Hercules vs. the Giant Warriors

HERCULES VS. THE GIANT WARRIORS stars Dan Vadis as the titular slab of bulbous-ness.

The action begins as the king has been assassinated by the treacherous Gordio. When Hercules gets involved, the eeevil sorceress, Pasiphae is called upon to thwart him. Her powers are used to create an army of giant, gold warriors in matching gold shower caps and dog collars. These behemoths start squashing the downtrodden right away.

Before Hercules can meet with these huge horrors, he must first go through the usual "test of strength", where crowds gather to watch big men whack each other with big objects. The wicked Gordio shows off his chariot, complete with 3-ft long wheel hub knives, that make the ones in BEN HUR look like nail clippers!

Big H finally gets to battle the towering terrors, treating them like seven Curly Howards, bonking them on their heads to a chorus of 3 Stooges sound effects! Unfortunately, the devilish Prince Milo has a trick up his sleeve, causing Herc to go berserk! Tragedy follows, leaving only darkness ahead. Can H-Man return, and give Milo what he so desperately deserves?

HINT: It's soldier-smashing time!

Do not miss the boffo, supernatural, return of the golden guys, throw-down showdown! It's a finale for the ages!...

When the people of Mycene rise in revolt, their evil Prince Mil, his mother, Pasiphae, a sorceress, conjured up seven superhuman beings made of bronze who spread terror among the populace.

After being stripped of his superhuman strength, because of an unjust act, Hercules (Dan Vadis) still manages to take on the prince and his mother in the sorceress grotto. ... but it isn't easy ...

If it was easy, then this Italian peplum would be as dull as dishwater. And it certainly it isn't. You got a magic dagger that unleashes the Golden men whenever the villain wants to (thanks to his loving mother who happens to be a sorceress and she's hot one. Moira Ofei plays her with a theatrical coldness.), Hercules almost gets impaled by spikes, and he has to take on the golden men. Hercules also shows a dark side, which is his rage - he falls for the main villain's trickery and consequently kills an innocent man, hence he loses his power. But of course not for long. It's a briskly-paced, engaging with a spirited and well-staged fights and a penchant for the fantastical. Dan Vadis plays the musclebound hero this time around and he is quite agile in the action sequence. Loved the arena sequence with the chariot with long spikes (ouch!)

Lackluster entry in the prolific peplum genre – these films may have been designed as mere entertainment fodder but very few examples proved otherwise rewarding. This is an even lesser achievement than THE MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES (1963), from the same director and which I watched concurrently; however, it's basically on the same below-par level of two other such efforts I viewed in the past featuring the same muscle-bound lead, Dan Vadis, namely THE REBEL GLADIATORS (1963) and SPARTACUS AND THE TEN GLADIATORS (1963).

Anyway, the film sees Hercules fighting a tyrant (Pierre Cressoy from FRINE, CORTIGIANA D'ORIENTE [1953]) and saving/loving a damsel-in-distress ("Euro Cult" regular Marilu' Tolo) – nothing new plot-wise, then…except that Cressoy is in cahoots with a witch (glamorous Moira Orfei) so that he's able to unleash an army of gold-tinted musclemen to cause havoc, but they're clearly no match for Hercules. Even so, the hero's strength is sapped by an angry Zeus (via a comical jagged thunderbolt insert) at one point – eventually being restored just in time to prevent Tolo from being fatally spiked! During the climax, then, Orfei plays an optical trick on Vadis but which ends up rebounding on herself – taking up Tolo's semblance as she's hanging from a cliff, but Hercules recognizes the true heroine from the color of her eyes and Orfei perishes in the sea instead!

For what it's worth, the film includes plenty of action sequences – but, more often than not, they're rendered hilarious by way of obvious repeated footage, exaggerated death reactions and clumsy stunt-work.

It stars the stiff and expressionless Dan Vadis, who was one of the many actors bodybuilders, following in the footsteps of Steve Reeves, and -not one of the best- who played this kind of bulky hero that was all the rage in the 1960s. Here Vadis plays the famous character from Greek mythology. As Hercules/Dan Vadis fights to free the people of Micenas from an evil witch/Moira Orfei, an usurper/Pierre Cressoy and other villains. Hercules (Dan Vadis) the musclebound hero receives the power of Jupiter to defend the people from the giant warriors and to rescue the princess he is in love with. They're the seven sons of Gaia, who emerge from Olympus, and created by means of a magical enchanment by Parsiphaë the witch . Hercules intervenes to save the daughter, Ati (Marilù Tolo), of a monarch killed by the ruthless Milo (Pierre Cressoy) and his henchman Reto (Enzo Fiermonte). But a witch (Moira Orfei) unnleashes an army of gold-tinted musclemen to cause wreak havoc . Along the way, Hercules punishes the cruel tyrant and battles the golden giants. To do this, Hercules uses a huge club with which he defeats his enemies. See Hercules Conquer an Army!

