The Mighty Hercules!

I watched two classic flicks back to back yesterdy-- Hercules and Hercules Unchained, the original two Steve Reeves movies starring the muscleman as the mythic hero.

One thing I noted about both films is that they are a bit too long. There is some great action (for the time) but there are spots where the story languishes for no clear reason. I'm not someone who demands furious activity all the time in my movies, but I do want all the minutes in a movie to contribute to the story significantly. These movies seem to pad a bit here and there.

But that's a quibble. Steve Reeves is amazingly handsome in these movies and he towers over the other actors adding to the suggestion of his superhuman status. I'd never noticed how many costume changes there are in both flicks, something of a fetish almost. Every half hour or so Herc is sporting some new tunic. My favorite was the fur one in the original movie. Also in that one Hercules swings both a giant club and chains to very good effect. This movie gets a bit somber in spots, but the action sequences are stupendous.

The sequel is pretty good and offers a neat mystery at the beginning. Hercules though takes a very long time falling into the clutches of the villainess, though things propel okay once he's there. The battle before the gates of Thebes is pretty well done and reasonable spectacle for the day and the budget.

These aren't great movies, but they are fun. Only in movies like this can you accept the ludicrous dragon that Jason battles for the Golden Fleece. It seems to be full-scale but we never get a decent look at it before that single spear kills it. That was an odd moment.

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