Movie Type: Costume Adventure, Mythological Fantasy
Main Cast: Reg Park
Release Year: 1961
Country: IT/FR
Run Time: 93 minutes
Plot
Hercules (Reg Park) and King Androcles (Ettore Manni) are on an ocean expedition when Androcles is washed overboard during a storm near a mysterious island. Making landfall, Hercules finds that the island is the kingdom of Atlantis, ruled by a beautiful, cruel, and ambitious queen, Antinea (Fay Spain), who controls a mysterious source of power. She has transformed her personal guard into super-strong warriors -- each nearly a match for Hercules, put Androcles under her spell, and inflicted terrible wounds on her people, all in preparation for her plan to conquer the world. Hercules finds that her power stems from a source older than the gods on Olympus, one over which he has virtually no power. He must save his friend, release Antinea's people, and prevent her from carrying out her plans. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Review
One of the most intriguing of the Italian-made sword-and-sandal adventure films, Hercules and the Captive Women (as it is known in the United States) is well worth a look from anyone with even the slightest interest in the genre. The acting may be a little rough going (and difficult to take seriously once one has watched the Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation of this title), but the shooting and the effects are quite good, and they are put into the service of a genuinely fascinating plot. Where many of the movies in this genre throw together a few names, places, and story lines out of various myths and shake them up into a vaguely coherent plot, Hercules and the Captive Women has a script -- written by director Vittorio Cottafavi -- that actually betrays some thought, care, and inventiveness with its subject matter, as well as some knowledge of such source material as Hesiod's Theogeny. Queen Antinea has stumbled upon what we might call a meteor, but which the High Priest of the island identifies as a remnant of the gore that spilled from the god Uranus' wounds when he was castrated by his son Kronos; as a remnant of the body of a living god, it has the power to destroy and transmute all earthly matter, including human flesh, which is precisely how the queen uses it. While this may not sound impressive to modern viewers, it's an eerie example of a kind of ancient Greek version of science fiction that is perfectly suited to its subject. Additionally, the various plot developments and characterizations fit together in the manner of the Greek myths and legends, with all of the seeming jumps in logic and motivation that we perceive today. The movie's craftsmanship might not be on a par with Ray Harryhausen's Jason and the Argonauts, but Hercules and the Captive Women is many cuts above the typical Italian muscle-man film. The major difficulty in seeing it on home video is its apparent public domain status -- meaning it is widely bootlegged -- and the fact that it was shot as a widescreen movie and ought to be mastered that way, fully letterboxed rather than cropped at its sides. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
