Hercules [3D] [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray/DVD] [Only @ Best Buy] [Blu-ray/Blu-ray 3D/DVD] [2014]

A different twist on the legendary character from Greek mythology... Dwayne Johnson does a noteworthy performance as the superhuman, God-like Son of Zeus! Special effects are amazing and the 3D technology really adds some emphasis to this tale of a 'betrayed' hero (watch it to find out how)! A nice addition to my movie library! I enjoyed it!!!

Blu Ray movie was excellent was exciting and I watched it in 3D awesome

Last summer saw a rebirth of the Hercules legend with its genesis in Hollywood with Mr. America/Pro. Universe, Steve Reeves (the muscle man who was featured in comic books that created a generation of bullied youths who took up the sport with the view of payback) which later featured Arnold Schwarzenegger’s role model as an aspiring bodybuilder in Austria, the next major champion to defeat Steve Reeves as Mr. Pro. Universe, U.K.’s Reg Park (who was given first class travel arrangements and accommodations for his role), which will later be played by Lou Ferrigno (who had the most successful run of Hercules movies and whom most cinema audiences associate with the Hercules franchise), a role which Arnold will later assume in the box office flop Hercules in New York; given the fact that the last Hercules movie featuring Arnold was in the seventies, Renny Harlin figured it was time to reboot the entire franchise with a box office flop entitled, The Legend of Hercules, in the same manner that Rupert Wyatt deemed necessary to reboot the critically acclaimed Planet of the Apes franchise that was based on Pierre Boulle’s Ape Planet, which had a successful run in the seventies as a box office trilogy and was serialized for TV given its unsuccessful reboot as a franchise by Tim Burton, resulting in a similar reboot to the Hercules franchise this summer in a phenomena box office hit by Brett Ratner, featuring awesome CGI by Double Negative, and the most awesome physique since Arnold and Lou – with Dwayne Johnson, playing Hercules and the handsome Ingrid Bolso Berdal playing Atalanta, the only female heroine, with Hercules’ family being butchered by King Eurystheus – who spread rumors to the effect that Hercules had butchered his wife, Megara, and their three children, and deceiving him into believing that Rhesus was bent on dividing Greece, when, in fact, he had colluded with Lord Cotys, who had poisoned Ergenia’s husband to seize the throne by keeping the true heir to kinghood –Ergenia’s son, Arius, captive, and deceiving Hercules into believing that his father, Zeus’ wife, Hera, had beset him with the task of defeating twelve mythical creatures owing to jealousy over her husband having mated with a mortal woman, Hercules’ mother, Alcmene, and engaging Hercules and his band of mercenaries to train an army of peasant to rise against Rhesus (which gave birth to Obama and John Kerry’s strategy in Syria and Iraq).– who was the only one who rose in protest against Lord Cotys after he has poisoned Ergenia’s husband to claim the throne, with Hercules eventually uncovering the truth from Ergenia and turning against Lord Cotys, and defying his oracle, Amphiaraus - who had prophesized Hercules’ and his own death, to defeat an entire army he had trained to the point of invincibility and, thereby, claiming his rightful place as the legend of the true hero, which resides in each and everyone one of us, as Mariah Carey implied in her song, Hero.

This year of 2014, there have been two Hercules movies. The first, The Legend of Hercules, was decent, though it offered nothing unique. This one starring Dwayne Johnson has more development of the theme of courage and more unexpected plot twists. I approach most movies without a lot of expectations, knowing I’ll find a movie somewhat rewarding if the values, writing, and editing are good. This one gave me more enjoyment than I expected. Hercules is the natural choice for an ancient superhero. When you add themes of justice and the rights of the people and make that Hercules’ cause to fight for, he becomes as relatable as Superman, Batman, or Spiderman. One of the strengths of this superhero movie is that it’s not primarily about supernatural powers but about the meaning of courage. Hercules does have superhuman strength in this, but his victory always depends on triumphing over internal struggles first. His powers don’t come very naturally, so he’s easier to relate to. Hercules in this movie is more like John Henry, the American railroad worker superhero, than like a demigod. In fact, the movie goes to extra lengths to convince you he’s just a man, not a god. I feel like it developed the internal struggles of a superhero better than most superhero movies, and that made it more rewarding when he succeeds. When Hercules is in action on this movie, it feels truly awesome because he has to work so hard to produce that superhuman strength. The movie does a great job with the pitched battle scenes. It is as rewarding to watch them as some of the great battles on the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The movie’s intensity level is a bit stronger than I like, but it really helps that the movie stays PG-13 instead of indulging in graphic gore. I like the casting also, of John Hurt as the king who hires Hercules to fight his enemy, and Hercules’ several friends, and Hercules, played by Dwayne Johnson. His personality is such that he doesn't need to express much in order to reveal his character's mood or attitude. There are some touches of humor that add a lot, yet not so much that the movie gets silly. The lasting satisfaction for me is how the Greek value of physique gets fused with the Biblical value of servant leadership, exerting courage to protect those who are weak. Hercules has a strong moral code on this. Sometimes it works well to have an antihero like Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean) be the center of a story, but that usually makes the movie more silly. There’s no blurry gray line between good and evil in this movie, but that’s not a weakness; it’s the natural way to present a character with such brute force as Hercules.

I remember seeing the trailers for this and thought that it might be fun to see this in 3D, but I never did. So when it was on sale at Best Buy for $9.99, I had to get it. And as far as I'm concerted it was a good investment, This was a movie I could get into because of the characters and the actors that played them, and I enjoyed the story. Keep in mind that it may not be for everyone, and that I wanted to see it in 3D. As for the 3D, I was not disappointed at all. As a matter of fact, while watching it, I keep wanting to look up wither it was converted or not. It turns out that I was wrong, and that it was converted, and converted very well. You get the theatrical version in 3D and DVD, and the extended on the 2D version. Extras come on the standard version, which included deleted scenes, some behind the scenes stuff, and a commentary by the director and producer. Also, you have your choice of HD streaming or download from Itunes or Ultraviolet. If your into 3D you should enjoy this for $9.99.

Subjectively, this package offerred the best value for this title during the week of release, for fans who prioritize content over packaging anyway. For packaging, I'd go with the steelbook, offered elsewhere. But that one's 2D-only, so 3D enthusiasts aren't welcome. Best Buy deserves kudos for accomodating both 3D and 2D enthusiasts with their retailer exclusive with this release and not charging more than the standard release price on top (unlike thier Hobbit exclusive) - which as we all know, that just defeats the purpose of retailer exclusives being designed to discourage people from thoughtlessly pricematching the price leader wherever it's most convenient. It was also nice to see four discs packaged in an actual 4-disc case again, not those annoyingly cheap 2-disc cases with hubs tall enough that two discs can be stacked atop one another. This case is a bit thicker, but each disc gets its own hub on dual-sided trays for ease of removal. The only thing I found rather unsettling about this release (aside from a 3D premium that seems on the high side for this time of year) is the continued decline in manufacturing standards for disc replication. Like too many multi-disc packs these days, half of the discs in this 4-disc set came scratched from the factory. I rarely see such from single-disc or even 2-disc BD-only releases. But with 3-disc BD sets and up it's become quite common, even for BDs with their scratch-resistent coating, that is quite effective from demonstrations I've seen. Actually, until this release, I was starting to think it was getting better. Guess I was just on a lucky streak. Of course I'm referring to the important side of the disc where the laser reads the data. Scratched standard dvds in combo packs isn't anything new. I've almost come to expect such, so I wasn't at all surprised to see multiple scratches on the dvd in this set, and expect it'll probably play fine. I also wasn't alarmed at seeing multiple scratches on the label side of the 3D disc, as it was inconsequential to the disc being played. Seeing a two inch long scratch that runs in the direction the laser reads the disc (which is supposed to be the worst kind) on the bonus BD itself left me somewhat alarmed though. So, instead of waiting until our extended family visits this holiday to see the film as we'd intended, we'll have to make it a priority sooner so that it can be returned if need be, within Best Buy's industry trailing 2-week return window or before they run out of their retailer exclusives, which could be very soon for the 3D edition, based on how few they had left only a couple days after release at our nearest location. Be sure to check your discs!

This is no doubt one of the best Hercules movies made. Filled with love, action, drama and of course more than enough fighting. The actors are good and take the name and talents of Hercules to a new level. Good plots and storylines and have you begging for more even when the movie has come to an end. Well thought out movie. Good movie to add to one’s collection. Surely worth the purchase price.

With all the professional reviews I was not expecting much. I got it cheap on black Friday so I figured why not. I was pleasantly surprised how good it was. I like The Rock as an actor. Sure he is a bit over the top, but that is part of what makes him entertaining. Its not the best rendition of Hercules, but it is definitely not the worst either. Enjoyable all the way through. I still think Kevin Serbo Hercules is the best of all time, but you can't take a long running series and compare it to a single movie. They don't have as much time to flesh out the story or characters.