The Legend of Hercules (2014) User Reviews (273)

Not much worse than expected

[zalessky · 3/10 · 13 January 2014]

Hercules is not entirely a disaster, as one might expect. A low-budget PG-13 adaptation of 300-style movies made in Bulgaria, this movie is in line with the expectations on what Renny Harlin is capable of.

While not being a disaster on a whole, it's a disaster in parts. The special effects, while being descent 3D images at times, are badly connected with live shots. There are many moments when perspective of such sequences is distorted in really obvious (and unintentionally funny) ways. There are numerous anachronisms. Characters use costumes and jewelry that could not be available in ancient Greece. Screenplay, while not being completely absurd, has some rather awkward dialog lines and unexplainable plot moments.

Unfortunately, the movie is not a Hercules legend but rather a shallow love story and family drama. There's even a bathing scene in a romantic- looking pond with flowers under a waterfall (the water in the pond is so dirty though that one can only feel pity for the actors). There are no heroic deeds of Hercules depicted in this movie.

One last blow for Hercules is PG-13 rating. There's no blood at all. When swords pierce bodies, they re-appear absolutely clean. When one of the characters was struck in the neck, the next shot showed his neck without a sign of a would or even a drop of blood. One of the few things the movie managed to deliver were some dynamic battle sequences; but PG- 13 made them look fake. In the age of 300 and Spartacus TV show, this is not something you want to waste your time on.

Unless you wish to add to a surprising $8 mln box office success after its first weekend, which will probably make this movie more profitable than most other current releases.

Soon it Will Evaporate from Existence

[LeonLouisRicci · 5/10 · 4 September 2014]

Absolutely Average and Below in Every Way, this by the Numbers Filmmaking from a Very Inconsistent Director is so Unremarkable that it Barely Exists and is in Danger of Fading from Memory So Fast that the Mythology of Hercules is Safe.

This is Not Awful, Not Good, Not Much of Anything. It just Sort of Lies there with Nothing to Say, Attract Attention or be Concerned About. The Acting is Across the Board Boring. The Story is Unfaithful to its Source Material and the Story being Told is so Familiar and Stale that even Youngsters will be Disappointed.

It is Disposable and Dull with that Old PG-13 Curse of Banality and Yawn Inducing Action Scenes (that are worse when dealing with swords, spears, and Gladiator type mayhem) that the Battles are Rendered War Weary from the Outset.

Overall, Not the Worst Thing ever, but if You are Going to Watch it, do it Soon before it Ceases to Exist like the Pools of Sweat from a Strenuous Workout.

This movie is legendary bad.

[ironhorse_iv · 4/10 · 17 June 2014]

Honestly, I don't know what Hercules myth, they were going for, but this movie wasn't Hercules, in any sense of the world. Where were the Twelve Labors? Where's evil Hera? She's supposed to try to make Hercules life, a little hell with raging madness! I know the Heracles tale is one of the most adapted heroes for films, but this had to be one of the worst Hercules ever. It got nothing right with the source material. Directed by Renny Harlin, the movie couldn't even figure out, what to call its title, as it was formerly known as Hercules: The Legend Begins and Hercules 3D. Don't bother, reading up on the myths of Heracles, as this movie redirected you to a new story, where the evil King Amphitryon (Scott Adkins) has just invaded the land of Argos. Feeling in shame of war, Amphitryon's wife, Queen Alcmene (Roxanne McKenna) ask Hera to get Zeus to rape her so that she would have a God-child that would over-thrown the evil King. First off, Hera whom supposed to be the Goddess of virtue women and marriage allow this to happen? Hera was known for her jealous and vengeful nature against Zeus's lovers and offspring. How on Mount Olympia did she allow this to happen? Anyways, after Zeus had his way with the Queen, a child was born and grew up to become Hercules (Kellan Lutz). Oops, my bad, He-Man. No, that isn't right, I meant Alcides. Kellan Lutz is so one-dimensional dull that it was painful to see him in this role. The man doesn't look like a damn like the Heracles in mythology. Where is the Nemean lion coat? They really misused that lion. Why is it, smiling? Anyways, Alcides is having a great life being in love with his incest sister, Hebe (Gaia Weiss) who somehow lose her God-like powers of youth. When she's force to marry, Alcides's brother, Iphicles (Liam Garrigan), with Alcidies's disagreement. Amphitryon is forced to sell Alcidies into slavery as a gladiator. Now, Alcides must find a way back to his homeland, and defeat this evil father. Yes, the movie is not only ripping off the slow motion unrealistic fighting styles clichés from 2006's 300, but also the whole plot of 2000's Gladiator. The movie doesn't even seem to know the difference between the Romans and the Greeks. There is little prove of that there were Gladiator type fights for entertainment in Ancient Greece. The 3D work is pretty bad. There were scenes, where my eyes hurt after watching it. One good example is the lake scene where little white dandelion pieces were flowing everywhere. The action scenes were alright, but I just can't take a movie that has a silly scene with Hercules waving a lightning bolt bullwhip, seriously. It felt so formula, like it was model after the God of Wars video games. The CGI background were pretty horrible. You can tell in some scenes that it was filmed in green screen. The movie has little to no sense of time. The queen and the king don't really aged in the film. They look like they haven't aged in the last 22 years. The production seem limited, it really did look like they re-used extras and props from Star's Network TV Series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. The movie lacks with the PG-13 rated as Hercules was always meant to be a pretty hardcore violence film. Overall: For all the modern Sword and Sandals films, it's probably one of the movies, I wouldn't check out, until last. It's one of those movies, you really can't stand seriously. It's so bad, it's might be good, depending on what you deem as fun. For me, the Legend of Hercules is a punishment straight from Hades. For a movie about Hercules; I have to say, there are other films that might be better than this. Go see 2014's Hercules with Dwayne Johnson. If not go find Kevin Sorbo's Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995–1999) television show. Even Disney 1997's Hercules that had little to do with the main story was better than this. Still, this movie is a lot better than 1959's Hercules Unchained, 1983's Hercules and others. Why can't Hollywood ever take a story that works and make it compelling without dumbing it down, getting it mostly wrong and totally missing the point? I'm still waiting for a good Hercules movie. In my opinion, this movie wasn't the one, I was looking for.

