Hercules (1958) User Reviews

You can thank this epic....

[Flixer1957 · 6/10 · 6 December 2001]

You can thank this epic for the slew of Muscleman Movies that hit the screen in the 1950s and 1960s.

This is a loose re-working of "Jason And The Golden Fleece," tailored for the Hercules character, with elements of the Samson story tossed in for good measure. Steve Reeves seems to enjoy himself in the title role. Most of the cinematography is striking. Future director Mario Bava is credited with lighting and special effects, which didn't hurt this picture one bit. The pace is leisurely but there are enough wild critters (aside from the heroes and villains), pretty women, fights and actors in dinosaur suits to keep things lively. HERCULES may not be quite as muscle-headed and bone-brained as its many imitators, but the off-kilter dubbing and a few dialog gems were definitely a sign of things to come.

Pure entertainment

[lastliberal · 5/10 · 10 March 2008]

Don't look for an Oscar moments here as the acting is wooden for the most part and the special effects a bit far-fetched, but this is a film that can be enjoyed by everyone.

Mr. Universe 1950, Steve Reeves became a star with this film. People didn't come to see acting, they just wanted him to take his shirt off. He would be the role model for future Hercules like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno, who gave him his due.

After performing all the stunt he is famous for, he saves the day for Jason (Fabrizio Mioni, who went on to a long TV career in America) and rowed off into the sunset with Croatian beauty Sylva Koscina.

This is the stuff epics are made of.

Good early genre movie.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 6/10 · 13 December 2007]

Basically this a movie about Hercules falling into the one adventure after the other, without some times feeling an obvious connection between those events. It makes this a pretty disjointed movie to watch at times. If this movie was being made this present day in exactly the same way it would be an absolutely terrible movie but the fact that this was made in 1958 makes it a good and defining one for its genre.

It's sometimes laughable how fake this movie is looking, for instance when Hercules is fighting a lion and later a buffalo, who are both obvious puppets in the close-up scenes with Steve Reeves. You can call it part of the charm of these old type of adventure movies but it still looks ridicules, regardless.

But besides that all it's a rather good looking movie, with its sets costumes and of course settings. It's an Italian movie, so it features lots of beautiful landscapes.

The story is simple and perhaps not as action filled or fast paced as it could had been but it still is an adventurous one. The swashbuckling and adventure genre had pretty much died already when it was 1958. This is a movie that obviously tries to revive a genre, with some new more 'modern' changes and elements in it. After this 'historic' and mythological movies such as "Jason and the Argonauts". "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and "Spartacus" were made. It's hard to say if this movie influenced any of those movies but fact is that this movie was a popular one at its time, also in America. Therefor it's a really thinkable that this movie played at least some part in redefining the genre.

Not great, most especially not by todays standards but considering the time it was made, a good genre movie that is adventurous and therefor also has entertainment value in it.

6/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Hercules

[mhrabovsky1-1 · 11 December 2006]

The movie that launched the career of muscle man Steve Reeves.... In the late 1950s Italian director Pietro Franicisi wanted to do a film about the exploits of the famous muscleman, "Hercules"...he had scoured actors all over Europe looking for a handsome, musclebound actor who could complement the role...soon his daughter who had seen Reeves in a couple of B films recommended Reeves to her father....the rest was history. Reeves was an out of work muscleman actor who reportedly took the role for about $40,000 US cash - quite a sum at the time for an unemployed actor. The rest as they say is history. When first released it was panned by the major US studios until a film producer named Joseph E. Levine took a big chance and bought all the rights to the film's USA release. After a major US advertising campaign on television and in the newspapers the film confounded the experts and for some strange reason became an international hit. The timing was right for some unknown reason for this cheaply made muscle man movie to become a hit. At the time fantasy films, such as the Seventh Voyage of Sinbad and others were big at the box office. Reeves incredible physique and handsome face were big attractions to the young boys and ladies who went to see the film. Levine hit the jackpot again when Francisi made "Hercules Unchained" a few months later after the release of "Hercules". "Hercules Unchained " made even more money, in fact an astounding amount in 1960 and became one of the year's biggest grossing films. Soon, Italian directors jumped on the bandwagon and starting churning out these muscleman epics by the dozens.....Gordon Scott, Mark Forrest,Reg Lewis, and Kirk Morris all tried to duplicate Reeves in these "epics".....and the public loved them. Reeves went on to make several more muscleman epics in the late 50s and early 60s playing Morgan the Pirate, The Thief of Bagdad, Goliath, The White Warrior, The Son of Spartacus and other muscleman epics. An odd twist to Reeves career was the fact that he reportedly turned down two roles that became international sensations: He was offered the role of James Bond by producer Cubby Broccoli and "The Man with No name" made popular by Clint Eastwood and made by Sergio Leone....for whatever reason Reeves turned the roles down....hard to understand. Reeves retired to ranching, his first love in the late 60s and raised cattle and horses until his death in 2001. The greatest physique ever seen on a man....probably the most admired bodybuilder of all time.

