User reviews

I had hoped it would be better but... well it never got better. If you just wanted some man meat, there you have it. The graphics were - sorry, I kept laughing at the centaur and I am a HUGE Robert Taylor fan. I almost felt bad for him that the CGI was so bad. They could've made it so much better - I could've photo chopped something better! And I swear, if Linus had started talking about a ring, I so would've busted up laughing.

I know they meant well - really, they did.

The locations were pretty cool but again, I felt like I was watching a bad remake of Lord of the Rings.

Absolutely great miniseries. Great cast and locations. Don't get caught to this pointles 'it isn't word for word Hercules story' complaining. That's just pointles. Story id of course very loose take on the legend but it doesn't matter since this movie and not a book Also great acting from everybody. Paul Telfer was great as Hercules and did great perfect job. Much better than Sorbo ever could. Real surprise was Timothy Dalton who obviously really had fun doing the role and it showed as great performance. Same with Perkinks as evil mother.

Only negative side is that special effects aren't very good at times.

Great movie ! Watch it. Can't wait for the 4 hour version !

I saw this movie as a part of the Scifi channel two part-four hour mini series and I must admit that I stayed up the second night to catch the second half. Like most other commentators, I must agree that it wasn't an Emmy award winning show or anything, however it was entertaining and light in spirit. The speeches that Hercules made were at times a bit too...how do I say...overwrought and cliché at times, but that can be forgiven because it's a made for TV movie. Another complain I had was that the older Hercules (Paul Telfer) was not a very good actor and his emotional scenes were really awkward to me. In any case, he was good eye candy. Overall I gave this series 7 stars just because I was kind of excited to see the second half of it and because I enjoyed the humanity of the drama that unfolded. There were no divine interventions (except one, but that's debate-able) and most of the excitement came from intrigue and plotting. Pretty cool take on a Greek myth.

I have a particular interest in Greek mythology and actually found this movie quite interesting. It was sort of boring in some parts but not all that bad. I'm not really familiar with the story of Herculies and i don't know if the movie followed the actual story. But I don't think it's fair to say it was a horrible film. If you sit through the whole thing it really is quite interesting. But if you just watch the beginning and then turn back to the end you miss all the important parts and don't fully understand the plot. I give it a 6 because some parts were really fake and a little too unreal for my taste but the film over all wasn't all that bad.

I never thought I would lament the days of the old Kevin Sorbo Hercules, but I think I do. This movie was decent and very much tried to be slightly more historic than the old TV show, but I wouldn't rate this one much past a 6 or so.

The basic premise of the movie is a slightly more realistic (assuming monsters are realistic) approach to how the Hercules legend might have evolved. It was a bit bizarre actually as at times, it would portray characters who were real with a mysticism and build myth around them, yet at the same time, was using mythological creatures within the movie itself. Overall, I think that the premise of the film, while interesting, was a bit ill-conceived and contradictory.

That being said, I think I enjoyed it well enough. William Shimell as Hercules was good enough and he at least looked the part with his ripped abs and roguish good looks. Sean Astin I think stole the best lines of the film and I can definitely see why he took on the role. Leelee Sobinski was slightly less irritating in this role than I've ever seen her so kudos there. All of the acting was decent but not great. Nothing to get super worked up over but nothing to not want to watch either.

The effects were surprisingly good for a low-budget TV mini and while the monsters looked pretty hokey on the cover art, I was actually happy with them in the movie. Not great but not horrible either. Music was pretty unremarkable which I suppose isn't really a bad thing as it is supposed to be the background motif.

Overall, I would say this movie is worth renting but not much more (not that it ever was in the theater or anything). 6 out of 10 stars.

My guess would be this was originally going to be at least two parts, and thus at least a quarter longer, because otherwise how can one explain its confused, abbreviated storyline. I was never completely lost, but I was often partially lost and usually unclear on character motivation. The movie feels as though joining plot points were dropped to squeeze it into its time slot.

If it were longer, it might make more sense, but it still wouldn't be much good. The movie's most interesting idea is of the war between Zeus and Hera as being a war between the male and female, but the movie drops the ball on this, making Hera's followers fairly horrible while not being clear on what Zeus' followers do or believe. The movie is also interesting because you don't see the gods and there's no real certainty that they exist. So it's got a couple of intriguing ideas, but it doesn't do anything useful with them.

Bad dialog, cardboard characters, and one interesting scene involving Hercules and his three antagonistic sons. Not unwatchable but also not worth watching.