Eddie Murphy did a better Hercules than this

[drojan · 9 January 2014]

Let me start off by saying I am a huge fantasy fan. I can usually enjoy any swords and sorcery type film and find something good about it. Now let me say Wow this movie was bad. I mean I thought this kind of clumsy, lowest common denominator filmmaking died in the 80's. It is bad when I asked the organizer to give me a refund on a free prescreening.

Where to begin? I don't expect much in this type of movie in terms of plot or characterization. In action "porn" like this, the plot is usually just barely coherent enough to move from one action sequence to the next and the characters are as black and white as a chessboard. This movie somehow delivers LESS than that.

It is staggering to me that with a mythology as rich and engaging to draw from, they choose a tired rehashing of Gladiator as the main focus of the film. No doubt holding the more interesting material back for future sequels. The laughable love story is unengaging, poorly scripted and given far too much screen time.

What really disappoints is the action sequences. Hercules is supposed to be a demigod that achieves the impossible; the movie portrays none of this. It wastes a good deal of time with a clumsy mix of fighting scenes in which Hercules is repeatedly captured and/or defeated. WTF? It is only towards the end that an attempt is made to show Hercules as he should be seen, but I had tuned out long before then.

Oddly enough, the blood and gore in this film is kept to a minimum, probably to keep it at PG-13 in hopes of duping the largest possible audience to drop money on it. It would have really benefited from a Conan-esque level of violence to give the movie more weight and better directed action sequences. The dramatic pause in the middle of the action (made famous in the movie 300) is in every single action sequence.

I really don't know what I recommend from this film. Everything in the movie has been done better in other films. I hope this film tanks but I doubt it. It will make a profit and encourage more of the same I'm sure.

The Gods are not pleased...

[rileyjustin306 · 1/10 · 12 January 2014]

The Legend of Hercules is one of two Hercules movies in 2014, the other one is set for release in July starring Dwayne Johnson and Directed by Brett Ratner. And I gotta say, after seeing this movie, I'm really looking forward to the Brett Ratner version, and that's saying something.

Where do I begin? The acting is hilariously awful (Kellan Lutz and the villains especially). The romance is laughable. The fight scenes are a total rip off of 300 and Gladiator, with obnoxious slow-mo being used every 10 seconds. And for a movie with a budget of $70 million, it looks cheap.

The Legend of Hercules has some of the worst production values I've ever seen in a film. The costumes look noticeably cheap, The props are low rent, The green screen effects are amateurish. The 3D conversion is even worse. And the CGI looks worse than an Asylum movie.

Final Verdict: Unless you're watching for a cheap laugh, you should avoid this stinker like the plague.

Unbelievably Awful

[arlenlanglois · 1/10 · 14 January 2014]

It is absolutely shocking that this movie came out in today's market. The dialog was horrible: cliché and predictable. The entire film was, in fact, predictable. We saw the previews, we went to the film, and about ten minutes in we knew it was bad. We gave it a chance, hoping it would get better, that it would redeem itself in some way. It did not. It got worse. If you are just looking for an entertaining film, this is a major disappointment, to say the least. Obvious special effects, slow motion for every other move in every fight scene, and terrible, I mean tragic, dialog. If you are a fan of Greek mythology, it's downright offensive. Don't waste your time or your money.

