Hercules helped make a star of Steve Reeves and a fortune for Joe Levine, so it was no surprise to see the two of them reunite for this sequel which has Hercules gets involved in a dispute over who should rule Thebes. Sylvia Koscina also returns as his wife, as does director Pietro Francisci. There’s high production values, nice photography and location work, plenty of action and muscle men and curvaceous girls – it’s good entertainment for kids (Mario Bava was director of special effects).
The story has a flaw – most of the running time concerns Hercules losing his memory and living with a hot princess who loves him (the scriptwriters raid liberally from The Odyssey); then he escapes from the land 20 minutes to go and goes off to rescue his wife, which feels like an add-on part.
Reeves isn’t that good to be honest – I mean, he looks the part with the physique and beard, but he doesn’t have much personality (the eyes aren’t very animated). Also it’s laughable when he emotes. This was the last time he played Hercules – other actors took over for the sequels, although Reeves continued making swashbucklers for a number of years.
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