Movie: "Hercules" 1997

[timepiececlock]

I'll try to turn my brain off for this.

I like the "supremes" style opening notes. And the art style.

00:01:34 - Zues and titans and Uhhh....UUHHHH .... my head.... it's starting... it's STARTING TO HURT......

00:03:00 Who is this woman? Hercules's mother was a mortal.

00:04:30 - PEGASIS? ::headdesk:: ::HEADDESK:::

00:05:05 - Hades is evil. Right. Of course. You know, this whole scene is eerily similar to Sleeping Beauty's fairy tale beginning.

00:06:36 - "He was as mean as he was ruthless, and that's the gospel truth." NO IT IS NOT THE GOSPEL TRUTH! SHUT UP!

00:08 - "We know!" / "I know you know! I got it! I got the concept." Clearly James Woods is here to make my headache go away.
- I love the design of his lair.
- Does this plot have ANYTHING to do with Herculean myth? I don't know much about Hercules, but I don't remember any plot like this.

00:20 - "Go the Distance"... he just walked up a yellow road to a field of poppies. If Hades sends flying marsupials after him, there will be some grudging on my part.

21:00 - good scream. I'd scream too.
-Did he say "your mother's beautiful ass"?
-I like this talking statue trick

00:30: - I'm picking my split ends during the training song. Bad sign.

00:39 - I'd like to buy some pita bread, actually...

00:44 - Is this the hydra? I remember he fought a hydra, somewhere.

00:53 - People didn't sell their soul to Hades, because he's not the devil. He got everyone's soul ANYWAY.

00:55 - HERCULES KILLED SCAR? That bastard.

1:00 - most interesting song so far, visually, but it's a bit static. This movie is doing the PLOT | SONG | PLOT | SONG | PLOT thing, rather than having the songs advance the story. Still, I like the greek chorus.

1:17 - so all he has to do is set them free? They were free ten minutes ago, and it didn't help.

The movie takes a more genuine romantic tone with the scene where Hercules goes into the toilet bowl of souls (I can't even...it's so...just, no. no.) to make the Orpheus journey. I think the voice actor for Hercules played that scene well.


OVERALL:
It was okay. I liked Hunchback a lot more, I think. I don't know if I'll ever be interested in watching this one again. I mean... for all that Hunchback was unusual for a Disney film, this one is EXACTLY to mold, but its lacking soul. Or, at least, any soul I can identify with. I liked Tarzan better too, though Tarzan wasn't my favorite either.

When it comes to characters, Hercules was okay, but coming after Quasimodo, it feels like a bit of a "so what?" This version of Hercules's biggest problem is that his super-strength makes him clumsy, and makes people wary around him. It seems trivial in comparison to Quasimodo's sorrow. Maybe if this movie had been made two or three years later, and hadn't directly followed after Hunchback, I wouldn't feel the need to compare so strongly. It's like Disney made this movie because they felt they had been to ambitious, too arty, and too real with the last one, and they needed to get their feet firmly planted back in Never Never Land.

The art was lovely, and I appreciated the visual style for the kind of project it was.

The music I wasn't terribly into. It was okay.

Comments

[gojira007.livejournal.com]

"Hercules" definitely remains one of my least favorite Disney movies, for most of the reasons you talk about here; it has its moments, but it really felt like they were going through the motions for most of it.

The one thing about it that I absolutely LOVE is Hades. Inaccuracies to the original myth aside, he's just such a blast to watch that by the end of the film I was rooting for him far more than any of the good guys. He also gets the single best line in the film:
"I've got 48 hours to take this kid out, or the plan I've been working on for TWENTY YEARS goes down the toilet, and YOU...ARE WEARING...HIS MERCHANDISE!!!"

[faoiltiamatani.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha! Sorry I keep commenting on your entries, but I´m sitting here at Machu Picchu waiting for my train, and your reactions to Hercules were just like mine. YES, it hurts the brain. And I definitely agree with it lacking soul. James Woods is the best part. Yay James Woods!

Hunchback, on the other hand, is one of my absolute favorites.

[serhenya.livejournal.com]

The one thing that really bothered me about this movie was having Hera as Hercules' mother instead of a mortal woman. I guess Disney was afraid to reveal the truth about Zeus was constantly cheating on his wife, Hera, with many mortal women and with other goddesses.

Yes, Pegasus teaming up with Hercules. I guess poor Perseus is left all alone to fight the monters and rescue the maiden.

[gojira007.livejournal.com]

Actually, I don't think Perseus ever rode Pegasus either; that's how it's portrayed in "Clash of the Titans", true, but that movie had just as many mythological inaccuracies as this one.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Didn't he actually get Hermes' flying shoes, or something? From the fates.

[gojira007.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit rusty on my Greco-Roman mythology, but yes, I believe Perseus used Hermes' sandals to get around, though if I'm not mistaken they were given to him by Hermes himself as a gift rather than by the Fates, but I could be wrong.

[sub-divided.livejournal.com]

Hercules-the-television-series is great, though! High school drama with Greek and Roman mythological figures, 10 years before Clone High.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I thought Hercules was an adventure show, where he went around rescuing people and sometimes met Xena.

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

Ah, well, there was that Hercules, and then there was the Disney Channel/Toon Disney Hercules show, with high school drama with Greek and Roman mythological figures (I seem to recall Icarus being one of his good friends).

tangent

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I always thought Icarus would be a good name for a cat.