Maciste contro i Mongoli

HERCULES AGAINST THE MONGOLS is another film about the exploits of Maciste, whose name was changed to Hercules for American audiences.

One day, while building a nifty footbridge, Hercules / Maciste is given a prophesy that he must face the hordes of Genghis Khan. It seems that the sons of Khan are thundering across the land, making a big mess of things.

It's not long before Herc grabs a tree in order to teach the Mongols a lesson in civility.

Batter up!

Meanwhile, the Mongols capture the beautiful Bianca de Tuleda (Jose Garci) and her people. Allowing himself to be caught, Big H infiltrates the Mongol empire. Obviously, this leads to the obligatory "test of strength", this time, proving who is worthy of Bianca.

Many are killed, and H-Man must hold up a huge slab of granite (aka: styrofoam) or more will perish! When he's locked up in a cell with a lion, he must prove he's the true "king of beasts". In his bathrobe, no less!

Can our favorite human forklift defeat the sons of Khan?

This is a rather fast-paced movie with a boffo finale featuring battle and disaster! Lovers of the genre will be utterly entertained...

As I've said in other reviews, the sword and sandal genre isn't exactly one that I enjoy. But I think even those who do enjoy its offerings will find this particular one tough to sit through. One big reason for that is that the hero (Maciste or Hercules, depending on what version you watch) is particularly weak. Not when it comes to physical strength (though his strength does fluctuate through the movie), but when it comes to his character. We learn nothing about him, like how he got to this part of the world or what he feels or thinks about anything. In fact, he's off screen for big chunks of the running time. This might have been looked over had the movie done well in other areas, but it doesn't. While the awful dubbing does provoke a few chuckles here and there, it doesn't make up for the fact the movie is extremely dull. There's far more talk than action, and when there is action, it's staged and directed in a very feeble fashion. It didn't take long into watching the movie for me to wish that it would end much quicker than it actually did, and I suspect that you'll feel the same way as well.

This particular peplum finds Hercules/Maciste going up against the sons of Genghis Khan and I have to say that these three are about as lousy a set of progeny I've seen on the screen since My Darling Clementine and those inbred Clantons.

Genghis Khan has died, but decreed that the Mongol empire would now live in peace with its Christian neighbors. But the three sons have different ideas, they want to go back to the old Mongol plundering ways. They kill the shaman giving Genghis Khan his last rites and then proclaim Christian treachery. Then they ride in and sack the Kingdom of Judela, kill the king and start looking for the boy prince, they take prisoner after awhile his sister.

Enter Mark Forest and Hercules/Maciste who performs the usual who performs his usual feats of strength like killing a lion and lifting a cement pillar. Of course the three brothers all want to be top dog and that's an apt description of them. And the Christians have one traitor in their midst.

It's all in a day's work for our hero.

Annoying music, decors and costumes used in hundreds of other movies, idiot script, zero quality actors, a terrible boredom. I can not even call it a movie.

Maciste (Mark Forest) comes to the rescue of Princess Bianca who is threatened by the 3 sons of Genghis Khan. Maciste uses the opportunity that the 3 sons are rivals in a fight for leadership and becomes a slave for one of them to fight the others, see Bianca and plan her escape at a tournament. Little does he know that the princess trusts a traitor instead of him...

Maciste's name is changed to 'Hercules' in some countries again, which doesn't make much sense as the legends of Hercules are set approximately 3000 years before Genghis Khan lived. Nevertheless, this is one of the better productions of the series. The idea to have several villains instead of the usual usurper of the throne makes the story slightly less predictable, and the production value with many horses and extras is above average. The typical human touch - Maciste, helper of the poor - is introduced nicely in the first scene when Maciste builds a bridge.