The start of the Peplum productions

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 26 November 2016]

Those impressive sets built in Italy for some major productions like Quo Vadis and Ben-Hur were not wasted. The Italian cinema found serious use for them with a series sand and sandal epics that lasted through the 60s. This film brought to our shores in America by Joseph E. Levine and it started a craze for these peplum films. I am told that this is the accepted term for these films, the peplum being the kind of tunics the male characters wear.

Steve Reeves wore as little as possible the better to show off that muscular body that it took years to perfect. The success of Hercules internationally led to a series of muscle dudes from Europe mostly taking Anglo names for our markets doing films if not with Hercules in the title we would Samson, Goliath, Maciste, etc.

The plot here interweaves several of the legends of Hercules plus the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece in which Hercules was a supporting player. Sylva Koscina plays a Greek princess and Luciana Paluzzi a couple of women who did have careers on this side of the pond will probably be the only other names we know.

Back in 1958 this got a considerable juvenile audience. Today we get a more sophisticated Hercules from Kevin Sorbo, etc. Reeves is not the greatest actor in the world, but really who cares.

Steve Reeves - The Great One

[DarthBill · 7/10 · 12 June 2003]

This is actually two stories in one: the first is about Hercules trying to find his niche in the world as a rugged adventurer and champion of the oppressed, the 2nd is about Jason and the Argonauts and Herc looking for the Golden Fleece.

Longer and slower than some of the successors and with quite possibly less fight scenes, these are still the best due to the respect and attention given to the characters. Reeves, looking like a pumped up Jonathan Frakes, is probably still the best of the lot, though we only got to see him fight lions, tigers, bulls, monkey people and Primo Carnera as opposed to monsters, but maybe it was better this way. Made things more serious and real world like.

So in other words, don't count this one out!

It's amazing that THIS spurred on a bazillion sequels and variations on the genre.

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 14 October 2009]

It's amazing that this first 1950s Hercules film was the stimulus that led to bazillions of Hercules and Maciste films over the next 15 years. Why is this so hard to believe? Well, you'd expect that this film would be really, really good since it was such an important film--and you'd be 100% wrong. This mish-mash film was just as bad as many of the later films and is only marginally watchable. Not surprisingly, it has passed into the public domain--after all, who would want to renew rights to this film?!

Some of the film's problems may or may not exist in the original Italian print. I don't know, as I have only just watched one of the English dubbed versions. The biggest and most obvious problem are the voice actors--their voices are too mechanical and bigger than life--so much so that they seem nothing like real people at times. The original Italian voices might be a lot better. Another problem (mostly for history freaks like myself) is that the films are a bizarre melange of both Greek AND Roman mythology--with Roman and Greek names interspersed throughout the film and the stories often bear little semblance to the originals. This is very sloppy but could also be the fault of the dubbers--perhaps the original film was based only on Greek or Roman characters--not both. Maybe in the original Italian it all made more sense.

However, despite the sloppy dubbing, another major problem is that the film has too much in the way of plot. There are enough stories for two films. Why they chose to combine the story of Jason and the Argonauts seeking the golden fleece (a Greek tale) AND Hercules (Roman) dealing with an annoying king and his really annoying son is beyond me--especially because both characters could easily have several films of just their own adventures. In fact, with the story of Jason, huge portions of the tale are missing (such as the most important part--his relationship with Medea and her father) and the Hercules one simply doesn't look anything like the classical tales--nothing.

The film has a few fun moments, but overall it looks cheap and sloppy--like most Hercules films. Some of the characters make no sense at all (such as the princess who loves Hercules but fights with him when Herc sets out to do EXACTLY what she'd asked him to do) and some are so one-dimensional they looked like they were written by a 3rd grader. If you LIKE cheap and sloppy films (I know I sure do), then this is definitely for you. If not, then see the Disney version. It's also very bad history and bastardizes the story terribly, but is still much closer to the original source material than this silly film.

Unforgettable !

[jcrodrig · 7/10 · 26 March 2000]

I saw this film in Brazil when I was 10 and I never could forget it. It is amazing even today. Well produced and directed, it is may be the best of all the Sword and Sandal genre. Steve Reeves was not the awful creature the critics said. And Gianna Maria Canale, the queen of the amazons, deserves the title she once had as the most beautiful woman in the world.

Didn't hold up well for me.

[Hermit C-2 · 3/10 · 5 January 2000]

When I was a boy I thrilled to the exploits of Steve Reeves and his cohorts with the massive pectoral muscles performing feats of strength and derring-do in ancient times, but as an adult I found it a lot slower going. There are all sorts of legendary characters here--Herc himself, Ulysses, Jason, the Amazons--and a classic story about the pursuit of the Golden Fleece, but I found it hard to follow and worse than that, just plain dull. It's amazing, though, how much more interesting I found Sylva Koscina this time around than I did when I was a kid.

