Hercules and the Princess of Troy

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Audience Member Hercules, Ulysses and Diogenes travel to Troy where an annual sacrifice of a young woman to a sea monster is about to happen. Hercules vows to slay the monster when it appears, freeing Troy from this curse. The problem is that the current ruler of Troy is temporarily on the throne until Princess Diana comes of age ... and she is coming of age this year. He's planning on using the sacrifice to get rid of her, so Hercules is a major annoyance. This really short Hercules flick was intended as the pilot for a TV series that never came to be. It's pretty standard fare with a great fight on the beach with a large rubber monster. It's directed by Albert Band, father of Full Moon honcho Charles Band. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Here is a bizarre entry into the Italian peplum genre as it actually wasn't intended to be a "film" but a pilot for a television series simply entitled "Hercules". Since the series never materialized "Hercules and the Princess of Troy" appeared occasionally on television and on video throughout the years confusing people as to why it only ran a measly 50 minutes long. Now you know the answer. Hercules (played by Gordon Scott) arrives in a coastal village that is being terrorized by a sea monster to which they are forced to offer sacrifices to. Hercules won't stand for it so he vows to destroy the beast but the city's king has other plans and traps Hercules. Will he escape in time to save the love interest and rid the city of the beast forever? Considering this was made for TV and only intended to be a pilot for a television show, the production values are actually not bad and on par with many of the theatrically released peplum films at the time. American director Albert Band (father of cult producer/director Charles Band) takes the helm of this Italian production and typical he doesn't show much flare behind the camera but again it's more forgivable due to the TV made nature. The character of Hercules is also uncharacteristically weaker than many of his film counterparts as he is easily captured and imprisoned. Steve Reeves no doubt would have had a fit with this new portrayal but it makes for the character to be more human and vulnerable, allowing for more hair-raising situations in what was to be a long running TV series. The best part of this production is the actual monster itself. Sure it's cheesy but it's far better than a lot of other creatures to appear in such films. For a cheesy monster the animatronics are done quite well and add to the overall fun nature to this short production. If fans of the peplum genre go into this knowing it was made to be a pilot for a television series then I believe they will have fun with the hokey story. I had fun, despite its TV production limitations. "Hercules and the Princess of Troy" also marks one of the last peplum productions to emerge from Italy as cinema soon gave way to the wonderful spaghetti western subgenre. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member A nice short, classic, episodic tale of Hercules; at 47 minutes, it feels like part of the Kevin Sorbo "Legendary Journeys" series. (I enjoyed the sea monster mechanics/design.) Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Demigod Hercules (Scott) and his companions set themselves the task of saving the City of Troy and its young queen-to-be (Hyland) from an opportunistic regent (Garrett) and a virgin-eating sea-monster. This unsold television pilot from the producer of the Steve Reeves "Hercules" is a fast-paced hour of pirates, damsels in distress, sea-monsters, sword-fights, bareback riding on invulnerable white horses, and a goofy-looking sea-monster. As Hercules outings go, it's not a bad little effort, with an attractive cast (even if they are a bit short on acting ability) headed by Gordon Scott, who makes a fine Hercules and never a dull moment. (If more Hercules/Maciste/muscle-man of the week movies were around an hour in length, I think more of them would be watchable.) Fans of fantasy films and the sword-and-sandal genre will probably enjoy this rare semi-precious stone. (It's one of the may rareties included in the "Warriors 50 Movie Pack", which features a great cross-section of fantasy films from the 1960s and which is [URL=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F9SUT4?ie=UTF8&tag=stevemillesdo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000F9SUT4]available from Amazon.com for $17.[/URL]) Hercules and the Princess of Troy (aka "Hercules Television Pilot" and "Hercules vs. the Sea Monster") Starring: Gordon Scott, Paul Stevens, Mart Hulswit, Steve Garrett, and Diana Hyland Director: Albert Band Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member (***): [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Hercules and the Princess of Troy

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