La furia di Ercole

FURY OF HERCULES is a damn good Hercules film -- in fact, it's a very solid and satisfying period action film by any standards, and you have to see at least 8 - 10 Hercules movies to know the difference. The plot revolves around Hercules (Brad Harris) visiting the daughter of an old friend and forced to choose between sides in a guerrilla rebellion. Most Hercules films -- God bless 'em! -- rely on standard plot devices and stock characters to move things forward. That's true here -- but to a point. Director Gianfranco Paolini actually pays attention to detail, and includes the kind of almost-throwaway moments that distinguish a wonderful Budd Boetticher film like BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE. Again, watch closely and you'll see. The other big plus here is that the story moves forward like a runaway freight train -- a lot of Hercules films are great to look at (HERCULES VS. THE CAPTIVE WOMEN is beautiful but surprisingly stiff), but this has the propulsive movement of a good Hollywood action film. Again, it's the difference between something like Hawks's LAND OF THE PHAROAHS (great) and THE Egyptian (pretty but boring.) Brad Harris is a decent Herc -- but for my money, the best is (believe it or not) Mickey Hargitay in HERCULES VS. THE HYDRA. Wish there was a better version than the old Goodtimes VHS but it's okay. Oh, and there's legendary French crooner Serge Gainbourg - almost forgot!

The generic "Hercules" plot can be found here. This plot is set in a tyrannical kingdom where an evil ruler, often a queen, faces a revolt from freedom-loving rebels. Not surprisingly, the queen casts lustful eyes upon Hercules and tries to win him to her side but he's more attracted to one of the queen's handmaidens who turns out to have ties to the rebels. The queen then resorts to magic spells to temporarily cloud Hercules' mind but he soon comes to his senses and joins the revolt, usually enduring some bondage, torture, and tests-of-strength along the way. The ruler is overthrown, the rebels are victorious, crowds cheer, and Hercules gazes lovingly upon the handmaiden. There are only minor variations to this plot in "The Fury of Hercules." The queen, for instance, is more misguided than evil, and Hercules never once winds up in chains, but all this is still familiar enough to confuse with a dozen other sword-and-sandal productions. If there's a distinguishing factor here, it's Idaho-born Brad Harris who has not only the body of Hercules but also a good-looking face. His acting is adequate and his personality passable. One wishes he had better material to work with. He should, for example, have more scenes in which he's completely bare-chested. Get rid of that strap over his shoulder! Weasel-faced Serge Gainsbourg, so villainous in "Revolt of the Slaves," does the same sort of job here.

Peplum and Sandals always has been my guilty pleasure pictures, nobody did it better than the Italians ever, this turn the bulky Brad Harris embodies the might hero from ancient Greek, everything begins when Hercules headed to a kingdom whereof knew the old King, now ruled by his daughter Cinidia (Mara Berni) on arrival Hercules is received as honor by the gorgeous Queen, however Hercules realizes that much thing gonna change since his last visit, the wise counselors no longer were there, asking for their whereabouts the Queen gave a shallow explanation about a possible retirement on overseas.

Also Hercules figures out that a strong wall has been building surround the city, lift up by slavery which such outrageous thing never occurred when the King was alive, he saw some whispers of dissatisfaction of the citizen on extreme poverty as well, worst a strong rumors of a possible uprising over the newest advisers lead by the bleak and evil Menisto (Serge Gainsbourgh) who rules by a heavy hands over the handled and forbearing Queen, thru a spy inside the palace the eye-candy Daria (Brigitte Corey) whom provides valuable info for the rebels lead by her own father, seeing such misery and uniquity Hercules enters side by side with the bravery people in this bloody endeavor.

I've the self-called "Original" DVD come out on Brazil, due it hasn't the renewed the copyrights it caught on public domain, so they released it in a wash out copy, barely can see through the poor footage, who came to help me anyhow, the friend of all times Youtube, I've found an almost restored print, pretty decent, it gave me a complete and utter upgrade living up my garbage copy.

Thanks for reading.

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First watch: 2024 / How many: 1 / Source: Youtube / Rating: 5.5.

Hercules, the legendary hero with almost superhuman strength, returns to his hometown of Arpad after many years. The city is now ruled by Queen Knidia. With the wicked guidance of the domineering minister Menistos, she ends up oppressing and tormenting the people. Hercules decides to put an end to this tyranny and sides with the rebelling masses. Blinded by a hunger for power and hatred, Menistos now does everything they can to capture Hercules- dead or alive.

Brad Harris - who bears a passing resemblance to Kirk Douglas - plays Hercules in this typical peplum which, predictably, has familiar tropes. An evil villain, oppressed people, a useless Queen, dungeons, feats of strength, schemes and a test - which features a battle with a lion and a gorilla. None of these face-offs are that thrilling. The gorilla is a man in a suit and moves like he's drunk. The other action scenes are better, Brad Harris makes a good Hercules, gets a bit intense and angry towards the end, but it's Serge Gainsborg as the evil minister who steals the thunder. There's the usual bevy of beautiful women and grand schemes to overcome the bad guys. Discriminate viewers will not be too impressed, but I enjoyed it, finding its pace fairly brisk. The finale is quite rousing.

Sandals film (1962) with Brad Harris - this time as Hercules

The German versions with their confusing titles are a chapter in themselves. Peplum star Brad Harris (1933-2017) and his films were particularly affected by the arbitrariness of German dubbing. In this film SAMSON, BEFREIER DER VERSKLAVTEN , called "La furia di Ercole" in the original and "The Fury of Hercules" in the American version, he is finally really the ancient demigod. The Italian-French co-production, staged as effectively as usual by his resident director Gianfranco Parolini, was shot in Zagreb and was released in West German cinemas on January 11, 1963. The cast is largely the same as its predecessor, "Sansone / Herkules im Netz der Cleopatra / Hercules in Cleopatra's Net" (1961), in which muscle man Brad Harris actually played Samson. But let's leave it alone!

This time it's about the kingdom of Nisia, which, after the king's death, is unlawfully ruled by the cruel ex-advisor Menisto (Serge Gainsbourg, who would later have some world hits as a chansonnier in a duet with Brigitte Bardot and his wife Jane Birkin). King's daughter Cnidia (Mara Berni) is completely under control. Since the people suffer a lot from this, there are repeated uprisings. Hercules/Samson (Brad Harris), who has now fallen in love with the servant Daria (Luisella Boni), takes the side of the people and helps the insurgents (including Sergio Ciani, who would soon play leading roles in his own sandal films as a muscle man). To overcome tyranny.

In terms of content, not much different happens than in the previous film. Serge Gainsbourg is once again particularly impressive as the villain, who clearly had fun with these roles. The child actor is again Gianfranco Gasparri, who as Franco Gasparri would later become the star of some Poliziotteschi. In another supporting role is the German actress Elke Arendt, who was born in 1939 and became known for the film "Schneewittchen und die sieben Zwerge / Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1955). In her further career she was also engaged at the Staatstheater Kassel. Until his death three months ago, Elke Arendt was married to Stephan Orlac (1931-2020), who was best known alongside Maria Sebaldt in the ZDF hit series "Die Wicherts von nebenan / The Wicherts from Next Door" (1986-1991).

Worth it for fans of the Peplum genre and Brad Harris!

RIP Stephan Orlac (1931-2020)