERY early MOTU story - lots of dark action and no Prince Adam! :)
Wasn't this episode also the reason that volume 3 of the UK He-Man DVDs released by Contender ended up being rated PG instead of U?? :)
I like that in the screen shot Ram Man is posed just like his toy. I love it!
Stratos is one of my favourite characters before he became James Bond. Ive always enjoyed Hawk in the shows as well. The storyline just falls into place and its one that i can watch time and time again. 9/10
I agree with your review: Molkrom is easily one of the scariest looking demons ever in a cartoon. It was good to see Delora and some other Bird-people. And I didn’t know that this was the only episode without Prince Adam. I found a typo in your fantastic cartoon guide on Page 47: same/as point 2 it should be ‘Dragon Invasion’ instead of ‘Dragoon’.
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