MovieChat Forums > Hercules (1997) Discussion > Questions/Observations.

Questions/Observations.


1) HERCULES didn't completely lose his god essence (or whatever it's called) because he didn't drink the last drop? It's literally impossible not to leave drops when drinking from a bottle, glass, etc.
2) Did I miss something? Why couldn't ZEUS & HERA go get HERCULES after being adopted? I'm sure that the foster parents would've understood. If not... Well, they wouldn't disobey gods, right?
3) How did DEMETRIUS close the curtains of his shop if he didn't have his hands free (which is why HERCULES went there in the 1st place)?
4) HERCULES meets his biological father for the 1st time, they talk about how he can go to live with him and then leaves. That's it? There was nothing more to talk about? And before you tell me, plenty of Disney adventure films have handled a subject like this in a much better way.
5) The statue of ZEUS is some kind of projection to talk to mortal, but it's still made of stone. How can it whistle?
6) ZEUS tells HERCULES about the rules. It sounds to me like the type of rules that gods created and, therefore, can re-write. If not, who created them?
7) HERCULES's training is designed so he can learn to control his strenght... but why does he have to do push-ups and such? He's literally the strongest person in the world!
8) Did HERCULES train with PHIL for years? I mean, why is he played by a different actor?
9) I know that it's hard to compose music that sounds unique but, even with that in mind, the music played while the people cheer for HERCULES (after defeating HYDRA) sounded exactly like INTO THE SUNLIGHT from THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (same composer).
10) MEG knows her own backstory, right? What's the point in HADES talking about it, let alone describing it in details, other than for exposition?
11) Everytime that PAIN & PANIC disguise, it's as something that kind of resembles them. The female pegasus doesn't. Also, can they fuse into 1 disguise?
12) 4 of THE TITANS represent the elements. Why is the 5th one simply a CYCLOPS?
13) How couldn't THE CYCLOPS see that HERCULES had taken the torch? It happened right in front of him, so the "Having 1 eye affets the sight" excuse doesn't apply.
14) Why did THE TITANS explode after being sent to space?

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I can answer a few of these since nobody else will:

1. Hade's potion was a big contrivance in the story. It's not explained how he got it or if he can produce more of it. So, anything related to it will feel contrived.

2. You apparently did miss the details. The Muses sung that because Hercules was mostly mortal therefore "...Zeus and Hera wept/Because their son could never come home". Later on, Zeus explained to Hercules that only gods can live on Mount Olympus. So, Zeus and Hera couldn't get Hercules because he was a mortal man.

3. Looking at it now, the editing was a little jumpy. Hercules was still inside Demetrius's shop and then it suddenly cuts to him being outside with Demetrius saying an audible but strained "I'm fine". It's unknown if he's still carrying the vase. Perhaps, in between the cuts, Demetrius found a place to set down the vase and close the curtain.

4. Hercules went to the Temple of Zeus to discover where he originally belonged. Zeus answered it, and told him a way to restore his divinity. After the "Zero to Hero", Hercules talks with his father in his temple about his past adventures. I naturally assume during his years of training, Hercules would find time to go to the temple and talk with Zeus about casual things.

5. Well, since Zeus can talk through the statue which requires air, whistling shouldn't be much of a problem.

6. It's never explained who created the rules for mortal men to become gods.

7. I'm not sure, but good point.

8. Young Hercules was a young teenager (probably 13) since his voice has reached puberty. Adult Hercules is actually eighteen according to the prophecy. So, obviously, by the change in his physical body, Hercules had trained with Phil for years. Naturally, your voice would stay the same once you have hit puberty. I assume the change in voice actors was meant to indicate to the audience that a measure of time had passed and he had grown up since then.

9. You do have a point there. Both have a slow buildup of music until it reaches a grand finale, but Hercules's score sounds more brass (especially the French horn, if I recall) to sound more heroic. Hunchback uses more string and wind instruments to sound more lyrical.

10. It was told for expository reasons, but Hades seemed to have reminded Meg of her past to convince her to use her "manhandling" abilities to take down Hercules.

11. The bunny and the gopher disguises Pain and Panic used in the woods barely resembled them. So, I assume they can radically change their appearances when they want to make themselves look less obvious. And as seen with the female Pegasus disguise, they can fuse together into one disguise.

12. In Hesiod's Theogony, Zeus released three cyclopes from Tartarus, which served as a prison for the Titans. The filmmakers might have adapted that into the film.

13. It's clear the Cyclops saw Hercules reach for the torch. Perhaps, the Cyclops didn't sense the torch would be much of a threat of him.

14. Since the Titans are depicted as elements of the Earth, I assume each element counteracted each other to the point they couldn't reach stability and therefore exploded.

What we do in life, echoes in eternity.

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2) I got that he couldn't go there. I don't remember the song stating that ZEUS & HERA gave up because they knew he wasn't a god anymore. It sounded like they didn't want to separate him from his adoptive parents.

8) Ah, I assumed it had been months, so it felt weird that 2 actors would be used for more or less the same age.

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The song states they had to watch him grow up on Earth. I guess that's as close as we get to knowing their true feelings about surrendering to the fact Hercules was a mortal.

As for question 8, it could have been that Hercules spent several months training. Young Hercules's age was never disclosed so my natural assumption was that he's around thirteen years.


What we do in life, echoes in eternity.

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Hercules looked more like 16 to me before he met Phil. So I think the training lasted for two years.

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You know what, Hercules does look like he is in the mid-teen years. So, 16 years sounds the most appropriate. Given that, his voice shouldn't have changed since he had already hit puberty.



What we do in life, echoes in eternity.

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7) HERCULES's training is designed so he can learn to control his strenght... but why does he have to do push-ups and such? He's literally the strongest person in the world!

Not that I'm an expert on physical training, since I hate it.
But I guess that doing it was the best way for Hercules to learn how to control his strength and be less clumsy.
And he would learn to stay in a good shape as well, like a real-life athlete does by exercising.
And as for the rest of your questions, you got some good answers from Cristianos.
Besides, it is not like fantasy movies have to make much sense in general.


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