Hercules and the Captive Women

1961 [ITALIAN]

Adventure / Comedy / Fantasy / History

4
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 12% · 3 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 12% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 4.4/10 10 1727 1.7K

monster atlantis gorilla mythology palace greek mythology

Plot summary

King Androcles of Thebes commands a ship in search of a threat to Greece, predicted by an atmospheric oracle. Hercules is part of the crew, but the strongman falls overboard in a thick fog. Washed ashore, he saves a young Ismene from Proteus, an evil, shape-shifting creature. Ismene takes Hercules to Atlantis, where he discovers that her mother, Queen Antinea, has captured Androcles. Hercules schemes to rescue him and thwart Antinea's dream of world conquest.

Director

Vittorio Cottafavi Photo
Vittorio Cottafavi

Top cast

Gian Maria Volonté Photo
Gian Maria Volonté as il re di Sparta
Reg Park Photo
Reg Park as Ercole
Fay Spain Photo
Fay Spain as La regina Antinea
Raf Baldassarre Photo
Raf Baldassarre as Il capo delle guardie
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
873.64 MB
1280*582
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
1 hr 35 min
Seeds 7
1.58 GB
1920*872
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
1 hr 35 min
Seeds 9

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by dbdumonteil

Now we know....

...why Atlantis disappeared! Although Hercules often calls upon his Father ,Zeus -note that his son never invokes his granddad-,this is as far from Greek mythology as it can be."The famous Four" best describes the plot: Hercules ,his son,Androcles (a Roman slave handed over to lions then granted an imperial pardon ,what is he doing here?) and a dwarf feel that Grece is in jeopardy.This is the beginning of an "epic" story which includes a rubber monster,a wicked queen (Antinea of course ,see one of the numerous versions of Pierre Benoit's " L'Atlantide" ),the ancestors of the clones (unless it predates Hitler's Aryan supermen),the perils of atomic radiations (?) The first scene is an interminable free-for-all in which Hercules,who is quietly enjoying his meal ,does not interfere ("help us dad!"screams his son) .Some not-so-bad scenes show a strange Androcles wandering in the queen's palace .It's rather silly,but it's entertaining if you do not ask too much.
Reviewed by sos12 5 / 10

Solid Hercules entry -- beautiful to behold but a bit soul-less

For nothing else, CAPTIVE WOMEN is worth checking out because it's the Reg Park-starring Herc film that preceded the epochal HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD directed by Mario Bava -- which still remains, hands down, the best of the Italian Herc movies ever made. CAPTIVE WOMEN is extremely well produced -- excellent production design and visual FX by Hercules standards -- and that's both its big plus and its big minus. The Retromedia DVD is very, very good -- in 2.35 Cinemascope, nice transfer -- and it's terrific to see a Hercules film given this kind of loving treatment. BUT -- it does point out some of the shortcomings of CAPTIVE WOMEN. Which are, mainly, that not a helluva lot happens. Herc goes sailing, a buddy goes overboard ... and he winds up in Atlantis, where the Evil Queen (note: Queens are almost always evil, and extremely smokin' hot, in Herc movies) gives him a magic potion designed to make him fall in love with her. Second note: magic potions figure prominently in a LOT of Hercules films, and they're almost always administered by smokin' hot Evil Queens trying to get Herc to fall in love with them. That's what we love about these films. Anyhow ... great production values but a bit, well, stiff somehow.
Reviewed by mstomaso 3 / 10

Unforeseen Perils of the Mystical Unknown

Vittorio Cottafavi's Hercules and the Captive Women recycles the standard Hercules plot structure. If you have seen any of its predecessors or descendants, you have seen something very much like this film. However, in this case, the entire army of evil-doers Herc must confront are immortals from Atlantis who have been secretly infiltrating Greek politics. Most of the action takes place on Atlantis after Herc, his son, and a couple of friends wash up there.Hercules is played by Reg Park, a very beefy non-actor built like a comic book superhero. Park seems to spend the first 1/3rd of the film lounging about, and most of the second 2/3rds flexing and fighting. His occasional lines are clearly spoken, but without a great deal of enthusiasm. Most of the acting is OK. No real highlights in the cast, though.The action sequences are fairly entertaining, but don't compare favorably to the special-effects saturated fight scenes of today. Like many Hercules films, Captive Women features lavish costumes and sets.The costumes are up to the series above-average standards and a few of the Atlantean sets are really nice. The script is on par with most of the series, which is to say that it is not very good.Recommended for Hercules fans only.
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