Writer-director "Lewis Coates" (a.k.a. Luigi Cozzi of "Star Crash" fame) and The Cannon Group brought the character from Greek mythology into the 1980s with this generally agreeable but cheap & silly update. Physical specimen Lou Ferrigno of 'The Incredible Hulk' fame is indeed well cast in the title role, as Hercules must face & overcome a variety of challenges in pursuit of his destiny. Among other things, he must rescue the kidnapped princess Cassiopeia (Ingrid Anderson).
Working against obvious budget constraints, Cozzi tries to make this as visually interesting as he can. His script is full of some priceless dialogue, and he serves up a fair amount of action, along with some truly lousy special effects. Yes, this film is absolutely no "Conan the Barbarian", but that particular film DID set the bar pretty high for sword & sandal cinema going forward. It is also very juvenile, but apparently Ferrigno demanded something family-friendly as opposed to adult-oriented. The hilarious highlight: Hercules fighting a bear and launching it into outer space!
Ferrigno has enough "incredible" physical presence to help make up for any shortcomings as an actor (although he is dubbed, anyway). The supporting cast is very cool, however, reading like a virtual Who's Who of actors & actresses from Euro-cult cinema: Brad Harris, the statuesque Sybil Danning, William Berger, Bobby Rhodes, Gianni Garko, Delia Boccardo, Claudio Cassinelli, and Franco Garofalo. The cast doesn't lack for gorgeous women, as Rossana Podesta and Mirella D'Angelo also appear in addition to Danning and Anderson.
It is possible to have a good time with this one. Although nothing great, Cozzi & company do their best to make it reasonably entertaining and consistently amusing. Helping to put the viewer in the mood is a grandiose score by the always reliable Pino Donaggio.
Followed two years later by the sequel "The Adventures of Hercules", a.k.a. "Hercules II".
Six out of 10.
Working against obvious budget constraints, Cozzi tries to make this as visually interesting as he can. His script is full of some priceless dialogue, and he serves up a fair amount of action, along with some truly lousy special effects. Yes, this film is absolutely no "Conan the Barbarian", but that particular film DID set the bar pretty high for sword & sandal cinema going forward. It is also very juvenile, but apparently Ferrigno demanded something family-friendly as opposed to adult-oriented. The hilarious highlight: Hercules fighting a bear and launching it into outer space!
Ferrigno has enough "incredible" physical presence to help make up for any shortcomings as an actor (although he is dubbed, anyway). The supporting cast is very cool, however, reading like a virtual Who's Who of actors & actresses from Euro-cult cinema: Brad Harris, the statuesque Sybil Danning, William Berger, Bobby Rhodes, Gianni Garko, Delia Boccardo, Claudio Cassinelli, and Franco Garofalo. The cast doesn't lack for gorgeous women, as Rossana Podesta and Mirella D'Angelo also appear in addition to Danning and Anderson.
It is possible to have a good time with this one. Although nothing great, Cozzi & company do their best to make it reasonably entertaining and consistently amusing. Helping to put the viewer in the mood is a grandiose score by the always reliable Pino Donaggio.
Followed two years later by the sequel "The Adventures of Hercules", a.k.a. "Hercules II".
Six out of 10.