Thoroughly Atrocious

[charles-gribble · 1/10 · 13 January 2014]

This movie lost me even before I was dragged into the theater. The trailers made it look like a movie made mostly for the sake of violence and for showcasing the sweaty, hairless, shirtless bodies of the male actors; there is plenty if the latter, but shockingly less than expected of the former so if you're interested in bloody and graphic violence skip it, there's nothing that graphic to speak of. The story of Hercules's impossible tasks, is abandoned (and only makes a cameo in a scene where he kills a lion) and instead it's been replaced with a meathead's view of Ridley Scott's, Gladiator. The story and characters are as shallow as kiddie pools, the editing never slows down the pace which is tiring after the first twenty minutes, the same establishing shots are used in the very first shot of every scene, the music also doesn't know how to tone down, as that the climax of each scene is accompanied with large, "rousing" crescendo, the writing is awful and gives you no look into the mind of the characters (at least I hope they had more going on in their heads than what was expressed), there is no acting to speak of, and the visual effects look like they're from a Sci-Fi Channel movie. To add to my disappointment, I also discovered that IMDb doesn't have a "0 star" rating, what the hell?

Unoriginal awful film. Don't see it!!!

[jacklordalankeen · 1/10 · 11 January 2014]

The Legend of Hercules spoiler free review

This movie is HORRIBLE. Where do i start. The acting is just laughable and bad. Kellan Lutz is bad as Hercules (Hopefully Dwayne Johnson will do better in the next Hercules movie). Every line is said horribly. Did i mention the dialogue is BAD.

The script is horrible. It has nothing to do with the original mythology. It tries to be like 300 and Gladiator but fails horribly. The romance is so cheesy with the worst romance dialogue i have ever heard.

Are the action scenes good?....No....Far from good. It always uses slow motion just like 300 (which was used better) but it was obnoxious and gets old and annoying.

The visual effects and green screen is horrible and this movie has a budget of over 70 million dollars!!! What?! Movies with lower budgets look more convincing then this.

Overall rating 1/10 One of the worst movies i have seen all year and we're still in January!!! Hopefully the Brett Ratner version is better and obviously it will be. You can't get lower than this.

An Early Contender For Worst Movie Of The Year!

[Callum_Hofler · 1/10 · 23 January 2014]

The Legend of Hercules is a film directed by Renny Harlin, and stars Kellan Lutz, Scott Adkins and Gaia Weiss, and revolves around the character of Hercules, son of Zeus, who was born solely to end the life of the King of his people, and unite the lands in peace, or something like that. I didn't pay too much attention, to be honest!

This movie is horrible. It's clichéd to pieces, poorly directed, horribly acted and disastrously written. All the dialogue feels so god damned forced, and makes it incredibly difficult to latch onto any of the characters. Whenever they speak... It's like someone saw Spartacus or Game of Thrones and went "Well, now I certainly know how people of that era spoke!" and wrote a screenplay, full of fancy words and shallow speeches. You don't feel like a single word here is sincere; from Hercules speaking to his clichéd, forbidden love Hebe (Yeah, that's right; his forbidden love's name is Princess Hebe), and from the King to his son... It's all atrocious! The screenwriter also saw the speeches in Braveheart and LOTR: Return of The King and went "Well, we obviously need a battle speech!" and wrote a bunch of big speeches that were emotionless, and couldn't have been more forced. I'll move on, cause I could go on about the dialogue for days!

The acting... It's too much! The main actor, Kellan Lutz, came from Twilight... So you knew from the beginning you were in for a bad ride. He's completely emotionless, stale and you not for one second care for his character. His forbidden love, played by Gaia Weiss, is equally horrible! The only reason she was cast, obviously, is because she's pretty damned hot! Scott Adkins, though, leads the way in crappy performances! His entire performance revolves around him yelling every single word. He could be speaking to his wife in private, and still find the need to yell every word to her. It was dreadful to watch! The only decent performance was delivered by Liam McIntyre, who plays Hercules's friend and comrade. He could actually deliver the lines with a bit of power, emotion! Despite his decent performance though, the rest of the cast deserves Razzie's. I'm calling it people; every single actor and actress here will get nominated at the Golden Raspberries this year! That is not good!

The action is horrendous. Remember 300; that badass film about Spartan's kicking a bunch of Persian's asses? And remember how it used to go into awesome slow motion every once in a while during the fighting, when a sword was plunged deep into a body, or someone hit another over the head? Well, they do it here! And is it good? Hell no! They overuse it to pieces, and by the end of the film, you can't help but cringe every time it occurs. The action in general feels weak. There is never a moment in this film in which you worry for Hercules. You always know that he's going to beat his opponents, and that makes for fights that have you bored and uninterested! When the great hero Hercules lacks peril in his fight scenes, you have a problem.