Typical Sword and Sandals movie with thrills, fights, feats and breathtaking action set pieces. There are some spectacular arena sequences as the chariot driven by Howard Ross with long spikes. Of course, the best scenes are those in which Hercules battles his enemies, the golden giants, using his strength, his own hands and all kinds of tools.

Our peculiar Hero this time around confronting giant enemies and he is quite agile in the action sequences. From the very beginning, Hercules demonstrates his superhuman strength by rescuing a man trapped in the quicksand magically created by the witch Moira Orfei. Dan Vadis is a second-rate muscleman hero, who can't even begin to be considered in the same league as the greats like Steve Reeves and Gordon Scott. In fact, Dan Vadis can be deemed in a minor league alongside other faded and tarnished heroes of the Peplum series such as Richard Harrison, Kirk Morris, Rock Stevens, Reg Park, Sergio Ciani or Alan Steel, Samson Burke or Brad Harris. However, none of them surpassed the great Steve Reeves in popularity and impact, followed by the also notable Gordon Scott, who also starred in some Tarzan films. With his height, bodybuilder physique and handsome good looks, Vadis was a natural for the starring roles in the sword and sandal/mythological muscle man movies. He was member of the Mae West Muscleman Revue in the late 1950s. Began his film career as a star in Italian "sword-and-sandal"/mythological muscleman movies. His films were produced in the waning years of that genre. He went to Europe and got the lead roles and top billing, in such films in the final years (1963-1964) of that genre's popularity just like Rebel Gladiators, Colossus of the Arena, Spartacus and the Ten Gladiators , Il trionfo dei dieci gladiatori, Ten Gladiators, Zorikan the Barbarian, Hercules the Invincible and Seven Magnificent Gladiators. However, unlike other stars of that genre he was able to obtain roles in the next popular Italian-produced genre, the "Spaghetti Western" such as: Fort Yuma Gold, Stranger returns, Dio perdoni la mia pistola and Degueyo.

In ¨Hercules vs. The Giant Warriors¨, the main novelty is Hercules' enemies, the Hundred Hands and the 'Dagger of Gaia', which, once unsheathed, summons giant golden men. They were born from an enchantment by Pasiphae and the Dagger of Gaia, once unsheathed, spontaneously summons giant golden men. The seven sons of Gaia, who emerge from Olympus, and created by Pasiphaë the witch-they are invulnerable; weapons are useless against them. The Hundred Hands are the seven children of Gaia, each with the strength of a hundred arms, resulting to be the greatest enchantment of Olympus. Gaia is sister of Hera, who seeks revenge on Hercules.

The motion picture was averagely but professionally directed by Alberto De Martino, though with a sense of disunity between cast and filmmaking , having some flaws and gaps . This Italian filmmaker was a good artisan who wrote and directed a lot of films of all kinds of genres and exploitation movies , as well as various straight Rip-offs with less attention to plot detail . He usually shot films to cash in on other hugely boxoffice successes as The "Exorcist" Martino made "Anti Christ" and " The Omen" he filmed this " Holocaust 2000" . As Alberto De Martino shot Peplum or Sword and Sandals genre : Spartan Gladiators , Invincible Gladiator , Seven Spartans, Valley of Stone Men, Secret Seven . Spaghetti Western sub-genre : Django shoots first, Providence , Charge of Seven Cavalry . Europe Spy subgenre : OK Connery , Operation Lady Chaplin and Terror : The AntiChrist, Miami Golem, Horror , Holocaust 2000 and several others. Rating: 4.5/10 .

While his biceps may not have been as big as Steve Reeves of Reg Park, Dan Vadis, looking like a taller, more imposing Captain Kirk, is still a very capable Hercules. His biggest advantage may be his dexterity, as he displays more grace in his fight scenes than most of the other Hercules players.

This is a fairly brisk go around with Hercules (Vadis) battling giant men of gold while trying to protect his princess love from her evil relative.