Product Details

• Actors: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe DeRita, Vicki Trickett, Quinn K. Redeker
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: May 23, 1995
• Run Time: 89 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303439748
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #289,529 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Very much in the tradition of such Columbia Three Stooges period shorts as "Back to the Woods," the 1962 costume epic The Three Stooges Meet Hercules is 100% pure Moe-Larry-Curly Joe comedy, with the barest of a ho- hum love interest to detract from the nonsense at hand. Working at the pharmacy of an ill-tempered boss (George N. Neise) and friends of a budding time-machine inventor named Schuyler (Quinn Redeker), the Stooges and Schuyler, along with the obligatory attractive female, Diana (Vicki Trickett), are transported back to the time of Hercules. Here the legendary hero (Samson Burke) is the enforcer for King Odius (Neise in a double role), and anachronisms are rampant in an English-speaking ancient Greece.

Twice condemned as galley slaves, the Stooges see that Schuyler now has the muscles but not the self-confidence to rescue Diana and the rest of Greece from the odious Odius. Schuyler is tricked into thinking himself all-powerful and performs many Herculean labors (with many a stuffed animal and some decent backscreen projection).

Although Curly Joe seems a few notches above his namesake in the brains department (which is not saying all that much), his reactions at times of real and supposed danger are quite ordinary compared with the old Curly. In fact, it is Moe who takes on the Curly bark at a recalcitrant prop. But the old sound effects are there to punctuate blows to belly and head, although eye pokes are out, due to parental objections to the influence of the trio, newly popular on television. --Frank Behrens

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Probably their best feature, October 9, 2006

By 

Anyechka (Rensselaer, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (DVD)

Not that it's saying much, considering the type of material they were given to work with in the DeRita era, but this is probably the best starring feature they did. Most of the DeRita features have very weak scripts and really embarrassing cringe-worthy childish storylines, something that generally only children and nostalgic aging Boomers actually like, but there are a handful of them that have pretty good scripts and supporting casts, such as this one. It was also directed by the wonderful Ed Bernds, which might account for the surprisingly positive change in direction, going from bad kiddy fare to a movie that, while not nearly at the same level as classics like 'Hoi Polloi' or 'Brideless Groom,' can still be watched multiple times and be enjoyed by non-Boomers and people over the age of ten. Under Bernds's direction, they look and act decades younger! Sure there are some moments (like the scene with the hokey-looking Cyclops) that do seem geared to the kiddy matinee audience, but overall it's something that flows along seamlessly, a great plot that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. It doesn't even have the same dated quality as 'The Outlaws Is Coming!,' their other best DeRita feature, making it even stronger. Even DeRita isn't as teeth-gratingly annoying as he usually is; he's tolerable so long as he stays in the background and is taken in small doses. This picture also has their longtime supporting player Emil Sitka, which is always a good thing; another supporting player I really enjoyed was Samson Burke as Hercules. He was so hilariously hammy! And though there isn't that much slapstick in here (due to all of the parents who thought their kids would imitate their violent antics), it does feature in more than usual, complete with sound effects. Probably the only thing I can find to really find fault with here is how Moe does a number of Curlyisms. It's as embarrassing and cringe-worthy as it always is when he tries to imitate his (by that time deceased) baby brother's trademark noises and mannerisms.

The only extra besides basics like scene selection is a self-congratulatory preview for the colorised DVDs that Columbia had released around this time. Why wasn't an actual trailer for this movie included in lieu of that? Although this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, given how no-frills their other Stooge DVDs are, barely any hint that they're DVDs and not video cassettes. Overall, it's one of the few DeRita features I would recommend instead of urging people to steer well clear of.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's about time..., May 22, 2005

By 

Ronald L. Cohen (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (DVD)

This is the one Three Stooge feature film the 1960's with Joe DeRita that I have been waiting for. "Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze" is a close second. This film proved that the Stooges comedy could be maintained in a feature film, the one thing Moe and Larry wanted after the 25 years of making short features. And it was an excellent film, especially after the abominable "Snow White and the Three Stooges". The only drawback, like the other Stooges features, is that there are no special features. (Since this would have deducted a half a star, and this was not a choice, I left my rating at a 5.)

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best of the Stooges features, June 30, 2003

By 

Peter Ingemi (Worcester County, Massachusetts United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 3 Stooges: Meet Hercules [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This movie is the best of all of the stooges movies made in the late 50's and early 60's. Of all of them it captures the spirit of the classic shorts which made them them one of the longest lasting and most consistant moneymakers (at least for their studios) in the comedy business.

The plot is simple the boys aid a geek trying to build a time machine while keeping the villian away from his girl. The result is a trip to ancient Greece, a meeting with the legendary Hercules and the changing of the Geek to a man.

Pure unadultruated fun. a real winner.