The CGI here is again, horrible! All the green screen looks like it could have fit right into a 1980's action flick. For a film coming out in 2014, that's not a good sign! All the CGI aspects of this film look incredibly fake, and mixed in with the terrible live sets, it makes for a difficult experience. I'm so thankful I did not see this in 3D, I certainly wouldn't have been able to stand it all. And the extra admission price... completely criminal!

Overall, The Legend of Hercules is a pile of crap. Just please don't watch this! This film should be nominated for Razzie's, and make a minimal amount at the box office. It's one of the worst movies of all time, and certainly going to be on my top 10 worst of 2014. I need to watch 300 now, to feel good about this genre again.

1.1/10

Find more film reviews at www.entjunkie.blogspot.com

Not bad

[craigmbritt · 6/10 · 15 November 2020]

This wasn't a terrible movie, I kind of enjoyed it. It's like a mixture of 300 and gladiator. I don't get all the bad reviews. If you like a good action flick I would say watch this.

Awful

[jclayton4213 · 1/10 · 11 January 2014]

The only thing worse than this movie is having to watch it in 3D and have the awful come out of the screen at you. Horrible. The guy who plays Hercules should be arrested and tried in court for crimes against humanity. The actress who plays Hebe gave so many awkward moments in this film she should be sent to MTV to coach the 16 and pregnant girls how to lose their man. The fight scenes in this film start off alright; but gradually turn into WWE backyard wrestling. The scene near the beginning where Hercules fights the horrible CGI Lion was so horribly done that I almost walked out on the film then. Sadly, I decided to wait until much later to do that. I would add more to this review; but I was smart enough to actually leave and try to save the rest of the night with ice cream and though I should go to a crisis center. Sadly, they do not have a "center for the people who just saw the worst film ever". Do not see this movie; you have been warned.

A WONDERFUL Criticism Of Traditional Movie-Making

[Astyan · 10/10 · 24 March 2014]

Oh boy. What a ride, so much greatness. Ed Wood would be proud.

The Legend of Hercules. This caustic comedy doesn't start at the minute 0 of the movie. The movie in itself is just the tip of the iceberg, to fully understand all the implications and subtlety of this story you have to be familiar with the background. This is NOT an easy movie. Just like Citizen Kane it's a movie you need to DESERVE, as it will not give itself to you too easily.

It all starts in a rocking chair next to a swimming-pool. Summer is shining, life is good, whiskey's on the rocks. Some old guy with sun glasses is on the phone, talking while playing Candy Crush.

"I'm telling you, people want a gladiator movie. Just like Gladiator, something like that! (Sweet.) Just freaking do something like the series Spartacus, or Rome, I don't (Tasty!) give a damn. I want the script in one week. (Sugar crush.)"

One week later 10 screenwriters come up with 10 different scripts. For a movie 10 times better, the guy in the rocking chair decides the movie will be a blend of the 10 scripts.

He puts 70 million dollars on the table.

The movie is now shot and it's kind of very bad, just how it was supposed to be. It doesn't matter anyway because people just have to go to the cinema once, it's alright if they don't like it and don't come a second time! HA!

Worried, some guy calls the money-guy in the rocking chair.

"-Hey, I've been thinking, we should use a famous name from the mythology in the title! It will bring more people!

-Asklepios?

-Eeeehhh, well to be honest I was thinking Hercules...

-Oh, alright then."

And so The Legend Of Hercules was born. This movie is not a story, it's money invested and hope for a return. If you make a bad movie but you hit some landmarks: Hercules, mythology, gladiators, somewhat-famous actors, then you'll probably make money.

You have to understand the true, deep nature of this movie. The Legend of Hercules is a cry for help, a poetry, a game-changer. The actual purpose of this movie is to impact the global industry, to make producers realize that, no, bad movies actually DON'T WORK, and they are not easy money.

A simple, honest, gladiator movie with no fake big name like Hercules, with no fake romance, with just a guy fighting and living in the roman empire would have made more money. It is time to leave the path of using the same recipe over and over again. This is the one and only message this movie conveys, successfully.

I hope you'll appreciate The Legend of Hercules as fully as I did.

Different beast

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 29 August 2014]

This isn't Gladiator and this isn't Spartacus either (whaever Spartacus you're thinking about ... it's not)! And we also have to say, it isn't Hercules either. Well not really, apart from the name in the title. But this takes liberties in story telling and it also does takes liberties towards the end, with a scene that is almost ridiculous, but also insanely funny.

So while Kellan Lutz cannot even remotely be as amazing a Hercules as Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson is (will be, haven't watched the "real" Hercules movie yet), this can be fun to watch. The movie never pretends to be more than it actually is. But if you're not down with that, you might as well just skip this. It can be a fun party movie with some friends though ...