At the start of the movie, I was amazed by its bold and unique take on the legend of Hercules. The perspective from which the story was told is fairly nuanced and modern, insisting on the complexities of the immediate relationships between characters and their personal motivations throughout their interactions, rather than on their monumental proportions found in the original myths. Hercules, for instance, especially as portrayed in his teens, is such a refreshing, sweet boy compensating his feeling of loneliness and neglect with childish boasting. He appears far more human and familiar to us, with strong touches of self-doubt, clumsiness and endearing vulnerability. While still a boy, all he wishes is to be noticed and valued in equal terms with his half-brother. Therefore, he often takes foolish actions of so-called bravery and fails lamentably. Yes, he's someone any human being can identify with. Also, I liked the character of Deianeira, who is stronger in this directorial vision than the pale, innocent maiden in the myth, but also very feminine and helpful in responding to Herc's questions and concerns. What also captivated me was her particular knowledge of rituals, and her sad comment on how they degenerate in the hands of man and lose authenticity and spiritual meaning. It was clever and relevant for the way people have progressively lost ties with the sacred. Alcmena, too, is a very strong and complex character, and it was interesting to observe her relationship with her husband and the opposition between the two supreme gods each of them believed in, Zeus and Hera, which their marriage both entailed, and stood as a symbol for, at the same time. However, she later is pictured as closer to Satanism when desperately trying to kill her son, which is way too histrionic. Also, we see at first the passionate love between Alcmena and Amphitryon, then the twists and cracks in their relationship as they worship rival gods and relate in opposite ways to son Hercules, but we don't see her reaction, her grief when he dies, which is a huge flaw, as this detail is essential to shed further light on the dynamics of their feelings and bring them to an explicit climax and conclusion. And although it appealed to me in the first forty five minutes, it somehow got lost in the process, in very poor shooting and dialog and in far-fetched, overly dramatic and unconvincing acting. Most actors were far too exaggerated and insubstantial, Paul "Hercules" Telfel above all. From a certain point on, I was under the impression that the film had become a playground for kids who wanted to play roles from the movies. The best acting is provided by Timothy Dalton and Elizabeth Perkins, the two jewels that almost validate this flick. Too bad, with such an approach and a much better director, better-chosen actors, and more focus on particular details that were ignored or in disproportion throughout the movie, it might have actually been great.

Eh. I watch this movie in class because someone taped it and brought it in. I was expecting some half hearted attempt to portray the Herakles myths, and because the commercials for it looked serious, I was expecting something that was halfway decent.

Ten minutes into the film, I realized that it was utter CRAP. The only things in the film that are halfway true to the myth are the bare(and I mean bare) minimum. Parents, half brother, and labors seemed to be named correctly. Other than that, the rest of the film seemed to be one giant inaccuracy.

I would say that this was not much better than the Disney version of the film. The Disney version was made for little kids, therefore wasn't too serious. This movie, with all the sex, violence, and nudity, was clearly intended for an older audience, yet the story presented in this was nearly inaccurate as the Disney film.

I really enjoyed this movie but I have purchased the Region 4 release. I thought some of the special effects a bit corny but overall the story was pretty enjoyable. I particularly enjoyed Timothy Dalton. This region 4 version was released in a widescreen presentation on a 2 disc set with a running time of 170 minutes. This is a full 3 hours with no advertisements. The Region 1 version clocks in at 127 minutes with a full screen edit which does the production no favours. I think the American release has short-changed its customers and I can't understand these vast discrepancies unless its a censorship issue?

Aussieman, Melbourne Australia

"Embarassing" is the only word to describe this laughingly awful production. From the blatant disregard of the source material (sure to infuriate anyone remotely familiar with mythology) to the predictably insufficient production value, this entire mini-series is a train wreck.

The cast (which includes some good actors, whom I pity) delivers the illogical dialogue in the same generic "European" accent so common to bad epics. Worse is the lack of originality in almost all other aspects, from costume and set design (blurring together styles from across time and space) to the score (which seems to poorly mimic many recognizable classical tunes as well as "Lord of the Rings"). Most offensive of all are the visual effects, which single- handedly prove that if you can't afford to do them well, WRITE THEM OUT.

It pained me to see yet another legendary tale bastardized by a cheap "adaptation." Maybe one day, someone will do it right.

Okay, I was never good with mythology. So you could have told me any version of a story, and I'd listen. My only other exposure to this tale was the Disney animated version, of the late 1990's. And THAT is flawed, too, as I have read.

