Hercules (1997)

So Disney's Hercules.

Just making that clear this is the Disney version of the story.

There's always something to be admired of the Greek Gods, these larger then life stories they tell are very interesting and the reason why I give honour to these stories is because its one of the earliest form of story telling like the Bible, at the time the stories where made some where created and based off from the stories.

When you really think about it, one of the famous paintings is based of the Greek Gods, like Michelangelo, in fact according to the wiki, he's art influnced on western art and is credited as the best artist of the century.

This brings us to Disney's Hercules, weridly enough from an outside perspective of the public, they seem to remembered this story and not the Greek version of it. So for this review I'm one of these people that goes "well actually this is wrong" type of person.

Simliar to my Braveheart review. So without any silly any more monologue let's get into it:

So the movie opens with many of the sculptures and as the narrator says: "Long ago, in a faraway land of Ancient Greece, there was a golden age of powerful Gods with extraordinary heroes. And the greatest and strongest of all these heroes was the mighty Hercules."

Well, its wrong with the name but the narrator is telling the Greek version of the story, not the roman version of the story.

In the Greek story he was named Heracles, or Big Jim likes to call him HUNK-cules.

In all seriousness, why don't anyone get he's name right?

Then the narrator was interrupted by the Mueses and for the rest of the movie they narrate the story and sing the song of the Greek Gods (The Gospel Truth) , that's a pretty cool detail but why is there five of them? There should be 9.

Well, not really. He did not solo fight the titans, he recruited the Hekatonkheries and cyclopes by freeing the, from Tarturus and he recruited his 5 siblings by tricking Kronos I to puking them up and he even recruited some of the titans to his side.

Then the Hekatonkheries take over and become the guards the titans from preventing from escaping.

Anyways the movie soon introduce Mount Olympus as Zeus invited a party with the celebration of his new son Heracles. I'm refusing calling Hercules!

Big Jim:" Can I call him HUNK-clues?"

Sure man.

Also, Hera is Not the mother of Heracles, Alcmene is the actual mother though Zeus keeps on having sex with other woman that made Hera mad and plan to kill and harshly punished anyone who married Zeus.

Hera is the real villain of the story, she planned to kill Heracles alongside with Apollo, Athena and Big Jim's mortal enemy, Poseidon.

Big Jim: "Boooo! Boo! I'm booing at you, Poseidon."

Keep it calm Big Jim, he just, exists.

However Hades did is not a part of this in fact he never did any hostile take over to Mount Olympus.

Also Hades portrayal in the Disney Version as an evil God but in the Greek, he's not evil at all in fact if you want to be friends with any God, go with Hades because he barely have any fights, he's the only God you can be natural with. Though the closest thing he done that is "evil", is kidnapped Persephone and cheated her with Minthe.

Even then these are different stories of Hades, also as cool as the flame as hair it is, its not accurate of the actual Hades, he has a beard and simliar facial features to Zeus.

Also Pan and Panic. Honestly they aren't real characters nor I don't Hades have any henchman with him but I probably say they could perhaps be Phobos and Deimos (the Gods of terror and panic). But those are the children of Ares, so why are they with Hades in the underworld then?

So Hades wants to get rid of Heracles and planned a take over to Mount Olympus but after he convinced one of the Fates to reveal his future that he would take over Olympus but Heracles will destroyed Hades if Hades failed. Though that is The Grey Sisters, a different trio of women who shared one eye and one tooth.

Though people do get confused with these two, so I can't called this an inaccuracies.

So Hades sent Pan and Panic to take Heracles and make him, immortal? It is not in Greek mythology nor there's no way a God can be reversed immortal. Though Heracles is a mortal demigod, he did become a God but that was way later in the story.

So after Pan and Panick kidnapped Heracles and almost make him immortal until he was found by two couples.

Pan and Panic tried to killed Heracles he toss them away, in the Greek they aren't shape-shifting minions, they are just normal snakes send by Hera, which Heracles snaps their necks.

