Hercules and the Captive Women

Vittorio Cottafavi's Hercules and the Captive Women recycles the standard Hercules plot structure. If you have seen any of its predecessors or descendants, you have seen something very much like this film. However, in this case, the entire army of evil-doers Herc must confront are immortals from Atlantis who have been secretly infiltrating Greek politics. Most of the action takes place on Atlantis after Herc, his son, and a couple of friends wash up there.

Hercules is played by Reg Park, a very beefy non-actor built like a comic book superhero. Park seems to spend the first 1/3rd of the film lounging about, and most of the second 2/3rds flexing and fighting. His occasional lines are clearly spoken, but without a great deal of enthusiasm. Most of the acting is OK. No real highlights in the cast, though.

The action sequences are fairly entertaining, but don't compare favorably to the special-effects saturated fight scenes of today. Like many Hercules films, Captive Women features lavish costumes and sets.The costumes are up to the series above-average standards and a few of the Atlantean sets are really nice. The script is on par with most of the series, which is to say that it is not very good.

Recommended for Hercules fans only.