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Hercules (Disney)

Hercules (Disney)

List Price: $29.99
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Does inaccuracy matter?
Review: Alright, so many people have stated how Disney failed to put ancient Greek mythology into an animated movie. However, since you made the effort to even count the mistakes they made you must have realized how boring and cruel Greek mythology really is. Would you like Hercules to be killed in the end like in the legend? Sorry, that's not my idea of entertainment. Disney's Hercules shows us a take on Greek mythology that does not offend children in the first place. I was fourteen years old when this movie came to the theaters, and I loved it! I got interested in Greek mythology and still am. I do believe it was because of Hercules that I even started reading Greek mythology. I'm sure many other kids experienced the same.

Disney's Hercules is one of Disney's best animated movies and should be recommended although it does not describe the Greek legends on a 1:1 basis. Neither did Beauty and the Beast, neither did The Little Mermaid (God, who would have wanted to see Ariel die in the end!). That doesn't make the Disney movies bad, it just requires a littler more willingness to actually read the stories these movies are based on.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Hello... CHILDREN'S FILM.. Did Disney forget AGAIN?
Review: This is not approproate for children. It truly isn't. The scne with james woods' character as he travels through Hades and the souls flying up and suffering... my kid didn't know what end was up. he asking me to explain it him... I'm trying, but how can you explain the nature of death and rebirth and mythology to a kid???

No, no, no. This is not a tale for children. I don't know what Disney workers smoke while they come up with this stuff...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: good movie....
Review: Ok, first of all, this is loosly based on the Greek myth. Hercules was Zeus' illegitamate child with a mortal, which is why he wasn't allowed on Mt Olympus, but i guess that doesn't work well for kids, so the whole thing with Hades nad the Fates was a good way around that. Hercules also went crazy and killed Megera and her kids, but that also doesn't work well for kids, so that got axed too.

Aside from that, this is still one of my favorite Disney movies. It is funny in a way that a lot of kids wouldn get, makes me cry every time, and i think Hercules is just such a great tormented hero. Dunno. watch it and forget about myths and all the 'reality' that is forgotten about here, and just enjoy the movei for crying out loud! its a cartoon!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The worst movie in the history of Disney
Review: Much as I am a fan of cute little Disney movies such as this, I must say, this one stunk. They got so many things wrong that it was just sickening. Here is a list of some of the main wrong things:
1) If this movie is about the Greek hero, why don't they CALL HIM BY HIS GREEK NAME? Yes, Hercules is his Roman name, and his Greek name is Heracles.

2) Just because his Greek name is Heracles, this does NOT mean he is the son of Hera. Heracles's mother is actually Princess Alcmena.

3) It was not Philoctetes the satyr who trained heroes like Odysseus, Jason, and Achilles, but Chiron the centaur. Philoctetes wasn't even a satyr to begin with.

4) When HERACLES is in that palace place, and he is being painted on that vase, he is wearing a lion's fur. That lion happens to be Scar, from the Lion King, and I suppose he was supposed to be the Nemean Lion. They look nothing alike!

5) In the scene where Pegasus is sort of falling in love with another winged horse (which happens to be Hades's minions Pain and Panic in disguise), it is PINK (gag!) with a heart on its butt, making it look very much like a My Little Pony. MY LITTLE PONIES DID NOT EXIST IN ANCIENT GREECE!

6) There are NINE muses, not five, and they are not supposed to sing gospel, which, as far as I know, did not exist in ancient Greece.

7) Pegasus the winged horse came from Medusa the Gorgon's severed neck. The movie just makes it look like he is born the normal way, or something.

There are just too many things wrong here to list. Honestly, this movie doesn't even deserve 1 star. I guess this movie is all right for advertising purposes, though, but it is so bad otherwise. So if anyone out there likes REAL Greek mythology, DON'T SEE THIS!! Leave it for 3-year-olds who like heroes like this.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Mythy
Review: Disney's hercules was to be honest a little too inacurrate for my taste. To be honest with you, I only went to see it because James woods starred in it. He made that movie. The character hades was so original, excellently animated and so funny and yey menacing at the same time.
I was impressed with Meg, however. You could tell that she's 'the girl that smokes in the girls bathroom.' You find that she's the only disney girl that has had past boyfriends. She isnt an angel. She's not like 'save me! save me!'
Hercules himself was too much of a goody goody and that really spoiled the whole thing for me. Chizzled hunks just aren't my cup of jo but hey, what cn I say, you had to laugh when he knocked down that building at the beginning of the movie with a frisbee.
Phil...what to say about this guy...why? He was a waste, seriously. Ok, dannay dovito did a good job, and he even had his own song. Nice. But apart from that, Phil was a waste of ink.

