Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon (1964)

Really Surprised!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

After the King of Abyssinia (Petri) is double-crossed by the three rulers of Babylon (Line, Lorenzon, Altamura), he enlists the aid of the mighty Hercules (Lupus, billed as 'Rock Stevens') to overthrow Babylon and capture a Queen (Polani) hiding amongst serfs in the city, to be his bride. Polani also happens to be Hercules' girlfriend, leading to further treachery as Petri seeks to rub out Hercules once the Queen has been delivered to safety.Lupus is a more affable Hercules than most, a likable hulk who went on to co-star in the "Mission: Impossible" TV series in the late sixties. But my favourite part of this Herc episode is the appearance of German bombshell Helga Line. She's something special, and has a sizable role as the seductive and scheming sister, seeking to take the throne of Babylon that she reluctantly shares with her two brothers through an elaborate plan involving a massive underground winch system primed to literally tear the city apart.All the elements are present with fierce battles, glorious colourful costumes and sets, heroism and tragedy, inane dialogue ("look our king is dead, let's surrender") and the usual array of villains and conspiracies to entertain fans of the genre. In terms of highlights, don't miss the scene in which Hercules is invited to fight with pretenders to his mantle and discovers that the fight has been fixed in his opponents' favour - pity the fool.

Peter Lupus who later was a regular on Mission Impossible takes his turn as Hercules in Hercules And The Tyrants Of Babylon. His mission in this peplum is to save the Queen of the Hellenes.The two middle eastern empires of the time have raided and sacked Greece and one of them has carried off the Queen of the Hellenes. Problem is that Babylon doesn't know that they have her, but the Assyrian king sure does. When the Assyrian king visits the three sharing Babylonian monarchs and wishes to buy all their captive women slaves, they smell something up.In the meantime Hercules is on his mission to save her from whomever. To aid Lupus in his quest, he's got himself one mighty club, the stick which looks like a big and thick tree branch can give a mighty whack when Hercules wields it. As peplum pictures go, this one's a bit above the norm.

"Peter Lupus of 'Mission: Impossible' fame stars as the legendary Hercules. He is on a mission to rescue the beautiful Queen of the Hellenes, who has been kidnapped and enslaved by the ruler of Babylon," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis. Yes, three thousand years ago in the city of Babylon, popular TV series supporting player Peter Lupus (as "Rock Stevens") had a career in muscle-man movies from Italy. This one, translated literally by American International Pictures as "Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon", is ponderous to a fault. Beautifully shaped Helga Line is the highlight.*** Ercole contro i tiranni di Babilonia (12/25/64) Domenico Paolella ~ Peter Lupus, Helga Line, Mario Petri, Livio Lorenzon

I love Hercules movies, but this one is a snoozer. Maybe it needs commercials and beer (if only I drank).The plot has Hercules wandering the desert looking for his Queen who has been taken as a slave by the evil people of Babylon. The Babylonians don't know they have the queen so she wanders around in the desert with other slaves. There is talk of a man who can single handedly wipe out army's , Hercules, and chatter about getting more power, but it's all talk and no action. Into this comes the Assyrian king who is making a power play for both the Babylonian throne and what ever throne the slave girl Queen has, for give me I was dozing.There's a few really badly staged fights and way way way too much talk. SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNINGThen the movie slips in to the realm of hysterically stupid----The who city of Babylon is built so that if one wheel is turned the whole thing collapse on itself. Guess what happens? Its hidden under the city and looks incredibly dumb and Hercules spins it in order to cover the escape.There is a brilliant calvary charge that looks great but leads to a slave /Assyrian battle that ends almost as soon as it starts when the king is killed (they only had so much film)Eventually after wandering in the desert the now freed slaves, Queen and Hercules, come over a rise to the promised land, music swells and the camera reveals and even more barren desert. The End.END SPOILER ALERTAvoid this movie unless you've never been bored and wanting to truly do everything before you die.