Hercules

Luigi Cossi who brought us the rather splendid, gut exploding opus, Contamination, here delivers the tale of the mightiest man who ever lived - Hercules! Interestingly however, despite the rather splendid Greek mythology at hand, Cossi instead opts for a bizarre sci-fi themed version of events involving robot monsters and Gods in space(!) Um....anyway, moving swiftly on, our eponymous hero is played here by none other than the awesomely ripped Lou (The Hulk) Ferrigno who proceeds to show us exactly just how mighty he is by throwing a bear into space(!) and breaking sword blades mounted on chariot wheels on his manly thighs(!) Woah!!! What a man!!!!

Quite rightly highly regarded in bad movie circles, this is to put it mildly, something of a bloody mess. Still, on a positive note the ladies here are all truly mouth watering to behold, including the ever sexy Sybil Danning......mmmmmmm!!!!!!!!! Hell, more than reason enough to at least have a watch me thinks.

This movie is HILARIOUS!! The acting is terrible,the plot is non-existent , and the special effects are laughable.Any hint of ACTUAL mythology was chucked out the window...and THANK THE GODS!! Whats left is a movie so completely off the wall and mindless that I laughed the whole way through. I mean, did you SERIOUSLY think that a movie with THIS cast would be stellar..NO!! You know going into it that the movie is gonna suck, you expect it , and this film delivers. THIS MOVIE TAKES YOU TO LEVELS OF SUCK THAT FEW DARE EXPLORE!!! Hercules ,god bless him,actually THROWS a bear into outer space. Thats right!! It's that wrong...but it feels so right.This is definately MST3K quality viewing.TWO thumbs way up...

Well what can you say? It was silly. Unintentional of course. However this kitsch-like presentation works because of how cheap and ludicrous it is. Some things have got to be seen to be believed and this 80s take on "Hercules" has plenty in store. One sequence just sticks in mind, other than that meaninglessly grand opening. Hercules taking on a vicious bear. Cool! However how it's executed had me snickering. Actual bear footage spliced together with someone donning a very convincing bear suit. How to end it. The bear suit being flung into outer-space. It's just part of the tragedy that occurs… you know for dramatic effect.

"Hercules" is a low-grade, straight-laced good vs. evil sword and sorcery epic mainly consisting of echoing voices, tacky optical FX, colourful decors (sometimes miniatures) with moody lighting and some atmospheric illustrations / confrontations. The production did drum up some striking images amongst it's cheap sets / effects, but despite that it wasn't principally all that creative in presenting the material. How it plays out, is like a cosmic chest game between the gods. Hercules (the champion of men) must rescue a princess from being sacrificed and encounters obstacles along the way. Some odd moments (like the tin-bot monsters) and lame dialogues. Lou Ferrigno as Hercules has the physic, constantly flexing and twitching his muscles. Wooden, but fitting. William Berger milks it up in the villain role and Sybil Danning looks fetching, but has bite with her villainous turn. Brad Harris and Mirella D'Angelo also appear. Pino Donaggio scores the bombastic soundtrack. Director Lugi Cozzi does a clunky job, but keeps it moving along at a smooth pace. Ham-fisted, but charming entertainment.

I loved this movie, as well as Lou's Sinbad. One of my favorite features of the movie was the "dialog of the nod." If you watch most of the expository scenes you'll see the camera close-up is on the listener, not the speaker. So what you get visually is the reaction of the non-speaking actor. This seemed very consistent through the movie.

I figured this trick was use to make dubbing in any language possible without bothering to lip-sync. But once you notice, it get pretty hilarious.

The sound effects when Hercules throws the bear into space (it bounces around to the sound of a pinball machine) is another great cinematic moment; we watched this one scene half a dozen times, laughing our heads off.

George Littman's comment (12 Aug 1999) really sums it up best: This is a kid's movie.

I actually remember going with my dad to see this movie it's opening week. I was a whopping 6 years old. Wow, did I think Hercules was one coolest movies. Even the silly metallic robots (what's the Greeek word for Evil Robot?) were cool.

Would I watch it on late night cable for old-time's sake? Perhaps. Would I ever pay money for this? Maybe when I have a 6-year old of my own...