Hannibal (1960)

Original title: Annibale

Peplum/Historical. Italy. Starring Victor Mature, Gabriele Ferzetti, Milly Vitale, Rik Battaglia, Terence Hill, Andrea Aureli, Bud Spencer. Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer & Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia.

Standard Video (Holland). English dubbed. Letterboxed.

Bigscale historical epic on medium budget (somewhere between Cottafavi and Ben Hur). Pretty good film - even though the unnecessary love story drags a lot and the film cheats us out of the stampeding war elephants.! Actor Victor Mature looks like a beefed-up Björn Ranelid, right down to the lips... (only funny for swedes) 3/5

Ursus in the Valley of the Lions (1961)

Original title: Ursus nella Valle dei Leoni

Peplum. Italy. Starring Ed Fury, Moira Orfei & Alberto Lupo. Directed by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia.

Breien Video (Denmark). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Fun Ursus flick which might have inspired the legendary turkish trash-fest Lionman. 3/5

The Loves of Hercules (1960)

Original title: Gli Amori di Ercole

Peplum. Italy. Starring Mickey Hargitay, Jayne Mansfield, Massimo Serato & Moira Orfei. Directed by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia.

Eagle 6 (Holland). English dubbed. Letterboxed. The print is a little too bright, but still better than all the other videos i've seen (swedish and brittish).

The then married team of blond bombshell Jayne Mansfield (playing two roles: blond when she's the "good" girl and with a black wig when she's "bad" - there's some peplum logic for you) and hungarian bodybuilder/showman/actor Mickey Hargitay (who thankfully dubs himself with his thick eastern-european accent) fight an evil queen, a hydra, a bull, amazons who turn men to trees etc. Very silly stuff but it will leave you with big smile on your face and a warm, bubbly feeling inside. If you want a really cheezy, daft peplum this one and Hercules Against the Moon Men are about as fun as they come! Did you know that Arnold Schwarznegger played Mickey Hargitay in an early 80s TV-movie? 4/5