DVD
Review | Hercules (Season 1)
Written by: Kage
Alan
My mother used to call me up and tell me that she
and my father watched the latest episode of “Hercules” and I remember
laughing at her. Watch “Hercules”? You must be kidding. Yeah, like
my choices in television and film were any less cheesy. Well, when
the opportunity to review the show came up, I figured I’d give it a
try. I mean, I’ve come to get such a kick out of “Xena” and since
“Hercules” came first, obviously that’s where it got its inspiration
from. Right? Well…
Before it became a regular series on TV, “Hercules”
was started off as 5 TV movies; Hercules and The Amazon Women, Hercules
and The Lost Kingdom, Hercules and The Circle of Fire, Hercules In The
Underworld and Hercules In The Maze Of The Minotaur. It’s in these
films that we are reintroduced to the character of Hercules (Kevin Sorbo)
and watch as he interacts with his father, Zeus (Anthony Quinn), marries
Deianeira (Tawny Kitaen), has two children and battles various monsters
and threats this his stepmother, Hera, sends his way. The first four TV
films are terrific fun, but the final one, “The Maze of the Minotaur”
has so many flashbacks from the others that they take up half the
running time. Talk about boring.
“Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” (the series)
picks up after events in the TV films when Hera wastes no time in
killing off Deianeira and Hercules’ children. Bitter, hurt and wanting
revenge, Hercules sets off to desecrate Hera’s temples, foil her plots
and help all those who are in need…which is basically at least one
person in every village if it’s not the entire village itself…along the
way. He battles many a foe, stops wars from happening, avoids the
large-breasted babes and delivers his fair share of moral speeches.
While Kevin Sorbo is an amiable actor capable of
delivering sarcastic lines without fluctuating his voice much, the show
lacks the gung ho chaotic fun found in “Xena”. If given a preference, I
believe I prefer “Xena”, but then I’d need to see another season of
“Hercules” to make up my mind since Season 1 only consists of 13
episodes, barely enough time to cement itself. Actually, the episodes
with Lucy Lawless getting her start as Xena were tremendous fun. Seeing
a young Lucy Liu kicking some serious butt was well worth it too!
Anchor Bay has released “Hercules: The Legendary
Journeys (Season 1)” in its original full screen ratio. Video quality
is a little grainy at times and has some minor defects, but nothing that
stands out too badly. Audio quality is fine, so no complaints there.
As for extras, Anchor Bay continues its usage of video as well as audio
commentaries. A handful of episodes have either audio, video or audio
and video commentaries with Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst. Both do a
solid job, but I think I enjoyed Kevin’s the most, probably due to his
acerbic wit. There’s an 8th disc included that contains a
screensaver, Chronicles, trivia and some actor and director bios. I’m
sure there will be some additional extras included in future sets, like
documentaries or other fun bits. For now, though, it’s a wonderful
start.
“Hercules” isn’t a bad show by any means, but I
don’t think it found its pulse in this first season whereas it must have
in future seasons to have lasted as long as it did. I’m still inclined
to like “Xena” better, but if my mother found something delightfully
watchable in “Hercules”, I’m willing to give it a fair shake. Until
Season 2 then…
Film Rating:
B
DVD Special Features: B
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