Overview

The muscle-bound male body is a perennial feature of classically-inflected action cinema. This book reassesses these films as a cinematic form, focusing on the depiction of heroic masculinity. In particular, Hercules in his many incarnations has greatly influenced popular cultural interpretations of manliness and the exaggerated male form.

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9781137384706

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Daniel O'Brien's work here is both foundational and invaluable. Perhaps his most profound statement about these films is his most simple: that the strongman figure, embodied in Hercules, is part of our masculine mythopoesis as surely as the intellectual problem-solver, the suave secret agent, and the mysterious foreign count. This figure thus represents our desire to supersede the bonds of our own masculinity, reflecting not the dominant arm of the patriarchy, but that which surpasses it - the mythical, mystical link between human and deity, bound up in bodies too large to readily codify. This is a text that any scholar, critic, or fan of sword-and-sandal films will want readily available for repeat consultation. - Michael G. Cornelius, Wilson College, USA

Author Information

Daniel O'Brien is a tutor in Film Studies and a freelance writer, contributing to various reference works and producing articles and reviews for journals such as Film International. He has written books on such subjects as Clint Eastwood, Frank Sinatra, British science fiction, Hannibal Lecter and Daniel Craig.

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