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How sad is this?

Fresh and Exciting

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

This is the second outing for Steve Reeves as Hercules and it is a direct sequel as it picks up pretty much where the last film left off. I saw this film as an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, not sure the episode it was as I do not believe they did the Hercules films in order. This one is like the first Hercules film, in that it actually looks very good as far as production value, especially considering the time it was released. That being said, the film also drags just as the first one did. In fact, I find the Hercules films all follow a similar blueprint for the most part, at least the ones I have seen. Hercules goes on a grand adventure, ends up captured by some beautiful queen and then proceeds back on his adventure. There is always that filler where he is tempted by some beautiful, albeit strange lady. The only film that really did not follow this blueprint was the first film, but it did feature a segment where some of the men were taken prisoner by the Amazon women, Hercules was on the island too, but that time is the only time I have seen where it was not him. Steve Reeves looks the part of Hercules, but even when it wasn't Reeves they usually did a good job of finding someone with a good build and beard. Though I say Reeves looked the most natural.The story has Hercules and his new bride Iole travel to Hercules hometown with Ulisses in tow. Hercules has to battle the giant Anteo right off the bat, and this is probably one of the few highlights of the film. After the battle he ends up finding out that his hometown is about to go to war due to two brothers feuding for the power of the throne. Hercules does his best to try and bring peace, but unfortunately, he drinks some water that is enchanted and pretty much gives him amnesia. He and Ulisses are then captured and brought to a kingdom where a beautiful, but weird looking queen, seduces Hercules and convinces him that he is king and she is his queen. Meanwhile, tensions build between the two brothers as both think Hercules is working for the other! This made for an all right episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. The problem with them doing this one and the first Hercules is the time constraint on the show. Makes the films seem very messed up as one can just see that there are huge portions of the film that were cut out. Not as bad as the first Hercules film where it was like they only did highlights from each plot point. This one still is a bit of a mess during the ending scenes as they seemed to focus mainly on Hercules exploits on the island of the sex craving queen. Still, it was rather funny, though the fact all these Hercules films kind of play out the same way makes doing four of them a bit excessive.So the movie is not too terribly bad, but not good in any way either. I just find this Hercules films of the older days to be a bit slow moving as it is mainly set up and then a brief burst of action here and there. At least they give Hercules his incredible strength though as they do a good job making him look inhumanely strong. Plenty of pretty girls to look at for the guys and plenty of sweaty dudes for the girls, almost a film for everyone! Just too much talking and not enough battling for my tastes though.

The direct sequel to the worldwide box-office hit "Hercules," "Hercules Unchained" (original Italian title: "Ercole e la regina di Lidia," "Hercules and the Queen of Lydia") surpasses its predecessor in every way and gives a story credit to Sophocles (!), which alone makes it a worthy successor. The film reunites most of the original cast and is again helmed by director Pietro Francisci, but this time the story is much more focused and the new characters introduced are more compelling than those left behind in the first film. In particular, the unhinged Prince breathes some refreshing mania into the whole enterprise, and most of all Sylvia Lopez as the bewitching temptress Queen Omphale brings a smoldering glamour reminiscent of silent-era sirens. She makes a perfect counterpoint to Sylva Koscina reprising her role as Iole, who here serves a Penelope-type stalwart function in the story. Steve Reeves is every bit as effective as the square-jawed he-man Hercules as he was in the first film. This time, he seems more relaxed and gets to have some fun portraying an idle amnesiac being pampered by the Queen he doesn't realize is holding him captive. Though Iole is supposedly Hercules's true love, Reeves and Lopez have great chemistry and sell their mutual attraction very effectively. Even Gabriele Antonini as eager protégé Ulysses has a role in the story that gives some shape to his comic-relief clowning, unlike the first film where the zaniness he brought to the part didn't have any focus. The film picks up where "Hercules" leaves off, with the hero and his bride Iole, along with Ulysses, returning to Thebes to find that the situation there has deteriorated since Hercules left. More than the first film, "Hercules Unchained" employs most of the elements that would become tropes of Peplum cinema, including a dancing girls interlude, wild animals the hero must defeat, political infighting and intrigue, magic (here represented by the water of forgetfulness and by some rogue Egyptian embalmers), hand-to-hand combat with a worthy opponent (here, demigod Anteo engages our hero in a wrestling match), the destruction of some large structures by virtue of our hero's strength, and of course divine intervention of the pagan variety. There's even a song by Mitchell Parrish, "Evening Star," recorded for the U.S. release. (The Italian version features a different, equally lovely song.) The most notable omission is a lack of any type of unnatural beast or monster for our hero to vanquish, which cuts down considerably on the cheese factor, since those sequences are generally the most dated. In fact, the visual effects here, credited to none other than visual effects supervisor Mario Bava, are surprisingly restrained and effective and hold up nicely. Reeves would go on to star in numerous other Peplum films through the mid-1960s, but for better or worse he never again played Hercules -- better, in the sense that most of what follows is inferior to "Hercules Unchained" (with one notable exception, 1961's "Hercules in the Haunted World" directed by Mario Bava); worse, in the sense that no other actor has quite matched Reeves in portraying Hercules. As in the first film, the scenery is lovely and the set design and costuming is even better here -- you'd think all you need to look at are Reeves and Lopez, but you get much more. This is well worth watching and savoring.

