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Illustration : Unknown |
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DVD Availability
: Amazon.com
| Amazon.co.uk |
Hercules Conquers Atlantis |
Vittorio Cottafavi | Italy, France | 1961 |
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Vitamins aplenty here, as intrepid Greek hero Hercules makes another outing,
unwittingly this time, to Atlantis under the actor’s guise of Reg “The Leg” Park
— Leg being the
star’s nickname which stood for “Legend”. This
inimitable and now celebrated individual made just five films in all,
and his remarkable physique was honed from his love of body-building,
winning the much coveted Mr. Universe title three times (1951, 1958
& 1965). He was also a personal mentor and friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger during his formative
years as a professional body builder. In this fantasy epic, light-heartedly directed and co-written by Italian Vittorio Cottafavi, Hercules is whisked away to save suitably imperilled maiden Ismene (Laura Altan) from the clutches of a slathering fang-toothed monster — a fiery dragon-like creature which was essentially played by another large actor in a rubber suit! This task is capably handled by Park as he is seen grappling with his gangly adversary in a fight to the death. Extremely grateful, the young rescued beauty invites our muscle-bound hero to her home in Atlantis, where he is again pitted against a conveyor-belt of villains, each providing “Herc” with ample opportunity to exercise his pectorals, as they are tossed aside like rag dolls. The Atlantean maiden’s less than grateful mother, the devilish “Queen Antinea of Atlantis” (Fay Spain) proves to be our fearless hero’s greatest challenge however… (Spaghetti Western fans should note the subtle but nonetheless welcome appearance of star Gian Maria Volonté as Re di Sparta).
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Originally censored for its June 1962 cinema release through Golden Era Films, an uncut re-release appeared nearly a quarter of a century later on Carey Budnick’s Heron Home Entertainment label. In association with Polygram, who distributed this re-release, Heron presented the picture with stunning new sleeve artwork, illustrating Hercules tackling his green dragon-like adversary. These appeared on the company’s Cardiff based and ultra-obscure Paragon Communications label. More recently, Hercules
Conquers Atlantis can be found on a number
of DVD compilation sets, most notably Image Entertainment’s
4-disc Hercules Collection,
which offers the collector “8 Features of EPIC
PROPORTIONS”, presenting Cottafavi’s
film under its hilariously titled Hercules
and the Captive Women which was applied by someone who probably
didn’t bother to watch it, particularly after incorrectly using
the plural, to what should have just been woman! cast : Reg Park, Fay Spain, Ettore Manni, Luciano Marin, Laura Altan, Mario Valdemarin, Mimmo Palmara, Mino Doro, Salvatore Furnari, Luciana Angelillo, Ignazio Dolce, Raf Baldassarre, Miss Glamor, Mario Petri, Alessandro Sperli, Gian maria Volonté, Ivo Garrani, Enrico Maria Salerno |