Shocked at how a film this bad made it to theatres/cinemas

[TheLittleSongbird · 2/10 · 19 September 2016]

Not the worst of anything to do with the Hercules legend, there are a few obscure low budget animated adaptations (not feature length) that are marginally worse. When it comes to feature length films, it would be very difficult to think of a worse depiction of Hercules than 'The Legend of Hercules'.

The sole saving grace is Liam McIntyre. He is the only actor who tries and the only one to feel right for his character and within the tone of the story. However the rest of the acting was just diabolical. Kellan Lutz has to be one of the most charisma-free and can't-act-his-way-out-a-paper-bag actors working today, he brings none of the heroism and conflict of this great charismatic hero and spends all his screen time looking blank and wooden and uttering his admittedly terrible lines with the flattest and most awkward line delivery imaginable.

Can't say anything better about the ladies either, who also show their acting limitations, especially the portrayal of Hebe who is in dire need of an acting coach. The obligatory villain acting is so pantomimic and overdone that one's surprised at how there was any scenery left from all the chewing, and it is so cartoonish that it veers on at times unintentionally comical rather than menacing.

Blame cannot be entirely laid at their door though. 'The Legend of Hercules' is very incompetently directed by a director that in the film's worst parts even makes Uwe Ball look good. Even worse is the script, which is extremely flabby and heavy in banality and melodrama. The characters are genre stereotypes basically and have the development of a thin piece of cardboard. The story, what there is of it (for the running time this is often wafer-thin and threadbare storytelling) rushes from one scene and plot point to another, and jumps around constantly that following what's going on is not always easy. But because the writing and characterisation has so little to them and that thrills, emotional engagement and such are next to none the film feels interminably dull and lifeless often.

Some bad fantasy-action-adventure films have the credit of looking good. That cannot be said at all for 'The Legend of Hercules' that looks like direct to video fodder from SyFy or The Asylum. The photography is unfocused and editing choppy, with an irritating over-reliance of slow motion and impregnated pauses that come over often as gimmicky, excessive and unnecessary. The sets and costumes look recycled, and to say that the special effects are dodgy is not just an understatement but actually pretty insulting, some of the worst effects of any film seen in recent years.

What little there is of the action is at best uninspired choreographically, an eyesore visually and in terms of peril they're somewhat tame. The music score is lifeless and forgettable, very generic genre scoring actually. The 50s and 60s Hercules films may have been cheap and cheesy, but at least they knew what their goals were, who they were aiming at and what tone to take. 'The Legend of Hercules' fails at all three of those things, often it was difficult to work out what it was trying to be or what tone it was aiming for as it tries to be light-hearted fun and also take it seriously and fails abysmally at both.

To summarise, very bad film. How it made it to theatres/cinemas and not straight to DVD is honestly a complete enigma to me, and this is coming from a very subjective person when expressing opinions. 2/10 Bethany Cox

Incredibly shallow and underwhelming, even Hercules cannot lift himself out of this mess

[moviexclusive · 7 January 2014]

Step aside, Kevin Sorbo, we have a new man for the role of Hercules and his name is Kellan Lutz. If you have no idea who Mr Lutz is, check out his appearances in the Twilight instalments.

Anyway back to The Legend of Hercules. As the title suggests, this is an origin story that sets up the demigod character. Despised by his father King Amphitryon (Scott Adkins) since the day he was born, Hercules - the son of Zeus and Queen Alcmene (Roxanne McKee) - is sent to war after failing to elope with his true love, Princess Hebe (Gaia Weiss). King Amphitryon favors his elder son, Iphicles (Liam Garrigan); unfortunately he is not warrior material let alone lead a kingdom and winning the heart of Princess Hebe. As fate would have it, Hercules survived the war and returns to reclaim his love and kingdom from the wrath of King Amphitryon.

The poster reads From the director of Cliffhanger and Die Hard 2 - it's unfortunate they forgot to add in the fact that both were movies from more than twenty years ago, and Renny Harlin's directing career has long been sunk by a certain Cutthroat Island. Let's face it; The Legend of Hercules isn't going to resurrect Harlin's status in Hollywood anytime soon.

While similarly themed movies such as 300, Immortals and Clash of the Titans are known more for their visual aesthetics than storytelling, The Legend of Hercules failed miserably on both accounts. Filmed entirely in Eastern Europe because of cheaper costs and taxes, Harlin's movie mimics the feel and look of its predecessors while pretending to strip down to the grittiness of that era. However every single set piece looks like a cheap knock-off, right down to the CG extensions - case in point, one seriously fake looking puppeteer lion looks even worse than that in cable series Spartacus and Rome.

Written by at least four credited writers (one of them from the terrible Conan the Barbarian remake and Harlin himself), it is such a shame that the supposedly mythology-inspired story instead resembles Ridley Scott's Gladiator more than anything - if you recall, Maximus, was also betrayed and sold to slavery but made a comeback for revenge. We didn't realize that the legendary Greek hero Hercules actually ventures on the same path until now.

