Day 12: Hercules in New York (1970, Dir. Arthur Allan Seidelman)
You know when how people say “Well that’s an hour and a half of my life I’m never going to get back” when they’ve watched a bad movie? Well fortunately this movie is only 87 minutes long!
It is stupid from start to finish, with ropey acting and a budget of about 50p to go on, but to be honest its quite good fun, and not to mention campy and kitschy as hell. There is a lot of muscles on show here, and a lot of shirts being taken of and all because… actually there isn’t a reason behind it, just a lot of big men deciding to take their tops off whenever they do anything. The plot is outrageous but is quirky and fun if you manage to just switch your brain off, plus it never really lingers long enough to become dull.
Hercules comes off as a douche for a good chunk of the film; at the start he is like a whiney teenager who is bored and angry at his dad, then when he comes to Earth he just starts beating a lot of people up for no good reason. But soon enough you get used to his fish out of water antics and they can be pretty amusing, whilst always verging on the bizarre. From recognising statues of Greek Gods as friends, calling cars chariots and being a bit sexist too his antics are strangely compelling and entertaining. Plus he fights a bear! A bear! I mean I ask you!
But anyway, as Arnies first big screen appearance this is a strange one, he hasn’t quite made the leap from strong man to film star yet, but he certainly exudes a strange presence every time he is on screen which keeps you watching. It is interesting that because of his accent, the original release of this film was dubbed; though the current DVD is all Arnold, and all the better for it! This version of the film shows his raw and somewhat shakey performance in all its glory. In many ways its strange to think that this man would go on to be one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and then on to being a politician. Here though you can just sit back and take in a very perculiar performance, but one which is undoubtedly his. Ah well, hang in there Arnie, only a decade to go before Terminator…
I would recommended watching this film, even if I’m not entirely sure why. It’s an oddity, but a fun one and definitely one which you’ve got to see to believe!
4/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065832/
Extra: Anyone else just a bit excited to see Arnie, Sly and the gang in The Expendables later this year?
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