So 18 years past, Heracles struggled with his strength and accidentally destroyed a villain and the citizens called him a freak that he dosen't belong.

Yes he did struggled his strengh but he didn't destroyed anything, he fight off predators which are a threat to the townspeople, thus he was praised and called as a hero.

So Heracles decided to go on to discovered of him of being a God to the temple and the Zeus statue told Heracles that he is the father of Zeus and he gifted Heracles to Pegasus and travelled and to be trained as a God because Zeus couldn't do anything about it.

First of all, Zeus, you can turn people into Gods, it is possible and they done it for Asclepius, Helen and etc. Including, get this Heracles.

This storyline is a hero's journey philosophy, where the hero must over come the obstacle and then at the end, the hero was giving praised of victory. This dose not happened in Greek mythology, there's no story of a true hero become a God.

Heracles gained as a God as a God because he had to recompense for accidentally killing his family after Hera tricked him and made him insane.

Also to worth mentioning that, Zeus is protrayed as a loving father, what.

That's probably the most bothering aspect of the movie for me, in the actual mythology sure he's the main guy but he is not a perfect angel, he's a literally pervert and he even shape-shifting into different animals to sussed woman which his wife Hera drove her mad at Zeus.

So Danny- I mea. Phil, in the scene where he tries to be a lady man of wooing woman over the movie. Philoctetes is a friend to Heracles not the trainer, Chiron is.

Philoctetes is not a satyr and Chiron isn't a satyr either, he was a centaur.

While yes, Nymphs and styrs do act like they want mates but Phil is supposed to be Chrion, Chiron don't act like this. This is more close to Pan.

So that means we a trainer who looks like and have traits of Pan, Chiron's role and has Philoctetes named to it. Like what is this, hes a mix of these traits? Bizzare-o-World?

Phil:"Who do you think taught Jason how to sail? Cleopatra?"

Phil. How did you know Cleolatra because she wasn't even born yet.

Big Jim:'Time Travel Matthew, obviously."

Phil:"I trained all those would-be-heroes. Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus. A lot of "Yesuseu"."

For this information, yeah Chiron did in fact trained them all but The Illiad and The Odyssey takes after the 12 labors of Heracles. So Odysseus wouldn't be trained yet.

Also Phil, why look down Perseus? He defeated Medusa, and defeated many tyrants. He saved he's mother and got the girl and live happily ever after.

Also he mention Achilles. Phil. Buddy the Illiad and the Trojan war what inspired to make Achillies haven't happened yet.

Heracles tires to talk to Phil that he is Zeus' son but Phil just laugh in disbelieve but then a thundershock him and we get a montage of Heracles training.

First, Phil. Are you high? How do you find this hard to believe because you trusted and trained Perseus as I just demonstrated, secondly Heracles didn't used a sword. His options of weapons are his Club, Bow and Arrows and Bear Hands (literally, no pun intended).

So after the training, Heracles first monster was, Nessus. No, that was the last monster Heracles slew and even then Nessus cause the death of Heracles by tricking his wife, Deianira at the time, not Megara. Also Nessus is not that big as much I think he's design looks cool.

Also Heracles killed Nessus with a poison arrow.

So Heracles first love in sight, but Meg works with Hades and become a server to him.

True, Meg was Heracles first wife but she tragically died later on of Heracles driving in insane told by Hera to kill his family, including Meg.

Meg:"Well, you know how men are. They think "No" means "Yes" and "Get Lost" means "Take me I'm yours."

Okay, I'll point to this movie because that's pretty accurate how some Greek Gods are like, particularly Zeus as I just demonstrated earlier.

After Hades finds out Heracles is alive, he used his servers to lead him Hydra so Heracles to fight, but Heracles managed to slay by a huge landside of piles of rocks.

Heracles did not face the Hydra in the Gorge, he face it in the swamps of Lernia and the Hydra isn't that big nor it can grow more heads as on head gets chopped. It has 9 heads and can regrow whatever heads are chopped off and Heracles defeated the Hydra by chopping it's heads and burnt stumps so new ones don't grow and rip off the final immortal head and buried under a rock.

