The Castle Greyskull throne room and hallway were real; it was one of the largest sets ever and was 2 soundstages wide. Both Blake Edwards and Michael Jackson visited the set and were astounded by it, the former stating that "I haven't seen anything like this since 1940."
The moment where the claw comes back through the vortex to get the Key, and Skeletor's forces miss grabbing it, literally by inches.
Julie escaping her pursuers by throwing ammonia in the Beastman's face. She later saves He-Man from Saurod by shooting him.
Evil-Lyn using a scanner to replay the fight between He-Man, Julie, and the mercenaries, then smugly commenting that Julie must have tipped the scales against them.
When Evil-Lyn and her mercenaries localize the Key, which is in Kevin's hands just before Lubic confiscates it, Kevin is running a microwave. The mercenary believes that their signal is being jammed and Evil-Lyn orders him to send a counter-signal to destroy the source. The oven explodes.
The fact that the film's version of Skeletor succeeded where his cartoon counterpart failed.
Frank Langella buried under makeup, managing to make Skeletor a truly terrifying and serious villain, not playing it for camp but truly making the role his own.
The best moment: His growl just before frying Saurod.
Blade: Give us one more chance, Lord Skeletor, and we will succeed! Skeletor: I am not in a giving vein this day.
Even two mooks deserve mention. During the shoot out in Castle Grayskull, when one soldier gets shot and falls down the chasm, the one behind him uses the open space to lay down and shoot, making it harder for He-Man & co to hit him. It's rare seeing mere mooks showing tactical savvy in films, especially in films like this one. Later, when He-Man is chasing an Air Centurion on earth, the Centurion sees He-Man behind him and subtly lures him to Skeletor.
Skeletor's trap to capture He-Man. In addition to enslaving him by threatening his friends, he wrecks the Cosmic Key and erases its tones, then poisons Julie.
Kevin remembering the right tones to fix the Cosmic Key and get the group to Eternia.
So does Detective Lubic have a panic attack after being transported to an alien dimension? Why no... He starts shooting at Skeletor's army!
Detective Lubic: Nobody takes pot shots at Lubic!
Everyone around Lubic is shooting lasers at each other. How does he reply? By proving to everyone that Shotguns Are Just Better.
Detective Lubic: Alright, you wanna play games? (readies his shotgun) Let's play!
"People of Eternia! I stand before the Great Eye of the galaxy. Chosen by destiny to receive the powers of Grayskull! This inevitable moment will transpire before your eyes, even as He-Man himself bears witness to it. Now. I, Skeletor, am Master of the Universe! YES! Yes... I feel it, the power... fills me. Yes, I feel the universe within me! I am... I am a part of the cosmos! Its energy flows... flows through me! Of what consequence are you now? This planet, these people. They are NOTHING to me! The universe is power! Pure, unstoppable POWER! And I am that force! I am that power! KNEEL BEFORE YOUR MASTER! Fool! you are no longer my EQUAL! I am more than man! MORE THAN LIFE! I... am... a... GOD! Now. You... will... KNEEEEEL! KNEEEEL!"
He-Man gets one near the end of the movie. Having freed himself from his bonds, he heads for Skeletor's throne, where the Power Sword is being held. Every time he grabs for it, he gets electrocuted, until he makes one last grab, pulls it out and, to the sounds of a triumphant soundtrack, shouts, "I HAVE THE POWER!"
For the cheesiness and 80s style special effects, the final fight between He-Man and Skeletor is actually pretty damn good. Apparently the power surge turned off all the lights, and the whole thing is lit primarily by their glowing sword and staff, respectively as they go at each other.
Especially the ending. Pure awesomeness! (The commentary track reveals that the director actually paid for and filmed this sequence out of his own pocket, as the original planned epic battle was never filmed due to time and money constraints. Now that's dedication!)
The Stinger, revealing that Skeletor survived his fall.
Femme Fatale Evil-Lyn, played with icy aplomb by Meg Foster. She's truly Skeletor's right hand throughout the film. She keeps a watchful eye out while he's monologuing, and when the first infiltration team bungles retrieving the Cosmic Key on Earth she (unwillingly) leads the second. And she hits it out of the park. She captures Kevin, quickly extracts the information she needs from him, correctly susses out Julie as the team's weak link, pins He-Man, Duncan and Teela down in a shoot-out and then retrieves the key. And then when she at last realizes Skeletor's not going to share a damn thing with her... she takes his soldiers and dips, silencing Karg's protests about leaving Skeletor behind with a Death Glare.
The Toys
The fact that Sun-Man, who was created by a mother whose son said that he couldn't be a superhero because characters like He-Man had white skin, became a canon character in the Masters Of The Universe Origins line.
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