The Adventures of Hercules
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Adventures of Hercules is the 1985 sequel to the film Hercules. It was written and directed by Luigi Cozzi (who also directed the previous film), and had Lou Ferrigno reprising his role as the title character.
Summary
The film begins in outerspace, just as the first film does, and begins with a retelling of the Universe's creation story (see below). This is followed by the opening titles which are accompanied by short clips that highlight the key parts of the first movie.
The plot begins with a story about the story of Zeus' Seven Mighty Thunderbolts that kept peace. One day, other vengeful gods (Aphrodite, Hera, Poseidon, Flora) stole these lightening bolts to create chaos. The lack of these thunderebolts has rendered Zeus powerless and sent the Moon on a collision course with the Earth. As the humans on Earth begin to suffer, one human named Urania speaks to the Little People and learns that only Hercules can save them now.
After hesitation, Zeus finally decides to send Hercules back from the stars to Earth to aid the humans, but the vengeful gods reserect their own warrior: King Minos. They believe that King Minos, with the help of Dedalos (Daedalus in the first film, see below), can defeat Zeus with science.
Thus begins Hercules' quest to find the Seven Mighty Thunderbolts, which are hidden inside monsters across the Universe.
Discontinuity between the films
Many of the elements of the first film's story were changed in the second movie. The creation of the Universe, which is described as the result of an exploding jar in the first film, is changed in the sequel to be the creation of "an ancient angel-like figure: a goddess whom the ancients named Emperia. From within her came the Seed of Light." Somehow, this Seed of Light created the Universe.
Also the character Daedalus who created the robots for King Minos in the first Hercules was renamed "Dedalos" in the sequel. This may be due to the discrepancies between the screenplay and Greco-Roman mythology, especially that of gender.
