Hercules Unchained (1960)

In this follow-up to the blockbuster hit HERCULES, our muscular hero travels to his home land to discover treachery and a war between two brothers for domination of the city of Thebes. Acting as a diplomat between the two men, he is employed with transporting a treaty from one to the other. Along the way he drinks from the fountain of forgetfulness and is captured by a cruel queen who loves men and then turns them into statues. Eventually breaking free from his memory loss, he escapes and goes to battle to rescue his captured wife.Firstly, ignore the plot as the box has it. Obviously written by somebody who's never seen the film, it makes no sense and hardly any of it happens in HERCULES UNCHAINED. What we have here is a straightforward adventure yarn with a rather complex plot for a change involving lots of different groups of people (there are at least four armies around here). With photography by one Mario Bava, the film is lovely and colourful to look at although sometimes the low budget is apparent (especially in the fun but cheap-looking lion fights).Like most films from this period, there's a bit of everything for people to enjoy. The violence is tame by today's standards (even getting the film a 'U' certificate) yet still involves people hacking each other up with swords and bleeding all over the place and getting thrown to their deaths - with the impact on screen! I could have done without the romantic subplot between Reeves and Sylvia Lopez, who plays Queen Omphale, although you have to admire the scriptwriter's ingenuity which allows Reeves to have an affair through forgetfulness and yet return to a loving, unsuspecting wife afterwards! Steve Reeves is on top form here, playing his best remembered role and his muscular physique is something to look at. Throughout the film he does all sorts of manly things, including bending bars (underwater this time), moving huge boulders, holding open huge steel doors as they close, and throwing giant statues at the enemy! Koscina is also quite radiant as his long-suffering wife while Gabriele Antonini lends some comic relief as the young Ulysses - his impersonation of a deaf mute had me repeatedly in stitches! While the romantic aspect of the film is quite boring and there's a definite lull in the middle, you always know that there'll be another action set piece coming up and sure as hell, there is. This keeps the film entertaining throughout. They even manage to throw in a full-scale war at the end, as well as some gladiatoral combat and a macabre museum of human corpses! My favourite scene has Hercules fighting an immortal 'earth god' who repeatedly laughs at his opponent's efforts to beat him - until he is dunked unceremoniously in the ocean by our friendly titan! HERCULES UNCHAINED definitely isn't the best of the genre and there are a lot better efforts out there, but it's nice to look at and a lot of fun on an escapist level.

"Hercules Unchained" (1959) is an Italian/French/Spanish sword & sandal flick in the mold of Kirk Douglas' "Ulysses" (1954). I always loved "Ulysses" as a kid (and adult), which is far better than the boring 1997 TV remake "The Odyssey" despite its datedness. So if you have a fondness for "Ulysses," "Hercules Unchained" is more of the same, with a very similar plot, i.e. the journeying hero forgets who he is while bewitched by a beautiful babe on some island.Californian muscleman Steve Reeves plays the titular hero/god to perfection. Reeves is most known for his Hercules role but interestingly only played the part twice, in this film and the first one "Hercules" (1957). Anyway, one good side-effect of watching Reeves is that it will likely inspire guys to get in shape (the same effect as watching Stallone as Rambo).In this film Herc is married to the beautiful Iole (Sylva Koscina), but he forgets his wife and homeland after drinking of the waters of forgetfulness and falls under the spell of Queen Omphale (Sylvia Lopez) of the isle Lidia. So Herc is caught between two beauties: Sylva and Sylvia."Hercules Unchained" can be enjoyed by both kids and adults. It's a fun fantasy adventure with dated "effects," but it also addresses quite a few mature themes.One theme is the boneheaded predilection of men to sexual gratification and their intrinsic weakness to the spell of feminine beauty. Herc is married to cutie Iole (Sylva), but it wasn't too hard for him to fall under the power of Omphale (Sylvia). And he has the perfect excuse -- "Aduh, I forgot" (!).Another theme is that feminine power can be used for good or evil, productivity or destruction. Sylva uses her feminine charms to catch herself a manly hunk (Reeves) for a husband and family, while Sylvia uses her womanly power to capture (literally) a never-ending succession of studs. Sylva wants a lifelong mate and family, whereas Sylvia is a black widow who kills her "conquests" after she gets bored with them and puts 'em in her trophy case, so to speak (you'll see what I mean).Look around and you'll easily see both types of women in real life. One girl I knew in high school, for example, would catch herself a hunk boyfriend and ultimately start cheating on him as soon as she got bored; she would then let go of the boyfriend and officially hook up with the guy she was cheating with; once she got bored of him she'd start cheating with the next guy, ultimately dropping the boyfriend for him, ad nauseum. She was notorious, just like Omphale (Sylvia). She would even break up best friends with here expert feminine powers. The lunkheads could never come to the realization of what she was actually doing because they were too susceptible to her bewitching charms.Interestingly, Sylva is beautiful in a cute way, whereas Sylvia is beautiful in a sharp, leggy and glamorous way. Both are well worth catching the film for if you're a red-blooded male.Another theme is that of negative rivalry. The two siblings vie for kingship (or control) of Thebes. Proud rivalry begats enmity and violence, and ultimately mutually assured self-destruction. Both actors are outstanding, fittingly displaying a palpable royal pomp.The sets and costuming are noteworthy. Mario Bava did the cinematography and special effects, as well as some directing, so the film has that colorful Bava look.BOTTOM LINE: If you can overlook certain dated aspects (like the editing) "Hercules Unchained" is enjoyable on numerous levels, both juvenile and mature. It's the obvious precursor to modern films like "Troy." GRADE: B+

