Michael Hurst Movies

Although the ride is bumpy in places, there's an exciting journey offered by John Laing's fast-paced thriller. Three orphans have been best friends since their they were children; now they have decided to end their poverty-stricken existence by murdering an American drug courier in Auckland and then flying to Geneva to withdraw $5 million from his Swiss bank account. Richer but on very dangerous ground, the trio of thieves find themselves on the lead drug dealer's most wanted list. To make matters a bit more complex, one of the grown-up orphans falls in love with the ex-wife of the drug ring's head honcho. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In the last of five made-for-TV movies starring Kevin Sorbo as legendary superhero Hercules, the title character has settled down in a peaceful existence as a farmer with his beloved mortal family. Though Hercules tries hard to teach his children nonviolence, his mighty strength must come back into play when a disgruntled Minotaur begins kidnapping the local citizenry. In his efforts to defeat the monster, Hercules is reunited with his old friends Iolaus (Michael Hurst) and Deianeira (Tawny Kitaen). It ultimately falls to Hercules' Olympian father, Zeus (Anthony Quinn), to prove that the misunderstood Minotaur is not so much a villain as a victim of low self esteem. Many of the action highlights are lifted from Sorbo's four previous Hercules films. Syndicated in the U.S. beginning in late November, 1994, Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur served as the pilot for the weekly series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After five made-for-TV feature films designed to establish the principal character and his surroundings, Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) was awarded his own weekly, syndicated series, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. In the opening episode, Hercules' wife and children are consumed in a ball of flame -- and it is all the handiwork of his treacherous stepmother, the goddess Hera. Renouncing his father Zeus for allowing such a tragedy to occur, the embittered Hercules embarks upon a campaign of destruction and vengeance. He is ultimately restored to his proper path in life after rescuing the lovely Aegina (Clare Carey) from a human sacrifice -- and after endeavoring to save his friend Iolaus (Michael Hurst), who had been turned to stone. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lucy Lawless, previously seen on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys as the duplicitous Lyla, makes her first appearance as fierce and fearsome warrior princess Xena. Determined to gain full control of the land of Arcadia, Xena realizes that she must first kill Hercules (Kevin Sorbo). Posing as a damsel in distress, she lures Hercules' friend Iolaus (Kevin Hurst) into a trap, the better to lure our hero out in the open. The climactic confrontation between Hercules and Xena is capped by a deadly promise. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and Iolaus (Michael Hurst) are confronted with a baffling mystery when they try to find out who has been plucking the dead from the battlefield of Tantalus. In the process, Hercules finds himself in the middle of a war between his friend King Daulin (Erik Thomson) and Daulin's own sister Poena (Amber Jane Raub). Complicating matters is the fact that another of Hercules' friend, Jarton (Reb Brown), is now Poena's lieutenant. Behind all this intrigue and mayhem is the war god Ares -- of whom it can be said that, at the very least, he loves his dog. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Now fighting side by side as allies rather than enemies, Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and Xena (Lucy Lawless) do battle against mutual enemy Darphus (Matthew Chamberlain), who has risen from the dead to wreak more havoc. As usual, this resurrection is the handiwork of war god Ares, who is using Darphus to harvest meat for Ares' vicious man-eating dog, Graegus. Hercules' friend, Iolaus (Michael Hurst), wants to join the fight against the villain, but he has no good reason to trust Xena. Things come to a head when Darphus kidnaps Salmoneus (Robert Trebor) to lure Hercules into a trap. This final episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' first season neatly sets the stage for episode one of the spinoff series Xena: Warrior Princess. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After capturing the barbarian leader Goth (Brian Thompson), Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and Iolaus (Michael Hurst) endeavor to bring their prisoner to Athens to stand trial. Hot on our hero's heels is Goth's brother, Bledar (Ray Woolf), who will stop at nothing to free his sibling. Hercules, Iolaus, and Goth take refuge in a fortress where dwells Goth's former lover Elora (Rebecca Hobbs). Will she allow her heart to rule her head and betray the good guys? And what about Titanus, Bledar's terrifying new weapon of mass destruction? