Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

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.

This movie begins with "Hercules" (Steve Reeves) saving a beautiful woman on a runaway chariot by pulling a tree up by its roots to block the horse's stampede. It turns out that the beautiful woman is "Iola" (Sylva Koscina) the daughter of "King Pelias" (Ivo Garrani) of Iolcus. Unfortunately, Iola is wary of Hercules because his best friend is "Chironi" (Afro Poli) who is rumored to have assassinated the previous king prior to Pelias assuming the throne. At any rate, Hercules has been asked to come to Iolcus to help Pelias stabilize his kingdom. However, when he arrives he encounters political intrigue which ends up with him having to travel to another land to retrieve the "Golden Fleece" taken during the assassination of the king before Pelias' reign. Now, there are a couple of things a person might want to be aware of before they watch this film. First, the special effects are clearly not up to the standard of films made today. But that probably goes without saying. Likewise, this movie was originally filmed in Italian and dubbed into English. Even so that didn't appear to be a major problem. In any case, I think the key ingredient necessary to enjoy this film is for the person to have a general appreciation for movies of this type in the first place. There is no sex, profanity or graphic imagery to be concerned about. However, it does have some beautiful women and plenty of action and adventure to satisfy most viewers who are fond of this particular genre. Slightly above average.

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).

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 !!!