Breathtaking and overwhelming Greek mythology with the corpulent Steve Reeves as extraordinary hero

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 22 February 2011]

¨Huge and immortal was the strength of Hercules as the world and the Gods to which the belonged , but one day men crossed his path . They were ready to sacrifice their brief treasure , life for knowledge , for justice, for love..¨ Greek mythology in Peplum style with a musclebound Steve Reeves as Hercules. First Hercules saga with lots of action and some nice special effects and colorful lighting by Mario Bava. A cheerful script fillets Greek legends and adds action to the fast-moving narrative. Hercules goes to the court of king Pelias (Ivo Garrani) located in Iolco for teaching his son Iphitos (Mimmo Palmara) the use of arms. The gorgeous daughter of Pelias , the princess Iole (Sylva Koscina), explains Hercules the story about the killing his uncle , taking over by his father and the greatest robbing of the kingdom , the Golden Fleece. Some people think the king Pelias has usurped the throne by means of fratricide. Hercules along with Jason (Mioni) , Argos, Ulysses (Antonini), Castor , Pollux , Laestres (Andrea Fantasia) sail on the Argo-ship to the land of Colchis looking for the Golden Calf in this mythological romp. This is one of the best Peplum or sword and sandals film from the history, retelling the legend of Hercules or Herakles in Greek language and Jason in search of the famous fleece for uncharted sea. The film deals about the myth Hercules ,he travels in search for the fabled Golden fleece located in the Colchis. It's based on poem of Greek poet named Apollonio of Rhodas written in third century titled ¨The Argonautika¨(250 B.C) , it's freely adapted by Prieto Francisci with screenplay by Ennio De Concini .In order to stifle the anger of Pelias , Hercules and Jason must retrieve the magical calf housed from distant land of Colchis and bring it toward city of Iolco. Hercules and Jason assemble a motley, brave crew formed by valiant band as Castor , Orpheo, Esculapio and the traitor Euristeo (Arturo Dominici),among others. Jason must fight an enormous monster that protects the Golden fleece. Hercules successfully leads his crew of would-be heroes throughout a series of outstanding adventures .They sail unharmed along sea storm, suffering risks and incredible adventures, encountering a giant monster, scheming witch and Amazons (Gina Rovere)led by Antea (Giann Maria Canale).

This exciting story deals with superhero Reeves-Hercules must use all his strength to save Jason and woman he loves from Pelias and Eristeo .The one that began it all and created the Peplum with multitudes of mythological issues . Steve Reeves is magnificent as the mythic hero who finds several risked situations while attempting to win over his true love, fighting against Eristeo and Pelias for his own survival . Pietro Francisci hired Steve Reeves , being Mr. America and Mr. Universe , who previously had worked for Ed Wood in a lowest thriller called Jail Bait (1954).It is widely considered to be one of the top 10 greatest Peplum films of all time. This great film will surely attract a whole new generation of classic movie fans. And for seasoned cinematic connoseuirs, Hercules will rekindle an era of film making at its best. This is Steve Reeves' first film portrayal of Hercules , it is followed by ¨Hercules unchained¨ that is in certain ways, better than his first . For others who simply enjoy watching timeless pieces with icons such as Steve Reeves. The corpulent Steve Reeves was a hunk man who made lots of roman epic films also called ¨Musclemen movies¨. Luck's Reeves changed when Italian director Pietro Francisci persuaded him to go overseas to star ¨Hercules¨ and sequel ¨Hercules and queen of Lydia also titled Hercules unchained ¨ that served as the prototypes of all cloak-and-sandal movies to come and both of them became a surprise US hit smash . Later on, he followed with ¨Goliath and the Barbarians, The giant of Marathon, The Trojan horse, The son of Spartacus and The Avenger¨ among them The film even rips off from Homero's Odyssey with participation of the mythic Ulisses . As usual in Musclemen films appears the choreographic girls dancers and lots of action with several adventures including spectacular fights ,storms, and some good effects by the expert Mario Bava. The sets and production design impress too . This elaborate recounting is well directed by Pietro Francisci though with little relation with the poem by Apolonio of Rodas . The film contains an evocative and spectacular music by Masset well conducted by Carlo Savina .Fun for the whole family though it tends toward the ponderous at times but for the most part, it's a marvelous movie . Other adaptation about this classic story are: ¨The giants of Thesalia¨(1960) by Riccardo Fedra , Jason and the Argonauts(1963)by Don Chaffey with Todd Armstrong and for TV(2000) by Nick Willing and with Jason London . Rating : Good , high recommended for Peplum fans .

The first of the Italian Hercules films

[Aaron1375 · 4/10 · 2 April 2015]

If I had seen this one first, I may have been a bit kinder to it. It does look all right considering it was made in the 50's, but by the time I watched this one I had seen three other Hercules films from this era and after watching this one I can honestly say, they are about all the same. They all follow the same basic flow and have almost the same plot points as I do believe there is always a strange interlude where the heroes are captured or something by beautiful ladies. This one does do some things differently than the other films in that Hercules does not factor in to a lot of the scenes. There is a part where a fairly decent looking monster arises, but Hercules is nowhere to be found. He also is not one of the men who ends up charmed by the island of lovely ladies. Of course, this is not necessarily a good thing as I would have liked to see him and his awesome strength battle the monster. No problem with him not being enchanted by the ladies, saw that way too much in the other films.

The story has Hercules saving a girl who turns out to be a princess of the man he is coming to assist, who may or may not be behind the murder of a king and whose son lost the golden fleece and something or another. Like other Hercules films, a lot of stuff is going on in the plot while not all that much stuff is going on as far as action on the screen. Hercules agrees to train the acting king's son and soon finds himself holding the man's son as he is killed by a lion which enrages the king, but soon Hercules finds the king who was murdered son and they embark on a quest to find the golden fleece that will reveal the identity of the killer. Meanwhile, they stop at an island for Amazon women by chance and Hercules has a strange relationship with the acting king's daughter.