Unimaginative plotting aside, the movie suffers from incredible clunky, modernized dialogue peppered with a variety of British and American accents and awful delivery from the actors. With the exception of McKee and Adkins (surprisingly turning in a solid performance), most of the cast members - especially Lutz - needs to sign up for advanced acting classes. Minus off all the disemboweling, limb and head severing and bloodshed you normally would have expect from such a theme (an obvious attempt to lure in younger audiences), The Legend of Hercules quickly dissolves into a predictable yawn fest.

It's a tad disappointing that a movie about a demigod with incredible strength fares without emotion and plays like generally a mere paint-by- number adventure. Comparing to the 1997 animated feature by Disney, this one is hardly worth the time.

The problem

[joey-rodriguez · 1/10 · 13 January 2014]

This is probably why we do not see many quality swords and sandals flicks, most Hollywood producers are worried about the "badassness" of the film rather than a quality experience. Unfortunately, the drawing rooms are most likely filled with ideas about actors in costume jumping in slow motion to attack the bad guy and other senseless special effects a la Transformers.

I guess what I am saying is that newer technology and more special effects are not always a good thing, specially with a swords and sandals movie, Hollywood will continue losing money on movie tickets because they are missing the point, sometimes less is more.

This movie really was awful, I hope The Rock's Thracian Wars will give us a more realistic feel of what a Hercules movie should be.

Stay away...far away

[bravesfanc · 2/10 · 11 January 2014]

I go into every movie with an open mind and yet that couldn't help me enjoy this whatsoever. Kellan Lutz can't carry a movie on his own, then again, no one could've carried this movie.

From the opening dialogue "I accept your challenge, prepare to die!" you know you've got a long movie ahead of you. Oh and the fight scenes...not sure if they were trying to be "The Matrix" or "300" with all of the slow motion it used, but it didn't work. The fight scenes would've been better had it been shown full speed.

Then there's the love triangle and the 3 actors involved were all equally terrible. In one scene after Hercules returns and the girl sees him for the first time after she thought he was dead, they lay in the woods and it's just awkward.

The CGI may be the worst of the 21st Century. It's like they didn't even try to make it look real. It felt like one of those SciFy B horror movies you watch...I take it back, it was worse than that. And at a running time of only about 90 or so minutes, it felt like 3 hours and the fight scenes were the only bearable part of this movie. But even those get repetitive with all of the slow motion like I mentioned before.

I can only hope that the next Hercules movie being released later this year will be better, and I'm not too worried that it will easily surpass this horrendous piece of work. I have no doubt this will be on my list of worst movies in the year of 2014.

everything was terrible

[MLDinTN · 1/10 · 13 September 2014]

This has to be one of the worst movies of the year. A lot of times a bad movie's saving grace is the special effects, but they were terrible in this. What was all the slo-mo about? From the very opening scene with cgi soldiers instead of real people to the horrible lion to Hercules swinging around 2 huge stones. All of it looked so fake. Another thing, a movie like this needs all the blood and gore and since this was pg-13 everything like that was not shown on screen. When someone put a knife in a chest, there wasn't blood squirting everywhere. Let's not forget how bad the acting was. I'm not sure whom was worse, Kellen or Gaia.

FINAL VERDICT: Avoid at all costs.

no charisma lead

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 16 February 2017]

In 1200 B.C. Greece, King Amphitryon conquers Argos by killing its ruler. Queen Alcmene is tired of his constant war. Hera allows her to have a baby with Zeus who would grow up to be the half-God champion Hercules (Kellan Lutz). He falls in love with Princess Hebe of Crete but his jealous older half-brother Iphicles announces his marriage to her. Hercules is sent to Egypt where he is set up for an ambush and sold into slavery.

The opening fight is slightly interesting. It tries to be 300 but it's not as good. It starts out as a cheaper version of that style. That would be fine but it only gets worst from there. Kellan Lutz comes in and the muscle-bound dude is not charismatic enough to lead. The action style becomes cheaper and weaker. This Greek epic story has never seem less compelling.

