michael-3204 The direct sequel to the worldwide box-office hit "Hercules," "Hercules Unchained" (original Italian title: "Ercole e la regina di Lidia," "Hercules and the Queen of Lydia") surpasses its predecessor in every way and gives a story credit to Sophocles (!), which alone makes it a worthy successor. The film reunites most of the original cast and is again helmed by director Pietro Francisci, but this time the story is much more focused and the new characters introduced are more compelling than those left behind in the first film. In particular, the unhinged Prince breathes some refreshing mania into the whole enterprise, and most of all Sylvia Lopez as the bewitching temptress Queen Omphale brings a smoldering glamour reminiscent of silent-era sirens. She makes a perfect counterpoint to Sylva Koscina reprising her role as Iole, who here serves a Penelope-type stalwart function in the story. Steve Reeves is every bit as effective as the square-jawed he-man Hercules as he was in the first film. This time, he seems more relaxed and gets to have some fun portraying an idle amnesiac being pampered by the Queen he doesn't realize is holding him captive. Though Iole is supposedly Hercules's true love, Reeves and Lopez have great chemistry and sell their mutual attraction very effectively. Even Gabriele Antonini as eager protégé Ulysses has a role in the story that gives some shape to his comic-relief clowning, unlike the first film where the zaniness he brought to the part didn't have any focus. The film picks up where "Hercules" leaves off, with the hero and his bride Iole, along with Ulysses, returning to Thebes to find that the situation there has deteriorated since Hercules left. More than the first film, "Hercules Unchained" employs most of the elements that would become tropes of Peplum cinema, including a dancing girls interlude, wild animals the hero must defeat, political infighting and intrigue, magic (here represented by the water of forgetfulness and by some rogue Egyptian embalmers), hand-to-hand combat with a worthy opponent (here, demigod Anteo engages our hero in a wrestling match), the destruction of some large structures by virtue of our hero's strength, and of course divine intervention of the pagan variety. There's even a song by Mitchell Parrish, "Evening Star," recorded for the U.S. release. (The Italian version features a different, equally lovely song.) The most notable omission is a lack of any type of unnatural beast or monster for our hero to vanquish, which cuts down considerably on the cheese factor, since those sequences are generally the most dated. In fact, the visual effects here, credited to none other than visual effects supervisor Mario Bava, are surprisingly restrained and effective and hold up nicely. Reeves would go on to star in numerous other Peplum films through the mid-1960s, but for better or worse he never again played Hercules -- better, in the sense that most of what follows is inferior to "Hercules Unchained" (with one notable exception, 1961's "Hercules in the Haunted World" directed by Mario Bava); worse, in the sense that no other actor has quite matched Reeves in portraying Hercules. As in the first film, the scenery is lovely and the set design and costuming is even better here -- you'd think all you need to look at are Reeves and Lopez, but you get much more. This is well worth watching and savoring.

zardoz-13 Steve Reeves has his hands full in director Pietro Francisci's sequel "Hercules Unchained" with Sylva Koscina reprising her role as the wife of Hercules. This spear and sandal saga occurs after the first "Hercules' movie and finds Hercules, wife Iole, and the young Ulysses (Gabriel Antonini) heading off in a wagon for the city of Thebes. Our muscular champion gets to battle the Son of the Earth, tangle with a deceptive dame, fight tigers, and lead a charge into battle. Early in the action, our strong protagonist pauses to quench his thirst. Unbeknownst to him, he drinks from a fountain that refreshes but also erases his mind. Ulysses poses as the amnesiac Hercules' deaf servant. Queen Omphale of Lydia takes him into her pleasure garden, while Ulysses spends his nights in prison. Ulysses dispatches a homing pigeon to his father Laertes, and Andrea Fantasia assembles a small but valiant band to rescue them. Omphale (Sylvia Lopez), has an appetite for handsome studs. When she tires of them, she has priests from Egypt embalm them for posterity. Meantime, two brothers compete the throne of Thebes. They battle each other to the death. "Hercules Unchained" takes advantage of Reeves' acting chops as he has to feign ignorance while he is in Omphale's presence. Lots of fun, especially the fight with with the giant Anteus (Primo Carnera) who regains his strength each time Hercules whips him and puts him down.

Chase_Witherspoon Fair sequel to the original peplum hero with crowd favourite Steve Reeves failing to deliver a concession script to Polinice (Palmara) from his slightly loopy brother (Fantoni) after a disagreement over their turns at reigning Thebes, resulting in the threat of war and retribution against Hercules' wife (Koscina).Fantoni does a credible job as the eccentric emperor who, without the typical sycophants and genuflection to massage his ego, develops a persecution complex and hysteria that takes Thebes to the brink. His role and that of the beguiling Sylvia Lopez as a lonely Queen enamoured by the unattainable Hercules (except when he's had his memory temporarily erased) are perhaps the film's casting highlights. Tragically, Lopez died shortly after this film was released from Leukemia never realising her obvious potential.There's a few humorous moments (particularly when Herc and co encounter the giant Primo Carnera, who's star-billed but only has a brief cameo), and indeed a few macabre (the executions from atop the walls of Thebes), with plenty of sword-fighting, fisticuffs and love-making befitting such an epic in between. A worthy, official sequel to prelude the dozens of imitations that would soon follow.

MARIO GAUCI The sequel to HERCULES (1958) is even less enthusing but remains, nonetheless, an adequate example of the peplum genre.Sylva Koscina's role of Iole, Hercules' love interest, is diminished here since the most prominent female figure on display emerges to be the femme fatale-ish Queen of Lidia Omphale (the film's original title, incidentally, translates to HERCULES AND THE QUEEN OF LIDIA) – the latter is played by another red-headed beauty Sylvia Lopez, who died of leukemia not long after the film's release! Needless to say, the muscle-bound hero (Steve Reeves) falls under her spell after having conveniently drunk from a spring that renders him an amnesiac (though not before he's been engaged in an irrelevant wrestling bout with ex-heavyweight champion Primo Carnera as an irascible giant!); his friend Ulysses, however, is on hand to watch over him (ostensibly in the function of Hercules' deaf-mute slave). Meanwhile, back home in Thebes, two brothers fight it out over the throne – with Iole at the mercy of a cackling maniac (an over-the-top Sergio Fantoni)... By the way, both of these Hercules films featured atmospheric cinematography by Mario Bava - who would himself direct one of the better adventures revolving around this mythical figure, HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD (1961) starring Reg Park. As for Francisci, he worked most often in this genre: from ATTILA (1954; co-starring Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren) – which is overdue for a reappraisal and has, incidentally, just been announced as an upcoming DVD release from Lionsgate! – to the low-brow HERCULES, SAMSON AND ULYSSES (1963; with Kirk Morris now as Hercules) and SINBAD AND THE CALIPH OF BAGHDAD (1973; his last film and which I recall watching eons ago on Italian TV).