Hercules Blu-ray in 2013?

[SWillie!]

Frankenollie, I feel the exact same way. I've never really understood the love for Hercules that people have. "Go the Distance" is a highlight for me, but you're absolutely right that it was a wasted opportunity at a masterpiece.

[DancingCrab]

Frankenollie, I feel the exact same way. I've never really understood the love for Hercules that people have. "Go the Distance" is a highlight for me, but you're absolutely right that it was a wasted opportunity at a masterpiece.

I think most people feel that way actually. Like all Disney films, it has it's fans and cult status, but even Disney obviously doesn't revere it in the same league as the rest of the renaissance era classics, what with it and Hunchback clearly being tossed to the bottom of the heap as far as the company is concerned.

Personally, I agree that it looks great, animation wise, but it's definitely a step down in quality as a movie from it's predecessors. I'd rank it it second to last (right above Rescuers Down Under) with the 90's WDSA releases. Having said that, the movie does have some GREAT moments (I love just about every scene with Meg and Hades), and I can't wait to get an upgraded release from the piss-poor quality DVD currently available.

[rodis]

My main problem with "Hercules" is the visual style. It's just ugly. Hercules looks like he has cookies instead of ears! And the curl in their elbows... almost everything looks sketchy.

It has potential but it's a hot mess eventually.

[PatrickvD]

its visual style is its best quality to me.

[rodis]

its visual style is its best quality to me.

I wish i'd shared the same thought as you. 'Cause it's a fun film but the animation is not to my taste. Love the songs, though.

[Wonderlicious]

I have mixed feelings on the visual style. It's definitely well executed and blends very well together, but I can't say that I quite warm to the specific style used in this film on a personal level.

As for a Blu-Ray of this film...reasonably good news for those who want it, but I somehow think it's a given that it'll have little effort put in it.

[PatrickvD]

its visual style is its best quality to me.

I wish i'd shared the same thought as you. 'Cause it's a fun film but the animation is not to my taste. Love the songs, though.

It's an acquired taste I agree. But Hercules is just one of my favorites. And I'm not defending it because I'm aware of the fact that it's seen as a bad film. I just enjoy the heck out of it.

[Dr Frankenollie]

Frankenollie, I feel the exact same way. I've never really understood the love for Hercules that people have. "Go the Distance" is a highlight for me, but you're absolutely right that it was a wasted opportunity at a masterpiece.

Even though it's not as good as "Out There" and "Part of Your World", I rather like "Go the Distance" too; sadly the other songs don't match (well, "I Won't Say I'm In Love" is okay, but poor in comparison to other 1990's Disney songs).

[NeverLand]

Hercules has a very distinctive visual style that was quite unlike anything else Disney had done. It's brilliant in my opinion ♥

[Avaitor]

I think the visual style is fine, but the soundtrack is weak. "Go the Distance" IMO is the most generic thing Alan Menken has written, and the gospel songs, while nice in theory, just don't fit the film well.

I do think what "I Won't Say I'm in Love" is a decent mix between the film's gospel influences and Menken's more traditional work, but I wouldn't put it on the level of "Heaven's Light"/"Hellfire" or "A Whole New World"

[DC Fan]

The worst thing of Hercules are the liberties taken.

I LOVE Greek mytholgy.

And it truly hurts whenever I have to let go of the fact that Hercules is Zeus and Hera's son.

Obvioulsy in a Disney film you can't actually place the infidelity theme...but, wouldn't it work just fine having Hercules living with Alcmene struggling to fit in, discovering who is father is and trying to get to Olympus?

See? The same movie without having to mess the real myth or showing it on film.

PS

...and it can't be just a coinicidence this movie came out just when the TV series Hercules and Xena were at their peak,

[DisneyFan09]

Criticizing a Disney film for having a bland protagonist is equivalent to criticizing them for having songs.

That's a fair statement. However, some protagonists are so bland that they are almost boring and personality-deprived. Just look at Jim Hawkins from "Treasure Planet". While he's supposed to have sort of depth, he's still quite boring, in my opinion.

[Sotiris]

According to this Russian website, Hercules will be released on Blu-ray on December 11, 2012.

[WarriorDreamer]

Well the thing (I think) about interpretating big myths and big stories which are not by any means 'family friendly' is that they first and foremost have to get seats into the theatre.

Disney films, yes, are classics but when releasing a movie you still KIND of have to be very aware of what is going on at the time. Disney movies are not one way free passes to success, people have to be interested in them at the time.

While, perhaps in hindsight they could have allowed the tone to be more serious, or tried to stay truer to the original mythology, the truth is alot of kids may not want to see that. The way they created it to be fun, bright, witty and entertaining is one of the main things they did to make sure it would be a hit.

I think it still had an important message and has a very quirky unique style, really not found in other Disney movies, but I too, wonder what it would have been like, had they had toned down the comedic tone and allowed to be play as a more serious mythological film....

Although saying that, it did come after Pocahontas and Hunchback, two much more serious and 'realism' films with real themes, so perhaps they just wanted another fantasy one instead of another 'dark' one.

I love the film however. It is definitely one of the most entertaining and feel-good ones created.

[Lnds500]

Interesting discussion going on here...

