Customer Reviews

Hercules Returns [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like another reviewer, I saw this film years ago when it came out--having won some award or another and therefore in the theater for awhile--in Seattle. It was funny enough to go back a couple of times, and I have lamented the fact that it has only been available on quite hard to find VHS (mostly because I live in Taiwan), so I'm overjoyed to see it out on DVD. If you balk at watching dub overs because they usually can't keep the ball moving after the first bit of fun, you shouldn't worry about this one. The voice characterizations are tremendous, and the makers must have put their brains on overdrive to come up with the amount of continuity that does thread through the film--remade from the inside. The frame around the dubbing bit is contrived, but forgivable, and it's sort of humorously dated (cell phones the size of shoeboxes and all that). Don't miss this wonderful and very much neglected gem.

I'm an Aussie and I saw this movie years ago and had to buy a copy so I could watch it again and again. There are some classic Aussie sayings in it, but overall it is just a very funny movie. The scenes in the movie room are hilarious and how they do the voice-overs and sound effects which they had to ad-lib as the movie went along as it appears they had never seen it before. It's not an example of how we talk all the time, but some of the sayings are just "dead set" Aussie. If you want a good laugh, get this one, it's just pure entertainment.

I am Australian, and I so often get turned off by Australian movies that all seem to have to be done in some certain way that makes it look like the 1940's in country towns or deserts. But this one is the one I think of when thinking of not only my fav. Australian movie, but the top 5 all time favorite movies.

Now, don't let the title make you think it's a regular Hercules movie... let me explain.

The movie starts off with a guy who works for the biggest cinema chain in Australia. And while in a meeting with the president of the company, he hates what he is seeing that will be shortly distributed by them, and hates the way it is run. So he quits his job to go into business for himself.

He finds an old friend and re-opens a place called The Picture Palace, an old cinema complex that shut down years before the time of this movie (story wise) and it was once a great evening and special night out like an event for the people. So he does it up and on opening night, the other guy who owns the other cinema chains wants him to fail.

His idea was to show the last movie that showed there as the first movie to be shown on the opening night, the movie is Hercules. However, the other guy sabotages his plan by replacing the film of Hercules in English, to one in Italian. They only discover this 5 minutes till show time and the only thing they can do... is do the voices themselves!!!

Now the movie kicks in, you are seeing the original Hercules movie, or one of them, but with dubbed over voices... and the lines are hilarious. It becomes a complete redub of Hercules in a comedy and does so until the final 5 minutes of the film when it goes back to the characters who started it.

Don't be put off by comparing this to stupid re dubs that have infested the internet in recent years, this one is actually funny and doesn't rely on useless swearing to aim for humor. It has classic lines and memorable quotes galore.

It's a shame that this movie is not more popular then it is. It never gets mentioned in any top 10's, and hardly anyone seems to have ever heard anything about it. Maybe it did not get promoted well or something. But anyone I show it to, or the rare person who has seen it all love it and agree it is one of the funniest things they have ever seen.

Anyone who has seen this film always want to know when it is going to be released on DVD.

I can confirm it has been released on DVD. However, it does not seem to be a wide release in Australia. The only site I have seen it on is AtlanticDVD, in which I brought my copy from there. So that should answer the question for those who are despretly trying to find it on dvd. Use a search engine and type in that name i gave without any spaces and you will find them located in Australia.

The DVD does not contain any bonus features or subtitles. Not unless you consider biographies of the actors a bonus feature, I don't.

Believe me, if you are a fan of Mel Brooks, Monty Python or The Abraham/Zucker Brothers, then you should definitely find this movie to be up there amongst theres, as one of the funniest films ever made. And I Highly recommend this to anyone with a sense of humor.

I saw this film while living in Australia and it is simply hilarious. A down-and-out loser decides to re-open an old theater and convinces two friends to help him. With opening night packed, they find that the film they're showing--Hercules, the last film shown before the theater closed--is in Italian with no subtitles. The trio decides to show the film anyway with their own voice overs. The result is so hilarious it makes you wonder what the heck the original plot was. I just wish this film was available on DVD!

It's really great to finally have it on DVD. Definitely a movie that's in the "so silly it's fantastic" category.

Old gold from the Aussies. Crazy premise - over dubbing a movie in real time - brilliantly done. Monty Python-esque and very witty. A bit naughty but not offensive. Laugh out loud and definitely one to watch with friends

Original, novel and brilliant comedic presentation of good versus bad big business - well worth getting for the laugh. In fact you will need to watch it a few times to get all of the funny bits.