Protraph
Lack of good storyline.
Abegail Noëlle
While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.
Fleur
Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
wes-connors
"Peter Lupus of 'Mission: Impossible' fame stars as the legendary Hercules. He is on a mission to rescue the beautiful Queen of the Hellenes, who has been kidnapped and enslaved by the ruler of Babylon," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis. Yes, three thousand years ago in the city of Babylon, popular TV series supporting player Peter Lupus (as "Rock Stevens") had a career in muscle-man movies from Italy. This one, translated literally by American International Pictures as "Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon", is ponderous to a fault. Beautifully shaped Helga Line is the highlight.*** Ercole contro i tiranni di Babilonia (12/25/64) Domenico Paolella ~ Peter Lupus, Helga Line, Mario Petri, Livio Lorenzon
mstomaso
Domenico Paolello, an Italian director most well known for films in the genre of Hercules (huge classical folk hero versus miscellaneous hordes of evil-doers), directed this fairly typical Hercules film from the mid-1960s. Paolello often worked with American body-builder Rock Stevens during this time, and Stevens was cast as Hercules for this film. Stevens would later sharpen his acting abilities and develop a charismatic and much more memorable character on the popular Mission Impossible TV show (Willie Armitage). At this point in his career, however, Rock was really just another Hercules - albeit one of the most impressively ripped and tall. Like most of the leading men used for this series, he expends little effort acting, and does a lot of flexing, tossing, punching, lifting, etc.The plot is a bit more complex than the usual beautiful treacherous woman/mysterious powerful empire/classical times Hercules story. Set in the Middle East, the Queen of Helene has been captured by the tyrannous Babylonian council of three. Herc, whose relationship with his queen seems a bit more devoted than the average Greek's, comes to the rescue and quickly becomes a pawn in a vast, confusing, game of thrones. The plot, which is more sophisticated than the average Herc-flick, had some potential, but execution was a bit underwhelming.Though epic and formulaic, Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon does not present the standard level of grand action Hercules films typically engender. Stevens' best moments are his few fight scenes - where he can use his remarkable physical presence to the greatest advantage - but these are relatively few and far between. Though the Middle Eastern scenery is adequate, the sets and costumes are not nearly as impressive or detailed as many of the other Herculean adventures. Finally, the film's pace is inconsistent. Just as it threatens to lull you to sleep, a crucial fact is presented or the plot takes a big twist.Recommended only for Hercules fans.
Maciste_Brother
Take the alluring Helga Liné out of HERCULES AND THE TYRANTS OF BABYLON and there wouldn't be much left to watch. Peter Lupus plays Hercules this time around and, personally speaking, he just doesn't have any charisma or screen presence to carry a whole film, certainly compared to other actors whom played the famous fabled hero. In fact, one almost suspects the producers knew about this as Lupus's screen presence is quite limited. Lupus is not on screen as often as Steve Reeves or Mark Forest are in their respective films. It doesn't help that Lupus also looks rather ridiculous swinging that over-sized paper-maché club. The story is dull and copied from other sources, including SPARTACUS. The production values are good or slightly above average but then the ending is just footage taken from the woeful Robert Aldrich Biblical epic, SODOM AND GOMORRAH, which cheapens the whole project. There are almost no stand-out scenes. The only thing that stands-out is Helga. Wow! She looks even better than in SPARTACUS AND THE TEN GLADIATORS, which was much more fun than this leaden affair. Helga definitely made this worth sitting through the uninspired Peplum action.
classicsoncall
I knew that Peter Lupus had made a number of Hercules movies, but hadn't seen any until coming across this flick in the fifty movie DVD pack from Mill Creek/Treeline Entertainment under their Sc-Fi collection. His role in the TV series 'Mission Impossible' only hinted at his size, but not the impressive physique he reveals here as the Greek strong man. There's also some hint of his acting ability shown as well, but let's face it, he wasn't surrounded by Shakespearean actors here.Hercules' mission, which he's chosen to accept, is to rescue the Queen of Hellenes from her captors, the three sovereigns of Babylon. King Phaleg of Assyria has the same thing on his mind, but his motive is to unite his country with Hellenes to form an even more powerful state. You know the Babylonian trio will fall apart at some point, as lone sister Taneal would like nothing better than to rule singlehandedly without the interference of her brothers Salman Osar and Azzur.Taneal offers viewers an early insight into how Babylon will fall when she reveals the existence of an ancient wheel underneath the city that's chained to strategic pillars and walls. When it's time for Hercules to spin the old wheel of fortune, the city of Babylon comes crashing down, but didn't he make it look just a little too easy?Lupus, going by the name of Rock Stevens for this film, seemed to symbolize the adage, 'walk softly but carry a big stick'. Some of his scenes wielding that huge billy club looked almost comic in execution. It also seemed to me that it might have had a boomerang quality to it as well. Check out the first time Hercules throws the club in the direction of a Babylonian rider in an early scene. Herc is positioned behind the man on horseback, but when the club knocks the rider from his horse, it's shown hitting him from the front! If you ask me, I'd say THAT was 'Mission Impossible'!
