A Fúria de Hércules

Routine sword and sandal :it's 25 centuries before Christ ,folks,and that wicked prime minister Menistus (Serge Gainsbourg)is making rough all over:"only blood and violence can lead to power!" "reprisals! repression!" "death to the rebels!" ...

It was the third time the great singer/songwriter had appeared in a sword and sandal after "Sansone" and "La Rivolta Della Schiavi" .I'm forced to recognize,one more time,that,while a brilliant songwriter maybe the best France has ever had,Gainsbourg -Whitney Houston might remember him-was a lousy actor.

If you do not ask too much ,this Hercules (Ercole)is not worse than the others;there are even endearing characters,some "nice" people die ,which is very rare in this kind of flick,and the queen herself is ,relatively speaking,an ambiguous character,at once guilty and innocent.Hercule is strong ,that's all the director asks from him.His endeavors are business as usual:fight against a lion , a gorilla (a man dressed up as a gorilla more like)etc..Full of finer feelings ,with a finale verging on melodrama.All in all,a lesson in democracy.

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!

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.

In THE FURY OF HERCULES, it's Brad Harris' turn to toss grown men around like so much pizza dough, as the human boxcar of the title.

This time out, Big H saves a queen from a pirouetting pair of ballet assassins. The grateful queen takes Herc into her private chambers and into her confidence. Alas, she turns out to be a royal bossy boots, enslaving the populace! If she's not bad enough, her underlings are even worse!

Now, wearing a cream-colored, one-piece mini-dress for spring, H-Man must free the slaves. But first, it's time for the obligatory "test of strength", wherein he battles a lion and a rather sickly looking go-rilla, before tangling with another muscleman in a cage match to the death!

Soon, our gargantuan hero is moving 5-ton slabs of stone, on his way to deliver the downtrodden. All, while wearing the latest in red, beach cover-ups. When a band of hillbilly-ish cavemen attack, we get to see him go completely berserk-ules!

Harris does a decent job playing the big lug. Fans of the genre know the routine, and all of the necessary elements are in place...

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.