Watched it with my eight and eleven year old daughters, who are also fans of the animated tale. Both of them seemed very interested in the story. They recognized Dalton, as Daddy is a big Bond fan, and Astin, from "Lord of The Rings". So we know they are paying attention. Neither asked "why is this different from the cartoon", so I'll assume they could follow the plot and it's difference from the Disney flick.

+++++Possible Spoilers+++++ Now, to the show, itself. It dragged in some parts, I admit. The SFX, at times looked really, really cheesy. Now, perhaps that was a desired effect, to "enhance" the mythology side of the story. Lele Sobieski was beautiful, and I can see Paul Telfer going on to bigger and "hunkier" roles. All the actors were well used.

The Hydra scene was a bit much for being shown BEFORE 9 pm Eastern time, and I was surprised at how graphic it was. I figured the networks saved the really heavy duty "death" for after most of the younger crowd is off to bed.

Final score: On a scale of 1 yawn being Excellent, and five yawns being "Glitter" rotten, I give "Hercules" one and a half yawns. I didn't hate myself for watching it, but won't catch it again, if it gets repeated.

And did I say Lele Sobieski is beautiful????

Granted the cgi could have been better, but what do you expect from a low-budget B-movie. It was made for television. If Lions Gate Films had gotten a big producer, then they could have done a better job because they would have had a larger budget. Personally I think the cast was right on. I say there should be an uncut version released because I first saw a piece of this film on TV and when I rented it to see it in it's entirety it had been cut and you could tell it. There were scenes on the TV version that weren't on the DVD version. An uncut version would be 3-4 hours long and would involve more labors I believe. With the exception of the low-budget and the short story-line, I really enjoyed the movie. Paul Telfer played an excellent role as Hercules. As I said earlier, a longer uncut version should be released and I believe that anyone who truly enjoys mythology would enjoy this movie. If I had the money, I would gladly produce a re-make of this film for the big-screen and cast Paul Telfer as Hercules. So if you're the pessimistic type, there's about a 50/50 chance that you'll like this movie. If you're a true movie buff who understands that low-budget films don't have as great of special effects as big-screen blockbusters, then I think this movie is enjoyable.

I hadn't heard anything about this project until I saw that it was going to be on, so I watched it with a completely open mind. And, gee, the cast is full of strong players.

Unfortunately . . . it's awful. I don't mean it isn't good; I mean it's extraordinarily bad -- sometimes laughably so, but mostly it's just boring. Its strongest appeal comes from having attractive people as naked as US network TV will allow, but it's all tease and no substance, and having nymphs as backup characters can't justify several hours of bad TV.

There are two basic problems that the cast can't overcome. First, the script is *awful*. Yes, making changes to the Hercules myth (which is certainly not a single monolithic story in the first place) is traditional, but this version is relentlessly dull and much too frequently dumb (and sometimes downright head-shakingly peculiar), with terrible pacing, bits borrowed from here and there (and several parts seemingly belonging in different films), and truly awful dialogue. The dialogue is frequently unbearably bad, in fact, to the point where you feel embarrassed for the actors. Sean Astin, apparently now typecast as second-banana, seems especially burdened by one awful line after another. There's no consistency of tone or atmosphere and little cohesion to the plot.

Second, most of the special effects are really bad. REALLY bad. There's occasionally a decent bit of CGI, but mostly, again, you feel really embarrassed on behalf of the cast. I have no idea what the budget for this project was, but it sure looks like crap compared to "Clash of the Titans" or even "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and doesn't even compare very favorably with the old Lou Ferrigno and Italian 'spaghetti' Hercules movies. Just painfully miserable.

There are plenty of other problems -- the story is needlessly complex and can't keep up with itself, and Hercules himself isn't presented as a very interesting character. Almost everyone who doesn't have a European accent tries to fake one of some kind, which is not merely amateurish and dated but never really made sense in the first place: drama doesn't become better just because the actors use British accents, after all. But the terrible script and equally terrible effects sink the whole thing right off the bat.

In fairness, "Hercules" was apparently intended as a four-hour miniseries but truncated (for this airing, anyway) to a three-hour TV movie. I don't know what they cut, but it's possible the edits made things worse. I don't think you could make "Hercules" good by adding to it, but that doesn't mean that the continuity, say, hasn't suffered from the network edits. There's no way I'll watch the USA version to see, though.

Paul Telfer, who plays Hercules in this TV film, has to be the hottest thing on two legs EVER. Wow.

