Hercules and the Princess of Troy (1965 TV Movie) User Reviews

Seldom a Dull Moment...

[Flixer1957 · 5/10 · 23 August 2002]

**May Contain Spoilers**

Gordon Scott always seemed to have a good time playing Hercules and this time is no exception. Our brawny if not brainy hero is cruising the seas (with a ship that has a big "H" on the sail, possibly so he won't forget his name) when he rescues some Trojan prisoners from pirates. (Veteran villain Gordon Mitchell makes a brief appearance as the pirate captain who comes to an undignified end.) Hercules is told that the prisoners fled Troy so their daughters wouldn't be sacrificed to a hideous sea monster. Never ones to leave things alone, Hercules and his merry men go to Troy to set things a'right. In the film's short running time we're treated to several fights, spiked and poisoned boxing gloves, horses invulnerable to weapons, treachery, murder and the love sub-plot that these pictures just can't do without. The bug-eyed sea monster is sort of a cross between a beetle and a crayfish; it's good at swiping young virgins but no match for mighty men like Hercules and Company. When they lure the thing ashore it's only slightly more dangerous than the hydra in THE LOVES OF HERCULES and the short fight between the monster and the hero can hardly be called an epic battle. Maybe a sequel with both monsters should have been made, with the two critters boring each other to death. Another gem from Joseph E. Levine.

See it for the monster

[horrorfilmx · 5/10 · 18 October 2007]

Not a great movie, this was (as has been pointed out) a pilot for an unsold television series (produced by Joseph E. Levine, who distributed the original Steve Reeves HERCULES) based on the adventures of Hercules. I remembering looking forward to this after seeing a magazine article featuring Carlo Rambaldi's sea monster. In truth, the monster is the only thing worth watching in the show. It's well crafted but badly used. In a few shots it looks very convincing, in others like a big mechanical puppet pointlessly waving its claws around. Still worth checking out for pre-CGI monster fans and Gordon Scott makes a solid Hercules as usual.

"This is the last time I entrust you to the winds of fate..."

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 16 May 2009]

Mercifully short, you can get through "Hercules and the Princess of Troy" in well under an hour, and still catch a cup of coffee before going off to work. Gordon Scott does the beefcake honors in this installment of the sword and sandal franchise, assisted by Mart Hulswit as his protégé Ulysses, and philosopher friend Diogenes, played by Paul Stevens. I had to wonder why Diana Hyland looked so much older than her mere twenty nine years at the time of the picture; perhaps that's what these flicks did to a young woman, never mind the virgin sacrifices to hideous sea monsters.

It doesn't take that long for Hercules to mix it up with the giant caterpillar sea creature in hand to claw combat for the finale. His only other ordeal was getting out of the pit King Petra's men threw him in. I didn't consider the opening battle against the pirates as too much of a struggle, as Herc and his men seemed to be having a good time of it all.

The only novel idea written into the picture had to do with the invulnerable divine horses of Minerva which were made a gift to Hercules when he decided to go up against the sea monster. After all that fuss, the bad guys switched horses to the mere mortal kind, and that didn't have any bearing on the outcome of the story.

Hercules and the boys sure didn't waste any time sticking around once they saved the day. I would have thought he could hang around at least one more day to see Princess Diana become queen like he promised earlier, I mean, what was the rush? It would have been cool to see a crowning and a big banquet afterwards, with all the guests feasting on generous amounts of seafood salad, compliments of you know who.

Faster paced than usual, but otherwise standard

[Wizard-8 · 2 January 2017]

"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.

Hercules Defeats The Sea Monster Of Troy

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 19 December 2010]

This unsold TV pilot for a Hercules series starred Gordon Scott as the legendary muscular hero of Greek mythology. Hercules used a ship as his mode of transportation and had as sidekicks Ulysses and Diogenes before either of them did the deeds made them legends in their own right.

This movie has Hercules in Troy and when you consider he's there with young Ulysses that is quite ironical. Young Princess Diana (another irony) will in two months ascend the throne and her uncle the regent will cede power. But uncle Petra isn't about to do that.

Troy is plagued with a sea monster and believe me the special effects aren't Ray Harryhausen quality. They've got to sacrifice people occasionally because when they've tried to defeat the monster, the Trojans have come up way short. But that's before Hercules took on the job.

