Herkules

I love Greek Mythology and this saga did a good job bringing the hero Hercules to life. The scenery, costumes and actors were great(even the children). Others have complained about the special effects, but this was made for family entertainment. The sex, violence and gore were just at the correct rating. Hercules was a welcome relief in the fantasy genre from the usual "dribble" on T.V. What ruined the overall story-line were two things: -Too many commercials -The original version got cut by over an hour. Perhaps the additional footage would have held the continuity of the film better in spite of all the commercial interruptions. I hope Hallmark will issue the DVD in its uncut, original version.

Okay, I was never good with mythology. So you could have told me any version of a story, and I'd listen. My only other exposure to this tale was the Disney animated version, of the late 1990's. And THAT is flawed, too, as I have read.

Watched it with my eight and eleven year old daughters, who are also fans of the animated tale. Both of them seemed very interested in the story. They recognized Dalton, as Daddy is a big Bond fan, and Astin, from "Lord of The Rings". So we know they are paying attention. Neither asked "why is this different from the cartoon", so I'll assume they could follow the plot and it's difference from the Disney flick.

+++++Possible Spoilers+++++ Now, to the show, itself. It dragged in some parts, I admit. The SFX, at times looked really, really cheesy. Now, perhaps that was a desired effect, to "enhance" the mythology side of the story. Lele Sobieski was beautiful, and I can see Paul Telfer going on to bigger and "hunkier" roles. All the actors were well used.

The Hydra scene was a bit much for being shown BEFORE 9 pm Eastern time, and I was surprised at how graphic it was. I figured the networks saved the really heavy duty "death" for after most of the younger crowd is off to bed.

Final score: On a scale of 1 yawn being Excellent, and five yawns being "Glitter" rotten, I give "Hercules" one and a half yawns. I didn't hate myself for watching it, but won't catch it again, if it gets repeated.

And did I say Lele Sobieski is beautiful????

I have a particular interest in Greek mythology and actually found this movie quite interesting. It was sort of boring in some parts but not all that bad. I'm not really familiar with the story of Herculies and i don't know if the movie followed the actual story. But I don't think it's fair to say it was a horrible film. If you sit through the whole thing it really is quite interesting. But if you just watch the beginning and then turn back to the end you miss all the important parts and don't fully understand the plot. I give it a 6 because some parts were really fake and a little too unreal for my taste but the film over all wasn't all that bad.

I had hoped it would be better but... well it never got better. If you just wanted some man meat, there you have it. The graphics were - sorry, I kept laughing at the centaur and I am a HUGE Robert Taylor fan. I almost felt bad for him that the CGI was so bad. They could've made it so much better - I could've photo chopped something better! And I swear, if Linus had started talking about a ring, I so would've busted up laughing.

I know they meant well - really, they did.

The locations were pretty cool but again, I felt like I was watching a bad remake of Lord of the Rings.

Not as bad as I anticipated. This frequently felt like the matinée movies of my youth with Steve Reeves et al, although a bit bloodier (but not necessarily more violent, however) and, unfortunately, talkier. OTOH there was a more interesting use of sexual politics, IMO a plus.

Judicious use of the mute button would solve the latter problem and make for a fun popcorn movie. Some might call the SFX cheesy - for me they were a nostalgic reminder. There was some abrupt, seemingly abbreviated, editing from time to time. I wonder if we might see an (as they used to say) European version on DVD? (Hey, that beats calling it the much overused "Unrated".)