Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon

Peter Lupus (aka Rock Stevens) stars as Hercules in this colorful Italian sword-and-sandal opus, one of four Lupus made in Italy in

1964-65, before rocketing to stardom in the Mission Impossible TV show. We don't really think of any particular manner of dress in Babylon-- at least I don't!--so the costumers came up with some outlandish fashions here, and the art design is also creative! The scenes of intrigue in the palace are dramatically well-done and feature peplum/swashbuckler regular Livio Lorenzon as the ruler of Babylon, dealing with both his queen, the King of Assyria, and Hercules, who has come to reclaim the Queen of the Hellenes, taken as a Babylonian slave. In some scenes in the film Hercules has a over-large club that he both swings at people and throws! It lends a comic-book flavor to those sequences that is not really in keeping with the serious nature of the rest of the film. Lupus has a powerful physique and is one of the best actors in the peplum genre--all four of his Italian films are worth watching and are distinctly different from each other. Domenico Paolella directed three of Lupus' four peplums and also worked with such Amercians as Guy Madison, Lex Barker, Ed Fury, Don Megowan, Richard Harrison, Mark Forest, Ken Clark, John Ericson and John Ireland. Whether a peplum, a pirate film, a spy film, or a western, he seemed to be able to put together a fast-moving and entertaining feature. Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon is recommended to any serious peplum fan. The VHS copy I watched, while a pan-and-scan TV print, is crisp and clear and colorful.

"Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon" was picked up by American- International Pictures for a stateside release. However, A.I.P. decided to release the movie directly to television instead of giving it a theatrical release. When A.I.P. did that, it usually meant they didn't have confidence that the movie in question would do well in theaters, and they were probably right in this case. The movie is not awful by any means - it has some spectacle, from some good production values. And the movie moves from scene to scene fairly briskly. On the other hand, the Hercules in this particular movie doesn't always come off so well. In the first 30% or so of the movie, he only makes two brief appearances. And there is sometimes a goofy vibe to him, such as with the gigantic club he likes to carry around with him. Another problem is that while the movie moves from scene to scene briskly, it soon becomes apparent that there isn't a terrible amount of plot; there are instead a lot of characters equally trying to make their presence known. And a few more action sequences would have helped. If you really like sword and sandal movies, this movie is acceptable, but in no way is it likely to make converts to the genre.

Okay sword & sandal epic. Lupus isn't really that bad; this film portrays the strong man as smarter than usual, which is a plus.

The hero of the film is really the Biblical Samson (the slaves are quite obviously Hebrew, the promised land obvious Isreal). God knows why they bothered to reference Hercules on release - maybe they were afraid of being accused of blasphemy for making a cheap B-movie about the Old Testament hero.

As noted by others, the best scenes in the film are actually borrowed from other films. But the action sequences filmed for this movie itself are pretty much par for the course, but nothing special.

Dull in spots, but not without its occasional flashes of Saturday matinée fun.

So it was Peter Lupus from Mission Impossible. There is nothing much to recommend this film. It has a silly plot with Hercules attempting to rescue a Babylonian queen who has been enslaved with many others. There is an evil queen. There is a potential suitor for the queen who brings all kinds of gifts and money to the triumvirate which is in control. There is a ridiculous wheel which, when turned, will destroy an entire city. Only one guy can turn it (hint hint). There are some good actions scenes and the print isn't too bad. One thing that was concerting for me were the sound effects. When someone was hit with a club, it made the sound of one of those plastic whiffle ball bats. I'm sure they were made out of plastic, but couldn't they have disguised the sounds a bit better. I have to admit I fast forwarded through the riding and walking scenes which cut out about 15 minutes of the movie.

Ah! Another rainy day,Sunday Sword and Sandal affair..these movies always bring back such joy and regarded youth...if you don't dig "bad" flicks or just plain goofy ones,this isn't yer cup of meat.On the other hand,this isn't too retched-Peter Lupus as the man in charge,a decent plot,the usual foolishness= a good way to waste a Sunday afternoon...what happened to those days,anyhoo...??