Hercules has faced many foes in his past . he's fought against the traitors of Rome, he's fought against The Hunted Demon's from beyond the stars.
Now witness as he takes on the might of the world's Mightiest Empire ''The Mongols''
A prophecy was given to Hercules that he would have to defend Europe against the biggest dragon ever known.
In the steppe land of Central Asia the Great Khan himself has died. Genghis Khan leaves Three Sons. Sayan who's arrows never miss, Kin Khan whose strength is unsurpassed and Susdal Who's very good at using a whip* They now run the mighty Mongol Empire but this isn't enough for them. They want to invade the Western lands moving to Europe and Conquer ever more territory. But their father commanded peace with the West and upon his death bed it was made so. This of course is completely the opposite to the real world of Gangis Khan. Who was very happy to see his children going out and expanding the empire in every direction. But they show him is more of a peaceful philosopher-king than this story.
So it doesn't match up with the real world, who cares! Hercules is running around. We're talking about a guy from the age of antiquity intermixing with the Mongols. And oh boy the Mongols don't waste any time. The three sons get their spiritual leader assassinated so they can blame the whole thing on the white man of the West. With this they have all the excuse they need to expand out and take the small city of Tuleda. They can use it as a launching point to take the rest of Europe. But there are three problems that stand in their path. The princess Bianca, her little brother Alexander who may become the Future King one day and of course the mighty Hercules who can turn the tide of any battle.
Luckily the Mongols have an enforcer inside the kingdom. A man who's very close to the princess and is able to gain her Trust. This man wants to find out where the city is stashing its wealth.
Now the little boy Alexander is able to escape his captors, and he finds Hercules who's walking around with a tree in his hand. At the same time the Mongol show up and Hercules has to make quick work of them. Using said tree as a weapon.
Hercules then heads to the Mongolian stronghold where he willingly gives himself up as a prisoner. He's taken to a prison where he's able to communicate with the princess who was also in captivity. But the supposed friend of the princess tries to trick her by informing her that Hercules is an informant and a mercenary for the Mongols and that he's only using her to gang the wealth that she knows is stored away.
Then we see Hercules in a tournament having to fight Susdal. Said brother had earlier tried to convince Hercules to work with him against his two other brothers in exchange for his freedom. Hercules doesn't go along with the deal and for his treachery is stuck in a room with a lion. And we're not talking about a lion that's been filmed beforehand then posted on a rear projector . No this is a real lion stuck in a room with somebody. Obviously it's not our main actor Mark Forest playing Hercules but it is another guy who constantly has to irritate the lion by poking them with a stick. That's one of the things I love about these 60s Hercules films. There's no CG or computer-generated effects, you either have to have a man dress up in a silly costume and pretend to be the lion or you just get a real lion like they did in this picture and hope to God that he doesn't Mall your actor to death.
I'm with some time in the termination Hercules defeats the lion. And it shows us The Lion kind of twitching about on the ground, I'm really hoping they just gave the lion some weird drug that made him loopy for a bit. I don't think they actually hurt the poor thing (At least I hope not)
He made an oath earlier proclaiming that you will remain a slave for as long as the princess is set free. It's only later on when he discovers that the princess is back in jail that he's allowing himself to escape. This information also came from this vindictive Mongolian princess who's trying to manipulate The environment from the Shadows. It's a pretty standard Trope in these films the only difference here is that the man she's in love with doesn't even care about her. She goes to him when he's in a drunken stupor and tries to tell him not to marry the princess of this local Town. Not only does he does not care about any of that but he stabs this woman right in the ribs. Then he goes back to lying on a carpet and laughing to himself.
As Hercules escaping an army composed of people from every District of Europe arrives to fight the Mongols. We have everything in here from Italian Horseman English archers tartar Warriors you name it they're here. I guess we can call this the prototype for La Grande Armée**.
Was Hercules aiding the Europeans in battle they are able to push out the Mongols and retake the town.
And we get to see the incredible Battle of Hercules and Kin Khan the two men of Might fighting Head to Head. Hercules is able to defeat him.
It's important to note that without Hercules this victory would have been impossible. Not only were the Mongols a more powerful force than the combined Europeans but they had the Superior might of the three Mongolian Sons. We also see the betrayer of the town get shot down by a barrage of arrows. And we also got a fight between Hercules and Sayan who's able to hold his own pretty well against Hercules.
Hercules is able to defeat him but only after a long and arduous battle. It's the only point the movie where Hercules is mortally wounded .
It's a surprisingly fun film. It's only an hour and a half long and there's enough variation in the characters that you never get bored by anybody.
The music score is fun and exciting with a nice sense of Whimsy. In the set design is absolutely wonderful. It's just a cluster of other sets from various earlier films all thrown together. The best part is, it works! There's Greek architecture, Eastern European architecture, Mongol tents, Italian Swordsmen and it all works just fine. That's the wonderful thing when you're dealing with an Empire who owns most of the known world. You can use anything you want to your disposal. Also I like to think that the Hercules Universe exists in the same realm of Xena Warrior Princess. And thus time lines don't really mean anything. If you want solemn and Gomorrah to exist simultaneously with Venice Italy then it can be done.
*But he has nothing on the other two. he can't really fight Hercules and he gets pushed to the side way too easy. At least the super strength brother can hold his own in a fist fight and the brother who can shoot the arrows is actually quite dangerous.
**Potential movie idea. Hercules vs. Napoleon!
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