But this film is a 100% distortion of the Hercules story. Just like "Troy," this film has nothing to do with the original story. Zero. What makes it especially insulting is that they actually contrived a gay character just so people could hate him, making him as dastardly and evil as any character in the history of TV or cinema. This is triply insulting since Hercules may have had a wife, since that was the expectation of those olden days, but he also had at least a dozen male lovers. So it is ironic that they should create a gay royal adversary character for this film. No, not ironic. Evil. The creators of this travesty should hang their heads in shame.

Not as bad as I anticipated. This frequently felt like the matinée movies of my youth with Steve Reeves et al, although a bit bloodier (but not necessarily more violent, however) and, unfortunately, talkier. OTOH there was a more interesting use of sexual politics, IMO a plus.

Judicious use of the mute button would solve the latter problem and make for a fun popcorn movie. Some might call the SFX cheesy - for me they were a nostalgic reminder. There was some abrupt, seemingly abbreviated, editing from time to time. I wonder if we might see an (as they used to say) European version on DVD? (Hey, that beats calling it the much overused "Unrated".)

My sons and I enjoyed this movie. In fact the 3 boys were disappointed when it was over. It's a shame it was cut down to 3 hours. The acting was convincing (for a fantasy movie) and the scenery was breathtaking. I believe the action and bravery of the hero are what held my Sons' attention. Although the storyline didn't follow what I remember for mythology class, the story was interesting and entertaining. I appreciated that the action sequences as well as the sexual content were kept to what I would consider as a PG level. I would recommend this to anyone who likes action, romance, or has any interest in mythology. Unlike some of the other reviews on this site, this movie was perfectly enjoyable if you don't take it too seriously. My family and I are looking forward to either another TV presentation or the opportunity to see the movie on DVD.

I don't know how expensive was the creation of this movie but the effects were awful. Half of the movie was filmed on stage in front of a movie canvas (that's sure that blue box wouldn't look so artificial). When they traveled on a boat, the background canvas was moved imitating the movement of waves but the characters weren't moving. The CGI effects: terrible (I am not sure but I guess the effect were created with Paint and made a GIF sequence of them - next time the creators should hire a professional CGI maker team). It looks like the CGI creator would have drawn on the picture strip with shaky hands. Awful, that's sure. When I first saw the trailer, I thought it was created in 1983. One of my friend told me the correct date: 2005. My jaw dropped, I was so shocked, I thought he was kidding. People, I recommend you to skip this movie, the story is also twisted, you won't enjoy it.

I survived the first hour of this and came back for the last ten minutes, just to say I saw the end. If you want *real* mythology, flawlessly executed, look for Armand Assante's "The Odyssey." Great storytelling doesn't need to be tweaked - the stories are fantastic on their own. I only hope Sean Astin needed the money. And Sophocles and Ovid must be whirling in their graves - wherever those may be.

At least with Sorbo's version, the tongue was poked relentlessly in cheek - we knew it was mostly balderdash, but perhaps enough interest was generated in the backstory to send someone to the library.I'm surprised Halmi could turn out something so amusing (the TV series), and follow it with something so devoid of quality.

Hercules: The TV- Movie Hercules - A very twisted and molted version of the story about the Greek superhero. Paul Telfer makes a good attempt to play this hero. Sean Astin rehashes his Sam Gamgee image by playing Lupin, a thrown in character to make the whole thing a buddy-movie picture. I almost expected his to say at one point "We're in a bad situation Mr. Frodo, uh I mean Hercules. An unexpected good performance comes from Timothy Dalton (one of the lesser James Bonds) as Hercules's father. Herucles's love interest looks like Paris Hilton, something which just turned me off right away. Unfourtunetly someone has twisted and molted the original story into somewhat of a murky and sometimes incomprehensible story. The special effects don't help either. While the Hydra scene does the original story justice, the Nemean Lion and Harpies are just....well lame. I believe the creatures and effects from Power Rangers flashed across my mind at least twice. And the Golden Hind felt rushed and very computer generated. And they took out Cerberus! One of my favorite parts of what was originally a very cool story. The movie can't decide whether it's Greek, Roman, or American. And it almost ruined the original story; a classic epic. Don't bother looking for this one on the direct to DVD. - C

I love Greek Mythology and this saga did a good job bringing the hero Hercules to life. The scenery, costumes and actors were great(even the children). Others have complained about the special effects, but this was made for family entertainment. The sex, violence and gore were just at the correct rating. Hercules was a welcome relief in the fantasy genre from the usual "dribble" on T.V. What ruined the overall story-line were two things: -Too many commercials -The original version got cut by over an hour. Perhaps the additional footage would have held the continuity of the film better in spite of all the commercial interruptions. I hope Hallmark will issue the DVD in its uncut, original version.