Mediocre and colorful rendition about Greek myths with state-of-art images and overwhelming battles

[ma-cortes · 4/10 · 3 April 2023]

So-so movie combining legendary events , drama , Greek mythology and breathtaking fights . The picture is a fun sword and sandals epic with stirring adventures , struggles , bizarre scenarios and turns out to be an average story and entertaining at times . In Ancient Greece 1200 B. C., a queen succumbs to the lust of Zeus to bear a son promised to overthrow the tyrannical rule of the king and restore peace to a land in hardship. But this prince, Hercules (Kellan Lutz) , knows nothing of his real identity or his destiny. He desires only one thing: the love of Hebe (Gaia Weiss) ... Hebe, Princess of Crete, who has been promised to his own brother Iphicles (Liam Garrigan) , but he must overthrow an unjust king King Amphitryon (Scott Adkins) . When Hercules learns of his greater purpose, he must choose: to flee with his true love or to fulfill his destiny and become the true hero of his time. He is turned into a half-god , Hercules is raised on Earth and retains his god-like strength . The story behind one of the greatest myths is revealed in this action-packed epic - a tale of love, sacrifice and the strength of the human spirit. Hercules must use his formidable powers to fight his way back to his rightful kingdom. Before he was a legend, he was a man. Discover the truth behind the legend.

Big production that blends Greek legends , fights , feats and spectacular frames by means of Computer Generator . The story is very loosely based on Greek mythology , creating a potpurrí of Gods and legends , mingling elements of various myths . As screen writers state that they chose to change many aspects of the ancient Greek stories to reflect the fact that the Greeks themselves often revised their mythology to conform to new ideas and knowledge . But few aspects are well based on Greek legends, taking many liberties , some mythical events are decently recreated, perhaps it is more accurate is the fight of Hercules against the Lion of Nemea .The flick packs nice settings , characters with elaborate costumes and a seamless combination of practical and CGI effects . The origin story of Hercules, mythical Greek hero - the son of Zeus, a half-god, half-man blessed with extraordinary strength. Betrayed by his stepfather, the King, and exiled , Hercules must use his formidable powers to fight his way back to his rightful kingdom. Through harrowing battles and gladiator-arena death matches, Hercules embarks on a legendary odyssey to overthrow the King and restore peace to the land. Every little scene has been given maximum detail, as gowns , environment and set design , adding too much C. G. I. Backgrounds and lush frames showing overwhelming combats with lots of extras and others by means of computer generator . Hercules was a legendary Greek God , born half-man/half-god and imbued with awe-inspiring superhuman strength, known for making the famous ¨twelve hard 12 works of Hercules¨ , which are the following ones : Hercules vanquished the Amazons warriors , captured a wild boar and a bull of island of Crete , killed the Hydra with several heads , swept the stable of Ujias , murdered Gerion and Diomedes , he took apples of garden of Hesperides, he won a race against the clock to a deer , strangled the Nemean Lion , he shot arrows to birds at the lake Stinfano , he took Teseo from the inferno.

This was the second Greek mythology movie to shot in 2014 . Renny Harlin made The Legend of Hercules (2014) that was shot at the same time Hercules (2014) by Bret Ratner starred by Dwayne Johnson , Rebecca Ferguson, Joseph Fiennes , John Hurt , Rufus Sewell , Aksel Hennie, Ian McShane , but Renny fim had less success , and , it was a moderate box-office success and its critical reception was far more positive . The main and support cast are pretty good Kellan Lutz took the role of Hercules because of his performing skills, his incredible physical ability and his incredible physique , however, his acting is wooden . He's competently accompanied by a good cast , such as : Gaia Weiss , Scott Adkins , Roxanne McKee, Liam Garrigan , Liam McIntyre , Rade Serbedzija, Johnathon Schaech , Luke Newberry , Kenneth Cranham .

It displays a brilliant and adequate cinematography by Sam McCurdy, including gorgeous outdoors . As well as vibrating and shaking musical score by Tuomas Kantelinen. The motion picture was regular but professionally directed by Renny Harlin (Die Hard , Cliffhanger, Hercules, Cleaner , Exorcist the beginning , Mindhunters , Deep Blue sea , Cutthroat Island, Long Kiss goodnight , Driven , 12 Rounds , 5 days of War) . Rating : 4.5/10 .

Much better than rated -- beware viewers who don't know what they want

[A_Different_Drummer · 7/10 · 13 January 2016]

Nicely done Herc legend (about 2000X better than the Dwayne Johnson version) done by the incomparable and unpredictable Renny Harlin, starring (if you know your casting) Hercules and Spartacus both, with Scott Adkins in one of his only decent performances since Undefeated 2 and 3 --- and it gets a low rating?

What were you expecting?

Star Wars?

Good entertainment, nice pacing, a fun way to spend a few hours on a rainy afternoon.

And if you are bored you can run the name Renny Harlin through the IMDb database and find out why he deserves your respect

Hollywood keeps on molesting Greek history and mythology.

[michaelgreek-678-516194 · 1/10 · 26 March 2014]

I liked 300 although is very very far from being historically accurate.It presented a historical event exaggerated and distorted from a comics-fantasy point of view. But Frank Miller is great, Snyder did a great job and the result was spectacular, enjoyable and fun to watch.

Clash of the titans loosely based on the story of Perseus and Andromeda at least kept the main story.

