Hercules and the Amazon Women

I have to laugh when I hear someone complain about the fact that the costumes are not "historically accurate." This is a tale of Herecles, for gods sake. No one was there! They could have all been naked.

The dialog is certainly misogynistic. It was pretty pitiful writing, but they made more than one dig about women. Apparently, like doctors introducing porn to make it seem legitimate, they feel using these tired clichés serve a greater purpose.

Anthony Quinn played Herecles' father, Zeus, and was the most interesting character in the movie.

Herecles managed to have an imaginative response to the women as they sought to rape and pillage.

This is the first pilot TV movie that jump-started the "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" TV series, which eventually led to its successful series spin-off, "Xena: Warrior Princess." Filmed in New Zealand and set in ancient Greece with an emphasis on Greek mythology, Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and his sidekick Iolaus (Michael Hurst) are called upon my villagers to deal with a group of "monsters" that have been infiltrating their village. Turns out, the monsters are Amazon women under the evil influence of Hera, Queen of the Gods.

The plot of the movie goes at a fairly fast pace, putting much emphasis on Hera's influence over the aggressive and man-hating Amazon women; it is compelling to see how Hercules deals with the warrior women and his evil stepmother. The New Zealand countryside setting is refreshing and the costumes are colorful and vibrantly done. The music score by Joseph LoDuca is very upbeat and appealing and the acting is pretty spot-on.

I especially enjoyed seeing Touched by an Angel star Roma Downey in an out-of-character role - turning from the gentle, benevolent angel Monica to playing the aggressive and sinister Amazon queen Hippolyta in this movie. She did a great job and did have some touching chemistry with Sorbo's Hercules character.

A couple of things that this film lacked, though, was Hercules' power and action; he was portrayed as somewhat weak in the movie. And, for being the first TV movie to proceed two successful TV series, a better introduction into the world of Hercules and the Greek Gods was needed. I would have also preferred a first pilot TV movie concentrated on just Hercules and his origins, rather than the story we have here.

Other than that, this is not a bad TV movie. You'll get some neat action and adventures, but more scenes showcasing Hercules' origin and powers would have been preferred.

Grade B-

This is excellent beginning to the best version of Hercules. Kevin Sorbo is perfect for the role and gives a great performance. There is wall to wall action here and a great story to match. I recommend it to everyone. A very high thumbs up on this one.

When I was eleven, in 1994, television was my life and books on the Greek myths were my obsession. I must have seen this episode five times back in '94. Each time, I felt very sad by the end. It was a great story, and "Hera" looked so evil & chilling. I won't ruin it by telling you the end. But the story is basically of a town Hercules has to save from constant attacks from Amazon women. Sounds boring, but trust me it isn't, it has a lot of fighting action! Lucy Lawless (who later appears in the "Hercules" spinoff "Xena: Warrior Princess") guest stars here. It is also an honor to have the infamous Anthony Quinn playing the role of Zeus.

I cant understand why anyone would watch this for more than a few minutes. I sat and laughed at the truly horrible dialogue until I couldn't stand any more and switched to something else.

Costumes were designed along the lines of Dallas cheerleaders outfits: Design premise: lets show as much female flesh as we can . .the heck with historical accuracy or even common sense.

In fact the ONLY reason I can think anyone would watch this is for the female eye-candy. My advice: turn off the sound, put on a nice CD and enjoy.

Anthony Quinn needed a better agent. Sad to see him stoop so low. He should have gotten involved in something more fitting: commercials selling airline seats or perhaps pizza.