HERCULES IN NEW YORK

year: 1970
cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger
rating: ***1/2

Having grown up on the dubbed version... Arnold Schwarzenegger's voice replaced by a guy who sounds like he should be doing FM radio voice-overs... I was sort of thrown by this new DVD which has the REAL THING. We all know, Arnold is Arnold no matter what film he's in... so the fact he's actually speaking kind of takes away from the cheesiness of the original. But it's still quite fun seeing Arnold as Hercules, bored of Mount Olympus and his father Zeus throwing metallic lightning arrows, venturing to New York city where he takes up with nerdy Arnold Stang, who manages his pal "Herc" in a wrestling career, all the while befriending James Karen and his lovely daughter Deborah Loomis, punching-out burly sailors, battling a horribly-costumed bear in Central Park, and fighting not only the mob but the evil god Pluto. Like in all great/bad cult flicks, there's never glue on the feet: things go from one situation to the next without slowing down. And then, before you know it, the movie's done. And you're a much better person for having survived it.
at
Labels: , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Featured Post

NICKELODEON (1976)

There's a scene in Peter Bogdanovich's tribute to early film-making when Ryan O'Neal, a goofy lawyer turned goofy director, has...

  • THE DEATH COLLECTOR/FAMILY ENFORCER (1976)
    The extremely low-budget of THE DEATH COLLECTOR should not be a detriment since  it effectively provides an eerie realism to what's a po...
  • RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (NOVELIZATION)
    If a novelization flows, it doesn't matter how many times you've seen the movie, since, on the printed page, RAIDERS OF THE LOST A...
  • EASY MONEY (1983)
    Hands down the best scene of EASY MONEY has Rodney Dangerfield insulting a fat kid and his family... where he seems like characters from sup...
  • TO BE OR NOT TO (1982)
    Starts out decently enough, and surprisingly different for Mel Brooks to direct a remake: something that isn't a parody of a serious ...
  • HARBOR COMMAND (TV SERIES 1957-1958)
    Although on the big screen the film noir/crime b-movies were on their way out (or morphing into something else), television held onto this ...
  • THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS (2018)
    It's not just that son of Jim Henson Brian Henson crapped on his father's MUPPET SHOW legacy by making a crude comedy where crude pu...
  • THE WALKING DEAD: DARYL DIXON (2023)
    Well if anything happens, and THE WALKING DEAD: DARYL DIXON doesn't become a big hit, then they could easily make a prequel taking place...
  • SHADOWS AND FOG (WOODY ALLEN)
    While SHADOWS AND FOG is a pretty good movie, and uses the titular elements that channel old British mystery novels, German Expressionism an...
  • OLIVER'S STORY (1978)
    Poor Ryan O'Neal couldn't catch a break. Even two films now considered classics didn't make money in the 1970's upon relea...
  • LIVE CREAM (ALBUM)
    LIVE CREAM is the best live Cream album, covering songs from the first LP Fresh Cream and Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker (bass/l...