I saw this for three quid on a web site once and couldn't resist. I'm not a fan of "bad movies", but I'd seen clips of this on television and it looked like an interesting debut for Arnie.
The clips I'd seen were dubbed by some American actor, which looks ridiculous now that Arnie has become so established. However the DVD only had the original Schwarzenegger soundtrack, which proved to be just as ridiculous. People complain about Arnold's accent now? It was so thick in this film, backed up with terrible acting (made his performance in "Commando" look Oscar-worthy), it's no wonder he was dubbed. You can barely understand a thing he says. As terrible as this is though, it's one of the main reasons to see this.
The concept of the film is ridiculous, it perhaps could've worked if it didn't take itself so seriously (ironically, it wouldn't have been as funny though). The thing that really disturbs me is that human beings conjured up this film, adult human beings. They wrote it, it was approved, people agreed to have a part in it, it was directed, it was shot, it was acted, it was edited, it was released, and people actually watched it.
I only watched it once in its entirety, and that took a few sittings (despite its short length). It is mostly a very tedious experience. Thankfully there are some stand-out scenes that are absolutely (and unintentionally) hilarious. The bear wrestling scene for instance, it was like something from a Monty Python sketch. I found scenes like this were actually worth re-visiting, and the only reason anyone would want to keep this in their collection. I later sold it though, it just had no place on my shelf.
Of course this film would be so much easier to dismiss (probably less ridiculous, and even more tedious), if it weren't for Arnie. It is the fact that he has since been cemented as one of the biggest movie stars of all time, and this is where he started. Although he'd already established himself as a body builder at this point, he continued to win more contests, became a huge international movie star, is now the governor of California, and might even be President one day, all with a thick Austrian accent. Looking at "Hercules in New York" is a reminder, there's hope for us yet. 2/10
The clips I'd seen were dubbed by some American actor, which looks ridiculous now that Arnie has become so established. However the DVD only had the original Schwarzenegger soundtrack, which proved to be just as ridiculous. People complain about Arnold's accent now? It was so thick in this film, backed up with terrible acting (made his performance in "Commando" look Oscar-worthy), it's no wonder he was dubbed. You can barely understand a thing he says. As terrible as this is though, it's one of the main reasons to see this.
The concept of the film is ridiculous, it perhaps could've worked if it didn't take itself so seriously (ironically, it wouldn't have been as funny though). The thing that really disturbs me is that human beings conjured up this film, adult human beings. They wrote it, it was approved, people agreed to have a part in it, it was directed, it was shot, it was acted, it was edited, it was released, and people actually watched it.
I only watched it once in its entirety, and that took a few sittings (despite its short length). It is mostly a very tedious experience. Thankfully there are some stand-out scenes that are absolutely (and unintentionally) hilarious. The bear wrestling scene for instance, it was like something from a Monty Python sketch. I found scenes like this were actually worth re-visiting, and the only reason anyone would want to keep this in their collection. I later sold it though, it just had no place on my shelf.
Of course this film would be so much easier to dismiss (probably less ridiculous, and even more tedious), if it weren't for Arnie. It is the fact that he has since been cemented as one of the biggest movie stars of all time, and this is where he started. Although he'd already established himself as a body builder at this point, he continued to win more contests, became a huge international movie star, is now the governor of California, and might even be President one day, all with a thick Austrian accent. Looking at "Hercules in New York" is a reminder, there's hope for us yet. 2/10