I saw this movie on Mystery Science Theater 3000 and I have to say they edited this one almost too much. I know there are time constraints, but man it was hard following this one at times due to the cuts. It was also an okay episode, but nothing special as I have already seen three other Hercules riffed by the gang on the satellite of love and like I said right from the beginning it follows the exact same formula as other Hercules films so we are getting similar jokes. I notice that Joel did a lot more sequels and such during his run as the shows human hostage than did Mike as he also did nearly all the Gamera films and Master Ninja I and II and a couple of others. It made for a funny episode, but nothing I have not seen before.

This was the best of the Hercules films, even with the cuts one could tell more effort was put into this one than the others. It was the first one so that is understandable, back in the day when a sequel was made it had a lower budget as the series progressed with films like these as they usually saw diminishing returns. Sure, there were exceptions like the James Bond films, but for the most part sequels never did quite what their predecessors did. Unlike today where the sequel for a hit gets a larger budget. It had its moments, but like all the other Hercules films there just is not enough action going on to keep me entertained for its entire running time.

The original and best Hercules-Steve Reeves!

[tcdefran · 10/10 · 1 March 2001]

It's hard to believe that this movie is now 43 years old. Certainly this is a classic and a must see for all diehard Herc fans.

The movie starts off with a runaway chariot carrying a damsel in distress, Jole, princess and future bride of Hercules (played by the beautiful Sylvia Koscina) next we see and hear a tree being uprooted and the next scene we see Hercules carrying the tree and throws it in front of the chariot stopping the horses. The exhausted Jole faints in the arms of Hercules.

In the next scene, we see Hercules make his first pass at the beautiful Jole by offering her first take on the meal that he had hunted and then feared burned while rescuing Jole. She obliges and Hercules says; "I'll take my first bite right where your lips have touched." Jole stunned by her rescuer makes some unkind comments to Hercules at which point Hercules says; "I'm too hungry to help it."

We see Hercules perform the Labors of Hercules, defeat the Cretan Bull, the Nemian Lion and help Jason find the Golden Fleece and then coming to Jason and his Argonauts rescue as they are being defeated by the evil king. We see Hercules pull chains from the wall and then use them as a weapon to defeat the Kings army first by taking out the evil adversaries one by one and then by wrapping the chains around two pillars supporting the Temple and pulling the Temple down, killing the remainder of the Kings men.

Overall, a good, fun movie. To the critics of this movie, no you won't find a great plot or academy award acting but I am reminded of comments made by the great Kirk Douglas, that people come to movies to be entertained and have fun and not necessarily just to see the movies with the best plot and greatest acting.

Hercules went on to become the biggest box office hit of its time and Reeves went on to become the highest paid actor and box office champion (tied with Sophie Loren) in his time.

This movie started it all. For bodybuilding fans, this is the closest you will ever get to seeing Reeves anywhere even close to top physique shape. The slimmed down Reeves became even slimmer and slimmer as his movie career continued

I would also recommend Last Days of Pompeii and The White Warrior. Son of Spartacus (a sequel to Spartacus starring Kirk Douglas) and Duel of the Titans are also interesting Reeves movies.

In 1977, NBC showed Hercules on network television as the Monday movie of the week followed by Hercules Unchained as the NBC Sunday movie of the week, 20 years after their release in theatres. Reeves movies have become classics and well worth your time to watch, even now 43 years later. Steve Reeves was the first and the best.

HERCULES (Pietro Francisci and, uncredited, Mario Bava, 1958) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 23 March 2008]

Being the film that really cemented the appeal of the peplum subgenre – to say nothing of the reputation of one of its most popular icons, the muscle-bound Steve Reeves – this film has much to answer for but, unfortunately, I have to say that the archetype (and its sequel) didn't exactly live up to expectations! I had watched both Hercules adventures as a kid on Italian TV and this recent re-acquaintance came via the R1 Goodtimes DVD, which presented the American-dubbed version (as prepared by Joseph E. Levine) in a washed-out, lamentably panned-and-scanned print!

Mind you, the film is still enjoyable along the way but also rather juvenile and uninspired – centering as it does around the famous mythological tale of the search for the Golden Fleece (whose definitive screen rendition remains the splendid Ray Harryhausen extravaganza JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS [1963], a personal childhood favorite of mine, where Hercules was portrayed by Nigel Greene!). Two other Italian adaptations of Greek legends, both originally by Homer, proved altogether more satisfactory – the template for HERCULES was clearly the lively ULYSSES (1954), an Italian/US venture involving the likes of Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn among the cast and Ben Hecht and Irwin Shaw as co-writers (that film's titular figure actually appears here as a brash youth!), while THE Trojan HORSE (1961) gave Steve Reeves himself a more mature role in Aeneas and survives as possibly his best vehicle.

