Thursday, June 14, 2018

Thursday Movie Picks: Legend/Mythology


Thursday has rolled back around and it is once again time for Thursday Movie Picks hosted by Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves. The topic this time around is movies based on legend and/or mythology. There are literally thousands of such movies out there. I decided to limit my choices to a singular god. The one with the muscles.

Hercules in New York
(1969)
To most people, Arnold Schwarzenegger's movie career started with 1982's Conan the Barbarian. More informed viewers might tell you it began with a TV movie, 1980's The Jayne Mansfield Story or the 1976 documentary Pumping Iron. However, if you're really an Arnie aficianado, you know that his first acting gig was playing Greek god Hercules in this so-bad-it's-awesome treat. To be fair, it might be a bit confusing since he is billed as "Arnold Strong." Anyhoo, in this version, Herc gets kicked out of Olympus, lands in the Big Apple, becomes a pro wrestler, meets a girl, and gets mixed up with gangsters. No, seriously. (My full review)


Hercules
(1983)
We go from one body builder to another. This time Hercules is played by the Incredible Hulk of my youth, Lou Ferrigno. Could he handle the expanded acting responsibilities of playing a person with more lines that "Raaaawwwwwrrrrrr!" No, not really. The writing, directing, other actors, nor special fx were enough to help him out since they all sucked as well. Thankfully, they were all terrible in a fantastic way. So yeah, it's so bad it's awesome!


Hercules
(2014)
Okay, the man playing Hercules this time wasn't a bodybuilder, but he very well could've been. He is none other than The Rock, once a pro wrestler, just like Arnie's version of the character. Full circles, people. This 2014 version tells us that Hercules is not a god at all, but a regular dude. In fact, everything you know about him is a lie and he and his band of buddies are just a bunch of mercenaries. Is it any good? Well, it's not the good kind of good. It's the bad kind of good. Yeah, it is so bad it's awesome! (My quick and dirty review)






12 comments:

  1. I like this theme within a theme on this. All on Hercules. I even knew that Arnold did a film in the 70s. He had a small appearance in Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye which will tell anyone that Arnold at least worked with someone respected. I haven't seen any of these three films but I'm sure they're fun. I'll take something stupid and funny over something that takes itself way too seriously.

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    1. They are definitely stupid and do not take themselves too seriously.

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  2. I love a theme within the theme!! I have seen the first two of these, and I use the term loosely, films and decided I had punished myself enough and didn't return to the well for The Rock version secure in the knowledge that I was saving myself some pain! The first two...geesh! It was fun to see Arnie pre-fame though.

    I also themed it out with all mine relating to the Trojan story in one way or another.

    Iphigenia (1977)-Michael Cacoyannis’s (Zorba the Greek) intense rendering of the Greek tale of child sacrifice. King Agamemnon kills a deer in the sacred grove of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt which keeps the Greek fleet from sailing off to Troy. Turning to the oracle for a solution the message is handed down that the only way Agamemnon can restore the wind is to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia, to the goddess of the hunt. Summoning her under the guise of a betrothal and marriage contract to Achilles he is then faced with the bitter pleas and recriminations of his queen Clytemnestra (Irene Papas) and the defiance of Achilles, who discovers the plot and tries to intervene. Potent film with Papas a FORCE as the embattled queen.

    Troy (2004)-While on an official visit Trojan prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) falls for Sparta’s King Menelaus's (Brendan Gleeson) wife, Helen (Diane Kruger) and she flees with him to Troy. Menelaus’s brother King Agamemnon (Brian Cox) sees his opportunity to declare war in his attempt to extend his control over the Aegean Sea. While stopgaps lead by Achilles (Brad Pitt) and Paris’s brother Hector (Eric Bana) are attempted at the behest of Trojan King Priam (Peter O’Toole) it all escalates into epic tragedy. Monumentally BIG production with an extremely starry cast is involving and compelling if overlong with good performances across the board save Bloom but Eric Bana stand out as Hector.

    The Trojan Women (1971)-After the sacking of Troy Queen Hecuba (Katharine Hepburn) reflects on her ruined kingdom. Her son’s widow, Andromache (Vanessa Redgrave) is raising their son, Astyanax (Alberto Sanz) alone and Hecuba's daughter, Cassandra (Geneviève Bujold) dreads enslavement by their Greek masters. Meanwhile Helen of Troy (Irene Papas) risks being executed. All the women fear for Astyanax as he is now the focus of the Greeks' attention as the last male heir of the Trojan royal family. With that powerhouse cast and a dramatic story this should have been a riveting watch but its muddy photography, inert staging and despairing tone make it a slog.

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    1. When I sat down to watch The Rock's version of Hercules, I went in fully understanding it was probably going to be crap. It's a better movie than the other two versions above, but that doesn't make it good.

      Troy is the only one of your choices I've seen or heard of. I really enjoyed it, but it's time for a revisit as I can remember any of the details other than it being about the Trojan War.

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    2. Track down Iphigenia, its on DVD, its an intense powerful film....in Greek so a challenge but I was glad I watched.

      The Trojan Women is a misfire which I stuck with because I had only two Kate Hepburn films left to watch to see all her work (the other was regrettably another stinker "Grace Quigley" a dreadful thing wherein she teams with professional hitman Nick Nolte to ease her old friends suffering by snuffing them!) and I figured with that cast by the end it would be worthwhile. I was mistaken. But hey it gave me a film for the week so it wasn't a complete waste of time!

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    3. I'll try my best on Iphigenia, though I can't say I've ever come across that title before.

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  3. Oh Lord I tried to watch Hercules in New York some time ago and was so monumentally bored that I turned it off after the first 10-15 minutes or so. Even Arnie at peak physical perfection isn't enough to save that stinker, especially since he hadn't exactly found his true movie star charisma yet. I didn't realize Ferrigno also did a version of this, although I am painfully aware of The Rock's version. The second I saw the liberties they took with the story, I was out. The story is perfect on its own, why do you need to change it like that?

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    1. Hercules in NY is truly awful, but that's exactly why I watched it all the way through. The Ferrigno version is more in line with the classic mythology than The Rock's, but also ridiculously goofy.

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  4. Disney's is the only Hercules I've seen. I kinda want to see the one with Schwarzenegger, I don't know why though.

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    1. Proceed with caution, and only if you're in the mood for something terrible.

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  5. Haven't seen any of your picks. The only Hercules I've seen is the 90's Hercules TV series.

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