Director Arthur Allan Seidelman
Stars Arnold Stang, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Deborah Loomis
Rated PG
Score 2/6
After many centuries, Hercules gets bored living in Olympus (the home of the great Greek gods) and decides to move to… New York. But obviously, it is not easy for a man who lived in ancient Greece to get used to modern life. So, things get a little tricky, especially when Zeus sends a few gods to bring his demigod son back to mount Olympus.
Okay, Hercules in New York is one of those movies you should watch at least once, if you can find it, I stumbled across this one on YouTube’s movie page. This is also probably one of those movies that is so famous … or infamous that you might feel that you have seen it even if you’ve just seen a couple of clips, I’ve found that with a couple of movies.
For those of you who might be wondering, Hercules in New York was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s debut film role (he was credited as Arnold Strong ‘Mr. Universe’) , and yes it was a little odd watching a young Schwarzenegger as Hercules. Apparently he was 22 at the time. I was a little surprised by the movie’s opening and how it seemed to give off what could only be described as a teen movie vibe with Schwarzenegger’s Hercules coming off as a bratty teenager. This isn’t the best of movies, the phrase ‘it’s so bad it’s good’ is an accurate assessment of Hercules in New York. There is a slight plot hole when it comes to the gangsters (it is one of those don’t think about it to hard moments), I’m pretty sure the props used for Zeus’ Lightning Bolts where painted pieces of rebar and the soundtrack could not have been more cliched if it tried. Though it did start to grow on me by the end of the movie. Even though they didn’t give the best of performances, I found that I really enjoyed Arnold Stang as Pretzie and Michael Lipton as Pluto. Then of course there is the chariot chase sequence that was hilarious in a cartoony sort of way.