Throughout the course of the film, our 'immortal' hero is seen performing several athletic feats (the original title, in fact, translates to THE LABORS OF HERCULES), romances "Euro-Cult" favorite Sylva Koscina, resists the temptations of the Amazon women (led by Gianna Maria Canale from I VAMPIRI [1957]), fights a lion, a dragon and a tribe of monkey men(!), routs the traitor among his shipping crew (BLACK Sunday [1960]'s Arturo Dominici) and, finally, brings down a temple by pulling at its columns a' la Samson (thus paving the way for Jason to assume his rightful place on the throne).

How to make $4.7 million!

[JohnHowardReid · 5/10 · 1 July 2017]

Copyright 1957 by Embassy Pictures. Presented by Joseph E. Levine. Released in the U.S.A. through Warner Bros: July 1959. New York opening at neighborhood cinemas: 22 July 1959. U.K. release through Archway: May 1959. London opening at the Cameo-Royal. Australian release through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: 26 March 1959 (sic). Running times: 9,987 feet, 111 minutes (Aust), 105 minutes (UK), 103 (USA). Original Italian title: "Le Fatiche di Ercole".

NOTES: 4th to "Auntie Mame", "The Nun's Story" and "Rio Bravo" as Warner Bros top-grossing domestic release of 1959. By way of contrast, the movie did virtually no business at all in Australia. After deducting modest advertising and distribution expenses, M-G-M actually lost money on the deal. The U.K. figures are midway between the Australian disaster and the American runaway success. (A DVD was available from EDI Video. Rating: 7/10. This is not a wide-screen print.)

COMMENT: The movie that started the craze for Italian sword-and- sandal pictures, was actually one of the funniest pictures to reach U.S. screens in years — although the humor of course was not deliberate. True, a tongue-in-cheek style may have helped to make this nonsense even more amusing, but we doubt it. One of the movie's assets is that everyone on screen seems to be taking all this lumbering rubbish so seriously.

A sort of Homeric Tarzan, heavy on sex and mixed-up mythology, "Hercules" also proved the biggest surprise box-office smash in Hollywood's memory. Most of the movie is grounded in muddled mythology, jumbled with snips of The Iliad and a couple of chapters from the Bible. The scriptwriters spare no pains to throw everything into the melting pot. In the process, they seem to get Hercules mixed up with Samson, the Amazons with the ladies of Lemnos. But no matter. Like a white-washed Samson, good scout Herc topples pillars on horses and men, breaks iron chains as if they were zippers, and routs a whole army single-handed. What more could you ask of a pseudo Homeric/Biblical hero?

The American distributor, Joseph E. Levine, paid only $120,000 for the U.S./Canadian rights, yet cleaned up $4.7 million at domestic ticket-windows alone.

A triumph of exploitation cinema and a fondly-remembered genre groundbreaker.

[TheVid · 2 April 2003]

Joseph E. Levine's timing when he decided to capitalize on this low-budget Italian epic was so right that it has become a legendary example of film promotion. That aside, it's amazing still how the dynamic image of Steve Reeves and a multimillion dollar saturation campaign was able to make this one of the most profitable films of it's time. That bad word of mouth didn't kill this picture's boxoffice only goes to show you that kitsch can be appreciated when it delivers, and HERCULES is colossal kitsch that delivers sensational, fetishistic, sexist spectacle in it's cheapest, most primitive form. Tastelessly tasteful.

Better than i expected

[Hang_All_Drunkdrivers · 5/10 · 2 January 2007]

Steve Reeves makes a pretty good hercules and the show moves along very nicely. Not a lot of standing around talking except for the visit with the Amazons. That is a snore as nothing happens for around 20 minutes. Of course the movie is dubbed and poorly so, but that's better than damn subtitles which amount to no more than a silent movie.

Lots of silliness in the movie as expected. At the end Hercy has these big 15 foot chains on each arm which he slings around these two huge pillars and pulls them down ala Sampson. But the chains only wrapped around the pillars once so what kept them in place? And the fight with the lion was a laugher as the "ferocious beast" appeared totally drugged. I guess it's really tough to stage fight scenes with lions or tigers cause once they find out how weak humans are, they can never be trusted again.

Peplum Cinema rebooted!

[michael-3204 · 6/10 · 19 February 2016]

