Stylish but barely mediocre overall

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Peter Lupus who later was a regular on Mission Impossible takes his turn as Hercules in Hercules And The Tyrants Of Babylon. His mission in this peplum is to save the Queen of the Hellenes.The two middle eastern empires of the time have raided and sacked Greece and one of them has carried off the Queen of the Hellenes. Problem is that Babylon doesn't know that they have her, but the Assyrian king sure does. When the Assyrian king visits the three sharing Babylonian monarchs and wishes to buy all their captive women slaves, they smell something up.In the meantime Hercules is on his mission to save her from whomever. To aid Lupus in his quest, he's got himself one mighty club, the stick which looks like a big and thick tree branch can give a mighty whack when Hercules wields it. As peplum pictures go, this one's a bit above the norm.

Domenico Paolello, an Italian director most well known for films in the genre of Hercules (huge classical folk hero versus miscellaneous hordes of evil-doers), directed this fairly typical Hercules film from the mid-1960s. Paolello often worked with American body-builder Rock Stevens during this time, and Stevens was cast as Hercules for this film. Stevens would later sharpen his acting abilities and develop a charismatic and much more memorable character on the popular Mission Impossible TV show (Willie Armitage). At this point in his career, however, Rock was really just another Hercules - albeit one of the most impressively ripped and tall. Like most of the leading men used for this series, he expends little effort acting, and does a lot of flexing, tossing, punching, lifting, etc.The plot is a bit more complex than the usual beautiful treacherous woman/mysterious powerful empire/classical times Hercules story. Set in the Middle East, the Queen of Helene has been captured by the tyrannous Babylonian council of three. Herc, whose relationship with his queen seems a bit more devoted than the average Greek's, comes to the rescue and quickly becomes a pawn in a vast, confusing, game of thrones. The plot, which is more sophisticated than the average Herc-flick, had some potential, but execution was a bit underwhelming.Though epic and formulaic, Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon does not present the standard level of grand action Hercules films typically engender. Stevens' best moments are his few fight scenes - where he can use his remarkable physical presence to the greatest advantage - but these are relatively few and far between. Though the Middle Eastern scenery is adequate, the sets and costumes are not nearly as impressive or detailed as many of the other Herculean adventures. Finally, the film's pace is inconsistent. Just as it threatens to lull you to sleep, a crucial fact is presented or the plot takes a big twist.Recommended only for Hercules fans.

I knew that Peter Lupus had made a number of Hercules movies, but hadn't seen any until coming across this flick in the fifty movie DVD pack from Mill Creek/Treeline Entertainment under their Sc-Fi collection. His role in the TV series 'Mission Impossible' only hinted at his size, but not the impressive physique he reveals here as the Greek strong man. There's also some hint of his acting ability shown as well, but let's face it, he wasn't surrounded by Shakespearean actors here.Hercules' mission, which he's chosen to accept, is to rescue the Queen of Hellenes from her captors, the three sovereigns of Babylon. King Phaleg of Assyria has the same thing on his mind, but his motive is to unite his country with Hellenes to form an even more powerful state. You know the Babylonian trio will fall apart at some point, as lone sister Taneal would like nothing better than to rule singlehandedly without the interference of her brothers Salman Osar and Azzur.Taneal offers viewers an early insight into how Babylon will fall when she reveals the existence of an ancient wheel underneath the city that's chained to strategic pillars and walls. When it's time for Hercules to spin the old wheel of fortune, the city of Babylon comes crashing down, but didn't he make it look just a little too easy?Lupus, going by the name of Rock Stevens for this film, seemed to symbolize the adage, 'walk softly but carry a big stick'. Some of his scenes wielding that huge billy club looked almost comic in execution. It also seemed to me that it might have had a boomerang quality to it as well. Check out the first time Hercules throws the club in the direction of a Babylonian rider in an early scene. Herc is positioned behind the man on horseback, but when the club knocks the rider from his horse, it's shown hitting him from the front! If you ask me, I'd say THAT was 'Mission Impossible'!

I love Hercules movies, but this one is a snoozer. Maybe it needs commercials and beer (if only I drank).The plot has Hercules wandering the desert looking for his Queen who has been taken as a slave by the evil people of Babylon. The Babylonians don't know they have the queen so she wanders around in the desert with other slaves. There is talk of a man who can single handedly wipe out army's , Hercules, and chatter about getting more power, but it's all talk and no action. Into this comes the Assyrian king who is making a power play for both the Babylonian throne and what ever throne the slave girl Queen has, for give me I was dozing.There's a few really badly staged fights and way way way too much talk. SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNINGThen the movie slips in to the realm of hysterically stupid----The who city of Babylon is built so that if one wheel is turned the whole thing collapse on itself. Guess what happens? Its hidden under the city and looks incredibly dumb and Hercules spins it in order to cover the escape.There is a brilliant calvary charge that looks great but leads to a slave /Assyrian battle that ends almost as soon as it starts when the king is killed (they only had so much film)Eventually after wandering in the desert the now freed slaves, Queen and Hercules, come over a rise to the promised land, music swells and the camera reveals and even more barren desert. The End.END SPOILER ALERTAvoid this movie unless you've never been bored and wanting to truly do everything before you die.