This film begins where the previous movie "Hercules" essentially ends with "Hercules" (Steve Reeves) bringing his bride "Iole" (Sylvia Koscina) along with "Ulysses" (Gabriele Antonini) back to Thebes with him. However, when he gets to Thebes he discovers that things have changed for the worse as two brothers, "Polinices" (Mimmo Palmara) and "Eteocles" (Sergio Fantoni) are locked in a bitter dispute over who will be the new king and war is about to break out between them. To make matters worse, while trying to mediate a solution Hercules is captured and beguiled by the evil queen of Lydia named "Onfale" (Sylvia Lopez) which only exasperates the situation. Now, as far as the overall merits of this film are concerned let me just say that a person may have to make some allowances in order to fully appreciate it. First, it was initially filmed in Italian and dubbed in English which sometimes doesn't capture the equivalent emotion of the event. Also, the fact that it is over 60 years old doesn't allow for any modern special effects which would have helped this film immensely. But the fact that it is in color should count for something and viewers of this time will certainly understand this. Be that as it may, although the story is somewhat entertaining it doesn't quite measure up to the previous film and because of that I rate it just a notch below it. Average.

The movie opens with the musclebound mythical Hercules ( Steve Reeves ), his recent wife Iole ( Sylva Koscina), and the young Ulysses (Gabriel Antonini) setting off for the city of Thebes , continuing the end of the quest for the Golden Fleece (depicted in the former picture , Hercules , that was essentially a recounting of the tale of Jason and the Argonauts). Their trip is interrupted when Hercules must do battle with the giant Anteus (Primo Carnera), whose strength seems to exceed his own until he realizes that Anteus is the son of the earth goddess, Gea, and can't be defeated on land. On their arrival in Thebes, the trio discovers that the kingdom is in the midst of civil war , Oedipus (Cesare Fantoni), the blind old king, is dying, and his two sons, Polynices (Mimmo Palmara) and Eteocles (Sergio Fantoni), are confronting for the throne and threatening to destroy each other and the populace. Hercules must leave Iole in the hands of one side in order to try and settle the dispute between the two would-be kings. While en route between the two armed camps, however, he is put under the spell of Omphale (Sylvia Lopez), the Queen of Lydia .Hercules drinks from a magic spring and lost his records , then the Queen casts out his memory , is seduced and tangles him as a lover , in addition Ulysses in tow pretending to be his deaf-mute servant. Ulysses must figure out how to keep himself alive, restore Hercules' record, get them both out of Omphale's grasp before she tires of amnesiac Hercules and has him killed , and get them both back to Thebes before the kingdom is burned to the ground. His solution arrives in the form of his father, Laertes ( Andrea Fantasia ), and Hercules' companions as Argo (Aldo Fiorelli) the shipbuilder and the Argonauts from his voyage for the Golden Fleece. They all escape Omphale's clutches and arrive at Thebes where the political tensions raise as war has broken out between the Edipo's sons and their armies , furthermore his new spouse finds herself in mortal risk . In a breathtaking denouement, Hercules brings his chariot into the middle of the thunderous fighting , knocking down assault towers and sweeping cavalry before him to halt the battle.This mythological movie is plenty of adventures , emotions, thrills , atmospheric settings and colorful scenarios well photographed by the maestro Mario Bava . The plot this time is drawn from the legends surrounding the royal house of Thebes, which are most familiar to audiences through the Theban plays of Sophocles as Aedipus at Colonia and Seven against Thebes by Aeschylus . It is widely considered to be one of the top 10 greatest Peplum films of all time. This great film will surely attract a whole new generation of classic movie fans. And for seasoned cinematic connoseuirs, Hercules Unchained (1959) will rekindle an era of film making at its best. This is Steve Reeves' second and last film portrayal of Hercules is, in certain ways, better than his first . For others who simply enjoy watching timeless pieces with icons such as Steve Reeves. The corpulent Steve Reeves was a hunk man who made lots of roman epic films also called ¨Musclemen movies¨. Luck's Reeves changed when Italian director Pietro Francisci persuaded him to go overseas to star ¨Hercules¨ and sequel ¨Hercules and queen of Lydia also titled Hercules unchained ¨ that served as the prototypes of all cloak-and-sandal movies to come and both of them became a surprise US hit smash . Later on, he followed with ¨Goliath and the Barbarians, The giant of Marathon, The Trojan horse, The son of Spartacus and The Avenger¨ among them . Steve was an American bouncing who emigrated Italy and created a true star-system based on pumped-up heroes. He paved the way for other actors to seek their fame and fortune in Italy playing bouncing adventurers . Other stars by the time on this type of movies are Mark Forest, Gordon Mitchell, Dan Vadis, Brad Harris and 'Gordon Scott' who made him more important competence. Nobody, nevertheless, topped Steve in popularity . Rating : Good , high recommended for Peplum fans