The film that launched a thousand sets of muscular pecs and biceps and made a household name of American bodybuilder-turned-actor Steve Reeves, "Hercules" (original Italian title: "Le fatiche di Ercole," "The Labours of Hercules") was an international box-office smash that spawned several dozen imitators in the mid-20th Century known as "peplum," for the tunics characters often wore. Collectively, these films were a return to silent-era commercial successes of Italian cinema -- the original Peplum films featuring Italian folk hero Maciste that were popular from the mid-1910s through the mid- 1920s -- and were an attempt (successful, as it turned out) to capitalize on the popularity of American-financed sword-and-sandal epics like "Quo Vadis," "Spartacus," and "Ulysses." Reportedly, director Pietro Francisci had wanted to make a Hercules film for several years but couldn't find a leading man until his daughter spotted Reeves in the film "Athena." Reeves wasn't necessarily an actor of particular subtlety or nuance, but he was incredibly handsome and had a championship physique that set the standard for mid-century bodybuilding. His imposing physical presence and blustery he-man forcefulness made him the perfect actor to embody the legendary strongman and Reeves makes the most of the role. He sets a high bar for portraying the mythological hero and in many respects has never been equaled, though a few actors like Dwayne Johnson have successfully managed to play off Reeves's legacy by modifying the direction of the character. The rest of the cast doesn't fare so well, in part because of the blunt English dubbing and also because the story is a mish- mash of myth that doesn't gel into anything particularly coherent. It's as if Francisci, who's credited with the adaptation, put "Hamilton's Mythology" into a blender and layered in the odd legendary labor wherever it could conceivably fit. We get Ulysses as an eager protégé, Jason's quest with his Argonauts as background, and a confused princess Iole as sometimes enthusiastic and sometimes reluctant love interest. (I'm not sure Sylva Koscina really knew what to make of this role.) Still, the scenery is beautiful and is matched by the attractive cast, and some of the action is amusingly low-tech in an endearing manner. I do feel bad for the drugged lion (never identified in the English-dubbed version as the Nemian Lion) Reeves has to tangle with, and bad for Reeves when it's clear in some shots that he's wrestling a stuffed prop. Had PETA been hanging around Cinecitta in the late 1950s, I suspect film history would be quite different. Despite its clunky storytelling and questionable treatment of animals, there is a lot of entertainment value here still, almost 60 years after it single-handedly spurred a renaissance in Italian epics. If you want something visual that's not too abysmal, you could do a lot worse than this old Steve Reeves movie, though this is one case where the direct sequel, "Hercules Unchained," surpasses the original.

Hokey epic.

[gridoon · 5/10 · 30 July 2001]

This hokey and somewhat campy (look out for those sound effects!) concoction was the first Hercules movie, and apparently it made quite an impression, since it was followed by several sequels and remakes. Today, it is little more than a badly dubbed Italian time-passer, with uneven special effects (the dragon looks very phony, but the demolition of the palace at the end is well-done) and a muscular but not very compelling Steve Reeves as Hercules. By the way, Jason and the Argonauts seem to have more prominent roles than Hercules himself, and many facts of the legends (for example, the death of the evil king) are distorted. (**)

The start of so many more movies

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 2 December 2020]

Joseph E. Levine was a genius. At the time of his death, he's produced nearly 500 films. He did some pretty amazing things, like introduce the U.S. to Sophia Loren and Godzilla, while bringing foreign movies like Jack the Ripper and Attila: Scourge of God to America, renaming The Second Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World to Licensed to Kill and producing and executive producing everything from Santa Claus Conquers the Martians and The Graduate to Mad Monster Party, They Call Me Trinity, Magic, The Carpetbaggers and The Producers. He started the Embassy in AVCO Embassy.

But for the purposes of this story, he was the man who spent $1 million dollars* to make Steve Reeves a star all over the world with this movie. And by the time he did it, Reeves had already made four more movies ready to follow this one.

Unlike many actors who go to Italy to make a film, the former chiropractor and Mr. America of 1947, Mr. World of 1948 and Mr. Universe of 1950 became a huge deal over in Italy, ending his career on his own terms in 1968 after the western A Long Ride from Hell, which has the incredible alternate title I Live For Your Death!**

Funny enough, this is more the story of Jason and the Argonauts, yet with Hercules taking center stage. And from this movie, an entire industry of peblum movies was born.

Hercules joins the crew of Jason, along with Ulysses and his father Laertes, Argos, the twins Castor and Pollux, Orpheus and Aesculapius when Pelias, the King of Iolcus, sends Jason on a fool's errand to take the Golden Fleece. That's because Pelias has been warned that someday, Jason would take his throne. Meanwhile, Hercules is in love with the king's daughter Princess Iole. Who can blame him? She's played by Sylvia Koscina, who is also in Deadlier Than the Male and So Sweet, So Dead***.

Hercules battles ape men and Amazons when he isn't fulfilling his labors, like fighting the Nemean Lion and the Cretan Bull. There's even a dragon with the voice of Godzilla, which makes sense, as Levine owned the rights to that sound effect.

By the mid-60's, 10% of all Italian films were sword and sandal movies. That's how influential this one is. And speaking of importance to Italian film, the cinematographer for this movie suggested that Reeves grow a beard. His name? Mario Bava.

*Levine spent more money promoting this movie than it cost to make. He was ahead of his time, if today's movies are any indication. He also introduced the concept of saturation booking by using over 600 prints of this film, which at the time was a huge number of prints to be struck, as most theaters only had one screen.

**Reeves had turned down A Fistful of Dollars because he felt that Italians couldn't make a western out of a Japanese samurai film. He also turned down Dr. No - this could be apocryphal - because they could not afford his salary demands.

***Her maid is played by Luciana Paluzzi, who was Fiona Volpe in Thunderball, as well as appearing in The Green Slime, Jess Franco's 99 Women and A Black Veil for Lisa.

Beware of nostalgia

[jjp · 4/10 · 24 December 1999]

I watched this movie because of the fond memory I had kept of it when I watched it when I was 12 and that peplum movies were my favorite genre.

