Ancient mythology is not as rich as it might seem at first glance. Of course, connoisseurs and researchers of ancient myths can spend hours talking about them, recalling new names and stories. But which of them are familiar to the average layman, the average spectator?
Filmmakers turn to ancient mythology, hoping that the audience will be interested in a story about characters that they already know. In ancient Greece, these are the main Olympic gods and famous heroes, so it is now fashionable to make films about the gods and about Hercules.
Films about Hercules regularly appear at the box office after the 50s of the last century, and after the 300 Spartans and Gladiator brought back public interest in peplums, the question of the appearance of the hero on the screen was resolved.
Italian peplums
Opens the list of films about Hercules Italian adventure painting by Pietro Francischi "The exploits of Hercules." The 1958 tape is based on the free fantasy of the director and screenwriter Ennio de Conchini on the myths about the hero's exploits - about his contribution to the campaign for the Golden Fleece. Peplum IMDb rating: 5.40.
The next project among films about the exploits of Hercules is the 1959 painting, the name of which literally translates from Italian as “Hercules liberated” or “Hercules liberated,” but the subtitle “The exploits of Hercules: Hercules and Queen Lydia” is known at the box office. The picture was directed by the same Pietro Francis. The script is based on the tragedies of Aeschylus “Seven against Thebes” and Sophocles “Oedipus in Colon”. An interesting fact is that when creating "Django Unchained", Quentin Tarantino actively used the material of this film by Pietro Francisi.
The director (Franchisi) addressed this topic in 1963. He removes another peplum, Hercules vs. Samson, a free crossover of ancient myths. In the center of the story is Hercules, Odysseus and the biblical Samson.
Horror and fantasy
In 1961, the directorial duet of Mario Bava and Franco Prosperi removed the film “The exploits of Hercules: Hercules in the kingdom of shadows.” Their work is a cut above the traditional products of the “swords and sandals” category, although they are based on the same motifs of ancient Greek myths about the demigod. The founder of the Italian horror Mario Bava with minimal production costs created an openly frightening world of the dead and terrible, blood-drinking monsters that the hero had to fight with. Without this picture, the list of films about Hercules would not be complete.
In the same year, the Italian director Vittorio Cottavafi presented to the audience the tape “Hercules conquers Atlantis”. The Italian-French adventure film project presents an author’s interpretation of ancient Greek myths. This is another film about Hercules and his adventures.
Extraordinary projects
The list of films about Hercules sometimes does not include a documentary short film by Werner Herzog. The director’s debut work, which he shot at the age of twenty, is called Hercules, but it is a modern analogue of the exploits of a mythological hero. At the center of the story is a man with high-profile muscles, who is engaged in the gym and will have to solve acute problems that have matured in modern society.
In 1983, not wanting to put up with the crisis of the genre, Luigi Cozzi, who acted as the director and author of the script, removes the US-Italian peplum Hercules. The plot focuses on the confrontation between Hercules and King Minos, claiming world domination. The project in the list of films about Hercules is distinguished by the participation of a whole galaxy of movie stars. In 1985, the sequel “Hercules 2” was released.
All ardent fans of Arnold Schwarzenegger are strongly recommended to watch the adventure film "Hercules in New York" (1969). This is the first game picture in which the future greatest actor of our time starred. In the mid-90s, the masterpiece of director Arthur Allan Saydelman was translated into Russian by Yuri Serbin. The tape was distributed in the CIS on semi-legal video tapes.
According to the familiar pattern
In the 90s, Hollywood had several visits to the territory of myths of Ancient Greece. The most successful project is deservedly considered the series "Amazing wanderings of Hercules" with Kevin Sorbo. The tremendous popularity of the television movie has confirmed that the ancient formula for success does not expire.
The television show was preceded by five feature films:
- Hercules and the Amazons, directed by Bill L. Norton, who became the first in the series;
- "Hercules and the Lost Kingdom," directed by Harley Cocliss;
- Hercules and the Circle of Fire, directed by director Doug Lefler;
- "Hercules in the Underworld," in the director's chair again, Bill L. Norton;
- "Hercules in the Cave of the Minotaur" - the final episode of the epic, the pilot for the series, prepared for release by the same Bill L. Norton.
By the way, in 2005, director Roger Young, inspired by the success of the 90s show, decided to conquer the public with his mini-series Hercules. The imperishable Greek epic again received a free interpretation, and the story of the demigod became like a farce because of the branded "chips" of Indian cinema.
Hero's return
In 2014, an impressive adventure action movie "Hercules" was released for rent, which has no analogues in the list of films and TV shows about Hercules. Despite the unambiguous hints of the promotion company, there is absolutely no fantasy in the picture, but for the PG-13 rating it is quite bloody and brutal.
The director of the film was Brett Ratner, who turned history into an ideal “role-playing” movie. The narration in plain text, not veiled, without symbolism and metaphors, communicates obvious moralizing truths. The main character Hercules (Dwayne Johnson), a powerful and invulnerable mercenary, along with his minions travels around the country in search of work. And his nephew Iolaus composes and distributes fables about the deeds of his uncle.
One of the hollywood twins
In the same year, the premiere screening of a fantasy adventure thriller in 3D “Hercules: The Beginning of a Legend” took place. His version of the exploits of the most famous hero of ancient Greek myths was presented by director Rennie Harlin. Critics took the tape with hostility, positioning it as an exciting, unconvincing, created without inspiration and fiction imitation of the “Gladiator” and “300 Spartans” disguised as a movie about Hercules.