Hercule l'invincible

Take all the "Hercules" movies and boil them down to a series of plot essentials and you'll come up with something close to this movie. It has the muscular hero whose hairless chest is almost constantly on display and whose favorite wardrobe items are mini-mini-skirts and lace-up boots. The hero fights a few real beasts -- a lion and a bear -- as well as a mythical one: a dragon. He acquires a chubby, timorous sidekick who provides comic relief. He falls in love with the daughter of a king whose kingdom is taken over by a wicked queen. The hero becomes this queen's captive. She orders him to be pulled apart, wishbone-style, by teams of wild animals. (Elephants, this time, instead of horses.) The hero emerges unscathed from this ordeal. The queen falls in love with him but he remains true to the deposed king's daughter. The queen's slaves rise in revolt and her city is destroyed by a wave of lava. The hero and the king's daughter walk hand-in-hand to the cheers of the liberated citizenry.

So, if you see this movie, you've seen virtually all the other "Hercules" movies!

Dan Vadis lacks Steve Reeves' looks and charisma but he's in his physical prime here, looking appropriately brawny but not muscle-bound. Particularly noteworthy are his silver-dollar-sized nipples which punctuate his chest like a pair of decorative decals.

Ken Clark lists this movie on his filmography and the credits list a "Ken Klark" but if he's in here, he's hard to spot. Possibly he plays the evil general with the Fu Manchu make-up?

Hercules the Invincible finds Dan Vadis cast as the demigod son of Zeus who saves the life of a princess by slaying a couple of lions. Her father is ever so grateful, but asks him if he could do just one more little job for him, slay a dragon and yank out a back tooth which is said to be charmed. Hercules takes the contract and the dragon is summarily dispatched.

But while the dragon is being slain, some nasty dudes carry off the king, the daughter, and all other able bodied folks as slaves for their queen who lives inside a hollow volcanic mountain with her subjects. All they leave behind is John Simons who then becomes Hercules's companion.

Simons is about as useful to Hercules as Pancho was to the Cisco Kid. But the reason he was left behind is he's hardly a valiant types. The men of the kingdom eat the hearts of the valiant in the belief it will increase their courage. This guy will put it in the negative.

The rest of the film is concerned with the rescue with Hercules battling a bear, two elephants, and the volcano itself. He proves to be quite invincible.

Simons provides some nice comic relief for the audience. The big guy is stoic throughout Simons's cowardly goofiness.

Peplum fans should like this one.

The soundtrack truly has beauty this movie almost doesn't deserve. This flick has Ercole fighting against a lion (to save the princess) and a bear, who follows the buffo for the honey the bad guys have smeared on his face before they tried to sacrifice him. There's also a scene where Vadis has to withstand 4 (!) elephants who try to tear him apart. The dragon-fight is taken as footage from the movie "Le fatiche d'Ercole", and the dancing scenes are also obviously "stolen" from another Italian masterpiece. You see Vadis running around in the caves of the cruel subterranean people (who love to sacrifice kids in order to gain their youth and women for their beauty) and beating up their soldiers, a cowardly comic relief character at his side who presents a contrast to Herc's unfailing braveness. The complete second half of the movie plays in the caves and becomes a little tiresome after a while. The opening sequence of the film is perfect though...in its own way.

Right off the bat I have to say this is not about Hercules but about the SON OF Hercules Ercole/Argolese. Most likely "son of" refers to a follower of Hercules. Like father, like son - Argolese is like his "father" so I guess it is a Hercules movie in a way.

This one does have some light comedy in it - including the man in the bear suit scenes. Babar gives us some comical lines and looks - the real comic relief of the film.

Not only does this peplum action-adventure "Hercules" film give us some light comedy, it is a fantasy film since we have a witch and a dragon. It does feel like a Dungeons and Dragons movie in it's way. And it has all the makings for a film that I enjoy. This one might be my favorite "Hercules" film from the 60s series.

6/10

Super-buffed bodybuilder, Dan Vadis, as Argolese, certainly made for a mighty impressive son of Hercules, even though, according to ancient legend, Hercules never had any sons.

As our story in this Italian import unfolds - Argolese falls head-over-heels in love with Telca, daughter of King Tedaeo, whose great kingdom is being held in thrall by the fierce army forces of the evil queen, Etel.

Somewhere along the way Argolese (accompanied by his chubby, comic sidekick, Barbar), manages to fight off attacks from lions, bears, and even a nasty-tempered dragon, too.

Following his brief stint as a son of Hercules, chiseled muscleman Dan Vadis (1938-1987) went on to appear in 3 Clint Eastwood films - "High Plains Drifter", "Bronco Billy" and "Any Which Way You Can".