Review of Hercules, Samson & Ulysses

"Hercules" director Pietro Francisci's "Hercules, Samson, and Ulysses" qualifies as an imaginative but juvenile yarn about the three titular ancient world heroes. About an hour into this beefcake epic, Hercules challenges Samson in a set of ruins and they swap mighty blows. At one point, Samson knocks Hercules against a column of stones. One of the stones topples on Hercules but he catches it adroitly and hurls it at Samson. The Biblical strongman seizes it and slams against a column of stones. The stones collapse and Samson narrowly avoids the crashing stones. This battle of titans goes on for several moments with the muscle-bound adversaries smashing into the ruins of buildings and springing back. "I've never met such strength as yours," Hercules tells Samson during a break in their battle. "Why don't the two of us join forces?" "I was thinking the same thing," Samson replies. The only thing that spoils this otherwise exciting scene with its superb production values is the sight of power lines behind Samson in the distance. Presumably, the power lines were not so prominent when projected on the big screen. The Philistine enemy wears Nazi-style helmets. Composer Angelo Francesco Lavagnino provides an atmospheric orchestral theme, and Sound Engineer Antonio Bramonti furnishes some interesting sound effects for the flying spears and sailing ropes. Aldo Giuffrè is terrific as Seren the king of the Philistines. Lots of dumb larger-than-life fun!