Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur (1994)

Hercules sits his kids down to tell them stories of his past, trying to recapture a little of his glory years. Yet deep inside he yearns to be going out on adventures. Michael Hurst is back as Iolaus, so it must be cause for celebration. right? RIGHT??!!? Wrong. Half the story is flashbacks to the other previous TV movies, thus making this one a tad lame to sit through, but sit through I must since it leads up to the great TV series. The parts that new are good but the flashbacks kill it and make this the least engrossing of the TV movies. Pity as this was the one that came closet to capturing the feel of the subsequent TV series.My Grade: C-

In the final Hercules made-for-television movie, Hercules is called upon to save a village from a Minotaur. But things are not as simple as they seem. The Minotaur has a secret that Hercules must overcome if he is to save himself and the village.This is easily the weakest of the five movies that preceded the television series. Half of the running time is filled with flashbacks from the four previous movies. It gets old real quick. The actual battle with the Minotaur is a disappointment as well. The costume worn by the actor playing the Minotaur makes it all but impossible for him to move with any grace during the fight scenes. The relationship between Hercules and Iolaus, which would become one of the highlights of the television series, seems very unnatural. Almost all of the dialogue is designed to set up the next flashback.Too bad, because this one has a lot of potential. The plot concerning the Minotaur's secret is one of the best in the five movies. Although the way it is handled makes it very obvious for anyone to guess.

This is the fifth and final episode of the Hercules television movies. This movie contains a lot of flashbacks of the other four movies. Because of this the story itself slows down and most of the times the flashbacks are annoying. And that is a shame, because this could be the best episode of them all, because it has the best plot. It could have been so much better if they put King Minos and all the others in the movie as well. But in stead we just see the Minotaur. But still, this Hercules-movie is a good and enjoyable action/adventure movie with good acting, great locations and a good climax. It still is a lot better than the tv-show that followed.

Of all the Hercules tv-movies that were made, this one manages to achieve the tone and theme of the Legendary Journeys. Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst have good chemistry with each other. My only problem with this tv-movie was the flashbacks. In my opinion, they really just slowed things down. Other than that, this pretty good and should be seen.