Golias e o Dragão

I saw the poster for GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON outside a theater when I was a kid and was dying to see it. Unfortunately I had to wait over thirty years until just the other day when I found a cheap VHS copy in a video store. Was it worth the wait? Absolutely --- but not for the reasons I'd expected. In addition to the cool poster what intrigued me about the film were the Jim Danforth stop motion sequences added for the American release. Pictures of the dragon made it look pretty good. Unfortunately the model is poorly used in the film itself, and nowhere is it shown off to such good advantage as in the publicity stills. Animation-wise the film was a major disappointment.

And other-wise? Well, you gotta give this movie a big A for Ambition. Hercules (excuse me, GOLIATH) doesn't just duke it out with soldiers, he battles a three headed dog, a bat monster, a centaur, a bear, and at one point even wrestles an elephant to the ground! Unfortunately none of these conflicts is handled with anything like the skill needed to really bring them off, but you've gotta love them for trying. And the movie, goofy and slipshod as it is, never bores. Peplum fans should check it out.

I saw the Alpha Video DVD of GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON, which is from a well-preserved widescreen print, and it's dazzling to look at! To be sure, the color balance goes a bit wonky in a few outdoor scenes, but the aquamarine trees and purple skies almost seem intentional, given the strangeness of director Vittorio Cottafavi's vision. If all the old sword and sandal epics were in this good a shape, the genre would attract many more fans.

The movie itself is a delirious muscleman fantasy from start to finish. A bearded Mark Forest shows off the biggest pecs and widest lats of his generation, and melts everyone with his smile (except scar-faced Broderick Crawford as the cranky villain). The costumes are beautiful, the sets are extravagant, the exterior landscapes are a lush paradise, the monsters are huge puppets, and just when you think the story can't become more bizarre...it does! An absurdly majestic music score by Les Baxter strives to match the melodrama of a hero who dares to revolt against the gods themselves.

Cottafavi will try just about anything to dazzle and disorient the viewer. In one scene, as our hero approaches, looms above, and then passes over the camera, the point of view turns completely upside-down; the effect is so audacious I had to laugh out loud! This is fearless (and yes, perhaps sometimes mindless) film-making, and the result is truly dreamlike, if not downright mythic.

This myth-opera Peplum deals about Hercules , he finishes the seven works going to inferno in the center of earth , a hell plenty of craters , volcano , yellow fume and red foggy in gaudy colors and groundbreaking atmosphere . There he battles can Cerbero with various heads spitting fire and a flying monster similar a large bat (creatures made by Carlo Rambaldi : ET) . Later on , there takes place a palace intrigue with a tyrant named Euristeo (a scarface Broderick Crawford , in the U.S. version, it's not his voice, but a voice actor impersonating him) attempting to rule over the city of Tebas and our hero unhesitatingly goes into action and must use his strength to save his wife and son of a cruel torture with elephants ; plus , he confronts Zeus represented by a great sculpture . Here Hercules is married to Deianira (Leonora Ruffo) and has a rebel and angry son (Moretti) facing off his father , but he's impeded on relationship with Thea and even he's tied a tree by Hércules . Finally , it takes place an exciting final confrontation into a snakes pit .

This muscle-man epic displays action , adventures , mythology, bizarre and luxurious scenarios and results to be quite amusing . The movie has not mythological accuracy , neither expectation historical . This film is listed among the 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Awards . Stunningly cheap special effects like the shots and close-ups of a giant bear that's a man suited struggling against Hércules . Besides , it appears usual Eurotrash babes such as Wandisa Guisa and Leonora Ruffo and a habitual Spaghetti Western : Robert Hundar as a centaur . Mark Forest is good and strong playing the mythical hunk who finds several risks while attempting to defeat his enemies and fighting monsters and numerous odds . Forest played the hero in great number of movies and was randomly assigned the identity of Hércules , Goliath , Samsom for US version . Bouncing and robust Forest was a muscle-man who allegedly left the Gladiators genre for the Opera and he currently teaches in the L.A. zone . He was one along with the biggest chests like are Gordon Scott , Alan Steel , Reg Park , Ed Fury , Dan Vadis , all of them to seek fortune acting absurdly mythological figures but nobody topped Steve Reeves in popularity .

This motion picture is an enjoyable sword and sandals story , being compellingly directed by Vittorio Cottafavi (1914-1998), he was a complete artist , painter and Peplum expert , as he directed : ¨Conquest of Atlántida¨ , ¨Legions of Cleopatra¨ , ¨Mesallina¨ and ¨Rebellion of gladiators¨ . Originally titled "Hercule's Revenge", but since Universal owned the rights to Hercules at the time, the title was changed and the name of the main character was changed to Goliath.

Broderick Crawford plays his role of a corrupt would-be emperor like he were still playing a 20th century gangster. Watch him bark orders to soldiers like he were plotting a gangland rubout. Meanwhile Mark Forest is the hero called "Emilius" who is nicknamed Goliath because he is so strong and (apparently) immortal. He also has a younger brother is is neither superstrong nor immortal and a mortal wife who is not bothered by the fact that she will eventually grow old and die but he won't. Go figure. Most of us watch these movies for the monsters and oft-times the cheesier the better. After a mechanical 3 headed fire breathing dog (ahem, that is NOT Cerberus!), a man in suit giant bat and a centaur (which had to have been the most uncomfortable costume in the bunch) seeing a dragon that is partially stop motion animated was a real treat. Oh yeah, in closeups it is a giant rubber prop but those few moments of animation make it worthwhile. There is enough plot here for 2 movies and it does not always make perfect sense but the action will keep your attention. Oh and look closely at that dragon. David Hewitt borrowed some of the stop-motion scenes for his no budget thriller THE MIGHTY GORGA.

After the amazing success of "Goliath and the Barbarians" with Steve Reeves, American International pictures decided to go "Goliath" again and picked up the option on "Goliath and the Dragon".....Reeves was offered the role but due to conflicts with another film, American muscleman Mark Forrest took the role of Goliath. Talk about a goofy film.....Forrest certainly has the muscles for the role, but the cardboard sets, bats and monsters flying in on a wire you can see....and a man in a bear suit fighting Goliath....geez!!! Broderick Crawford dropped his Highway Patrol microphone and played Eurytus, a maniac despot with a penciled in scar on his face who tries to get rid of Goliath anyway he can, including sicking his pet dragon on Goliath. Goliath fights elephants, centaurs, bats, bears and manages to pull down two giant trees with a rope to the ground!! On well, if Steve Reeves could pull a tree out of the ground in "Hercules" I guess Goliath could pull down a couple too...... Absolute silly scene with Forrest as Goliath fighting a rubber dragon with a plastic knife breathing fire.....phoniest dragon up close you have ever seen!! Producers even used the same musical sound track for this film as "Goliath and the Barbarians" to save a few bucks I guess. Forrest went on to star in a number of muscleman flicks that Reeves apparently wasn't interested in making. Forrest appeared as Goliath again in "Goliath and the Sins of Babylon" again for American International pictures......guess they tried to milk the Goliath role for all they could get!!!