 This British/American film was produced and released in the waning  years of the Italian produced sword and sandal/mythological  muscleman movies. Many of those productions dealt with Jason. Most  unusual for the time was the casting of British actor Nigel Green as  Hercules. Although he was very tall, he lacked the bodybuilder  physique that moviegoers were used to seeing for this character.  This film was not able to match the scale of spectacle of the  European productions; however, the elaborate special effects by Ray  Harryhausen gave the film the look of a more expensive production  and turned it into a hit at the boxoffice.