Which probably is the inspiration for this scene.

So Heracles gain a lot of recognition to the public and everyone loves and defeated many monsters as Hades beginning to get frustrated.

Hero to Zero says "A Men". Why would you used a word from Christianity in Greece?

Also the Nemean Lion is supposed to be the first monster Heracles faces and thus he wears it's skin throughout the entire story, in the movie he just weared it once (which is just a Scar from Lion King).

Where's the Cretan Bull, the doe of Artemis, the Augean stables and many more Heracles faves which is not present in the movie.

So Hades thought of a weakness of Heracles and that being his lover bird Meg.

"For the Trojans, hey. They went on the wrong horse,okay?"

The Trojan Horse Has Not Happened Yet!

Leonard:"You look red,thirsty?"

GRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH-

(explosion)

Anyways, Meg and Heracles getting together and Meg falling in love that Heracles isn't like any other men which inspired Hades to make a deal with Heracles to free her and give up his powers. So Heracles did.

Heracles:' A dream come true?"

Phil:"-Not exactly."

Heracles:"Nore beautiful than Aphrodite?"

Hey! You can't say things like this in Greek mythology, that's how people get worse, much, much worse usually. It's a sin to Greek mythology!

Alos Heracles never give up on his strength.

So Hades, freed the Titans from Zeus' thunderbolts as the cosmos aline. Um, I guess Hades has thr special ability to absorb Zeus thunderbolt I guess. Also, where's the Hekatonkheries? Who's guarding the Titans as I said earlier, also why is there 5, there's more then 5, including Kronos.

Admittedly as all look cool design wise, these aren't the actual titans, they are all named Hydros, Pyros, Lythos, Stratos and Arges.

On the topic of Arges, the cyclopes, why is he there, they helped Zeus and they even give him the iconic thunderbolt.

Just to shortly mention that Heracles is more then just he's strength, he is very smart and defeated the foes by their weakness as I just said about the Hydra.

So after Meg risk her life to save Heracles life, he fight off the titans and successful did but with a cost, he lose Meg so he went to the underworld to talk to Hades to bring her soul as he requested. Well, he did went to the underworld to meet Hades but that was a different woman, the woman was Queen Alcestis the wife of his good friend King Addmtus and he did success save her.

Also Hades did not make any deals, he just let Heracles get the soul.

Then, Heracles become a God and punch Hades to his death with the other souls.

I already said this is not how become a God works.

So then Heracles decided to go with Meg to the human world rather then Mount Olympus.

Sorry to say this but he did not Godhood, he accepted to live as a God and his true wife is not Meg, he ended with Hebe, the Goddess of eternal youth.

Closing Thoughts: I know, after the entire rambling of the inaccuracies, don't let this review deceit you thinking I hate this movie.

No of course not, I like the movie, despite the inaccuracies in a writing perspective I think its very well written if we are taking the Greek mythology out of context.

I love all of their designs, Ithey are amazing and don't get me started on the animation. I notice that this movie uses 3D animation more then the other Renaissance Disney movies but the 3D animation works very well and blended well with the 2D animation.

I love how stylistically different it looks, it looks striaght out of the paintings and it's really cool they have some of the Greek art style on the vases.

Sometimes I get why did the filmmakers changed the mythology a lot, simply because to make the story relatable for a modern audience. I mean if you fully adapt the story then what's the point them, your consuming the same thing.

But they told in their version of the story, they did take inspiration from the story, not like they turn a blind eye and switch some elements to the story.

Hades is an awesome villain, he's both hilarious but at the same time he's a threat and introduce can take his character serriously. He just has a nice blend of funny and true evil.

The humour is pretty funny and I ended up laughing at most of the jokes.

So it's not my Heracles or Big Jim's HUNK-CULES. But it is a good movie by the end of the day.

So that's everything I got to say!