lundgren received his first lead role as the mighty he-man in "masters of the universe" (1987), based on the popular children's toyline and cartoon. he starred alongside frank langella, meg foster, chelsea field, billy barty and courteney cox. lundgren weighed his all-time heaviest during the filming at . the film was a critical failure and viewed as far too violent for a family picture. it is referred to as a "flop" by "variety" magazine, and has a 13% "rotten" rating at rotten tomatoes. lundgren was criticized for being too wooden as a leading man, and it was dismissed as "a glossy fantasy starring monosyllabic dolph lundgren."