Hercules (1958) - Video On Demand

Hercules - Movie Review

Hercules is a 1958 Italian fantasy film, starring bodybuilder Steve Reeves as Hercules. American producer Joseph E. Levine acquired the U.S. distribution rights to the film and thanks in part to his huge promotional campaign, the film became a major box-office hit which inspired dozens of Italian sword and sandal genre films in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The screenplay adaptation by Pietro Francisci is loosely based on the Greek epic poem Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes which tells the story of Jason and the Argonauts and the quest for the Golden Fleece. As the film's title suggests, the role of the argonaut Hercules is greatly expanded from the poem, and elements of the twelve labors such as Hercules' combat with the Cretan bull (presented as punishment for the killing of King Pelias' son by the Nemean lion) have been woven into the plot. Hercules' future wife Iole, presented here as the daughter of King Pelias, is included as a love interest for whom Hercules is driven to reject his immortality. Hercules' youthful companion Hylas who carries his bow and arrows in the poem is replaced by the young Ulysses of Homer's epic poem Odyssey.

Reeves was an accomplished horseman, and did all his own horse stunts. His actual voice was not used however, and his lines were dubbed into whatever language was required for local distribution. This was a common practice at the time in Italian cinema. Reeves was Mr. Universe several times in the 1950s, and when he quit professional bodybuilding to act in films, his rival, Englishman Reg Parks, took the title. Later, Parks also played Hercules on film.

Hercules - Cast & Crew

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