Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - Season 1 (DVD) (German Import)

One of the most popular syndicated tv shows of the 90's was Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Which retold the Greek myths with a unique spin. It led to spin off show Xena; Warrior Princess, which did eclipse it in popularity somewhat. But for those who saw it at the time, this was unique fantasy. With it's tongue occasionally in cheek. It has been a fond memory to it's many fans ever since.The eclipsing by Xena is possibly why Britain never saw a full release of it on VHS. It just stopped about a third of the way through. And we only had one dvd release which didn't even finish all the first season.But if you want cult tv of this nature, the best place to go is Germany. Where you can get region two dvds. Which means they will play on a british dvd player. The box and any inlays are all in German. As is the writing on the discs. But the first screen of each disc here gives you the choice of English or German for language. Go for the former and all the on screen menus will be in English. As will the episodes.This does not alas have any subtitles at all. But there we are.There are seven discs here. You get the five feature length tv movies than began the whole thing. Where one or two actors who would later be cast members appear in completely different roles. The fifth one of these has issues. It was only put together last minute, and thus most of it is a clip show of things from the first four. With one big continuity error also. It's still watchable though.The thirteen episodes of season one that follow are all close to fifty mins in length. They start to develop the format of the programme. Which is a bit more straight laced initially, without not so much of the humour and occasional outlandishness that they would manage later on. It's a start though.The picture quality on the menus looks poor. But on the actual episodes it's really good.Episodes two five seven nine and ten all have audio commentary. Four seven and ten also have video commentary. Which is not something I've ever seen before, so it's interesting.Disc seven does have some extras. Interviews with stars Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst. Guest star Anthony Quinn. And one of the production staff. There's also some original trailers for the first season. A blooper reel. Also a feature about how the monsters were brought to life.This disc also has cd rom content. Open it via a computer and you get series trivia. Character bios. Series mythology. A gallery. And a screensaver.It's a very good box set for a show that started well. Then got better and better along the way. It's the only way for British fans to get it. So I highly recommend it.

Kevin Sorbo refers to these episodes as season 2 because he considers the 5 telemovies to be season 1. I call the movies season 0. But anyway, thats an unimportant issue. These episodes are where I was introduced to the world of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys when they first aired on Sky 1. The show has aged surprisingly well, despite the CGI creatures (which I thought were amazing when i was younger!) looking rather stiff and dated, yet still not as namby pamby as a lot of the movies that are turning up on the SyFy channel these days.This season picks up from where the movies left off. After a pub brawl with his best buddy Iolaus, Hercules comes home to his beloved wife and children, only to see them killed instantly by a fireball sent from the wicked goddess Hera. Hercules vows to make Hera pay for killing his family, and begins his own personal war against her, but it doesn't take him long to realise that what he does to protect mortals from the cruelty of the gods has far more meaning than anything he does out of hatred towards Hera.Kevin Sorbo as Hercules and Michael Hurst as Iolaus have great chemistry together, you believe they really are best friends who will stick by eachother throughout anything, whether its monsters from the underworld, gladiator contests or vengeful gods. Their friendship is really put to the test when Iolaus becomes infatuated with a certain warrior princess who tries to drive the two best friends apart and have them kill eachother!Fans of Lucy Lawless will be delighted to know that this season also introduces the character of Xena, right before she heads off to have her own adventures in Hercules' highly successful and iconic spin-off series Xena Warrior Princess.Other highlights from this season include Hercules' battles against a seductive Medusa-like creature called the She-Demon, a towering Cyclops, the monstrous Stymphalian Bird, a demonic hellhound called Greagas, an army of ghosts and a gang of powerful centaurs. Hercules also befriends the comical aspiring business man Salmoneus, and teams up with the mighty Atalanta to battle the forces of Ares.The packaging is slightly odd, with some weird looking creatures depicted on the front cover that don't atcually appear in any of these episodes, but if you're in the mood for a light-hearted fantasy with some gorgeous New Zealand locales, creative monster battles and lovable performances, then lose yourself in these adventures set for a few hours. Unfortunately there are no interviews or commentaries, just the episodes in their uncut glory. Suitable for family viewing; the kids will enjoy the action, monsters and humour, while the adults will appreciate the generous amounts of bare skin on display.

Half man half God, Hercules fights mythical monsters and villains in Ancient Greece. It's criminal that this series has never been released in it's entirety on DVD in the UK. It's even hard to track down as an American import. Picking up from where the TV movies left off, it's cheesy but fun, this 90's fantasy series plays very loosely with Greek myths and legends but the action and humour is good while Kevin Sorbo now falls under the whatever happened to him actors category as does Michael Hurst as his pal Ioalus as the pair form something of a good double act whenever they're on screen. The series is pretty much all but forgotten now except for it's devoted fan base and is now probably best known for introducing Xena Warrior Princess as a villain before she reforms as a hero for her own spin off series which is more remembered than Hercules. Hopefully the rest of the series will follow along with the TV movies that started it all.

Hercules!!! Back to childhood!!!

Don't be concerned - despite the hints of German the episodes themselves are in English and Kevin Sorbo is his usual delectable self, fighting bad guys and rescuing damsels all day long. Ok, so it's not Homer, but if you're looking for light hearted entertainment and plenty of muscles you can't go wrong with Hercules - the Legendary Journeys. The good guys have never looked so good!