annoying things about this movie.... - Hercules (1997) Discussion

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] mewringo 16 years ago

It's a lighthearted kids movie, don't think too deeply into it. If you look at other disney films adapted from the fairy tales of the Brother Grimm you'll notice many more differences. And besides his real name in the Greek version is Heracles.

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[–] furienna 16 years ago

I know what you're saying. This is what I've said about this in another thread:

As much as I like 95 % of what this movie turned out to be, I don't like how they handled the "problem" of Hercules being half mortal and still being the son of Zeus. Hercules was never Hera's son, and she was anything but a loving mother. Not to mention how Hades never was a part, let alone the villain, of the Hercules myths. It would have been a much nicer touch, if Hera had been an evil stepmother instead of a loving mother, because that would have been truer to the ancient myths, upon which this movie is supposed to be based. Don't get me wrong. Hades was a great villain. But he wasn't the villain of the Hercules myths, but Hera was. And the evil brother/uncle wanting to get rid of his brother and nephew had been done only three years earlier in "The Lion King", while I don't think there ever has been a Disney movie about an evil stepmother wanting to get rid of a stepson. There had been no evil stepmothers whatsoever since "Snow White" and "Cinderella", and they had stepdaughters, not stepsons. An equally bad stepmother/stepson relationship would have been very interesting. Not to mention how I'm still irked by that mortality potion. That might be childish of me, but it freaks me out more than what Zeus cheating on his wife ever did. Don't get me wrong, I don't like cheating, but there's just something terribly eery about how baby Hercules loses his god glow...

Persephone wasn't included in this movie, or even in the TV series. And that's a real shame, because she could have given an entire new dimension to the Hades character (because in the myths, as much as he did the wrong thing in our modern eyes, when he abducted her, he really did love her). I do like Pain and Panic though.

Yes, it's true! IMDB has reached Sweden!

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[–] ckat13 15 years ago

I don't think there ever has been a Disney movie about an evil stepmother wanting to get rid of a stepson.

Don't know when you wrote that, but the closest we ever got to it was Narissa and Edward in Enchanted.

A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life it's the only weapon we have.

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[–] furienna 15 years ago

Hmmm... I haven't seen that movie.

Yes, it's true! IMDB has reached Sweden!

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] ckat13 15 years ago

Yeah, I thought of that after I posted. So, never mind.

A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life it's the only weapon we have.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Ceedbead 15 years ago

There were also nine muses. They left out Euterpe, Urania, Polyhymnia, and Erato. But having a group of nine would be a bit large. ;)

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Matt_Crawley 15 years ago

so they changed the mythology - that doesnt make an annoying film. It didnt make me enjoy it any less.

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[–] nordlander_chris 15 years ago

They might as well not have called it "Hercules" at all. The real myth was so much better, with romance, horror, tragedy... and, yes, plenty of comedy, too. Instead we get this stuff.

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[–] thebilliejean 15 years ago

G-D is just a movie, just like Cinderella, in real story of Cinderella the step-mother of one of step sister make her cut her toe so she can fit in to the shoe, yeah showing that in to a kid movie? for heaven'sake is a kid movie a very good one I enjoy it 100%, and I do read Mytology Hercules also was promiscuos. People is just a freaking movie for kids.

"Ani slowa,a sio"

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] dogsoldier_spoon-1 15 years ago

I just read the error page of this movie and seriously, what did you expect? It's a Disney movie for kids, they're not gonna use stuff like adultry, what did you expect? I think they did a great job, putting the myth into this film. And it's the same case for most movies. In the original story of Cinderella, birds pecked out the eyes of the evil stepsisters, why did you think they changed that?

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[–] co001 15 years ago

Right, but the issue is that apart from Olympus and Herc being the strongest mortal, this movie is completely unrecognizable from the myth. With the other Disney films, they cut stuff out but they still got the story right.

"Lost in time, and lost in space, and meaning."

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[–] dogsoldier_spoon-1 15 years ago

Bright up, it's just a movie. The true myth is just impossible to adapt for a kids' movie.

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[–] co001 15 years ago

Then don't make it a movie. Simple.

"Lost in time, and lost in space, and meaning."

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[–] chiibiprincess 15 years ago

Not simple at all. SOME of us loved it despite the inaccuracy.

OMG IMAGINE THAT!?

The myths aren't freaking real anyway! Who cares!?

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[–] Darwinskid 15 years ago

"The myths aren't freaking real anyway! Who cares!? "
Um, those who are fans of greek and roman mythology and study them. It may not mean much for you chibiprincess but back in the day these myths wee taken very seriously by the romans and the greeks, it was what you could call their reasons for how the world worked. Think about it, say in many, mnay years from now the bible is considered to be nothing but nonsense by the majority of the planet and they make a movie about Jesus as a superhero who had a wife and wasn't crucified to die for our sins?

"More human than human here!"

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[–] furienna 14 years ago

The myths aren't freaking real anyway! Who cares!?

But they were very much real to the ancient Greeks and Romans. And in these modern age, we find more and more evidence, that many of these myths can have a basis in reality. Like how fossils from extinct animals can have been the inspiration the stories about monsters like cyclopses, griffins and dragons, or how the golden fleece in the Jason story can have been inspired by how people in Kolchis (modern Georgia) extracted gold from rivers with fleeces. The same goes for many stories from the Bible. The stories have just been so exaggerated over time, that they seem unbelievable, until you take a second look at them and realise, that maybe they're not so unbelievable after all.

Intelligence and purity.

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[–] balrogshallnotpass 12 years ago

I get that it's a kid movie, but at least make it closer to the mythology. They can make the original mythology funny, too. I have friends who actually think the movie is how the mythology happens. And to that comment about Cinderella, it's because it's too violent and disturbing for younger kids. You can take out the violent parts of Hercules and still have a decent movie; you don't have to completely change the plot.

But Gandalf! I don't want to be a Hobbit~~

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[–] bowmana21 11 years ago

I don't understand why everyone is upset about the changes to Hercules and no one has mentioned Pocahontas. The entire concept of the movie is a lie. Pocahontas never even knew who John Smith was. In later years, once she became famous, he tried to claim that they had known each other and had been in love, but she always denied it. Yet Disney still made a movie about it, and people love the movie despite its inaccuracies.

I think people are just getting too caught up on "but it's mythology, how dare they change that!" It happens all the time. And it would have been nearly impossible for Disney to do an adaptation of Hercules and keep it G-rated and in line with the true mythology. If you are looking for a perfect adaptation, you shouldn't expect it from Disney. The real story of Hercules would be much darker and never rated G.

Lastly, so what if your friends think that's how the story really happened? If they hadn't seen the movie, they probably would know nothing about Hercules. Adaptations are great because they give an audience a taste of the actual story, and often times the audience members do more research on their own and come to love a story that they never would have known about otherwise. Think about a movie like National Treasure. Had you ever heard of the Knights Templar before that movie? Even though it wasn't a completely accurate depiction, it created conversation about the Knights Templar, and now there have been History Channel specials and books written and what not. So now the REAL story is more well-known than it used to be, all because someone chose to make an adaptation on it. It's the same for Hercules.

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[–] jname96 11 years ago

Pocahontas never even knew who John Smith was. In later years, once she became famous, he tried to claim that they had known each other and had been in love, but she always denied it.

What are you smoking?

Yet Disney still made a movie about it, and people love the movie despite its inaccuracies.

What are you smoking?

-Not even gonna go beyond that. Get your facts straight. You are the first person in the history of the human race to say that Pocahontas didn't get lampooned and destroyed by reviews and claims of inaccuracy.

O M G.

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[–] bowmana21 11 years ago

I'm not the first person to say that. Their relationship has been debated about for centuries. We spent a substantial amount of time in my AP American History class in high school talking about the Pocahontas story and that most people believed John Smith made it up. Pocahontas was only about 8-10 years old when John Smith was with the Powhatan people (while he was an adult man in his mid-20s to 30s). Most people believe that they had little interaction at all, in fact.

If you go to the links below, you can read more about the history of Pocahontas. Perhaps you should get YOUR facts straight before you make wild claims that no one in the entire human race has ever thought these things. There has been much literature published on it. Educate yourself before you attack the education of others.

http://www.powhatan.org/pocc.html

http://www.nps.gov/jame/historyculture/pocahontas-her-life-and-legend.htm

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[–] jname96 11 years ago

Pocahontas was around 12 years old. There are MORE accounts that claim she DID know him (in a platonic way of course), then DIDN'T.

I was stating that you're the first human ever to say the film WASN'T defiled by viewers. Seriously. Do you live under a rock? "Pocahontas" is constantly trash-talked by Disney fans all the time. If people saw your comment that the film was "loved", they would LAUGH LAUGH LAUGH at you. You're lucky no one visits the Hercules boards lol! Your ignorance of the film "Pocahontas" is ASTOUNDING.

Let me simplify it for you: Just go to Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic and search "Pocahontas". It has one of the LOWEST ratings EVER for a Disney animated feature. Much lower than Hercules. That's for sure.

Still think it was "loooooved"???

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[–] balrogshallnotpass 11 years ago

The main issue is that the film makers could have made it more accurate, but they chose to make up this completely different (not necessarily better) storyline. They could have taken out the disturbing parts of the original myth (Hera's murderous thoughts toward Hercules, the ending) and toned down the action in his quests and made them kid-friendly, like the Hydra scene. The movie was well-executed and lots of people liked it, but it's still a problem for me regardless. By the way, there are plenty of dark stories in Disney.

The thing with my friend thinking that's how it happened is that she didn't do any further research after watching the movie; she actually thought that's the myth. I don't want anyone to be ridiculed for thinking that's how it happened (like "O my gosh, you thought Hercules was Hera's son?? Hahaha").

Many people also have problems with unfaithful novel-to-film adaptations. Yes, it happens all the time, but that doesn't mean we have to like it or get use to it. Look on the boards of The Mortal Instruments and Percy Jackson, for example.

Pocahontas was just unacceptable, by the way. It was actual historical event and they just had to make is all lovey-dovey. If I remembered right, Pocahontas was 12 and was just interested in John, like ooh I wonder what that is! John wasn't the handsome, nice, blond flowing hair guy, either.

But Gandalf! I don't want to be a Hobbit~~

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[–] DesertTrumpetguy 11 years ago

More accurate, how? Honestly, I think there's no way to adapt this myth to G-rated audiences and have it be true to the story. The entire impetus for Heracles' 12 labours falls apart, since in a kids movie we can't have him kill his wife (Megara) and children due to a madness imposed on him by his stepmother Hera. As it is, it seems the only way to deal with them is the way they did, by completely glossing over the whole atonement theme, in rapid fire montage action style. The original myth is way too complicated for a child-friendly animated film. I don't think the level of gravitas needed to do justice to the original myth even lends itself to a family-friendly film. The Heracles/Hercules myth is just material that's too dark. The same would apply to many of the other Greek myths. The only suitable G-rated stories would be Aesop's Fables. And anyone who grew up with Mr. Peabody & Sherman already has seen good (ironic) adaptations of those.

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[–] abbster89 15 years ago

I agree with your points.

I also didn't like that they used the roman name Hercules and the rest are the greek names (Zeus, Hera, Hades etc). They should have stuck with one or the other, it would have been beyond easy enough to do.

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[–] smokiekittycat 15 years ago

It's an old movie anyway and still enjoyable to some people just not everyone.

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[–] tnkgrl 15 years ago

I think the reason they did that was because most people are ignorant to both Greek and Roman Mythology, however, most people are familiar with the names Zeus and Hercules. Most people would have seen "Heracles" and said "Who's that?!" The same goes for "Jupiter". I'm guessing people would have said something like "...you mean like the planet?!" It's unfortunate that people are so ignorant, but that's just the way things go, I guess.

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[–] Darwinskid 15 years ago

I know, it's a shame most people are unfamiliar to Greek and roman mythology, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it back when I was little and still to this day I think it has some amount of entertainment to it, mostly from James Woods' Hades. But the more I think about it the more I think this is a good example of Disney being cowardly.

"Most movies I like are usually the hated ones..."

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] tnkgrl 15 years ago

I agree completely. Still, they are a major corporation and need to think of what will sell best. Though it was cowardly, it was also a very smart marketing move as most people know at least a little about Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. Most people go, "Alright, Hercules...that means this will be about mythology of some sort. Zeus, Hades, okay...so we're talking gods. Hm, well I don't know too much about that so maybe this will increase my intelligence!!!" And then they see it and think they know about mythology when really they've just been even more deluded. What a sad world.

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