This one was played very straight in true peplum fashion. I'm sure Scott would have made a superb TV Hercules if he was given the chance. That would have to wait for another thirty years or so when Kevin Sorbo played the part in a series that had a nice satirical edge to it occasionally.

I am a hero make me a sandwich

[dfswatter · 7/10 · 14 July 2006]

Joseph E. Levine and B movie maven Albert band get together to produce a TV pilot that never got off the ground because the tykes were beginning to bore by this time but for revisiting a campy genre this one is painless and fills the void.The plot is well...minimal so who cares? The main points here are in their highest form. It's short and sweet,beefy and is never at a loss for action. It's also mercifully done in English. The Sea Critter is a Carlo Rombaldi creation (E.T.) worthy of A.I.P. creature constructor Paul Blaisdel's envy.In short it's wacky and original if not very menacing.The major fault I would say that in comparison to many other sword and sandal epics this one is not too babe-a-licious.We only get one semi hot princess and the obligatory harem dances and snake charmers are conspicuously absent.Guess they weren't aiming the series towards the dads. At 47 minutes it's a sweaty trip to fun land.

Let's get it over with

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 10 August 2019]

This was pleasantly short. I thought the DVD this was on might be cut - I mean under an hour? This couldn't be true now could it? But yes it was and while I don't really have the will or time to gather more information about the backstory to do it this way, whoever likes Sword and Sandal movies and (wet) rubber monsters can watch this (wait that sounded bad - ah well you know what I mean in the end, don't you?).

So yes no historical accuracy once again, but don't expect that with those types of movies anyway ...

Lacking in Several Aspects

[Uriah43 · 3/10 · 8 October 2014]

Once a month the people of Troy sacrifice one of their daughters to a giant sea monster in order to appease its wrath. Those families who flee Troy to protect their daughters from being sacrificed are often captured by pirates and sold into slavery. In one particular case a pirate ship is spotted by a ship named the Olympia which has in its crew "Hercules" (Gordon Scott), "Ulysses" (Mark Hulswit) and "Diogenes" (Paul Stevens). Needless to say, the fight doesn't last very long and the captives from the pirate ship are subsequently freed. It's then that the crew of the Olympia learns about the sacrifice in Troy and Hercules anxiously decides to combat the sea creature and free the citizens of that city. But even though they are enthusiastically welcomed by "King Petra" (Steve Garrett) things aren't as simple as they appear. Now, rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a very short movie (only 47 minutes) which didn't seem to have the same feel as other movies in this genre. Of course, being a television pilot probably had much to do with this. In any case it was lacking in several aspects and as a result I rate it as below average.

Good kiddie fun

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 4 February 2018]

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.

Hercules Fights The Monsters Of Troy

[Rainey-Dawn · 3/10 · 22 January 2017]

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

solid

[johnno-17 · 8/10 · 9 December 2009]

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.

Italian Peplum Movie with Gordon SCOTT, Giorgio ARDISSON and Gordon MITCHELL

[ZeddaZogenau · 3/10 · 17 February 2024]

In 1965 the boom in Italian sandal films was gradually coming to an end. As a result, a pilot film for a series was filmed for American television, but it was not realized. For almost 50 minutes you can watch Hercules (Gordon Scott) save a Trojan princess (Diana Hyland) from being sacrificed to a strange sea monster that looks terribly artificial. The only things worth mentioning are Gordon Mitchell as the pirate captain and Giorgio Ardisson (who would soon start off as the "Italian James Bond") as Leander.

The voice-overs, which comment on the events like a storybook, are particularly annoying. You can clearly see that this was not produced for the cinema, but for television.

Rightly forgotten!

A neat little fantasy adventure outing

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 26 May 2009]

The people of Troy sacrifice fair maidens to a ghastly sea monster on a regular basis. It's up to the brave and mighty Hercules (a likable performance by the handsome and muscular Gordon Scott) to destroy the creature before Princess Diana (fetching blonde Diana Hyland) becomes its next victim. Director Albert Band relates the story at a snappy pace and maintains a serious tone throughout. Better still, the action scenes are staged with real flair (Hercules' strenuous big battle with the monster is quite stirring and spirited) and the tight 47 minute running time ensures that there's never any dreary lulls or needlessly talky padding. The solid acting from the capable cast rates as another substantial plus: Scott makes for a strong and credible Hercules, Hyland is both pretty and appealing as Princess Diana, Gordon Mitchell has a cool cameo as a pirate captain, plus there are sound contributions by Roger Browne as the courageous Ortag, Giorgio Ardisson as the proud, eager Leander, mart Hulswit as the excitable Ulysses, Paul Stevens as wise scientist Diogenes, and Steve Garrett as the shrewd, treacherous Petra. Fred Steiner's moody, soaring score does the rousing trick. Ditto Enzo Barboni's crisp cinematography. Special kudos are also in order for Carlo Rambaldi's impressively lifelike and hideously grotesque insectoid animatronic aquatic beast. A fun flick.