As for the humour, I loved it. It was so funny but the jokes were aimed more at adults. 'somebody call ixii!' I mean, my little kids I look after looked at me blankly. they had no idea what that meant. They hardly laughed at all really the whole way through.

Anyway, apart from all that, if u are a fan of james woods, go see it. If u are a fan of greek mythology, don't go to see it. It is soo unlike the myths I was shocked.
But, overal it is good fun to watch and good for a laugh. As far as I'm concerned, when I watched it, I fasfoward to all the scenes with hades. the rest of them are boreing.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The only Disney movie that I hate with a vengeance....
Review: If there is one Disney movie that I dare to call a disgrace, it would be this take on the Greek myth of Hercules. I understand that the movie has its fans, but I stand strongly by this rating. The biggest problem that this movie has is the overemphasis on too much comedy rather than true heroism. Even in ALADDIN (another inferior Disney movie which nevertheless got lucky thanks to Robin Williams' Genie), the humor was better balanced than in here. There is stuff to laugh at, yes, but jokes such as the "wearing HIS MERCHANDISE!!!!", "is my hair out?", and all others are packed so much within the film that it ultimately ends up becoming unfunny. Even the movie's so-called funniest character, Hades (voiced over-the-top by James Woods), falls flat on his face, delivering more comedy than malice. (And I wonder, did Disney even know that Hades was NOT a bad guy in the original Greek mythology?) I was also getting tired of seeing the references to the "Hercules" merchandise ala Disney style -- it makes the movie look, and feel, no doubt, like a commercial, not a movie. Obviously, Disney was trying to outdo ALADDIN by injecting all the jokes they could into this movie, and their failure is so spectacular. It's no wonder the movie was a major disappointment at both the box office and on video. I enjoy over-the-top comedy, but here it just didn't FEEL together, especially for scenes where there is NO comedy.

But there are other problems besides the forced comedy -- for one thing, Hercules is a HORRIBLE exaggeration of a muscular strongman. He starts out as a sympathetic young boy who is unable to control his strength but when he becomes a grownup... therein lies the intense dislike for him. So one-dimensional, so boastful, so annoying is Hercules that he ends up becoming the most unsympathetic character in the entire movie. Even the leading lady, Meg, is a disappointment. Sure, it's nice to have a character who changes from being cynical to a true friend, but it's handled so mechanically and so forced that she, too, is an unlovable character. All of this is not helped by a script which not only bastardizes the Greek myth (Odysseus, Jason, and Achilles failed Hercules' trainer? Hera LOVED Hercules? Zeus is a nice guy? Hades is evil?), but fails to engage in any way. The film's ultimate message that "a true hero is not made by the size of his strength but by the strength of his heart" is so poorly depicted that we actually find ourselves wishing that Hercules would indeed continue to be called "JERK-ules". Sorry, but a film which tries to be so funny and at the same time take itself seriously does not -- I repeat -- does NOT work.

Arguably the hugest injustice on the film is its soundtrack. Unlike some people, I actually enjoyed the gospel songs, but the inclusion of them in the film is only one other huge mistake on Disney's part. As fun as the songs are, they don't suit a film about Greek gods and heroes. I respect Alan Menken as a composer, but here he misfired. The other songs are not much better. "One Last Hope" sung by Danny DeVito is funny for a while, but is poorly composed and ill-suited. Meg's number is condescendingly weak, and even Hercules' song is awful. (I may have used it for a school alma mater, but that was before I truly realized how much of a dud it was.) Usually, songs are what make a Disney movie, but in HERCULES, it only is one more slapping insult to this joyless film.

