This acceptable Peplum or ¨Sword and Sandals¨ movie turns out to be a giant Spectacle of the World's Mightiest Men such as Kirk Morris as Ercole , Iloosh Khoshabe or Richard LLoyd as Sansone and Enzo Cerusico as Ulysses . A decent spaghetti , myth-opera with action , impressive fighting , battles and lush landscapes . Including breathtaking scenes when Hércules and Sansone fight themselves and overwhelming final battle with surprising and moving scenes . Two mythical figures Sansone (Kirk Morris) and Ulysses (Enzo Cerusico) along with their crew set out to hunt down a gigantic sea monster . When they face off the murderous beast their ship is wrecked and they end up in the Holy Land and Gaza where Hercules (Kirk Morris , born Adriano Moldoni , who often dyed his pompadour-styled hair blond and he had a slight, sulky resemblance to Elvis Presley) is assumed to be Samson who is a wanted man by the Saran of Gaza (Aldo Giuffrè) . Meanwhile ,Sansone helps the Dannita people and fights against a bull and a lion , as usual . The two strongmen team up to survive against the nasty Philistines (who wear an inappropriate Nazi hulk) . The picture is plenty of legendary , literary and mythological characters such as Ercole , Sansone , Ulysses , Delilah as Philistine Queen (Liana Orfei) , Laertes as Ithaca King (Andrea Fantasia) , Telémaco Ulysses' son and Penélope , Ulyssess' wife
This is a nice Peplum with violent fights , noisy action , drama , court intrigues , and spectacular battles , but not brain food . Don't look for too much of a screenplay , because the emphasis is on lavish spectacle . This film is a crossover of heroes and mythological roles , but with no historical penchant . The picture contains some unexpected scenes with gory and eerie events , as when several children are shot by arrows , crucifixion and hanging . Lousy performances in Peplum style with lots of wooden acting . As usual in Peplum films appears the choreographic girl dancers and great deal of action with several adventures including spectacular fights , overwhelming sets and some good effects . U.S. buffs regard this as the last of the big Italian sword and sandal/muscle-man epics , it was directed by Pietro Francisci , who had started the craze with his ¨Hercules¨ (1958) and sequel ¨Hercules unchained , both of them performed by the great Steve Reeves .
"Hercules, Samson & Ulysses" is starred by two He-men : Kirk Morris and Richard Lloyd , both of whom subjected to the traditional "Test of Strength" , as they endeavored to pull a temple apart against Philistines . Kirk Morris who played the mythic Maciste in a few movies was randomly assigned the identity of Hercules , Goliath , Ursus , Samson or Aron for U.S. viewing . Bouncing and strong Kirk was a bodybuilder and gondolier who plucked from the canals of Venice for his go at moviedom but early to be recruited by Italian producers to star in Peplum films . He was a gondolier , before turning to body-building , when resulted to be discovered by an Italian movie producer, he was deemed a perfect speciman to showcase their spectacles and a fitting hero to help offset the silly special effects and spectacular as well as embarrassing action . Himself Kirk Morris became something of a cult personality in the Italian epic genre . Starring notorious titles as : Il Trionfo Maciste (1961) , Hércules against the moon men , Colossus and the headhunters (1963) , Maciste Alla Corte Dello Zar (1964) and Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hércules (1964) . Once the genre had lost its audience in the mid-60s, Kirk maintained for a few more years in war stories as The Seven Red Berets, Overrun! and Sci-Fi as : 2+5 Missione Hydra and westerns as : Rita in the West , but eventually migrated to the United States where he went into the advertising field . While Richard Lloyd -who was born in Iran and died in 2012 in Tehran- starred a few Peplums such as : Titán vs Vulcano (1962), Gli Invincibili Fratelli Maciste (1964) and Ercole Sfida Sansone (1963).
"Hercules, Samson & Ulysses" packs a colorful and evocative cinematography by Silvano Ippalotini . Atmospheric and exciting score by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino . The sets and production design impress too . This elaborate recounting was professionally directed by Pietro Francisci though with little relation with the Biblical and literary events . Francisci was an expert on Peplum as he proved in 1963 Ercole sfida Sansone , 1960 Saffo, Venere Di Lesbo ,1960 The battle of Siracusa ,1959 Hércules unchained and particularly 1958 Hércules with the great Steve Reeves . Fun for the whole family though it tends toward the ponderous at times but for the most part, it's a passable movie .