Needless to say, it did not look quite as good today than it did 40 years ago. It is still quite watchable, with plenty of heroics deeds, good production values and adequate acting for the genre. Steve Reeves is actually quite good in the title role and he outmuscles Arnold any time.

programmed as "hercules", in Australia

[spj-4 · 7/10 · 8 October 2008]

I thought this would be a pathetic sub-titled movie, but it wasn't!!!

It is typically low-budget, & on the low budget-TV channel, which struggles to survive for a FRAGMENT of what the big-networks have access to!

This movie is understandably of limited talent & basic in props & plots! ... Especially compared with the likes of 21st century "The War of The Worlds"! ... That I viewed last weekend!

... But I saw Tom Cruise character there, playing a disagreeable character! ... Irritated repeatedly by his family who understandably didn't want to listen to him! ... With a pathetic plot I thought anyway would have seen MASSIVE holes in! ... But it was supposed to be a Spielberg production!

... By contrast, here, I watched a scenic, dramatic attempt at quality cinema! ... A serious attempt made at a credible plot! ... In a fantasy-type scenario many people would like to find themselves lost in! ... That was not surely out of its context, for time & place!!

... But of course, it doesn't have 21st century side-effects! ... That seem to often be substituted for plot!!!

... I didn't expect much! ... But got much more!!

Well worth a viewing!!!

[InzyWimzy · 3/10 · 7 November 2003]

Hercules – hybrid of greek mythology and cheesed dubbing. It does add to the campiness of the film, but I'm biased having already seen Hercules Unchained.

Herc randomly comes to aid the luscious Iole (RAWRRR). Steve was born to throw freshly torn-from-the-ground trees. He runs around with greek guys (played by beefy Italian guys) and does battle, rows. Herc won't even sing good old-fashioned oar songs! There's your typical dark side in this epic schlock, but time starts to drag at scenes when you'd rather see the Herc bending iron bars across his skull.

I used to think Hercules Unchained was plain goofy and dumb. It's actually much less of a yawner than the original. What is with Hercules and the lions in both movies? Where was PETA when this happened?

`YO-LAY!!!'

That Man From Thebes!

[zardoz-13 · 9/10 · 26 May 2010]

Everybody who enjoyed this larger-than-life, but straightforward mythological adventure epic should know that "Attila" director Pietro Francisci's "Hercules" spawned what came to be derisively known as the sword and sandal genre. These films constituted a sub-genre of the Hollywood historical movie and the plots occurred either during classical antiquity in Greece and Rome or Biblical times in other Mediterranean locales. Basically, these European produced films featured a brawny, footloose warrior as the protagonist who performs incredible feats of strength that enabled him to destroy supernatural monsters, topple evil tyrants, and free enslaved peoples. Sometimes, the hero was a gladiator like Kirk Douglas in "Spartacus." Often, the hero's name varied when these films arrived in America. The muscular champion was called Hercules, Samson, Goliath or he was a son of Hercules with an entirely different name. In Italy, however, the strongman hero was always called Maciste.

Although "Hercules" was the first of some 300 sword and sandal sagas to follow until the Spaghetti western eclipsed the genre around 1964, the Italians had been producing sword and sandal movies long before "Hercules." One of the first major silent films, director Giovanni Pastrone's "Cabiria" appeared in 1914 and concerned the abduction of the eponymous little girl that pirates kidnapped during an eruption of Mount Etna during the third century B.C. A Roman spy and his mesomorphic muscle-bound slave Maciste rescued Cabiria. Aside from revitalizing a moribund genre, Francisci's "Hercules" is notable not only for its star, bodybuilder Steve Reeves of "Mr. Universe" fame, but also for lenser Mario Bava whose widescreen pictorial compositions as well as his atmospheric lightning. Reeves went on to star in several more pepla, and Bava later helmed "Hercules in the Haunted World." "Hercules Unchained" with Reeves and co-star Sylva Koscina followed "Hercules."

Aesthetically, "Hercules" qualifies as a serviceable effort. Francisci and his scenarists derived their screenplay from Apollonius of Rhodes' Greek epic poem "Argonautica" that dealt with Jason and his quest for the Golden Fleece. In Francisci's film, Hercules literally usurps Jason as the hero when in reality the son of Jupiter played a peripheral role in the exploit. British director Don Chaffey helmed the best cinematic version of the Golden Fleece myth in 1963 with his exciting "Jason and the Argonauts" that boasted the superb stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen. One of the problems with "Hercules" is Jason recovers the fleece rather too easily from a giant reptile that sleeps near the tree where the fleece dangles. Reeves has a few uncomfortable moments when he goes on the rampage, literally blowing his cool, and sounds a mite unbelievable. Mind you, this was the bodybuilder's first starring role so he can be pardoned. Francisci plays almost everything straight down the line so nothing appears campy. Of course, some of the hand-to-hand combat scenes where Hercules tangles with livestock, like a lion and a bison, looks staged. Typically, the animal trainer would substitute for the star or the director would orchestrate the fights so ersatz animal heads and paws could be deployed. Consequently, while it is an entertaining bit of hokum, "Hercules" isn't as much outlandish as later strong man sagas.

