The Worst Film Ever

Best movie of this year hands down!

Amateur movie with Big budget

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Between 1964 to 1969, Hanna-Barbera Productions produced its first wave of action-adventure oriented cartoons. Of those series, two have been fully acknowledged as true classics of science fiction oriented animation. The first of the two series was the original JONNY QUEST which first aired in prime time on ABC back in 1964. The second series - in an ironic twist - made its debut around the same time that JONNY QUEST was beginning a Saturday morning run on CBS during the fall of 1967. That series was THE HERCULOIDS.THE HERCULOIDS were the collective name of the super-powered creatures that starred in the series along with their human leaders. The five Herculoids were Zok, a dragon-like creature who could fire laser beams from his eyes and tail; Igoo, a gigantic gorilla-like creature with a stone body who possessed great strength and the ability to turn anything - usually boulders and trees - into weapons; Tundro, an armored rhinoceros-like creature that could fire energy rocks from a hollow horn on his head and ten legs for locomotion; and finally Gloop and Gleep, protean blob-like creatures who stretch long distances, can dived themselves, and change into various implements. They were led by the human Zandor (voiced over by Mike Road) who along with his wife Tara (Virginia Gregg) and their son Dorno (Teddy Eccles), led the five Herculoids to fight threats against their home planet of Amzot (Quasar in the later SPACE STARS revival) from menaces that threatened their home world.Quite a few reviewers have noticed similarities between Zandor and his family to Tarzan and his family (Jane and Boy {or Korak if you prefer}). In fact, Zandor is much closer to Edgar Rice Burroughs' original conception of Tarzan than he was portrayed in much of the films up to that time (with elements of Burroughs' John Carter thrown in for good measure) as a highly intelligent jungle lord. To Zandor, his chief weapons - a slingshot (which he uses to fire energy rocks) and a disc-shaped shield (which he sometimes threw as an offensive weapon ala Captain America) was just as effective as a ray-gun. Riding on the backs of Zok or Tunndro - or his other favorite method of travel, sling-shooting himself on vines - was just as effective as flying a spacecraft. In other words, Zandor and his family weren't slaves to technology; they simply used their natural abilities, their wits, and the powers of the Herculoids not only to survive on Amzot; but to protect it as well.As far as threats to their home world went, Zandor and the Herculoids faced menaces to their home world from inside and outside. From within Amzot itself, they faced attempted conquests from such races as the Spider Men of the Endless Caves, the Mole Men, the Reptons, the Laser Lancers, and such villains as Malak and Queen Skorra among others. From other planets came threats from Volton and his Electrode Men, Darkkon and his Faceless Ones, the Mutoids, not to mention such villains as Sta-Lak, Torrak, and the Sky Pirates among others. And on two occasions, Zandor and the Herculoids were forced to travel to other worlds to fight threats to them. All this was done in 36 11 minute cartoons, two per half-hour show.Credit should also go to the character design work of Alex Toth the artist who was practically responsible for the distinctive look of Hanna-Barbera's action-adventure cartoons. His designs for the characters, machines, and scenery in THE HERCULOIDS gave the series its distinctive look.THE HERCULOIDS originally aired on CBS during Saturday mornings from September of 1967 to September of 1969. The series would be revived during the late 1970's on NBC and in syndication during the early 1980's as part of HANNA-BARBERA'S WORLD OF SUPER ADVENTURE (a series that re-broadcasted all of Hanna-Barbera's 1960's superhero series sans THE SPACE KIDETTES and YOUNG SAMSON & GOLIATH). A further 10 cartoons would be done Hanna-Barbera's SPACE STARS series back in 1980, but are not on the level of the original 1967 series. THE HERCULOIDS also aired on the Cartoon Network during the 1990's and early 2000's and occasionally appears on the Boomerang Network. The original series is currently available on MOD DVD through Warner Home Video's Warner Archives as part of the Hanna-Barbera's Golden Classics series.

"The Herculoids" was a favorite of mine as a kid back in the late 70's during its later runs on various networks. (I remember it being included in a large block of various other series headlined by the "Harlem Globetrotters" and later in new episodes as part of the "Space Stars" series. Like what was said, the artwork was high quality...superior to many other TV series of the time, and the story lines, while always formulatic, did the job of entertaining the viewer. A typical 10 minute episode was as followed:*First 30 seconds, some alien or invader arrives, unleashing a fleet of attack crafts or robots. *The next two minutes...the Herculoids and their humans discover the bad guys, either by them attacking or issuing a threat. The next 30 seconds...the good guys make a plan. *The balance of the episode: backed by a jazzy soundtrack, the Herculoids turn the bad guys' equipment into junk ending with the said bad guys being sent away or escaping with their pride seriously wounded. The only thing that I always wondered about...why didn't Zandor and company open up a scrap yard...they sure cornered the market!!

Maybe it was a case of the right series' at the right time, but during the fall and winter of 1967 I discovered the magic of animated superheroes. And at the core of this revelation was the wonderful Herculoids.I always thought there was a great story behind the story. What was apparently the only three humans on a planet that was home to other humanoid species... leading a band of powerful animals who also did not seem to be indigenous to the planet Amzok... changed to the planet Quasar with it's revival on NBC years later...But the stories that were told were very gripping. There was a camaraderie and a fellowship between the family and the animals; Zok and Gloop & Gleep and Tundro and Igoo... none of them would think of allowing anything to befall Tara or Dorno... and though obviously not the most powerful of the group, Zandor was the leader and all the animals knew it...Yeah, there was a deeper story here that never got to be told... but what they did tell was quite enjoyable in 1967 and still is in 2007. :D

This was probably the second most and best action packed cartoon to Jonny Quest. It packed action, monsters, sci-fi and aliens into some short episodes. It wasn't bad actually. I liked its action and fast paced. I remember a teacher telling me this was one of the shows that made a lot of people decide to protest and gradually get rid of the more violent cartoon for the wussie cartoons of the late 1960's and early 1970's. I liked the Herculoids. I thought Zandor was pretty cool with his slingshot too.As a cartoon though, it really rocked. Besides being second to JQ in action and adventure isn't a bad thing.