Il trionfo di Ercole (1964)

User Rating:

3.6/10   

Director:

Alberto De Martino

Writers:

Alberto De Martino (writer)
Roberto Gianviti (writer)

Release Date:

August 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Action

Plot:

Hercules defends a people against a race of giant warriors. |

Plot Keywords:

Hercules | Peplum | Muscleman | Arena | Sword And Sandal

Cast

Dan Vadis	...	Ercole (Hercules)
Marilù Tolo	...	Princess Ate
Pierre Cressoy	...	Prince Milo
Moira Orfei	...	Pasiphae, the witch
Piero Lulli	...	Euristeo
Enzo Fiermonte	...	Reto
Howard Ross	...	Gordio (as Renato Rossini)
Jacques Stany	...	Erione
Nazzareno Zamperla	...	Thief
Aldo Cecconi	...	Thief
Nino Marchetti	...	Betrayed Citizen
Gaetano Quartararo
Annamaria Mustari
Franco Daddi
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Aldo Canti	...	Fighting Citizen
Osiride Pevarello	...	Soldier
Renzo Pevarello	...	Soldier
Pietro Torrisi	...	Fighter

Also Known As:

Hercules and the Ten Avengers (USA) (TV title)
Hercules vs. the Giant Warrior (USA)
Le triomphe d'Hercule (France)
The Triumph of Hercules (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Les Films Jacques Leitienne

Movie Connections:

References Gli invasori (1961)

THE TRIUMPH OF HERCULES (Alberto De Martino, 1964) *1/2

Lackluster entry in the prolific peplum genre – these films may have been designed as mere entertainment fodder but very few examples proved otherwise rewarding. This is an even lesser achievement than THE MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES (1963), from the same director and which I watched concurrently; however, it's basically on the same below-par level of two other such efforts I viewed in the past featuring the same muscle-bound lead, Dan Vadis, namely THE REBEL GLADIATORS (1963) and SPARTACUS AND THE TEN GLADIATORS (1963).

Anyway, the film sees Hercules fighting a tyrant (Pierre Cressoy from FRINE, CORTIGIANA D'ORIENTE [1953]) and saving/loving a damsel-in-distress ("Euro Cult" regular Marilu' Tolo) – nothing new plot-wise, then…except that Cressoy is in cahoots with a witch (glamorous Moira Orfei) so that he's able to unleash an army of gold-tinted musclemen to cause havoc, but they're clearly no match for Hercules. Even so, the hero's strength is sapped by an angry Zeus (via a comical jagged thunderbolt insert) at one point – eventually being restored just in time to prevent Tolo from being fatally spiked! During the climax, then, Orfei plays an optical trick on Vadis but which ends up rebounding on herself – taking up Tolo's semblance as she's hanging from a cliff, but Hercules recognizes the true heroine from the color of her eyes and Orfei perishes in the sea instead!

For what it's worth, the film includes plenty of action sequences – but, more often than not, they're rendered hilarious by way of obvious repeated footage, exaggerated death reactions and clumsy stunt-work.