The Legend of Hercules (2014)

InformationGeek · January 11, 2014, 07:16:00 PM

Oh boy oh boy! Barely into the new year and we got ourselves a true stinker on our hands here. Introducing, The Legend of Hercules, a TV or direct to video movie disguised as a theatrical release! Holy crap, does this bad boy look baaaaddd.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_legend_of_hercules/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0GMzQwO2l0

Just utterly amazing. I first saw that trailer and thought: TV movie. Just wow.

Here's a review from Brad Jones, aka Cinema Snob, on it after just seeing it with a friend:
http://blip.tv/the-cinema-snob/midnight-screenings-the-legend-of-hercules-6717175

Who's seeing it?

claws · January 12, 2014, 04:25:05 AM

Not me.

I'd say its still a bit early in the game but its shaping up to become Renny Harlin's weakest movie so far.

zelmo73 · January 12, 2014, 01:24:41 PM

I'll pass too. Even the previews make the effects look cheesy and fake. Yes, I know that a real actor couldn't swing around big masonry blocks on chains like that, but they could have made the effect look realer, like making the actor swing something heavy around and then super-imposing masonry blocks over them with CGI.

messedup · January 12, 2014, 01:52:45 PM

Renny Harlin, Scott Adkins - two names that would make me watch a movie, but this looks hideous.

Archivist · January 12, 2014, 08:18:46 PM

Is this the one with Kellan Lutz, and the horribly bad trailer?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBq1AupSrLI

Um, yuck.

Scott Adkins is not doing himself any favours by appearing in movies like this. His primary skillset is martial arts and stunts, so appearing as some fake-bearded king who seems to do no fighting at all isn't capitalizing on his talents. I love his work in almost all of his movies, but this looks like a stinker.

messedup · January 12, 2014, 09:41:20 PM

Quote from: Archivist on January 12, 2014, 08:18:46 PM
Scott Adkins is not doing himself any favours by appearing in movies like this. His primary skillset is martial arts and stunts, so appearing as some fake-bearded king who seems to do no fighting at all isn't capitalizing on his talents. I love his work in almost all of his movies, but this looks like a stinker.

Some reviews I read mentioned, that he would be the best part of the movie. Even though he isn't fighting, his presence alone seems to be entertaining enough. Wouldn't pay money to see it in theaters, but maybe a rental etc.

akiratubo · January 12, 2014, 10:40:54 PM

Why do a bunch of Greeks have British accents RAHADLKJAL;KDHL;KCHJLHALDYIOEHLIJH1#$#!@dsds

It also seems about, oh, 13 or so years too late to be doing "Gladiator ... but with Hercules!" Let's be fair and say they're ripping off something more recent: "Spartacus: Blood and Sand ... with Hercules!"

And OHMYFREAKINGGOD what a***ole decided that leaping in slow-f**king-motion was such a badass stunt that it had to appear in every action movie ever made since at least the early 2000s? It's enough to make me nostalgic for that STUPID thing that all 90s action movies did where the hero crossed his arms over his chest to shoot to the left with the gun in his right hand and vice-versa.

BoyScoutKevin · January 13, 2014, 08:03:34 PM

I don't care what anyone says. I'm going to see it. LOL! No, I have always been a big fan of anything Hercules (film, TV) (animated, live action.) Also I saw "Hercules" with Lou Ferrigno, and looking at the trailer for this one, it can't be any worst than that film. But that looks like "Citizen Kane" compared to its sequel "The Adventures of Hercules II," which came out two years later. That truly has to be one of the worst films I've ever seen. And I'll post my thoughts on the 2014 version after I see it. Maybe this weekend.

akiratubo · January 14, 2014, 10:58:07 AM

Quote from: BoyScoutKevin on January 13, 2014, 08:03:34 PM
I don't care what anyone says. I'm going to see it. LOL! No, I have always been a big fan of anything Hercules (film, TV) (animated, live action.) Also I saw "Hercules" with Lou Ferrigno, and looking at the trailer for this one, it can't be any worst than that film. But that looks like "Citizen Kane" compared to its sequel "The Adventures of Hercules II," which came out two years later. That truly has to be one of the worst films I've ever seen. And I'll post my thoughts on the 2014 version after I see it. Maybe this weekend.

Oh, I'll probably see this for the laughs. However, I won't be paying to see it in the theater and it cheeses me off that something this crappy would be put in theaters at current ticket prices. This should have been straight to video.

Rev. Powell · January 14, 2014, 08:45:39 PM

Quote from: BoyScoutKevin on January 13, 2014, 08:03:34 PM
I don't care what anyone says. I'm going to see it. LOL! No, I have always been a big fan of anything Hercules (film, TV) (animated, live action.) Also I saw "Hercules" with Lou Ferrigno, and looking at the trailer for this one, it can't be any worst than that film. But that looks like "Citizen Kane" compared to its sequel "The Adventures of Hercules II," which came out two years later. That truly has to be one of the worst films I've ever seen. And I'll post my thoughts on the 2014 version after I see it. Maybe this weekend.

I love the Italian Lou Ferrigno Hercules movies! They're wild and cheesy. There's no way this steaming pile could be half as entertaining. I mean, can this Hercules throw a bear into space?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3frtZAn6SS0

Trevor · January 15, 2014, 03:42:02 AM

Quote from: akiratubo on January 12, 2014, 10:40:54 PM
Why do a bunch of Greeks have British accents RAHADLKJAL;KDHL;KCHJLHALDYIOEHLIJH1#$#!@dsds

+

InformationGeek · January 18, 2014, 04:20:43 PM

Quote from: akiratubo on January 14, 2014, 10:58:07 AM
Oh, I'll probably see this for the laughs. However, I won't be paying to see it in the theater and it cheeses me off that something this crappy would be put in theaters at current ticket prices. This should have been straight to video.

As the video review I posted said, "It's so nice that they put out the Asylum version into theaters for once." That's what this movie is if you think about it.

BoyScoutKevin · January 27, 2014, 08:43:02 PM

Finally got to see it, and what everyone says about it is true, but I still enjoyed it.

Writing
Directing
Acting
. . . Probably should expect more, but they are no worse than the sword and sandal films of 50 years ago.

Action
. . .I appreciate the intent to make the tactics somewhat realistic, but when will they learn that slo-mo just slows down the action.
. . .And I could not help but compare the chase scenes on horseback to the same type of scenes in "Brave," and the animated "Brave" comes out better in this regard.

Characters
. . .Flashbacks to the '60's. Heroes still do not kill women. And no one kills the kid. Not evern the villain. The ancient Greeks must not have engaged in sex very often, or as soon as a child was born, they immediately became adults. Not many kids seen in the film.

Characterization
. . .The one thing I appreciated most about the film. The attempt to make the characters a little more complex and complicated than we have seen in the past.

And a plug for the upcoming "Pompeii." We'll see how it compares to this one. Though, as this is not the first film with Hercules, so "Pompeii" is the not the first film on "Pompeii" and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. One which I like is 1935's "The Last Days of Pompeii" w/ Preston Foster as the hero, Basil Rathbone, in one of his best roles, as Pontus Pilate, and the participation of Willis O'Brien.

The Legend of Hercules (2014)

claws