So i don't have problem with historical or mythical accuracy. After all we go to movies to watch fiction, if we want accuracy we watch documentaries.

But this movie has NOTHING to do with Hercules. The character is NOT Hercules, the story is NOT the story of Hercules, the representation of the 'ancient world' has NOTHING to do with ancient Greece of 1200 BC.

Its simply the story of a "Konan like" character living in an undefined historical period , who could be called Konanis Papadopoulos (if the director insist to present him as Greek) but no way Hercules.

Curious thing is that while the real mythological story of Hercules is a very interesting story with all the elements that a viewer would love to watch (monsters, violence, suspense, interesting character, story twists) NOBODY in the history of cinema tried to make a movie really based on it. Lets hope some day someone will.

Glad I wasn't fooled by the negative reviews ... enjoyable fare !

[roycejp · 10/10 · 17 January 2014]

This movie does not really deserve a 10, but I felt I must somehow counter the single star bashing given by the few self styled 'experts' at the beginning.

This movie certainly does not deserve those ignorant reviews, and the 3.8 stars, especially when a C movie like 'Machete Kills' can get a 5.8!

This is a well made movie, convincing story, some hair raising action sequences. The 3D effects are also top-notch. In fact I'm planning to watch it again with friends.

So it is not faithful to the accepted 'origin' of Hercules ... who cares? He's a fictional character anyway! Watch Discovery if you are looking for a documentary.

And what makes a movie like '300' better than this one, I wonder?

I'm so thankful I saw this movie ignoring the negative comments at the beginning. I get the feeling that the spate of 'awful / worst' movie comments have been orchestrated for reasons unknown.

I say, just go and watch it, you won't be sorry ... it's worth every penny.

Decent new take on the legend of Hercules

[ukb007 · 7/10 · 8 April 2014]

At the outset, I must confess that I didn't find the film as awful as some of the reviews claimed it was. Firstly, Hercules is a myth, a fiction; he is not a historical figure, so questions of accuracy in the events are not of importance. Secondly, Kellan Lutz doesn't have the stunning good looks, alluring tuft of hair and the power beard of Steve Reeves or Reg Park or even Lou Ferrigno, so are we stereotyping Hercules here ? Thirdly, there are complaints of cheap CGI - I didn't find evidence of that except in one sequence near the end where Hercules breaks pillars he was chained to and wields the broken pieces of masonry which seem made of thermocol. Kellan Lutz doesn't continuously display Flashy superhuman strength of Hercules or a muscular physique unnecessarily - in fact both these attributes are superbly understated and implied in the movie. Some of the fight sequences reminded some of Ridley Scott's 'Gladiator' - so should the fights have been like Chinese martial arts ? Are we sure there would then be nobody crying out: boy, the fight sequences are lifted straight off a Hong Kong import! . . . Guys, come on, let's give Lutz's Herc a chance !

It looks like a cheap cartoon

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 3 June 2016]

Finnish director Renny Harlin continues to disgrace himself with this ultra-cheesy version of the Greek story which is frankly an embarrassment and stain on the career of all involved. THE LEGEND OF HERCULES is one of three similarly-themed films that came out around the same time; one is a B-movie with Sean Astin and the other a Hollywood blockbuster with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. The other two will need to be pretty bad to equal the poor quality of this one.

THE LEGEND OF HERCULES feels and looks like a cheap cash-in copy of 300 for the most part. Scott Adkins, who plays the stock villain in the film, is even dressed up to look like King Leonidas in his early scenes. The hero is played by Kellan Lutz, who played in support in THE EXPENDABLES 3 but has no discernible talent for his leading role here. In fact, he's dreadful. He may have a huge, Schwarzenegger-style physique, but he makes Schwarzenegger's acting style look like Laurence Olivier's by comparison.

It doesn't help that the below-par script was written by Sean Hood among others; Hood similarly fumbled the recent CONAN THE BARBARIAN remake, although that was better than this. There's little story and instead plenty of CGI-enhanced action including war scenes and fights with dodgy-looking lions. Some of the fight scenes aren't too bad, but they're overly stylised and feature silly scenes of characters doing superhuman jumps through the air and messing around instead of finishing off their opponents quickly.

All that was left for me to do was to sit back and count the appearances by actors from no less than four TV shows. Gaia Weiss, from VIKINGS, is the love interest, and Roxanne McKee (GAME OF THRONES) plays Hercules's mum, although of course she's far too young for the part. Kenneth Cranham (ROME) shows up as a slave trader. Best of all is Liam McIntyre (SPARTACUS) playing Hercules's friend and ally. I was amused to see that McIntyre is given an ugly fringe haircut so that he doesn't distract from Lutz's appearance. Anyone who has watched and enjoyed SPARTACUS will know McIntyre would have been far better in the lead role.