X
- 1997
- G
- Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
- 1 h 33 m
- 1997
- G
- Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
- 1 h 33 m
Summary In order to return home to Mount Olympus, Hercules needs to prove he can move from "zero" to true hero with Pegasus, the flying stallion, and Phil -- a feisty personal trainer. Along the way, Hercules must match wits with Grecian beauty Meg and a comical hothead named Hades who, with the help of Pain and Panic, plans to take over the Uni...
Directed By: Ron Clements, John Musker
- 1997
- G
- Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
- 1 h 33 m
- 1997
- G
- Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
- 1 h 33 m
Hercules
74
7.8
Where to Watch
Summary In order to return home to Mount Olympus, Hercules needs to prove he can move from "zero" to true hero with Pegasus, the flying stallion, and Phil -- a feisty personal trainer. Along the way, Hercules must match wits with Grecian beauty Meg and a comical hothead named Hades who, with the help of Pain and Panic, plans to take over the Uni...
Directed By: Ron Clements, John Musker
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 Critic Reviews
74
82% Positive
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
14% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
5% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 Critic Reviews
74
82% Positive
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
14% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
5% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Hercules, like Aladdin, zips Disney’s house animation style past sentimentality and into an age of ironic media-wise overload. That’s not a bad place for it to be.
Disney's smashing new mythological feature cartoon, is one of funniest and most purely entertaining of all the recent Disney animated efforts.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 147 User Ratings
7.8
80% Positive
118 Ratings
118 Ratings
15% Mixed
22 Ratings
22 Ratings
5% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 147 User Ratings
7.8
80% Positive
118 Ratings
118 Ratings
15% Mixed
22 Ratings
22 Ratings
5% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
The soundtrack of this movie is just sublime; one of the all time great Disney soundtracks. Add to that a compelling story of a fallen God who must prove himself a true hero to return to Mt Olympus, this movie is the perfect blend of action, love, deceit and beating the odds!
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Hercules isn't likely to be revered 30 years from now like other Disney classics, but it's smart, safe family entertainment. [27 June 1997, p.3]
Proving that the studio should stick with fairy tales and myths instead of literature and history, Hercules is presented as a lively, animated feature with whiplash-quick one-liners and a heavenly score by the inspired team of Alan Mencken and David Zippel. [27 June 1997, p.3E]
DeVito, whose singing sounds like a cross between coughing and Jimmy Durante on a good day, is a gruff and lovable mentor with a Brooklyn accent and a New Yorker's intolerance for sentimentality. Egan's Meg is a fiery dame with lots of gall. Tate Donovan gives voice to the adult Hercules, and he is just right as an almost Dudley Doright-ish lug who thinks heroics have more to do with physical daring than with big-heartedness. Alan Mencken's original score is boisterous and hummable, and lyrics by David Zippel perfectly suit the story and Disney's recent style for cleverness.
Notwithstanding the hero's Superman similarities, Hercules isn't quite super. But it's strong enough to get the job done. [27 June 1997, p.17]
The story behind Hercules, Walt Disney’s insipid, lifeless, animated feature, is hardly the stuff of children’s entertainment.
Well, after The Hunchback of Notre Dame (which I absolutely love) got well with the critics and audience so Disney decides to do a movie which is in Roman Empire about a hero called Hercules. I absolutely love this film! It's just everything. You know the rest, the songs, the characters, the music and the animation which you can't really go wrong. From the creators of Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. It's the one, the only, by the famous name of all, Hercules! i actually like the song which is sung by Michael Bolton, Go The Distance. I love the characters. Oh god, I can say it all the time while I'm doing reviews by Disney. I can't explain this much enough. The characters from every Disney movie is just Nostalgic and fun to like. I especially like Philoctetes played by Danny DeVito and James Woods playing Hades, Lord of the Underworld. There's also other characters like the female damsel in distress Megara. Zeus, Hercules's father, Pegasus, Hercules's pet, Pain and Panic, Hades Henchmen and then wonder boy ( which Meg called him) Hercules. I love the songs in it, I can't remember what they're called apart from Go The Distance, Zero to Hero sung by black people and One Last Hope which I love. The animation, what can I say? It's by the same guys who did Aladdin and The Little Mermaid which they wanted to make it so smooth and colourful like the other Disney films. I can't say more about the story because you know the story already from years so I'm gonna have to leave it there. Yes! Disney has done it again making the movies go to renaissance to brilliance. Filled with awesome scenes for audience to enjoy like myself.
