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Hercules [2004]
![Hercules [2004]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Y45TYG79L._SL160_.jpg)
RRP: £5.99
Not perfect, but very enjoyable.
Review date: 2007-04-10 Rating: 6 out of 10
As someone interested in the classical world I've watched quite a few of these mini-series based on Greek and Roman history or mythology and after every viewing I'm reminded of the old Punch magazine cartoon about the curate's egg (a visiting curate assures the bishop that parts of his suspect breakfast egg are very good.)Usually production values in these miniseries are good, the historical or mythological sources are generally respected and after 3 hours of viewing you switch off having enjoyed yourself but without any sense of having watched a classic. My major dissatisfactions often have to do with the casting which always follows a set formula of having a couple of well-known stalwarts (in Hercules we get Timothy Dalton) who often provide the best acting, or a well-known face from a hit TV series, backed up by a mass of little-known or unknown actors of varying abilities who often seem poorly cast and who often struggle with the clunking dialogue. Hercules is no exception to this rule and we get English, American, Scottish, Irish and Aussie accents jostling with each other and not a single face that looks vaguely mediterranean or classical. Nor does the wonderful New Zealand scenery really evoke the Greek world. And then there's the costumes. The Greeks didn't exactly overdress but in Hercules everyone wears what appears to be heavy late Roman and mediaeval clobber. But like the proverbial curate's egg parts of this miniseries are good. You're unlikely to have any complaints about Hercules himself who's played by Paul Telfer, an athletic Scottish hunk who knows how to act (I realised I'd seen him recently in the BBC's Hotel Babylon in which he played the handsome, scheming bellboy, Luke, and I remember thinking then that he somewhat resembles a very young Sean Connery and would have made a better James Bond than the present incumbent.) You also get some pretty good special effects and plenty of action of the sword-and-sandal variety. Yes, I confess I enjoyed it all and I think you will too, but as usual I switched off feeling that the film-makers had missed a few opportunities. To my mind only one production captures on celluloid the true flavour of the greek myths and that's Ray Harryhausen's 1960s Jason and the Argonauts which you've probably seen a dozen times (but if not then snap it up) and which correctly portrays Hercules as a bearded older man and Hylas as his "special mate".
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Reviews
Still entertaining
Review date: 2006-05-06 Rating: 8 out of 10
I usually prefer to watch films that are true to the original story and this was definately not. But there was nothing else on tele so I watched it anyway and it was very good and I enjoyed it a lot, so much I watched the next installment the next day with my popcorn and bottle of cider. And now I am just about to buy it on DVD to join my others in the archive of Greek mythology films.
Crass inaccurate Hollywood adaption of Greek myths
Review date: 2006-01-15 Rating: 4 out of 10
Utter tripe! Why make a version of the Hercules story if you're going to change everything, this is just as poor a version as that awful "Earthsea" was of Ursula Leguin's novels. I may be pedantic for objecting to them calling him the Roman Hercules instead of Greek Heracles while using Greek names otherwise but this was the least of the problems. The gods were barely in it, but the landscape was crawling with nymphs, centaurs etc., and much was made of the rivalry between worshippers of different gods for some reason. Deianeira was a nymph in this although I'm sure she wasn't supposed to be, Alcmene and Megara were made out to be evil, conniving enemies of Heracles and I don't think Heracles murdured Megara in this version although he did in the myths. And what was the purpose of resurrecting that Linus person? Perhaps Hollywood has rules about heroes needing sidekicks. I didn't bother watching the second half, so it may have improved during the twelve tasks. I feel Robert Graves wouldn't have approved, and if you like your mythical adventures reasonably accurate, give this the body swerve.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Sean Astin
Elizabeth Perkins
Timothy Dalton
Paul Telfer
Recording label: Contender Entertainment Group
Manufacturer: Contender Entertainment Group
EAN: 5030305103392
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2006-08-14
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 160 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2004
Language: English (Original Language)