Hercules Premier Photograph Club
October 1998
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This text, written by Sharon Delaney of Creation Entertainment, was quoted directly from the accompanying letter. "Hercules and the Amazon Women" was the very first Hercules two-hour television movie. It introduced a nineties-style Hercules who believed more in solving problems with compassion and intelligence than muscles. This also introduced us to Renaissance Pictures' predilection for turning the historical timeline on its head by making Hercules the Ancient World's first feminist! This first photo is actually from the end of the movies. Hera has taken over the body of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. In previous tellings of the Hercules story, you would kill the bad guy no matter how they disguised themselves. But here, Hercules is in love with Hippolyta and can't bring himself to strike her down. He says, "I could never stand the pain of living without her." Hera, however, has the last laugh. She makes Hippolyta throw herself over the waterfall to her death. The next two photos introduce Iolaus and his relationship with Hercules. Iolaus is having a drink when a young boy runs in and tells him Hercules has arrived. He rushes out of the tavern and charges at Hercules as if to kill him. But he's no match for the half-god, half-man and soon Hercules is bench-pressing Iolaus over his head. At this point, Iolaus says, "It's bad luck for the best man to kill the groom before the wedding." And the stage is set for the teasing, loving, extraordinary friendship these two characters have given us for the past five years. As I mentioned, this movie is Hercules' version of "The Battle of the Sexes." In photo #4, Hera turns a beautiful young girl into a Hydra. Hercules defeats the monster and says to Iolaus, "Hera's a perfect example of what happens when a woman gets too much power." Later on in the story, Hippolyta shows Hercules flashbacks of his life and how he was brought up to believe that men are superior to women. But he comes to realize that neither side benefits from that philosophy and teaches both the Amazons and their men that they must work together and respect each other if either is to survive. "Best friends - fighting back to back." Iolaus wants to go with Hercules on one last adventure before he gets married and settles down. As we're seeing in the series now, this is a fact of Hercules' life that is tearing him apart. He's able to save the loved ones of other people: including bringing some of them back from the dead. But those closest to him, such as his wife, mother and, recently, Iolaus, die, and there's nothing he can do about it. In this first movie, however, Zeus reverses time and Iolaus' life is spared. And, in photo #7, they're back in the home of Iolaus' fiancee, Ania - sampling her cooking skills and learning to eat whatever is put in front of them with a smile because lack of skill in the kitchen is no deterrent to the course of true love. The last shot is when Hercules is first captured by the Amazons. As he's brought into town, one of the Amazons holds up a cleaver and says, "My father used to chase my mother with one of these. No one chases me." This is our introduction to the Amazon way of life and what they stand for. And it makes for a darn good-looking photo, wouldn't you agree?! |
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