"Hercules exercises poor judgment when he quenches his thirst from an enchanted spring en route to a diplomatic mission in Thebes. He promptly loses his memory and gets sidetracked in the pleasure gardens of Queen Omphale. Ulysses, his young companion, tries to desperately to help him regain his memory, but in the meantime, the situation in Thebes is reaching boiling point. To make matters worse Hercules' young wife Iole faces imminent danger," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Re-titled "Hercules Unchained" for the English speaking world.This was the second Hercules film directed by Pietro Francisci with Mario Bava, and starring handsome muscle-man Steve Reeves as the titular hero. Unfortunately, it was also the last time both Mr. Francisci and Mr. Reeves signed on to the series, as both sought finer productions. Importantly, Reeves' boy companion Gabriele Antonini (as Ulysses) also returns, as does beautiful wife Sylva Koscina (as Iole) and a variety of busty young women. One of the better "sword and sandal" epics.***** Ercole e la regina di Lidia (2/14/59) Pietro Francisci ~ Steve Reeves, Gabriele Antonini, Sylva Koscina, Sylvia Lopez

The sequel to HERCULES (1958) is even less enthusing but remains, nonetheless, an adequate example of the peplum genre.Sylva Koscina's role of Iole, Hercules' love interest, is diminished here since the most prominent female figure on display emerges to be the femme fatale-ish Queen of Lidia Omphale (the film's original title, incidentally, translates to HERCULES AND THE QUEEN OF LIDIA) – the latter is played by another red-headed beauty Sylvia Lopez, who died of leukemia not long after the film's release! Needless to say, the muscle-bound hero (Steve Reeves) falls under her spell after having conveniently drunk from a spring that renders him an amnesiac (though not before he's been engaged in an irrelevant wrestling bout with ex-heavyweight champion Primo Carnera as an irascible giant!); his friend Ulysses, however, is on hand to watch over him (ostensibly in the function of Hercules' deaf-mute slave). Meanwhile, back home in Thebes, two brothers fight it out over the throne – with Iole at the mercy of a cackling maniac (an over-the-top Sergio Fantoni)... By the way, both of these Hercules films featured atmospheric cinematography by Mario Bava - who would himself direct one of the better adventures revolving around this mythical figure, HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD (1961) starring Reg Park. As for Francisci, he worked most often in this genre: from ATTILA (1954; co-starring Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren) – which is overdue for a reappraisal and has, incidentally, just been announced as an upcoming DVD release from Lionsgate! – to the low-brow HERCULES, SAMSON AND ULYSSES (1963; with Kirk Morris now as Hercules) and SINBAD AND THE CALIPH OF BAGHDAD (1973; his last film and which I recall watching eons ago on Italian TV).