This special limited edition spot gloss and embossed slipcover (designed by Robert Sammelin) is limited to 2,000 units and is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them.
Umbrella Entertainment has been a 100% Australian-owned and operated distributor for over 20 years. Their vast home entertainment catalogue features an extensive range of Australian classic, cult and exploitation films restored under the eyes of the original filmmakers. All sourced from national archives, underground collectors and local basements.
Hercules Returns is the story of Brad McBain (David Argue, Razorback), a frustrated employee of Australia’s largest cinema chain. Brad decides to quite his job and sets about re-opening the Picture Palace, a disused cinema in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda, to show classic old films.An act of the sabotage on the opening night sees their first film, the 1964 Italian film Samson and His Mighty Challenge, swapped out for a non-subtitled print. As a desperate measure, Brad rallies his projectionist Sprocket (Bruce Spence, Mad Max II) and publicist Lisa (Mary Coustas, TVs Acropolis Now) to improvise voice-overs for the entire film, with hilarious results, to avert disaster.
The North American premiere of Umbrellas 2023 restoration of the original 35mm materials. Also includes the english dub of the original Italian film 'Samson and His Mighty Challenge'.
Starting off in the late 80s as a live comedy show from the Melbourne troupe Double Take, re-voicing B-grade masterpieces such as Astrozombies and Gene Autry, Hercules Returns is the screen adaptation of the popular show.
Cinematographer David Parker (Malcolm) makes his directorial debut, with a screenplay by original Double Take star Des Mangan, also known for his curation of Cult Movies on SBS Australia, and featuring the voice talents of the original Double Take team.
Move over Mystery Science Theatre, this classic riff from the Double Take team will have you in stitches!
directed by: David Parker
starring: Bruce Spence; David Argue; Mary Coustas; Michael Carman
1992 / 72 min / 1.77:1 / English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Additional info:
Overall rating: 4.480769 / 5 from 52 reviews.
Hercules Returns is a limited edition Blu-ray featuring a humorous riff on the 1964 Italian film 'Samson and His Mighty Challenge'. Customers appreciate the clever humor and the enjoyable MSTing experience. The film includes an English dub, audio commentary, and various bonus features.
Review topics: ["quality","looks","film","movie","humor","comedy","dialogue","gem","flick","voice","laughs","blu-ray","dubbing","camp","wit","energy","extras","points","fun"].
"Have owned this since release, but hadnt watched it until tonight. Absolutely brilliant and is straight up what it showcases. A randomly created dub of the film but in such a fun and heart warming way. Also the original film is included with the original English dub from the Italian release. . . . The Hercules Returns dub is so much better!!!"
"It's funny has alot of voice over. . . duh that's the point it helps make a boring movie funny"
"In the manner of Woody Allen's WHAT'S UP TIGER LILY?, an Australian revival house must step in with an impromptu English dub track when their copy of an old peplum movie arrives in the original Italian language, As expected, the humor is very low and the laugh quotient is very high. A great thing to slap on when you have a bad case of the doldrums."
"In the heart of MST3K and the Ghost Stories dub. This was a lot of fun, but not that deep. A good comedy film to watch with friends!"
"One of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Like a combo between MST3k and Bad Lip Reading from Youtube."
"This is definitely a movie."
"I bought this thinking this was a mix of actual movie and the old Hercules film with riffing segments. What you actually get is a 10 minute opening, which I liked, about a disgruntled ex-corporate theater chain employee wanting to resurrect an old theater, then most of the runtime is just them playing the old Italian Hercules film with their dubbing. There are very few cutaways back to the wraparound characters once the Hercules film starts, and maybe 5 minutes more of them after the Hercules film concludes. So your basically watching an Australian dubbed MST3k episode, except you don't get to hear any of the actual film's dialogue. And I think that's one of the reasons MST3k works, is that your still able to follow along with the actual film while enjoying the comedy, and often the dialogue is a source or reference for the comedy, whereas here that's all missing. Not only that, but there were only a handful of dubbed lines I thought were funny, and I don't think this Hercules film lends itself very well to riffing. This was just extremely boring to watch, with the riffing not nearly funny enough to carry it. All I really liked was the opening scenes, as I enjoy cinema-based films about people trying to save theaters and such, but that's really not what this is."
"Fun release"
"This clever comedy is packed with enough humor to make it a must watch for a film party. The extras included with this release are equally as enjoyable."
"In the spirit of Mystery Science Theater 3000, but on par with one of their lesser episodes, Hercules Returns mostly consists of comedically overdubbed Italian film Samson and the Mighty Challenge but also contains a modern-day portion which provides the explanation for the dubbing. Brad McBain quits his job at a cinema chain corporation to renovate and open his own independent cinema and hires his buddy Sprocket and applicant Lisa to help him out. Choosing as their first film the last film ever shown at the old theater, the three are thrilled when a huge crowd shows up. But at the last minute they discover a dirty trick that Brad's old boss played on his new competition -- the soundtrack is in Italian and there are no subtitles! So, they decide to dub the film on the fly to, well, fitfully funny results. While it contains a fair number of zingers and some cleverly reappropriated characters, the banter is never half as funny as it should have been. Much of it is straining for a laugh when it only manages to elicit a faint smile. For another thing, many of the different character voices used quickly become more annoying than humorous. I also wasn't fond of the rampant cheating by voicing over parts when the onscreen actors' mouths aren't even moving. Plus, and I know I'm getting nitpicky, none of it ever seems spontaneous at all to fit the narrative. It's clearly been meticulously planned out and written, so it's impossible to buy into what the film is selling. Of course, one might say I'm missing the point, but if you promise spontaneous hijinks, I'm the type who's gonna hold you to it. I don't know; I guess from reading the synopsis and knowing that it was based on a popular live presentation, I was expecting more out of it. Also, it seems to have gone over better with practically everyone else, so what am I missing? A sense of humor, maybe. But I don't really think so. Putting something like this together is probably harder than it looks, but I still expect the real funny when I see something in this vein. MST3K it is, then."
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