Watch Hercules Against the Sons of the Sun For Free

Awesome Movie

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

This somewhat imaginative crossbreed sees the typical Italian hero Hercules (here played by American Mark Forest) finding himself mixed up with the Incas! A hard-to-swallow concept perhaps, but one which makes for original viewing, it has to be said. Sadly this is one of the least interesting peplum adventures, with an extremely shallow plot which doesn't even clearly define or characterise the main actors and actresses. Instead it consists of some laborious plot devices mixed in with some enjoyable battle scenes which sadly don't compensate for the rest of the film.While the inclusion of the Incas into the film should make way for some colourful costumes, dodgy sacrificial rites, weird decorative ornaments, and giant stone buildings and the like, while all of this is present, it isn't quite as spectacular as you would imagine. The low-budget automatically seals this film's fate as a minor B-movie, as the cheapness of the production is obvious at every stage of the movie. Most of the action takes place on one or two sets, while a dark room stands in for a prison - there aren't even any bars at the window! Admittedly the major battle scene at the film's conclusion is quite impressive, utilising a large number of the cast, but this only lasts for fifteen minutes and the other seventy just don't hold up.Forest has an impressive physique as the muscular hero, but doesn't get much chance to shine, so comes off as a pretty wooden actor. Although he's good in the action scenes he doesn't get much else to do aside from push a few boulders around and romance a woman. The supporting cast are also unmemorable, aside from the spectacle of Italian actors pretending to be Incas by wearing long black wigs. Indeed this film's main reason for being seems to be to show as many half-naked men running around as possible.The final fifteen minutes brings in a lot of swordplay and non-bloody death by impaling, but this comes far too late in the film to make it any good. I would recommend that if you come across this, don't bother watching until the final twenty minutes where you will see a very impressive fight between two large forces which, in its own way, stands up against the battles in modern blockbusters like BRAVEHEART and GLADIATOR. Overall, though, this is a missed opportunity of what sounds like a great premise, and it's disappointing to think what might have been with a director like Mario Bava or Riccardo Freda behind it.

This peplum, set in Inca country, is one of a handful which tried to give novelty to the tired formula by changing the locale (or the era) in which they were set: similarly freewheeling entries in the genre took place in China (including Riccardo Freda’s SAMSON AND THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD [1961]), another in full 17th Puritan atmosphere (THE WITCH’S CURSE [1962], coincidentally also by Freda), etc.However, it’s not enough to alter the background if the plotting remains the same old juvenile nonsense! In this case, Hercules is shipwrecked and immediately clashes with the locals yet helped by their rivals (led by Giuliano Gemma, still a year away from attaining genuine stardom with the first Ringo Spaghetti Western). Apparently, for all their architectural know-how, the Incas are still a backward people when it comes to warfare (given the surprising number on display here, they’re seemingly more interested in raising llamas than anything else) – so that it takes Hercules to update their weaponry and organize the surprise attack on the usurper! As always, the faded pan-and-scan print and English dubbing do the film no favors – but it’s hurt all the more by a threadbare narrative (which extends merely to a princess being rescued from the sacrificial altar, naturally falling for the strapping foreigner at first sight, and the obligatory battle at the climax) padded with a couple of idiotic dances (which are interminable, to boot), and lifeless handling. Incidentally, the Hercules in this one – Mark Forest (who had already played the role in Vittorio Cottafavi’s minor but delirious GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON [1960]) – is atypically clean-shaven: apparently, the film-makers thought his customary bearded look would jar with the generally exotic ambiance! For the record, I was unfamiliar with director Civirani or, for that matter, leading lady Anna Maria Pace – the former’s work here doesn’t indicate anything more than a journeyman talent but the latter, at least, has the (agreeably darkened) looks to counter a rather stilted performance! Another ‘fault’ I regularly notice in this type of low-brow entertainment (but which, more often than not, translates into a fun booster for the viewer) is that the action sequences tend to come across as unintentionally comical – in the enthusiasm, or lack thereof, displayed by the extras or stunt people!

History takes another setback as Hercules finds himself in the land of the Incas, shipwrecked he meets the true king of the Incas who has been deposed by a tyrant luckily for him they all speak perfect English or dubbed Italian if you prefer,very badly filmed and acted even by Italian standards and the music score just does not fit in with the film,check the sacrifice ritual dance and you will see what I mean, the only redeeming feature is the colourful Inca costumes,very poor all round,curious also to find out that our hero played by the handsome Mark Forest only took these parts to finance his opera singing!, something he still does to this day.

So there's this mythical strongman, see, and he likes sailing the seven seas with his Greek buddies. One day a big storm comes along and WHAM: they're shipwrecked and get washed ashore in sunny South America! Everyone dies except Hercules who get's rescued by the natives who enlist his aid in overthrowing the local tyrant. There's some wacky homoerotic ritual sacrifices and lots of battle sequences, and to top it all off, the film ends with some spectacular travelogue footage of snowcapped Peruvian mountains and a llama! WOW!