Anthar l'invincibile

Typical early 60's Italian-Spanish-French made sword-and-sandal film. Anthor, yet another son of Hercules, helps out a princess escaping the rout of her people after a desert baddie takes over her kingdom. Lots of running around and skirmishes between the good guys and the bad guys. The DVD-R I viewed was pretty good quality. Would be nice to see these peplum films re-mastered and released to DVD (not DVD-R). Recommended for fans of the genre.

Adriano BELLINI aka Kirk MORRIS was one of the few Italian bodybuilders who landed leading roles in CINECITTA's sandal films. In this peplum with oriental flair he plays Anthar(es), who helps a beautiful king's daughter (Michele GIRARDON / the Brandy from HATARI!) in her fight against various villains.

It's not really innovative in terms of content, but there are a lot of very entertaining fight scenes to see. A fight between the muscleman and a rhino is original, and at the end it goes into a mysterious hall of mirrors. Roberto DellACQUA (1946-2019), who comes from a well-known family of acrobats who appeared in several CINECITTA films, can be seen as the hero's silent helper. Roberto later became known primarily as a sauce devil fighting against Bud SPENCER.

Not an outstanding contribution to the genre, but you can certainly take a look!

This review is of the US TV print, THE DEVIL OF THE DESERT AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES, which is probably edited. For some reason, a number of the sword-and-sandal films starring Kirk Morris put him in varied settings--Scotland, Atlantis,the Steppes of Russia, a generic "Arabic" setting. This one is set in the latter and does have some nice North African location shooting in a few scenes. It's the usual story of the daughter of nobility whose father is slain by an evil tyrant and who is sold into slavery, only to be saved by an honest, strong, brave man of common origin but renowned among the common people. Morris, who doesn't enter the film for at least ten minutes as the problem is established, is not usually given a lot of pages of dialogue in his films, and that's true here too, but like any stoic hero he doesn't need to say much because his actions speak louder than words and because all the words he speaks are of significance. The director here is Anthony Dawson/Antonio Marghetti, who has done many classics in the Italian Western and Horror fields. Here, he provides many unexpected visuals and keeps the pace moving quickly. The set design is vivid and unusual throughout also. This is an above average peplum film, fortunately in color (many US TV prints of sword and sandal films are B&W versions of films originally made and shown in Europe in color). I expect that someday these films will come to DVD in unedited form, letter boxed, in sparkling transfers, with original credits, such as has been done to Mario Bava horror films and various Italian westerns. But that day isn't here yet, so until then check the internet for VHS copies. If you like the genre, this one is worth seeing for the offbeat setting and the exciting pace. PS, Morris' mute sidekick is usually called Amute, but in one scene he is called, twice, something that sounds like "mosquito." Is that an Italian diminutive term of affection or a character name? Anyone know?

I always include a number of "Peplums" in my Easter epic viewing but, so far, I have only met with disappointment despite the credentials of those involved! The English moniker of this one muddles its pedigree by making an Arabian Nights fantasy seem like a typical mythological effort: indeed, leading man Kirk Morris is ostensibly muscle-bound and dubbed Anthar The Invincible (the film's original title) and, frankly, he could well have gone by any other name since his characterization offers nothing at all new to what he was given to do as Maciste, or any other legendary hero, for that matter!

The two villains we saw in the same director's THE GOLDEN ARROW (1962) virtually reprise their roles here, which further adds to the lack of novelty on display; even more slapdash is the fact that the protagonist is alternately identified as unfamiliar and a known threat to his adversaries! I guess I should point out that Morris battles a rhinoceros at a later stage in the proceedings, and the chief baddie has a hall of mirrors installed in a room of his castle (or, rather, that of the ruler he killed to usurp his throne). The female lead, then, is a Princess – played by French actress Michele Girardon, who had come down quite a bit from roles in films by Luis Bunuel and Howard Hawks! – who manages to escape his clutches (he being ever so clumsy in his approach to romantic persuasion) and saved from drowning by Morris and his dumb boyish sidekick (whom he simply calls "Mute"!), who naturally take up her cause at the bat of an eyelid…given that, apparently, they have no life to speak of!!

More an Arabian Nights adventure than a "Hercules" movie, this minor entry in the Sword-and-Sandal cycle lacks the verve, polish, and tongue-in-cheek humor needed to lift it above the level of the "forgettable." While the casting of Kirk Morris might lead one to expect generous servings of "beefcake," his initial appearance is the only scene in which he appears completely bare-chested. After that he's usually seen in a bolero jacket which shows off his arms and stomach but which, unfortunately, makes him look more like a comic side-kick than a two-fisted hero. Also, despite expectations to the contrary, Morris is not subjected to one of those torturous tests-of-strength which showcases his musculature in a bondage situation replete with homoerotic imagery. Instead, he's simply thrown into a pit with an irritated rhino -- a sequence which must have seemed better on paper than it proves to be on film. While not a bad movie -- it's passably entertaining in a Saturday matinée sort of way -- fans of this genre in general and of Kirk Morris in particular are advised to look for their satisfaction elsewhere.