Lou Ferrigno: Hercules Films (1983-85)

Hercules (1983)

Dir. Luigi Cozzi

Lou Ferrigno is Zeus' chosen one, a hero of the people who's granted incredible strength.

In his quest to save his love, Cassiopea (Ingrid Anderson), from the evil King Minos (William Berger) the champion must overcome trials, battle mechanical titans (really) and face off against evil sorcery.

After an extended creation myth opening that's strangely reminiscent of Richard Donner's Superman (1978), the film goes all out to impress with its manly beards, shiny armour and sexy females. And even though its aspirations are much greater than its achievements, as a fan of 1980s special effects I enjoyed a significant amount of it.

And Ferrigno certainly looks the part; even when punching a bear he's a hundred times better than his Pumping Iron (1977) rival's version of the same character; i.e. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the abominable Hercules in New York (1970).

- Hercules and Cassiopea agree that 'Athenian' will be their safe-word. -

The Adventures of Hercules II (1985)

aka The New Adventures of Hercules

Dir. Luigi Cozzi

Despite the odd titling, it's a direct sequel to Hercules (1983), with Lou Ferrigno once again playing the famous strongman, but, alas, there's no Sybil Danning this time.

It starts out remarkably similar to the first film (and I don't just mean the reused footage), before the hero is called upon to recover Zeus' (Claudio Cassinelli) missing Thunderbolts; there's seven of them in all, which Zeus needs in order to keep the planets aligned. If Herc fails, the moon will crash into the Earth, extinguishing all life.

The Thunderbolts are hidden inside the bellies of fierce beasts, which the muscular demigod punches his way through in a lively manner, while the viewer is assailed by too many cheap overlays and more of those wonderful FX - much, much more of them!

The hero is joined on his adventure by two women, sisters Glaucia and Urania (Sonia Viviani and Milly Carlucci, respectively). And what's this? King Minos (William Berger), too! It never rains but it pours. It's utter nonsense, but again, it's also tremendously good fun if you like this kind of thing. Oh, and there's a dodgy Forbidden Planet (1956) rip-off, which gave me a warm chuckle.

- Another shot from the first film: the FX are genuinely 'special'. -