"Hercules" unfolds with a surefire scene straight out of a traditional western. A beautiful woman, Princess Iole (Sylva Koscina of "Michael Strogoff"), shatters the afternoon calm as she struggles to restrain a pair of runaway horses hauling her chariot helter-skelter through the landscape. She scatters a herd of goats. Dramatically, Francisci cuts to a close-up of a tree uprooted and then shows Hercules (Steve Reeves of "Jailbait") slamming the tree down in front of the horses. "I thank the gods for providing me such a strong man when I needed him," Iole says. Carrying her away from the chariot in his arms, Hercules sets her on a rock. "I'll admit that the sight of those runaway horses had me worried about you." Hercules suspects Iole is royalty from the standard on her chariot. Indeed, Iola is the daughter of King Pelias of Iolcus (Ivo Garrani of "Roland the Mighty"), and our hero is in route to train Pelias' son Prince Iphitus (Mimmo Palmara of "Attila") in the art of warfare. Iphitus hates Hercules from the moment he lays eyes on him. Iole furnishes Hercules with the history of her father's suspicious rise to power and the death of his brother the king. Afterward, Hercules accompanies her back to the palace. Hercules humiliates Iphitus in front of everybody when the Theban shows Jason, considerably weaker than Iphitus, how to shoot an arrow and strike bull's-eye. Later, Hercules hurls the discus farther than Iphitus. When a lion terrorizes the court and kills five people, Hercules pursues the beast. A boastful Iphitus interferes, and the lion kills the Prince before Hercules can dispose of the beast. A grief-stricken Pelias tells Hercules the only way he can redeem himself is to kill the Cretan bull. Later, Pelias gives Hercules three months to retrieve the stolen Golden Fleece to prove that Jason is the rightful heir to the throne. A sea voyage follows and Jason reclaims the Golden Fleece after an encounter with a fakey dragon.

"Hercules" proved to be a blockbuster during its North American release and the success that the film enjoyed in the United States can be attributed to Joseph E Levine. After every Hollywood studio passed on Francisci's film, Levine bought it for a modest $120,000, dubbed in English dialogue, and abbreviated the title from "The Labors of Hercules" to simply "Hercules." Levine's folly wound up raking in a veritable fortune from its U.S. release and sequels that followed. Levine pioneered the practice that is now known as 'saturation' booking and opened "Hercules" in 600 theaters. According to the Turner Classic Movies website, this method of opening a movie was "unheard of" in the 1950s. Levine relied on radio and television advertising to arouse the public's curiosity and he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

With half an hour cut out this would have been a masterpiece

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 30 July 2016]

Well, here it is: the film that kick-started the sword-and-sandal craze of the late '50s/early '60s and single-handedly turned muscleman Steve Reeves into an immortal cinematic star. Weirdly, I've only now had the opportunity to watch this after being subjected to countless sequels and rip-offs, which is unfortunate because, as a film, HERCULES is hardly the action epic you'd expect. I actually think the genre got better as it went on, to peak in 1961/2 before sliding off into no-budget obscurity by 1965. The problem with HERCULES is the sluggish pacing, which means there's a half-hour lull around the middle part where nothing happens for an extraordinary length of time. Hercules himself doesn't seem to be on screen, and even the countless beautiful women couldn't keep this viewer's attention.

I don't want to be too critical of HERCULES, as it's responsible for so, so much. It offers good direction and a budget that's a lot higher than the endless rip-offs that followed, so many of the Greek-set scenes convince. Reeves fits the role like a glove, and is great in the various scenes where he has to battle soldiers, bulls, and lions (watch out for the non-muscular stand-in in the latter bit). He was never a great actor – none of the muscleman actors ever were – but he seems comfortable and at home here, and projects power and immortality as he should. With both Sylva Koscina and Gianna Maria Canale in the cast, the film's easy on the eye in that respect.

The cinematography is good and I enjoyed the surprise appearance of a man-in-a-rubber-suit playing the hydra, here transformed into a Tyrannosaurus Rex by the looks of it! Some of the various sub-plots are intriguing – I liked the one involving the corrupt king, for instance – but for the latter half of the flick, the focus is too much on Jason, a rather boring individual, it has to be said. Had half an hour been cut out, HERCULES would have been a very good entry in the peplum genre, but it feels just too short on action and too bloated to be a masterpiece for modern viewers. It's worth a look to see how it all started, but for sheer enjoyment, I'd recommend the low-rent likes of MACISTE IN HELL or MACISTE AGAINST THE VAMPIRE as true classics of the genre.

The first One of Terrible Movies

[ragosaal · 3/10 · 30 August 2006]

This picture is impossible to defend. I saw it for the first time when I was 11 and I must say I liked it. But then I saw it again as an adult and the awful truth came out: 1) it is impossible for Steve Reeves to even try to act; 2) it is impossible for the supporting cast to act; 3) the sort of monster the argonauts face when they find the golden fleece is definitely funny (though he probably puts on the best acting of all); 4) Reeves's hairdo is unthinkable in ancient Greece; 5) any other ingredient you may think of.

But then, why did I vote with a 3 mark? 1) the film is supposed to be a mythological fantasy film and it was quite original back in 1958; 2) without any doubt it is the best movie ever made in its genre; 3) Sylva Koscina (the woman, not the actress).

Just terrible !!!