Hercules and the Princess of Troy

Looking more rugged but just as muscular as he did in his Tarzan years, Gordon Scott makes a robust Hercules. What's unusual in this movie (actually a busted TV pilot, as the 45-minute length already indicates) is that he has not one, but two sidekicks - one of them the philosopher/scientist Diogenes. There is a fair amount of action, and the sea monster - the non-human baddie of the show, there is also a human throne usurper - looks mechanical but acceptable. **1/2 out of 4.

It's silly to complain that this is a B-movie made for television - because that's exactly what it is, and doesn't pretend to be anything else. And here's the good news - it's a pretty darn good B-movie made for television. One of the major problems with standard Italian Hercules films is that the are usually 100- 120 minutes long, too long for the amount of story they have to tell; consequently there's a lot of padding to them, usually in the middle. This film is kept lean and tight at 47 minutes - only the highlights of the story are here, and that's all we need.

I must remark that production values are gorgeous for mid-60s television. The acting is professional, the pacing is snappy, the story interesting (for this genre), the special fx are on a par with better television sci-fi/fantasy shows of the period - this is solid B-movie entertainment. Worth checking out.

Gordon Scott was injured during the fight with MAX the monster. Scott threw a spear at the monster and it bounced back and hit Scott which resulted in a trip to the hospital. Shooting was delayed for a few days. MAX the monster was set up on the beach near Palinuro, Italy. The entire sea battle with the monster was shot here. As most of these Italian movies were dubbed, it is interesting to note that Gordon Scott, Gordon Mitchell and Roger Browne told me that they all spoke in their own voices. I saw this movie when it first played on TV in 1965 and it is still as great as when I first viewed it. Larry Anderson

Gordon Scott is Hercules! There are two kinds of monsters: political and sea monsters and it is up to our muscle man hero Hercules to fight both.

This one is fine. Not a good film but fun to watch Hercules battle another large monster on the screen. Average story - no more, no less than most of the other Hercules films. Quirky dialogue and the large sea monster are really the highlights of the show.

Yet another film to simply kill another Saturday or Sunday afternoon with or a fine late night movie to fall asleep to. Nothing grand but does hold some entertainment value to those that like the old sword and sandal films and giant monsters.

3/10

"Hercules and the Princess of Troy" was actually shot as a pilot for a proposed television series. This pilot wasn't picked up, probably because the sword and sandal genre was on its last legs both in Europe and in North America. It does have some interesting aspects, the main one being that for an 1965 American television production, it looks extremely lavish. Obviously, the makers of this pilot were able to recycle the sets, props, and costumes from past Italian sword and sandal movies. That's why this pilot feels exactly like one of those Italian sword and sandal movies, only shorter. The faster pace does indeed help, but for the most part this is no different than those Italian feature film productions. If you like the sword and sandal genre, you'll probably enjoy this. If you are not particularly crazy about the genre (like myself), you'll swallow it, but still be glad it's only half the usual length of the usual genre standard.