Ulises contra Hércules

Ulysess versus Heracles is a good example of Italian sword and sandal epics. Ignore the really bad dubbing, they don't seem to realize Mike Lane is playing Hercules and not his son, and you'll see a fun film. Georges Marchal isn't known to me, but he's quite good at Ulysess.

Ulisee has offended the Gods and Heracles is sent to punish him. They encounter some crazed bird-men who are ruled by a beautiful queen, check the outfits on this one! Then Ulisee is captured by a crazed Tyrant who rules over cave-men and its up to Herc to rescue him. The scene of ulisee nearly being crushed by a descending stone ceiling is very well done.

Near the end, Ulisee shows his honor and saves Herc's girl from certain death, even when he has the chance to escape and get back to his faithful Penelope. Impressed, Hercules implores his Father, Zeus, to forgive Ulysses. Its one of the most beautiful prayers I've ever heard in a movie like this. Lane and Marchal are excellent, the girls are pretty and the film moves rather well. Lane plays Herc as strong, but not invincible, which helps. A lot of fun.

ULYSSES AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES is not an easy Peplum to review. It does stand out from the endless batch of Italian action films starring beefy actors. ULYSSES AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES has a definitely different tone to it though, a more French feel to it than most Sword & Sandal films. There's a lot of action and there are monsters and weird creatures and such. You know, typical Peplum ingredients but the film is very wordy. It relies a lot on dialogue and word play between the characters, which is typically French. Also the actor who plays Ulysses, French actor Georges Marchal, is unmistakably French looking. These differences actually makes this one stand-out from the rest of the pack.

But even with these original aspects, is it great? Well, good but not great (maybe with a better DVD transfer, it would fall into the great category). It IS very entertaining, rarely boring and sorta admirable that these guys did try to do something different but the whole package is most definitely uneven.

The story is about Heracles(played by 6'8" tall Mike Lane) trying to bring Ulysses to justice, for some actions which took place before the film began. At one point, Heracles has Ulysses "handcuffed" to him and the two men go through their journey bound together, like in THE DEFIANT ONES.

There are some moments which are thrilling unto themselves but there are a lot cheesy ones too. The stand out "bizarre" scene here is a dance number (what's with Sword & Sandal films and kooky dance sequences?) where the two heroes, tied to a tree, are being terrorized by an army of effeminate looking men who are dressed up as birds and do these peculiar dance moves. Imagine those scary flying monkeys in THE WIZARD OF OZ grouped together and they start dancing like they're in a Buster Berkley number and they try to kill the beefy heroes by pecking and scratching them to death. The dance sequence is out of this world bizarre. One has to see it to believe it. It's so bizarre that I love it.

There are other stand-out scenes but nothing beats that one. As I already mentioned, some fighting scenes are pretty good. For instance, the one at the climax between Marchal and exploitation great Gabriele Tinti is remarkably effective. The one on the boats is also good (the special effects are obvious though). There's also a fairly suspenseful "walls coming down to crush the hero" bit. But even with all the action, the story relies more on dialogue than action. Some of the dialogue is pretty bad, certainly during love scenes. The two heroes trying to woe that beautiful but out-of-place playboy bunny Bird Woman; the romance scenes on a whole are embarrassing, including the one when Heracles and Ulysses talk about love. But other bits of dialogue are actually clever and even thought provoking (a Peplum that's thought provoking?). The battle of wits between Ulysses and King Laro is truly memorable and fun.

The production values are not the greatest. The makeup fx of the cavemen is pretty bad. There are only a few sets. The set for King Laro, with that huge face behind Laro's throne, is memorable. The continuity is filled with errors, but this might be due to US distributors editing the original version for US audiences. The direction sometimes creates suspense and tension, which is no mean feat considering we're talking about a Peplum here. The score is good. Another plus is Georges Marchal as Ulysses. I really like Marchal as an actor. He's one of the best actors to play a mythical hero and has a truly striking presence.

Like I said, not an easy film to review, ULYSSES AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES is different than the usual Sword & Sandal stuff and I appreciated it for its many original aspects. Personally speaking, even with all of its obvious faults, at a certain level, I find this much more satisfactory than the much heralded COLOSSUS OF RHODES. It's worth watching.

Poseidon seizes the opportunity to exact revenge on Ulysses (Georges Marchal) for blinding his son, Polyphemus. Of course, he fails to mention that Cyclops wanted to eat Ulysses' men, but it doesn't matter, because no matter the circumstances, a mortal has no right to kill gods or their offspring.

So Zeus sends his son Hercules (Mike Lane) to capture Ulysses and bring him to Polyphemus' island so that he can take revenge on him. Ulysses and his men are on their way back from Troy to Ithaca, eager to finally see his wife Penelope again, when a Phoenician ship attacks them. Hercules is on board, having promised the Phoenician captain a large reward if Ulysses can be captured. The venture initially succeeds, and the hero of Troy is captured. In the ship's hold, however, Ulysses frees himself from his bonds with the help of a fire, setting the Phoenician ship ablaze.

