Hercules

"Enough. I'm tired of doing all of these senseless things for the gods. When will I be worthy in the eyes of the gods?" - Hercules

release year: 1958
genre: fantasy adventure
viewing setting: home DVD 5/21/23

synopsis: The immortal man-child Hercules tries to help a king, and ends up going on a voyage with a bunch of warriors.

impressions: This was the first of the Italian sword-and-sandal movies, and also the breakthrough for bodybuilder Steve Reeves. The plot was a mishmash of several Greek mythology tales - Hercules fought a bull and did some other feats of strength, and also got to ride on the Argos with Jason and all those heroes. While much of it was nonsensical - Hercules largely vanishes for the middle act while the crew are running around on an island of Amazons - this was pretty heady stuff for its time, with action and treachery and challenges. And of course it has Reeves, one of those who set the stage for bodybuilding before it got huge in the 1970s.

acting: Steve Reeves is big and ripped and larger than life; his character always does the right thing and takes no shit frrom fools (or kings.) Fabrizio Mioni is young Jason, the rightful king. Sylva Koscina is the bad king's daughter, who comes to love Hercules. Ivo Garrani is that old king, whose rule is built on past bad behavior. Mimmo Palmara is the evil king's arrogant, worthless son.

final word: Fairly outdated action/adventure movie that, if nothing else, shows how much filmmaking has changed since the 1950s.

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