[Disney's Divinity]

About the music, I think "Go the Distance" has a rather beautiful melody, but I find “Zero to Hero” and “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love)” to be the standouts.

Unfortunately, Hercules ends up having the same flaw as The Sword in the Stone: regardless of how good/funny it may be, people will always say they'd rather have seen something more dramatic.

[ProfessorRatigan]

Hercules is, in my opinion, one of the most overlooked films of the 90s era Disney. I love it. I think the artwork is stunning, it has a great score (the idea of doing gospel music was an inspired choice!), the lyrics can be a little...eh. But what are you gonna do? Ashman was long-dead and Schwartz really couldn't work with this kind of material. (Plus, wasn't he already over at Dreamworks doing Prince of Egypt?) There are plot holes in this film, but none bigger than the ones in Aladdin. (The most glaring one I can think of: Hades is Lord of the DEAD. How is it he didn't KNOW Hercules hadn't been KILLED as a baby?) This one has a bit more of a biting type of humor to it. It's rather more snarky, and I like that. Unlike Aladdin, most of the humor isn't coming from ONE source, and it isn't 80% pop-culture references.

-I also think it has more heart than Aladdin, which, while a favorite of mine as a kid, doesn't really involve me emotionally except in ONE scene at the end of the film. (Freeing of the Genie.) I also can't help but look at it and see what COULD have been ever since discovering the original Ashman/Menken 13 song score, and falling in LOVE with it. The film just doesn't compare to the original Ashman vision, I think. Especially those godawful Tim Rice lyrics, which, even as a kid I didn't like.

Admittedly, Hercules never reaches musically to the point of something as ingenuous as Prince Ali or Friend Like Me. I would say that I Won't Say I'm in Love is the standout. Zero to Hero is clever, fun, and jaunty. (You just WANT to get up and dance to it!) The Gospel Truths (all of them) help set up the story and tone quite well. One Last Hope is just utter dreck. From the insipid lyrics ("I've trained enough turkeys/Who never came through/You're my one last hope/So you'll have to do"? Swing and a miss there, Zippel.) Danny DeVito's poor singing doesn't really help matters. Go the Distance was always the one that I was up in the air about. Some days I liked it, others I thought it the most bland and boring 'I Want' song ever. But then I read a comment on Amazon, I believe it was. The reviewer mentioned how they had always hated it for its simplistic lyric but loved the melody, and I thought, hey, that's how I feel. Then they went on to talk about Stephen Sondheim and how he said if you want to convey earnest emotion in a song, the lyrics shouldn't try to be clever or in your face. They should be simple, to go along more smoothly with the melody and help the listener relate more with what the character is trying to convey. And that helped me see Go the Distance in a new light. I do like it a lot more now. But that Michael Bolton version can go straight to hell.

Hades is a great villain, Meg is my favorite Disney heroine, Hercules himself has a naive, sweet quality to him. He isn't 'hunky' and I like that. He doesn't look like a beef-cake Steve Reeve body-builder. He has a vulnerability to him, rather like James Dean, with his upturned eyes that show concern and thoughtfulness. You just kind of want to hug the guy. Is he as endearing or as emotionally involving as Quasi or the Beast? Not really, but the film isn't trying to strike our heartstrings in the same way those are. (Which makes it all the more delightful when it does) Is he as handsome or as swoon-worthy as Prince Eric, Aladdin or Tarzan? Again, no. But I can't help but like the lug. I'll take him over the likes of John Smith or Li Shang any day.

Pegasus is fun, no complaints. I rather like the Danny DeVito character, and his is the type of character I usually hate in animation. But I feel he works here. The Fates and the Titans are wonderful, I think. The Muses have so much character, it's almost a shame they're JUST the narrators. Pain and Panic are obligatory sidekick comic-relief, and they annoy the shit out of me more than they should. All in all, Hercules, while not a perfect film, has a lot going for it. More than enough to endear someone, especially someone (like me) who saw it at the age of 7, and make one a lifelong fan. I always come away from it with a smile on my face. What more can you say?

[Scamander]

Pain and Panic are obligatory sidekick comic-relief, and they annoy the shit out of me more than they should.

Lol, I didn't know these are their original names. In German it's pitch and brimstone (Pech und Schwefel).^^

[ProfessorRatigan]

^'Pitch (or Fire) and Brimstone' as their names would have been much more clever, but I think the reason they are called Pain and Panic in the film is in actual reference to mythology. Pain and Panic were the servants of Ares, the God of War, in the original Greek myths, were they not? I believe they were the drivers of his chariot.

[Disney's Divinity]

@ProfRatigan: Agreed on everything, but especially about the characters. Love Meg, Hades, and Hercules--my favorite male protagonist and male villain; and my favorite heroine after Ariel and Tiana. The Fates, Muses, and Titans are also stand-outs--and I agree it's a shame about The Muses only being narrators (they later get story roles in the TV series, but that's obviously inferior to the film). The animation of Hades, the Cyclops, and the Muses, in particular, is very amazing. And although her role in the story is completely bastardized, I can't help but love Hera in the minimal screentime she's given, what with her gorgeous design. Hercules is one of the few '90s films that I vividly remember seeing in theaters, and the sequences with the Titans were very impressive in a way that you don't quite get on a TV screen.