I admit that I enjoyed HERCULES when I first saw it, but I began looking upon it with harsh skepticism when I saw that everybody else was. When I saw it again on video, I realized just how rotten a movie HERCULES was. I cannot recommend it to anybody. Before I even close off this review, I must say that there are few movies that offend me so strongly, but HERCULES did it for me. Disney has done so much better than this, and the film is so inconsistent as a whole that it only drives the final nail in the coffin. Search some of Disney's better movies instead -- HERCULES was, and still is to this day, a disgrace to come from the Mouse House, and a fine example on how NOT to make a masterpiece. Funny moments, good voiceovers and some occasionally amazing pieces of animation (the Hydra battle) cannot make up for a poor script, lackluster soundtrack, and unsympathetic characters.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: How inaccurate can ya get?
Review: Alright, I know, I know, this is a children's movie but still. First of all, Hera and Zeus were NOT happily married; she only married him because he raped her. Secondly, Hera was not Hercules' mom nor did she love him, she tried to kill him on numerous occasions. Hercules was one of the offspring of one of Zeus' many "consorts". Another thing, this is supposed to be Greek mythology, in Greek mythology Hercules was called Heracles and only become Hercules in Roman mythology. Also, there were nine muses not five. Narcissus would be dead and not up on Mount Olympus staring into a mirror; as soon as he discovered himself with his reflection in a lake, he stayed there and slowly died. Gah! I like this movie but it annoys me too much with all the mess ups in it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Hercules and the magic mortal-making bottle
Review: Contrary to the beliefs of the people who developed this film, it is possible to create an accurate Hercules adaptation without killing the myths behind them. Disney's Hercules was the worse conversion Disney has ever done. Hercules was a bastard, I know that's not family friendly, but it's true. His dad was married to Hera and slept around a lot! He did not drink a 'magic' bottle that made him half god. It would have been fine if they removed the incest, but A MAGIC MORTAL MAKING BOTTLE!!! I could have made Hercules more family friendly without doing this. The second thing that bothered me, the Gods and Titans -- all wrong. Third, the Christian/Modern elements. I hate when they try to a- modernize ancient times (only Flintstones did it in a way that was funny) and b- christianize a non-christian world (true the Xena & Hercules series did it, but in a way that worked. They didn't make Hades the equvalent of the Devil). Hades is not the devil with little demon minions, he's the ruler of the underworld, the land of the dead - all dead. Hades itself is not Hell, it's the underworld period. Hera hated Hercules, the second she was made his mother I concluded this film was stupid and never wanted to see it again. The fun part about doing a story about the Greek gods is so many of them walk the middle line - they are flawed super humans. But even if they had made Ares universally evil to fit into the Disney formula, I could have accepted it. Hey I liked the gospel muses, they actually could have worked -- in a better adaptation. The super-pet Pegasus could have even worked -- in a better adaptation. The changes to Hades, Hera, and the addition of the magic 'half-god' making bottle just killed it (plus those annoying demon minions). Pocahontas was modified in a way I could accept. I joke about all the things they got wrong, but I enjoy the movie and would recomend it for family entertainment. I would never recomend this, it morph the story into some unrecognizeable to anyone who knows anything about the greek myths.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Okay, I'm gonna try to make this short...
Review: Hercules is a pretty good movie, even though it's not "right up there" with my favorites (It did, however, instill an interest in Greek mythology). As other reviewers have said, the animation is a bit cartoonier than usual, and it IS inaccurate. The music is a little above average (but how do we define average?) save for one stand-out: the Meg song. This film isn't a bad comedy, and the in-jokes know no bounds (read some Greek mythology, it will get funnier!)My favorite character would have to be Meg. The love story in this is very good, but, unlike in Pocahontas, gets the point across without taking over the whole essence of the film. All in all, this is a good movie. See it and write your own reviews!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Urk...
Review: Okay, so I see so many bad reviews calling Pocahontas inaccurate but most for this movie say "Lighten up! It's a great movie!" However, I love Pocahontas and hate this movie. Why? Because Pocahontas kept the spirit of the story alive and generally got the same message across. This movie, as one review put it, lacks any respect or regard for Greek mythology.

First off, I will admit that I am a huge Greek mythology fan. I know that every Disney movie is inaccurate, and at all different degrees. However, I judge by the movie itself and am willing to accept inaccuracies if the movie is worth it. And indeed, Hercules is in no way worth it.

My friend said that Hercules seemed like an attempt to fit Greek characters into the typical Disney formula, which seems like a good way to summarize it. What were once engaging characters were made flat, lacking the realistic flaws that made them so endearingly human in the myths. Hercules is basically your perfect good guy hero, instead of the conceited, musclehead with a foul temper. I'd complain about Megara's persona certainly not belonging in that timeframe, but I love Susan Egan and she made it work. The only god who was really sort of accurate was Hermes. And I do agree that the gods were absolutely hideous, save Aphrodite.

My biggest complaint, though, goes with the thing that everyone praises: Hades. Yes, he is my favorite god and I am biased, but they threw away what is known about his personality and adapted him to fit their usual witty Disney villain. And yes, he was an entertaining character, but at what cost? The thing that I always liked about Hades was that he wasn't evil. Basically, they seemed to have said "Lord of the Underworld? Wow, that's a perfect villain!" In my opinion, someone like Ares would have been better-suited for being the villain. I mean, Pain and Panic originally belonged to him anyway! And if they had to really destroy Hades' character they could have at least had Persephone, too.

I did love the music, though, especially Megara's solo "I Won't Say I'm in Love."


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