Herkules, Samson und Odysseus

There is some real nostalgic support for this movie, but I think it's misplaced. On the positive side, from time to time you come across some very nice looking sets. The palace exterior and interiors are truly impressive. It's too bad they weren't used in a movie that makes any sense. It's pretty clear that even in the original language, the actors chewed the scenery without mercy.

But I didn't see it in the original language. The dubs are hideously bad. It doesn't help that the dialogue is as wretched as it gets. Real Junior High School level writing, if that good.

Okay, so we have bad acting, bad dubbing, bad dialogue, what else? The story itself is just stupid, despite Samson's mad spear-throwing skills, where the same two soldiers on horses fall down with every double spear throw. LOL.

In Ithaca, Hercules (Kirk Morris) lives leisurely at the court of King Laertes, father of Ulysses. Fishermen come to court begging for help to fight a sea monster. Hercules sets off on a ship and Ulysses eagerly joins the expedition. Their ship sinks and the survivors land in Judea. They get mixed up in a fight between ruthless ruler Saran of Gaza and Jewish rebels championed by Samson. Delilah is the manipulative Philistine Queen.

It's an Italian sword and sandal epic. It's also a mash-up of Greek and Jewish stories. It reminds me of Batman v Superman. It is very much a movie of its B-genre. It's actually enjoyable as an action B-movie. I am certain about one thing. Samson needs longer hair. A stumpy ponytail is not enough.

This is another film directed by Pietro Francisci of Hercules and Hercules Unchained with Steve Reeves. This time Kirk Morris fills the role adequately but not quite like SR. It has the same style and some of the scenes are quite entertaining. Hercules and Samson battle with 1 ton blocks like they were rocks in the ruins. The palace in Gaza with the bolting doors is interesting. It is an Italian classic B movie, the type they used to show on a Saturday morning. There are some pretty scenes of ancient greek beautiful classical women waiting for their men to return on the beaches. Entertaining if you take it for what it is, another Italian muscleman fantasy. Not bad but not on video, look for it on the cable channels.

This must have been towards the end of the Italian musclemen "epics". As the title shows, the list of characters includes just about everyone. The Hercules and Samson are the blockheads you would expect, but Ulysses, true to his origin in Homer, is a wily and engaging character, who makes fun of the others while solving their problems. I remember this example of the "sword & sandal" school with affection because the script and the acting do show a really entertaining sense of humour.

And just caught it again on television this morning, 1 May 2018. Fifty-five years later, it's still classic high camp. Ah, memories.... One detail that escaped me the first time is that the Philistines are all wearing World War II German helmets. I guess there were a few of them available in Italy in 1963.