Hercules, originally released in 1983, has been given a re-release by 101 films as a Blu-ray. This is part of their Cult Movie Collection. When originally released, this film was met with criticism and was a commercial failure at the box office. However, it does have some appeal.
Lou Ferrigno stars as the titular character Hercules. The films follows the story of Hercules as he is granted power by Zeus. He must then battle King Minos, an evil ruler who is trying to gain power by using science. Hercules meets Cassiopeia, he falls in love with her in a matter of seconds and must then save her from King Minos, who intends to sacrifice her. Hercules is helped along by sorceress Circe as he tries to save his beloved.
There is no denying it, this film is terrible. The script is full of awkward dialogue, which isn’t helped along by the dreadful casting, which resulted in no emotions being made throughout the film by any character. The start of the film is truly bizarre as we see the creation of Hercules and follow a ball of light on its journey down to earth. The special effects are pretty bad, but with a low budget in 1982, this is natural. One of the main positives of this film is the stop motion effects, which are pretty impressive. These effects are used to show giant metallic creatures as they attack Hercules, which are rather odd as Hercules just throws logs at them.
However, this film does have some appeal. As with all cult movies, they are for a very specific audience. Fans of cult fantasy films will love this. It is a fun adventure film, by the poor dialogue and awful characters making it more of a comedy than a serious fantasy film. It has a cult status because it’s an awful film, but has enough of a story to make it slightly entertaining.
In terms of this specific Blu-ray release, there are no added bonuses apart from the original trailer. Therefore, the only people really interested in buying this Blu-ray may be existing fans. The thin plot that the film does have makes it a slightly amusing feature and there could be some appeal to certain audiences. If you have seen this before, it may not be worth the buy. However, if you haven’t seen it and don’t mind a thinly plotted movie and possibly a bit of a laugh, it may be worth the buy, just don’t go expecting a seriously made film.
HERCULES (1983) / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: LUIGI COZZI / STARRING: LOU FERRIGNO, WILLIAM BERGER, INGRID ANDERSON, SYBIL DANNING, BRAD HARRIS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