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In Ancient Greece, after imprisoning the Titans beneath the ocean, the rulers of the Greek gods, King Zeus and his wife Queen Hera, have a son named Hercules on Mount Olympus. While the other gods are joyful, Zeus' jealous younger brother Hades plots to overthrow Zeus and rule Olympus. Turning to the Fates for help, Hades learns that in eighteen years, a planetary alignment will allow him to locate and free the Titans to conquer Olympus, but only if Hercules does not interfere. Hades sends his minions Pain and Panic to dispose of Hercules. The two succeed at kidnapping the infant and feeding him a formula that turns him mortal, but fail to remove his superhuman strength before Hercules is found and adopted by the farmers Amphitryon and Alcmene.
Years later, the teenage Hercules becomes an outcast due to his strength, and wonders where he came from. After his foster parents reveal the Olympian necklace they found him with, Hercules decides to visit the temple of Zeus for answers. The temple's statue of Zeus comes to life and reveals all to Hercules, telling him that he can regain his godhood by becoming a true hero. Zeus sends Hercules and his forgotten infant friend Pegasus to find the satyr Philoctetes—"Phil" for short—who is known for training heroes. They meet Phil, who has retired due to numerous disappointments, but Hercules inspires him to follow his dream to train a true hero that will be recognized by the gods. Phil trains Hercules into a potential hero, and then they head towards Thebes. On the way, they meet Megara—"Meg" for short—a sarcastic damsel whom Hercules saves from the centaur Nessus. After Hercules and the others leave, Meg is revealed to be Hades' minion, who sold her soul to him to save an unfaithful lover.
Arriving in Thebes, Hercules is turned down by the downtrodden citizens until Meg appears, saying that two boys have become trapped in a gorge. Hercules saves them, unaware that they are Pain and Panic in disguise, and unwittingly releases the Hydra. Hercules defeats it and becomes a celebrated hero, but despite Hercules' growing fame and defeating every subsequent monster Hades unleashes, Zeus tells him he is not yet a "true" hero. Saddened and frustrated, Hercules spends a day out with Meg, who falls in love with him. Hades learns of this and on the eve of his takeover, he holds Meg hostage and offers her in exchange for Hercules surrendering his powers for a day. On the condition that Meg will be unharmed, he accepts, and is heartbroken when Hades reveals that Meg was working for him.
Hades unleashes the Titans, who climb Olympus and capture the gods, while a Cyclops goes to Thebes to kill Hercules. Hercules defeats the Cyclops; Meg then saves him from a falling pillar and is mortally injured. This breaks Hades' promise that Meg would not be harmed, and allows Hercules to regain his strength. Hercules and Pegasus fly to Olympus where they free the gods and vanquish the Titans, but Meg dies before he returns to her.
With Meg's soul now Hades' property, Hercules breaks into the Underworld and offers to free Meg from the Styx in exchange for his own life. His willingness to sacrifice himself restores his godhood and immortality before the life-draining river can kill him; he rescues Meg and punches Hades into the Styx, where irate souls pull him under. After reviving Meg, she and Hercules are summoned to Olympus, where Zeus and Hera welcome their son home. However, Hercules chooses to give up his godhood and remain on Earth with Meg in lieu of living on Olympus. Hercules and his friends return to Thebes, where they watch Zeus etch Hercules' image into the stars to commemorate his heroism.
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Production Company
Walt Disney Pictures,
Walt Disney Animation Studios,
Walt Disney Feature Animation Paris
Release Date Jun 27, 1997
Duration 1 h 33 m
Rating G
Tagline A Comedy So Big No Theater Can't Hold It
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Nomination
Annie Awards
• 4 Wins & 6 Nominations
