Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide (1961)

Director:

Vittorio Cottafavi

Writers:

Vittorio Cottafavi (writer) and
Sandro Continenza (writer) ...

Release Date:

15 April 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Heroic Hercules battles the seductive powers of the wicked Queen of Atlantis!

Plot:

Strong yet sleepy Hercules discovers that the Queen of Atlantis is plotting to take over the world with superhuman warriors.

Plot Keywords:

Hercules | Midget | MST3K | Peplum | Mythological

Cast

Reg Park	...	Ercole (Hercules)
Fay Spain	...	Queen Antinea of Atlantis
Ettore Manni	...	Androclo, Re di Tebe
Luciano Marin	...	Illo
Laura Efrikian	...	Ismene, Antinea's Daughter (as Laura Altan)
Enrico Maria Salerno	...	Re di Megara
Ivo Garrani	...	Re di Megalia
Gian Maria Volonté	...	Re di Sparta
Mimmo Palmara	...	Astor, il Gran Visir
Mario Petri	...	Zenith, prete di Urano
Mino Doro	...	Oraclo
Salvatore Furnari	...	Timoteo, il nano
Alessandro Sperli
Mario Valdemarin	...	Gabor
Luciana Angiolillo	...	Deianira

Also Known As:

Hercule à la conquête de l'Atlantide (France)
Hercules Conquers Atlantis (UK)
Hercules and the Captive Women (USA)
Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis (International: English title)
Hercules and the Haunted Women

Runtime:

Italy:101 min | USA:94 min | France:98 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Finland:K-12

Company:

Comptoir Français du Film Production (CFFP)

Trivia:

The soundtrack of the American release ("Hercules and the Captive Women") contains several short passages from the score of Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), in particular the easily recognizable three-note "Creature theme".

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the end of the film, Hercules swims away from the island to a boat, but when he climbs aboard he is completely dry.

Quotes:

Androclo, Re di Tebe: Uranus... to rule over all!
Ercole: What you say is blasphemy!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Hercules and the Captive Women (#5.12)" (1992)

Unforeseen Perils of the Mystical Unknown

Vittorio Cottafavi's Hercules and the Captive Women recycles the standard Hercules plot structure. If you have seen any of its predecessors or descendants, you have seen something very much like this film. However, in this case, the entire army of evil-doers Herc must confront are immortals from Atlantis who have been secretly infiltrating Greek politics. Most of the action takes place on Atlantis after Herc, his son, and a couple of friends wash up there.

Hercules is played by Reg Park, a very beefy non-actor built like a comic book superhero. Park seems to spend the first 1/3rd of the film lounging about, and most of the second 2/3rds flexing and fighting. His occasional lines are clearly spoken, but without a great deal of enthusiasm. Most of the acting is OK. No real highlights in the cast, though.

The action sequences are fairly entertaining, but don't compare favorably to the special-effects saturated fight scenes of today. Like many Hercules films, Captive Women features lavish costumes and sets.The costumes are up to the series above-average standards and a few of the Atlantean sets are really nice. The script is on par with most of the series, which is to say that it is not very good.

Recommended for Hercules fans only.