Hércules na Conquista de Atlântida

"Hercules returns just in time to save a gorgeous damsel in distress from the clutches of a wicked monster. The grateful beauty takes him to her home in Atlantis. Hercules must intervene again to save her from her murderous mother and some unfriendly inhabitants. Hercules, his son, and the maiden escape before the city and its population are destroyed," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Dubbed "Hercules and the Captive Women" from the original Italian, this one features Reg Park's debut as one of the exported "sword and sandal" strongmen. Don't watch for the numerous scenes involving Hercules rescuing "Captive Women" because there are none. Instead, you get to see him save one captive, or rather, less than half of her. There are some nicely dressed scenes, though.

*** Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide (8/19/61) Vittorio Cottafavi ~ Reg Park, Fay Spain, Ettore Manni, Luciano Marin

Here's another Reg Park Hercules movie on a par with Mario Bava's superb earlier film HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD. Director Cottafavi lacks Bava's visual flair, but serves up enough kitsch atmosphere and set pieces to keep things fun. Park's lunky presence and lunkheaded demeanor make him the perfect foil for the elegantly stiff Fay Spain, as the obligatory beautiful-but-evil empress of Atlantis. Cheesy monsters, a dwarf, bouffant hairdos and some deliberately-dumb, dubbed dialogue all combine to make this top-notch kitsch for peplum afficionados. And, let us repeat, "all hail Uranus!".

I always hated this movie when ever I saw it on TV. It was badly dubbed and rightly made fun of by Mystery Science 3000. Then I mistakenly picked up the film in its full Italian version with subtitles and was shocked that the film is so much better in its full form. It wasn't until the infamous Uranus line that I realized what I was watching. Granted its not Oscar material, but as far as Hercules films goes the uncut version of this film is so much better, fifteen minutes really do make the difference.

Before James Bond.

Before Indiana Jones.

There was the Hercules series.

Or at least the series starring Reg Park. These Hercules films were big, colorful, full of action and fun. They are also shockingly maligned, just by looking at the IMDb rating for HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN, which is a joke.

HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN wasn't your average low-budget Sword & Sandal flick. It was shot in Technirama (expensive 70mm) and the look of it, in the widescreen version, is remarkable to say the least: big colorful sets, big cast, big action. The details, in some scenes, is stunning.

The whole production reminds me of old serials where our hero encounters one pitfall after another. HATCW is like the missing link that bridges the gap between old serials of the 1930s/1940s and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. And like James Bond films (DR NO was made a year after this), this Hercules movie is replete with vast cavernous sets which dwarf the cast and are set on the side of spectacle.

CAPTIVE WOMEN has many highlights. My favorite part is when Hercules saves Iseme, daughter of Queen Antinea, from the clutches of Proteus. Psychedelia circa 1961, or psychedelia before psychedelia was in! The surreal look is great and precedes all other films made in the 1960s, including BARBARELLA or even Fellini films, like SATYRICON. In fact, HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN looks like an action film if it had been directed by Fellini. It doesn't shy away from combining odd imagery along with comic book action.

The cast is perfect. Steve Reeves was (and still is) the definitive Hercules but beefy Reg Park fits the bill here. Park is happy just to be an action hero as opposed to Reeves who wanted to be taken seriously as an actor. Fay Spain makes a memorable evil Queen. Laura Efrikian is beautiful as Iseme. Ettore Manni, a familiar face in Peplums and a pretty good actor, lends excellent support as Hercules' best friend, Androcles.

The film itself is not perfect. The story is a tad thin and the stock footage at the end is obviously just footage of an erupting volcano, and it definitely lacks a distinctive score to give the film that extra special character but even so, these things didn't diminish the fun I had while watching it.

HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN is the kind of movie I'll be watching again and again. It just rocks!

For nothing else, CAPTIVE WOMEN is worth checking out because it's the Reg Park-starring Herc film that preceded the epochal HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD directed by Mario Bava -- which still remains, hands down, the best of the Italian Herc movies ever made. CAPTIVE WOMEN is extremely well produced -- excellent production design and visual FX by Hercules standards -- and that's both its big plus and its big minus. The Retromedia DVD is very, very good -- in 2.35 Cinemascope, nice transfer -- and it's terrific to see a Hercules film given this kind of loving treatment. BUT -- it does point out some of the shortcomings of CAPTIVE WOMEN. Which are, mainly, that not a helluva lot happens. Herc goes sailing, a buddy goes overboard ... and he winds up in Atlantis, where the Evil Queen (note: Queens are almost always evil, and extremely smokin' hot, in Herc movies) gives him a magic potion designed to make him fall in love with her. Second note: magic potions figure prominently in a LOT of Hercules films, and they're almost always administered by smokin' hot Evil Queens trying to get Herc to fall in love with them. That's what we love about these films. Anyhow ... great production values but a bit, well, stiff somehow.