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The main attraction in the lurid "pleasure palace" of Enola is the tragic Lucina (Maria Therese Rangel), who now regrets having run away from her loyal farmer husband Atticus (Bruce Phillips). Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) promises Atticus that he will try to save Lucina from her evil master, Pilot (Carl Bland), and bring her home unharmed. But if Pilot cannot have Lucina, no one can; he vows that no one will even survive the effort to rescue her. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) crosses over from This World to the Other Side, there to rescue Persephone (Andrea Croton), daughter of the goddess Demeter (Sarah Wilson), from her abductor Hades (Erik Thompson). Upon his arrival in the land of the dead (where he is briefly united with his long-gone wife and children), Hercules discovers that Persephone is in love with Hades and has no intention of leaving. This does not rest well with Demeter, who threatens to rend the upperworld asunder with foul weather unless her daughter is immediately returned. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) saves the life of Typhon (Glenn Shadix), a gentle and somewhat clutzy giant. Alas, it turns out that Typhon is the husband of Echidna (Bridget Hoffman), Mother of All Monsters, with whom Hercules clashed in a memorable early episode. Will Typhon's benign nature turn malevolent when he discovers that it was Hercules who sealed Echidna deep within the bowels of her own cave? And how has Echidna herself been affected by her entombment? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Season one of the weekly syndicated series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys picks up the action where the fifth of the Hercules TV movies, 1994's Hercules in the Maze of the Monsters, left off. Olympian goddess Hera is determined to wreak vengeance upon her husband, Zeus, king of the gods, for the outrageous act of impregnating the mortal Alceme (played during this season by Elizabeth Hawthorne) -- the result of this union being, of course, the mighty half-god, half-human Hercules (Kevin Sorbo). Hera's wrath is aimed specifically at Hercules, whom she punishes by murdering his wife and children. This tragedy causes a near-inseparable rift between Zeus and Hercules, with the latter renouncing his godly birthright and responsibilities and embarking upon his own campaign of destruction and devastation on Earth. Fortunately, Hercules sees the errors of his ways before it is too late, and together with his mortal friend Iolaus (Michael Hurst), he sets upon the first of many journeys to use his super-strength for good rather than evil throughout Greece and the known world. Though Hercules' main mission is to rescue the human race from the pettiness and casual cruelties of the less savory Gods, he also finds time to "reform" a number of Olympian deities, demigods, and monsters who have temporarily taken the wayward path, beginning with the misguided Cyclops.

It is during season one that Hercules meets for the first time Salmoneus (Robert Trebor), an itinerant salesman and erstwhile promoter whose many get-rich-quick schemes do far more harm than good, and whom our hero must periodically save from the consequences of his greed and foolish ambition. Additionally, the mighty muscleman experiences his first conflict with the redoubtable Ares (Kevin Smith), god of war, whose unsavory allegiances and fluctuating loyalties will continue to bedevil the series' "good guys" for the next five seasons. Hercules also has memorable encounters with his childhood sweetheart, the goddess of retribution Nemesis (Karen Witter) -- who, need it be added, more than lives up to her name -- and with gorgeous female blacksmith Atlanta (Cory Everson), a muscular blacksmith who develops a strong attraction to Hercules, the only man who could ever come up to her standards of strength and fortitude. By far, however, the more significant of Hercules' run-ins during this first season are those with the fearsome warrior princess Xena (Lucy Lawless). At first mortal enemies, Hercules and Xena gradually develop a begrudging respect for one another, and by the time the final episode of season one rolls around, Xena has seen the errors of her warlike ways and vows to emulate Hercules by performing good deeds for one and all -- and, hopefully, expunging all the wickedness she has perpetrated in the past. (This plot development proved to be an ideal segue into Lucy Lawless' own starring series, Xena: Warrior Princess.) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The ghost of her former lover Marcus (Bobby Hosea) tells Xena (Lucy Lawless) that all is not well in the Underworld. Sure enough, the hapless Hades (Erik Thomson) has been toppled from his throne and imprisoned. Meanwhile, a psycho wreaks even more havoc than usual in the Underworld with Hades' stolen Helmet of Invisibility. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi