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Hercules and the Amazon Women

From Legendary Journeys

Hercules and the Amazon Women
Series Universal Action Pack movie
Original Airdate April 25, 1994
Episode Order 1st in Movie Series
Date Year -8
Locations Gargarensia; Corinth
Written by Andrew Dettmann, Jule Selbo, and Daniel Truly
Director Bill L. Norton

Hercules and his friend Iolaus must stop the legendary Amazon women who have been abducting children from a nearby village.

Contents

[edit] Summary

In a time long ago, Zeus, the king of the gods, charmed a mortal woman named Alcmene. Their union brought about a son, half-god and half-man called Hercules. Hercules' existence angered Hera, the queen of the gods and Zeus' wife. She vowed to make Hercules suffer at every turn in order to punish Zeus, who despite never having a good relationship with his demigod son, cared a great deal for him.

Three men try and escape the beast-ridden forest that leads out of the village of Gargarencia. Only the one called Pithus makes it. Meanwhile, Hercules learns that his best friend, Iolaus, is getting married. On their way to visit Hercules' mother Alcmene, the best friends defeat one of Hera's favorite beasts called the Hydra. Later, Hercules and Alcmene visit Iolaus and his fiancé, Ania, for dinner. Pithus shows up in the same town looking for Hercules. He asks the demigod to return with him to Gargarencia to save it from the beasts.

Hercules and Iolaus return with Pithus. They speculate if he has told them everything when they notice that there are no women in the village, yet several infant male children. Pithus claims the women were taken by the beasts, while sometimes they find babies abandoned on the river bank. The next day, as they travel through the beast-ridden forest, Hercules and Iolaus discover that the women are actually the “beasts” after they are attacked by a band of female warriors wearing animal masks. During a scuffle with one of the women, Iolaus is stabbed to death. Hercules is captured by their fiercest warrior, Lysia.

The demigod is taken to the women's village deeper in the forest. He learns these women are a tribe of Amazon warriors. Their Queen is the beautiful and strong Hippolyta. Upon meeting Hercules, she berates him and his male ways. She tries to convince him that men aren't capable of showing emotion and compassion to women by using the Candle of Time to make him relive several defining moments of his childhood. Later, Zeus pays his son a visit while he rests in a cage the Amazons have locked him up in. When Zeus asks his son why he isn't trying to escape, Hercules reveals his interest in the fact that Hippolyta is strong and has a will of her own. Zeus warns his son that the Amazons are Hera's servants. After overhearing Lysia and Hippolyta plan a raid of Gargarencia, Hercules breaks out of the cage so he can return to Gargarencia and warn the men about the raid.

Upon returning to Gargarencia, Hercules learns that the "raids" aren't actual attacks, but "sexcapades" during which the women procreate with the men in order to establish a new generation of Amazon warriors. Hercules decides to prepare the men for their next encounter with the women by teaching them to listen to and respect them. The Amazons are impressed by the men's change of attitude toward them. Unfortunately, come morning, Hippolyta decides to summon her women back to the Amazon village. She speaks to Hera. The queen of the gods berates her for trusting Hercules, claiming Zeus and him planned the previous night's events to try and weaken the women into returning to be the men's subservient property. Having developed feelings for Hercules, Hippolyta tells Hera that the Amazons and her have had enough of her lies and hatred.

Hera decides to insure her vengeance by possessing the Amazon Queen. "Hera" orders the Amazons to ride to Gargarencia and leave nothing left standing. Ultimately, the women cannot destroy the men and their village. Hercules has to fight "Hera" to save both the men and the Amazons. Pithus tries to come to Hercules' aid, but "Hera" slits his throat. When Hercules has a chance to kill "Hera", he cannot do it as he would also be killing Hippolyta. Knowing the pain it will cause Hercules, "Hera" takes a suicidal dive into a ravine.

Unable to cope with all the senseless deaths that have occurred, Hercules tries to set things right by using the Candle of Time to go back and change the past so Iolaus, Pithus and Hippolyta won't die. With Zeus' help he is able to do so. Instead of returning with Pithus, this time Hercules tells him to teach his men to respect and listen to the women.

[edit] Disclaimer

No disclaimer.

[edit] Background Information

  • Lucy Lawless, who played Lysia, would go on to play Xena in Xena: Warrior Princess.
  • Iolaus dies for the first time, but originally, he was not going to be brought back to life by the movie's end. He was intended to stay dead. However, Michael Hurst greatly impressed Rob Tapert and company with his performance. They changed the movie's ending to include the Zeus time travel twist that allows Hercules to prevent his friend's death, which made it possible to feature Iolaus in later stories. [1]
  • Rose McIver would later play Ilea, Hercules' daughter.
  • With help from Iolaus, Hercules slays the Hydra. According to the myths, the slaying of the Hydra was the second of the Twelve Labors. Most of the other labors would in some way be featured or referenced in following movies or episodes of HTLJ.
  • Hippolyta and the Amazons factor into the ninth labor, which saw Heracles/Hercules seek Hippolyta's girdle.
  • Michael Hurst is one of the few major actors (if not the only one) to be involved in every part of the media franchise. He has made appearances in the TV-Movies series, HTLJ, XWP, The Battle for Mt. Olympus , Young Hercules and YH. He also directed Amazon High (as well as episodes of HTLJ and XWP).
  • The music for this movie (and later much of the franchise) was scored by Joseph LoDuca, who scored Sam Raimi's Evil Dead trilogy.

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Cast

[edit] References

[edit] Beings/Creatures/People

[edit] Places

Alturia; Earth

[edit] Titles

King of the Gods; Queen of the Gods

[edit] Concepts

blindness; death; dowry; spice; wedding

  1. ↑ "It's a Wrap" segment – Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Season 6 DVD set
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