Hercules and the Lost Kingdom (1994)

Great Film overall

Absolutely Fantastic

A Major Disappointment

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This is the second pilot TV movie that jump-started the "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" TV series, where Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) sets on a quest to find the lost city of Troy and end Hera's evil grip on the place. Joining Hercules on the mission is the Princess Deianeira (Renee O'Connor), whom Hercules rescued from being sacrificed to the river god.The plot of the movie goes at a faster pace than the previous entry and showcased Hercules' powers more, pitting him against a giant and later against a horde of Hera's minions and city rascals. In addition to seeing the excitement of Hercules and Deianeria's adventures to the lost city, there are also spiritual elements in the movie, including the mysterious spirit being that has been following Deianeria. Also, as an added treat to the adventures, there is a thrilling sequence where Hercules and Deianeira try to escape after being eaten by a gigantic sea serpent.Like the previous movie, the New Zealand countryside setting is refreshing and the costumes are colorful and vibrantly done. The music score by Joseph LoDuca is very upbeat and appealing and the acting is pretty spot-on, with some good chemistry between Sorbo and O'Connor and a good dose of humor.The movie does drag a little towards the middle, but other than that, this is a fun TV movie.Grade B+

Hercules rescues a virgin named Deianeira from a cult. She tags along with him on his way to the lost city of Troy. Second of five TV movies that preceded the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys TV series. This one's possibly my favorite of them all. That's due to Renee O'Connor's extremely likable personality, charm, and comedic talent. She would, of course, go on to bigger things as Xena's sidekick Gabrielle in the Hercules spin-off. After this movie, Tawny Kitaen would play a character with the same name as O'Connor's character here. I don't believe they are intended to be the same character since there's no mention of this movie in the next one. The two actresses couldn't be more different, physically or otherwise. Whatever positive qualities Ms. Kitaen has, and I can think of two obvious ones, she is not as good an actress or comedienne as O'Connor. This is also the first appearance in the Hercules world of Robert Trebor, although playing a different role than the comic relief character Salmoneus that fans would come to either love or hate.As with the other movies and the later TV series, this is a fun, colorful adventure shot on beautiful New Zealand locations. There's humor, drama, action, and some decent special effects for television. Nothing highbrow here but good old-fashioned escapism.

Hercules and the Lost Kingdom starts with a messenger (Alex Beasley) locating Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) & asking for his help to free the lost kingdom of Troy from the evil reign of the 'Queen of the Gods' & the evil Blue Priest (Nathaniel Lees). Hercules accepts & after some advice from his Father Zeus (Anthony Quinn) about how to find Troy he sets off on his quest. On his way Hercules saves a young woman named Deianerira (Renee O'Connor) from being sacrificed & takes her along with him, Hercules first task is to find Queen Omphale (Elizabeth Hawthorne) & a compass she has that will point the way to Troy. Hercules & Deianerira also have to face gangs of thugs, giant sea monsters & ninja's in purple capes & joke shop masks on the way to liberate the lost kingdom of Troy! This American, New Zealand co-production was directed by Harley Cokeliss & is one of six feature length made for TV episode of the popular Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995 - 1999), well I think so anyway, it followed Hercules and the Amazon Women (1994) & preceded Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - Hercules and the Circle of Fire (1994) & I have no idea how this compares as I've not seen any of the other's or indeed any of the original TV series. The script by Christian Williams is good natured, light hearted fun, if you don't take it too seriously then quite a lot of fun can be had & even contains some half decent mildly amusing dialogue. It moves along at a nice pace although as a whole the story feels a little empty with Hercules not having much trouble finding Troy & not encountering much resistance once there. Having said that I tend to think it's squarely aimed at pre-teen children with very slapstick fights & comedy sound effect music, suits me down to the ground then... The character's are thin & undeveloped but then this isn't trying to win any Oscars is it? I would have liked a better bad guy as well, everyone likes a cool bad guy to hate & Hercules and the Lost Kingdom does itself no favours by not having one. Since this is made for TV it isn't going to have the production values of a Hollywood blockbuster, the cinematography is bland & unexciting, the effects are surprisingly decent especially a pretty good sea monster that doesn't get to do much unfortunately, the ply-wood sets & tea cloth costumes look a little on the cheap side though. The violence is as tame as it gets & there aren't many fights anyway. The acting is of not very high calibre as one would expect. Hercules and the Lost Kingdom is a perfectly entertaining & fun way to pass 90 odd minutes if your in the right mood & like this sort of medieval fantasy adventure stuff. Worth a watch for all ages.

Don't miss this tv-movie because it has it all. Great acting, great effects and fight scenes and it as well as a superb story. It is interesting to see Renee O'Connor (Deianeira) before becoming Gabrielle on Xena, and Robert Trebor (Waylin) before becoming Salmoneus. I'm glad I got the chance to see this on TNT because it was very good.