When I was 8 years old, I read a comic book called “Hercules Unchained” based on a movie that would soon be coming out. (Comic books and movie marketers used to do that.) When the movie came to our little town, I went to the Saturday matinee with great anticipation. I thought it was really good.
While browsing on Netflix, I came across Hercules Unchained, starring B-movie star Steve Reeves. The thing is, it was a feature on Mystery Science Theater 3000, that former TV show consisting of fictional robots and a funny guy making humorous commentary as a cheesy movie unfolds.
“Hercules Unchained” a cheesy movie? That wasn’t how I remembered it! So we watched the movie this weekend in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 rendition.
So I ended up with a complex, multi-leveled cinematic experience. I was watching the movie in its own terms; listening to the wisecracks from the robots; remembering my childhood reactions; evaluating the movie by my own standards now and finding it abysmal indeed. So I was feeling interested in the movie, laughing at it, remembering my earlier enjoyment, and hating it–ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
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