The Legend of Hercules
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The Legend of Hercules | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Renny Harlin |
Produced by | Danny Lerner Les Weldon Boaz Davidson Renny Harlin |
Written by | Sean Hood Daniel Giat |
Starring | Kellan Lutz Scott Adkins Liam McIntyre Liam Garrigan Johnathon Schaech Roxanne McKee Gaia Weiss Rade Šerbedžija |
Music by | Tuomas Kantelinen[1] |
Cinematography | Sam McCurdy |
Edited by | Vincent Tabaillon |
Production
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Distributed by | Summit Entertainment[2] |
Release dates
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Running time
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99 minutes[3] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $70 million[4] |
Box office | $61.3 million[5] |
The Legend of Hercules is a 2014 American 3D action fantasy film directed by Renny Harlin and written by Daniel Giat and Sean Hood. The film stars Kellan Lutz, Gaia Weiss, Scott Adkins, Roxanne McKee, and Liam Garrigan. It was one of two Hollywood-studio Hercules films released in 2014, with Paramount Pictures' and MGM's co-production Hercules. The film was released on January 10 of that year.
Contents
Plot
In 1200 BC ancient Greece, King Amphitryon of Tiryns invades Argos. Amphitryon eventually fights rival King Galenus in personal combat, killing Galenus and seizing his kingdom. Queen Alcmene is disgusted by her husband's thirst for power and warmongering. She prays to Hera for guidance and Hera, wife of Zeus, tells her that she will allow Zeus to impregnate Alcemene with the savior of her people, a demi-god son to be named Hercules. The only other witness to this is Chiron, the queen's loyal adviser. Amphitryon names his new "son" Alcides, though Alcmene secretly acknowledges his true name as Hercules.
Twenty years later, Prince Alcides (Hercules) is the lover of Princess Hebe of Crete. Hercules and his older brother, Prince Iphicles, are attacked by a lion, which Hercules wrestles and kills. Iphicles takes all the credit and arrives at a royal banquet wearing the lion's pelt as a cloak and calls his brother a coward, though Hebe sees through this lie. At the banquet Amphitryon announces the engagement of Hebe and Iphicles, while Hercules is sent away to a military campaign in Egypt.
Alcemene tells him of his true lineage and that his name is Hercules, not Alcides. Hercules vows to return to Hebe in three moons, before her impending nuptials. He joins the command of Captain Sotiris in the Egyptian desert, where their small company is ambushed, leaving "Alcides" and Sotiris as the last survivors. When the leader of the ambush demands to know where the prince is, Sotiris gestures to the body of a slain soldier, while Hercules finally uses his gods-given name to conceal his identity as the prince. It is revealed that Amphitryon arranged the ambush to eliminate Hercules. The two are sold off as slaves to a promoter of gladiator style fights, where they excel. The two ask the promoter to take them to Greece to fight in an arena battle, where the two will fight six undefeated gladiators and potentially make the promoter a wildly rich man. When Sotiris is injured in a battle before leaving for Greece, Hercules convinces the promoter to set Sotiris free and he will fight all six gladiators himself. Sotiris secretly follows him to Greece.
Alcmene and Hebe mourn the death of Alcides/Hercules. When Alcmene seeks guidance from Hera, Amphitryon discovers her and learns the truth of Hercules' parentage and that he is fated to overthrow him. Amphitryon stabs Alcmene with her own dagger, then tells Chiron that the Queen committed suicide in her grief. Meanwhile, Hercules arrives in Greece and easily beats the six gladiators in battle. The people celebrate his victory and deserters of Amphitryon's army join him and Sotiris.
Hebe is in anguish after the death of Alcides and dreads her pending wedding to Iphicles. She tries to leap off the roof of the palace but is saved by Chiron, who brings her to Hercules. Amphitryon's army begins to desert him, forcing him to hire foreign mercenaries when Hercules and Sotiris begin a fight against Amphitryon's campaign of tyranny. Iphicles threatens Sotiris' son's life, forcing Sotiris to lead him to Hercules. Iphicles is surprised to discover that Hercules is Alcides. Hercules is chained and publicly flogged, then watches in horror as Iphicles murders Chiron under Amphitryon's orders. In anguish he acknowledges Zeus as his father and calls upon him for strength. Hercules breaks free from his chains and kills Amphitryon's guard, though Amphitryon and Iphicles escape.
Hercules and Sotiris raise an army and storm Amphitryon's palace. Amphitryon's palace guard join Hercules and his army and they battle Amphitryon's mercenaries. Hercules calls upon his father who infuses his sword with the power of lightning. Hercules defeats the mercenaries with his lightning sword, then meets Amphitryon in personal combat. Hercules nearly defeats Amphitryon but Iphicles holds Hebe hostage and threatens to kill her if Hercules does not let Amphitryon go. Hercules hesitates but Hebe thrusts the dagger through her shoulder, killing Iphicles. Hercules finally avenges Alcmene's death and kills Amphitryon with the same blade that killed his mother. Hercules rushes to Hebe's side as she slowly drifts into unconsciousness. Nearly a year later, the cries of a baby are heard, Hercules' and Hebe's baby boy. That night, he watches over his kingdom, finally fulfilling his destiny.
Cast
- Kellan Lutz as Hercules/Alcides[6]
- Gaia Weiss as Hebe
- Scott Adkins as King Amphitryon
- Roxanne McKee as Queen Alcmene
- Liam Garrigan as Iphicles
- Liam McIntyre as Sotiris
- Rade Šerbedžija as Chiron
- Johnathon Schaech as Tarak
- Luke Newberry as Agamemnon
- Jukka Hilden as Creon
- Kenneth Cranham as Lucius
- Mariah Gale as Kakia
- Sarai Givaty as Saphirra
- Richard Reid as Archer #1
- Spencer Wilding as Humbaba
- Bashar Rahal as Battalion Commander #1
Reception
Critical response
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 3% rating, with an average rating of 2.3/10, based on 71 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "Cheap-looking, poorly acted, and dull, The Legend of Hercules is neither fun enough to qualify as an action movie nor absorbing enough to work on a dramatic level".[7] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 22 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[8]
Box office
The Legend of Hercules grossed $8,868,318 in its opening weekend, ranking #3 in the domestic box office behind Lone Survivor's third weekend and Frozen's eighth.[9] As of March 9, 2014, the film has grossed $18.8 million domestically and an additional $42.4 million internationally for a worldwide total of $61.3 million, failing to make back the budget of $70 million.
Accolades
Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref(s) |
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Golden Raspberry Awards | February 21, 2015 | Worst Picture | Nominated | [10][11] | |
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel | Nominated | ||||
Worst Actor | Kellan Lutz | Nominated | |||
Worst Actress | Gaia Weiss | Nominated | |||
Worst Director | Renny Harlin | Nominated | |||
Worst Screen Combo | Kellan Lutz and either his abs, his pecs or his glutes | Nominated |
See also
References
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External links
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- Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). The Legend of Hercules at IMDb
- The Legend of Hercules at Box Office Mojo
- The Legend of Hercules at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Legend of Hercules at Metacritic
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- ↑ King, Susan (February 21, 2015). "Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas Dominates the 35th Razzie Awards", Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
- Pages with reference errors
- 2014 films
- English-language films
- Film articles using image size parameter
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- Official website missing URL
- 2014 3D films
- 2010s action films
- 2010s adventure films
- 2010s fantasy films
- American action films
- American films
- American fantasy adventure films
- Films directed by Renny Harlin
- Films about Heracles
- Films about gladiatorial combat
- Films shot in Bulgaria
- Lions Gate Entertainment films
- Summit Entertainment films
- Entertainment One films