Swimming, Ulysses, followed shortly after by Hercules, reach the mainland, where they fall into the hands of bloodthirsty bird-men and their mother hen/queen Aria (Dominique Boschero). Using flattery, the two heroes try to dissuade Aria from making a sacrifice to the bird god, and they manage to escape. Shortly thereafter, Ulysses tricks Hercules and continues his journey alone, but is captured by cavemen under the command of the half-mad King Lagos (Gianni Santuccio), who is terrorizing the neighboring kingdom of King Ircanus. Ircanus is, of course, the father of Hercules' beloved Helen, who is promised to the primitive Prince Adastro (Raf Baldassarre).

And so, Hercules hopes that by destroying King Lagos and his horrifying subjects, he will be allowed to marry Helen as a reward. In doing so, he will also be able to free Ulysses and hand him over to Polyphemus. But by now, the two heroes have developed a deep respect for each other, and when Ulysses finally frees Helen, who had been kidnapped by Adastro, can Hercules bring himself to abandon Ulysses to death and Polyphemus's stomach?

Hercules against Ulysses is one fun peplum, very well-paced, sharply shot in beautiful natural settings. The plot is constantly moving; it's very adventurous with one plot thread leading to one problem to another such as a burning ship, bird men and cave dwellers. There's a cliffhanger in the form of a wall coming down to crush the hero, and it's quite suspenseful. The sword fight between Ulysses and Prince Adrasto was energetically done, as was the battle scene, though a little clumsy in parts.

What sets this apart from other Hercules' films is its intelligence - theres more talking, engaging interplay between Hercules and Ulysses. Liked the battle of wits between Ulysses and King Lagos - found the flying attempts in which Lagos asks Ulysses to build a contraption so he can fly quite funny. He obliges and attaches the "wings" to Lagos, who realises it could be a way to kill him, so Lagos asks him to try the "wings", and Ulysses replies that he can but warns him that if it works he will escape and if it doesn't then he will die and Lagos will be deprived of his wisdom! Instead a cave dweller straps on the wings and doesn't fly. Lagos is angry, but Ulysses calmly replies he didn't flap his wings!

Also there's a dreamy atmosphere about the film, which I loved, and there's nary a dull moment. George Marchal is excellent as Ulysses, looks the part as does Mike Lane; their chemistry is very good.

Right from the very start we are treated to high adventure as Hercules chases down the hero Ulysses. After sacking Troy, Ulysses returns home and happens upon the Cyclops Polyphemus and after witnessing him eat his comrades, Ulysses blinds the giant. Hercules is sent to capture Ulysses at the Cyclops' request. This movie starts with the chase by 2 enemies who later become friends. They land in a strange land ruled by Bird Men and later escape and join the war to free their homeland. I first saw this movie in the mid 1960s and it still holds up as entertainment even today. A fabulous tale of heroic adventure. All the outdoor scenes were filmed in the Canary Islands (part of Spain). Note the desert scenes and the "staircase" which can still be seen today in 2022. Watch this movie if you require a great adventure tale.

Ulysses - or Odysseus - vas an Achean adventurer-king who probably lived in the Aegean area around 13th century B.C., battled against the Asian city of Troy and reportedly destroyed it with the Trojan horse stratagem. Hercules was the mythical hero of an entirely different Greek civilization, the Doric one, who established itself on the ruins of the Achean kingdoms from the 11th century B.C. on. So the two men could have scarcely met in history, but in film they did! The result was a true Clash of the Titans: the cunning, seafaring king of Ithaca against the muscle-bound son of Zeus, here without the typical Steve Reeves evenly-trimmed beard. According to screenplay the father of all gods asks the strongest man ever to capture Ulysses and give him for revenge to the blinded Cyclops Polyphemus, the son of another offended divinity. While Hercules, always the zealot, promptly embarks on his errand to punish Ulysses, the latter reacts as a true hero of the human condition against evils that come from the gods. He is captured by Hercules, but in the end the two men will have to join forces to escape the bloodthirsty race of the Bird-men and battle the evil Troglodytes of king Laro, a madman who enjoys torturing women. With the aid of Ircanus, king of the eponymous city, they will defeat the villain along with his monster-cavemen; Hercules will have his beloved Helen while Ulysses will finally return to Ithaca. Mario Caiano, future director of "Amanti d'oltretomba", a minor cult classic in the Gothic vein, toys here with a good Ulysses (Georges Marchal) and a despisable Hercules (Mike Lane), a man who is truly softer than butter, capable of leaving a friend in the hands of his worst enemies and always eager to play the "amoroso", or young man in love. This ill-assorted but funny couple moves in a scenario which makes you think of future spaghetti-westerns, what with well-photographed ravines and desert beaches, & with the addition of fancy extras in "monster" make-up. The Bird-men dance better than they kill, but the Troglodyte cavemen will really impress a band of captive young women. Screenplay is mostly missing and direction may seem casual, but the fable has a better look than the average muscleman epic and its fantastic quality is not altogether spurious.