Plot
Hercules thinks that he has had enough of Olympus and its gods and goddesses, and tells Zeus, his father, that he is going to go and live with mortals for some time.
Although Zeus is furious at Hercules and his decision, he can’t prevent him from leaving Olympus.
Among other immortals, it’s only Juno, the wife of Zeus and stepmother of Hercules, who would rather see Hercules departing from Olympus for good.
After a short sea adventure, Hercules eventually finds himself in New York.
He feels like a fish out of water in a big city that has nothing to do with his Olympian residence.
His extreme physical strength as a demigod helps him to accomplish superhuman feats and get noticed.
Zeus doesn’t like seeing his son mixing with mortals, so he sends Nemesis to punish him.
Hercules ends up competing as a strongman for money, but he loses his superpowers at the most critical moment.
Juno is behind Hercules’s loss of strength, as she blackmails Nemesis to do as she tells her and add a secret ingredient to Hercules’s drink that will make him lose his godly strength.
After admitting his mistake, Hercules begs Zeus to forgive him and take him back to Olympus, which Zeus finally does.
A strained father-son relationship
There is a time in the life of a young man that he has to open his wings and stand on his own feet.
The time has come for Hercules to leave his paternal home and get to know the world.
Even his mighty father, Zeus, the king of gods, can do little to stop him.
This is an age-old theme of a son who makes his personal revolution and a father who opposes it, and it seems that even immortals can’t escape this fateful situation.
A resentful stepmother who does her best to make things worse between a father and his unruly illegitimate son is the icing on the cake in an already strained relationship.
Schwarzenegger’s first film role
This is a young Schwarzenegger in his first acting role playing Hercules, a mythical demigod known for his super strength.
Judging from his impressive physique that helped him to dominate the bodybuilding world for decades, this role definitely suits him.
He does a good job with a pinch of humor that he later became known for in his films.
At some point in the film, it is predicted that Hercules will rule the world with his strength.
In case of Arnold Schwarzenegger, this prediction has come true, since he has managed to become Governor of California and a very wealthy man, and the foundation of his rise to power and fame was physique that made him look like a demigod.
What I didn’t like in this movie
Even though this movie was good fun to watch, I would like to see more drama, especially towards the end.
Instead of that, the pace of the movie is fairly flat, with no dramatic peaks that would have the potential of captivating the viewers’ attention and making it a memorable watch, compared to Schwarzenegger’s later films that are highly suspenseful.
Another thing is historical inconsistencies in the movie, for example, calling Atlas, a Titan and a figure in Greek mythology, and Samson, a Judge in the Bible, to give Hercules a hand and beat his opponents.
It may be that both Atlas and Samson were known for their strength and could be a perfect match for a Herculean film, but their historical or mythological context is entirely different and unrelated.
Rating: 65/100