Failed TV pilot turns out to be a thrilling late peplum story

[Leofwine_draca · 10/10 · 29 July 2016]

By 1964 and 1965, the popularity of the Italian peplum film was definitely waning. The cycle had started in the late '50s, when powerhouse Steve Reeves had inspired countless imitators to produce their own muscleman movies. Seven, eight years later, tastes were changing and the then-new spaghetti western – popularised by the appearance of Clint Eastwood on the block – was set to become the new craze in Italian cinema. So, in the dying days of the peplum, a team of American producers – headed by Joseph Levine, who produced HERCULES, the Steve Reeves film that kick-started the craze – and decided to travel to Italy and shoot this, the pilot episode of a planned peplum television series. Needless to say, no TV channel bought the rights to the pilot episode and the idea was quickly forgotten. The only evidence remaining of the idea is this, a 47-minute peplum movie that looks exactly the same as Italian flicks from the period – except without the bad dubbing and with more US actors than usual.

HERCULES AND THE PRINCESS OF TROY is a rip-roaring adventure and one I loved every minute of. I admit, I adored this film. Because it's less than fifty minutes long the pacing is super-fast and there's a ton of action and adventure packed into the running time. Hercules battles against evil pirates, corrupt soldiers, and is imprisoned in a hole in the ground. He undertakes strongman tasks – pushing a broken mast upright, knocking down a pillar of rock in an underground cave, and climbing up the interior of the hole he's trapped inside. On top of that, he has time for a little romance with a princess (Diana Hyland, who isn't as beautiful as one would have hoped) and is able to train the Trojan Olympic team. The producers went hell for leather with their plot ingredients, throwing in some spiked, poisoned boxing gloves and a pair of immortal horses (like Pegasus, without the wings). They don't have much to do with the story, but they sure are fun.

Things culminate in a beach battle with the hideous sea creature, which seems to have been heavily influenced by the look of the caterpillar beast in that '50s monster flick, THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD. Special effects guru Carlos Rambaldi (E.T.) was the guy who brought this puppet animation to live, and it's a real kicker! I was convinced that the odd, floating monster wouldn't ever emerge from the water, but I was mistaken. It slithers onto the beach and rears up to battle our hero Hercules, who mercilessly stabs its gut and head with his sword. It's a tremendously engaging fight scene, everything one could have hoped for, and the monster is one of the most impressive I've seen.

The cast is headed by ex-Tarzan Gordon Scott, in the last of his many peplum roles. Scott is a mild-mannered tough guy; he's friendly and kind, yet whups backside when need be. Scott could perform these roles in his sleep, and he has a natural charisma that other strongmen of the period lacked. Hercules is accompanied by two other characters from Greek legend, Diogenes and Ulysses, but these are played by US TV actors Paul Stevens and Mart Hulswit, and they don't hold much interest. Better are two Italian actors who starred in loads of these movies: first up is George Ardisson, perhaps best known for his roles in many Italian spy rip-offs and his appearance as Cameron Mitchell's brother in THE LAST OF THE VIKINGS. Second we have Roger Browne, who starred as the cult superhero Argoman in a couple of Italian flicks in the late '60s. Also appearing briefly is another peplum star, Gordon Mitchell (ATLAS IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS). The brawny Mitchell plays a hulking pirate captain and his muscular face-off with Scott is another of the film's engaging moments. It's a shame that Mitchell didn't have a bigger part as I would have loved to have seen more of the two Gordons battling it out for supremacy.

Truth be told, HERCULES AND THE PRINCESS OF TROY is as cheap, cheesy and cheerful as the rest of the peplum movies from this era, but the super-fast pacing and the multitude of plot ingredients – only missing the exotic dancers – make it a really fun, action-packed movie. I loved it!

Gordon (Hercules) Scott Injured during filming.

[larryanderson · 10/10 · 19 May 2018]

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