Summary: The origin story of the the mythical Greek hero. Betrayed by his stepfather, the King, and exiled and sold into slavery because of a forbidden love, Hercules must use his formidable powers to fight his way back to his rightful kingdom.

Year: 2014

Australian Cinema Release Date: 20th February, 2014

Australian DVD Release Date: TBA

Country: USA

Director: Renny Harlin

Screenwriter: Sean Hood, Renny Harlin, Daniel Giat, Giulio Steve

Cast: Scott Adkins (King Amphitryon), Kenneth Cranham (Lucius), Dimiter Doichinov (King Galenus/Champion #1), Mariah Gale (Kakia), Saria Givaty (Saphirra), Liam Garrigan (Iphicles), Mihail Georgiev (Hercules), Boris Ivanov (Hercules (Alcides) (New Born)/Hercules’ Son (New Born), Kellan Lutz (Hercules), Liam McIntyre (Sotiris), Roxanne McKee (Queen Alcmene), Luke Newberry (Agamemnon), Radoslav Parvanov (Half Face), Nikolay Petkov (Iphicles – 2 Years Old), Johnathon Schaech (Tarak), Rade Serbedzija (Chiron), Nikolai Sotirov (King Tallas), Dena Stoyanova (Hercules (Alcides) (New Born)), Gaia Weiss (Hebe), Spencer Wilding (Humbaba)

Runtime: 99 mins

Classification:MA15+

OUR THE LEGEND OF HERCULES REVIEWS & RATINGS: 

David Griffiths:

Sometimes after you watch a film you just have to shake your head. With The Legend Of Hercules it was obvious that there was some good intentions when the filmmakers started out, but along the way some fundamental mistakes were made. It’s just really strange that no one associated to the film ever seemed to notice that those mistakes were about to make it up onto the big screen.

Directed by Renny Harlin (the man who has delivered films such as Cliffhanger, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Die Hard 2) The Legend Of Hercules goes back to the beginning of the mythological legend and sees Hercules (Kellan Lutz) as a young warrior that is an outcast from both his father, King Amphitryon (Scott Adkins) and his brother Iphicles (Liam Garrigan) whom both know that his mother Queen Alcmene (Roxanne McKee) was unfaithful. What they don’t realise is that Hercules has actually been fathered by Zeus the God of all Gods.

When Iphicles and Amphitryon see that Hercules is developing a relationship with the young princess Hebe (Gaia Weiss) they conspire to send him to a battle that will result in his death. But when Hercules and Sotiris (Liam McIntyre) miraculously live the pair find themselves sold into the gladiator market and try to find a way to get back to Greece to rescue Hebe before she is forced to marry Iphicles and to free the people from the reign of King Amphitryon.

So just how bad is The Legend Of Hercules? Well to be honest there is so much wrong with the film that it becomes laughable. At time the special effects look like somebody left the work experience student have a go at creating them while at times shots have been included that crazily mix up the continuity in a way seldom seen on the screen before. To the naked eye it appears that some hastily put together re-shoots may have been done, but sadly they were pieces that just didn’t fit into this jigsaw at all.

The strange thing is though at times the film’s story does actually capture the imagination of the audience but then that illusion is shattered by an inconsistent script that at times seems like the screenwriter was trying to capture the language of Shakespeare while at other times seems to be lifted straight from dialogue spoken on television shows such as Days Of Our Lives or The Young And The Restless. Something that also seems to shatter the imagination of the audience is the fact that Renny Harlin seems to stoop the very low filmmaking technique of turning to slow-motion whenever a blow is delivered in battle… it happens so often it becomes nauseating.

Last but not least there is the acting. The choice of leading man is a bizarre one. Before this film Kellan Lutz was mainly known as playing ‘the big blonde vampire’ in the The Twilight Saga series of films and now he has been thrust into this film and the new Tarzan film as an action hero. While Lutz may carry of the physicality of Hercules his acting isn’t exactly top notch, but even he looks like an Oscar winner alongside some of the other performances in this film. It soon becomes painfully obvious to the audience that Gaia Weiss was only cast in her role because of her looks while Roxanne McKee’s accent seems to change every time she is on the screen. Then there’s Scott Adkins and Liam Garrigan who badly play token bad guys. At least Aussie actor Liam McIntyre actually tries as he portrays Hercules’ trusty side-kick.

The Legend Of Hercules will no doubt go down as one of the worst films of 2014, but the scary thing about this film is that nobody at the studio seemed to realise what a dog they were releasing.

Average Subculture Rating (out of 5): 

IMDB Rating:

Other Subculture Media Reviews of ‘The Legend Of Hercules′: Nil.

Trailer: