Did anybody else feel like they just watched a really really Bad Version of Gladiator?
The Story line is basically the same!
Even his brother looks a lot like Joaquín Phoenix in Gladiator..
It is "Gladiator: The Hercules Edition" with horrible CGI-scenes. Still watchable.
shareGladiator didn't have funny lion in it.
shareTotally agree with you on this, I was like.....WTF?
-only uneducated minds are not open to any ideas other than their own.
LOL! I thought exactly the same thing! 100% agree with the OP!
Prostitute: What the *beep* are you doing?
Johnny: I'm gonna kill a bunch of people.
This is a common practice throughout movie history; when a movie is extremely successful (like "Gladiator") there is usually a slew of copycat movies..usually Italian (at least that is how it used to be..) And true to form, "Legend of Hercules" borrows from "Gladiator," but offers enough details that are different that it becomes it's own film. for instance i don't remember any romantic storyline in "Galdiator.." The wife and son of Maximus die in the beginning, and that is the foundation that the whole story stands on. It makes no sense to rate any "Hercules" movie compared to other films. Hercules movies are of their own genre, and as such should only be compared to other films like it. Compared to the other movies about Hercules, this one stands up very well. it's really a gorgeous production in fact. I wish more people on these boards understood this genre. Nobody ever ripped apart Steve Reeves for his acting skills, or for his movies being "historically inaccurate" etc...but then again, internet didn't exist back then. It was a more innocent time, and the world didn't consist of critics.
"IMdB; where 14 year olds can act like jaded 40 year old critics...'
In Gladiator, the sister to Joaquin's character was in love with Maximus. But Joaquin wanted to marry her. She kept putting it off and avoiding the situation. Hebe did a similar dance in this Gladiator movie, to the point where Hercules's brother had a rant in the vein of Joaquin Phoenix. This movie reminded me so much of Gladiator that I was left wishing I was watching the better of the two films.
So, you've got Joaquin/Hercules's brother in love with Hebe/Joaquin's Gladiator sister, but Hebe/Joaquin's Gladiator sister is in love with Hercules/Maximus. The only difference is that Hercules wants Hebe, whereas the love story in Gladiator was a bit one sided.
Yes there are many similarities between the two films; but so what? "Gladiator" is 15 years old, and it is a classic. Of course other films are going to be heavily influenced by a successful, iconic film like "Gladiator." Having "similarities" to an earlier film is so much better than a straight forward "remake" of another movie. I enjoyed "Legend of Hercules" for what it was; I found it thoroughly entertaining; and better than "Pompeii," which is basically a re-imagining of "Titanic.." You see, these days many movies are simply re-imaginings of earlier films. Hollywood has become lazy.
"IMdB; where 14 year olds can act like jaded 40 year old critics...'
If you want to call them similarities, then there were so many similarities in this movie, the whole thing became a similarity itself.
I've already seen Gladiator multiple times over its 15 year life, and it holds up well over the years. But I've already seen Gladiator. I don't need another movie to remind me that it was good.
You make great movies by either following the source material, or making your own original concept. You keep going on about the "history of sword and sandal movies," but you fail to realize that 30 years ago, people's expectations in movies were a lot less. We demand our money's worth, now.
Our "money's worth?" Okay; I thought "Legend of Hercules" was a really beautiful movie. The cinematography and the great music score really swept me up into the fantasy of the story..so much so that i paid to see it in the theater; twice. In other words, i was thoroughly entertained...so much so that I wasn't thinking of any other movie while watching it. I had a blast watching LOH. I guess I "got my money's worth." I also bought the dvd recently, to show to friends, all of whom enjoyed the film so far. I liked the fact that we finally get a fantasy film that takes itself seriously. I appreciated not having my intelligence insulted with low brow toilet jokes, which seems to be the new trend. I was so insulted by "Thor 2" in fact, that I remember sinking down into my seat because i was embarrassed to be seen watching such a stupid piece of crap. And THAT movie made a fortune at the box office; which kind of proves your theory of "today's audiences expecting more" isn't so accurate. If "Thor 2" is an example of the kind of garbage people want today; then give me a hundred movies like "Legend of Hercules" over this sad new style of film making. As for "Gladiator;" it is a great movie...but you wouldn't see that film made today, because it's too serious for today's audience. These days people want toilet humor; they would demand to see Maximus sitting on the toilet or something silly, to distract them from their cell phones.
"IMdB; where 14 year olds can act like jaded 40 year old critics...'
You are absolutely insane if you think LOH was a good movie. And your friends have bad taste as well. I'm not going to argue for Thor 2 because it's a super hero movie. A comic book movie.
Compare LoH to more recent Fantasy fair, like Lord of the Rings, or the Hobbit movies. LoH eats sh*t compared to those. Game of Thrones does it better with a fraction of the budget per episode. On July 25th, The Rock will be Hercules and that already looks better than this one. For half the budget, they made Solomon Kane. That's an infinitely better movie than LoH. Clash of the Titans, a movie more in step with this one, was also better in every way.
LoH had the "trifecta of bad." Bad acting, bad story, bad choreography. But on top of that, it wasn't deep enough to work as a drama, and it wasn't exciting enough to be an action movie. In yet another comparison, Troy beats this movie to a bloody pulp. And I'm only neutral about Troy.
Perhaps you need to see more movies. I mean, you're fighting for a movie that got a 3% on Rotten Tomatoes. That's the worst score I've ever seen there.
i loved gladiator,i watched this hoping to be in the same vein+i can honestly say i loved it,may not be on the same budget as a ridley scott movie but move on-there wont be a gladiator 2+i for 1 am glad this movie was made,thoroughly enjoyed it,thankyou,if a number 2 comes out i shall watch as there definitely wont be a matrix 4,a gladiator 2 or a follow up to the great movies we love so enjoy,i did
shareNice post! I'm glad to hear that other people out there liked this movie. I agree, there will never be another "Gladiator," but that doesn't mean that this kind of film can't be made anymore.
"IMdB; where 14 year olds can act like jaded 40 year old critics...'
Its more like a jammed video from 300, Gladiator, Robin Hood & King Arthur.
Man is a military animal, glories in gunpowder, and loves parade.
This movie is what would have happened to "Gladiator" if you got M. Night Shyamalan to write the script and Uwe Boll to direct!
"Today is the tomorrow I was so worried about yesterday"--Anthony Hopkins