(Almost no language stuff: it’s about mythic, in one sense, performances by hunky men. Yes, I have my shallow moments.)
The appearance on my cable tv menu of the playing of the 2012 Wrath of the Titans got me to check the movie out. That brought me to a list of (relatively) recent movies and tv shows with mythological themes and hunky actors in starring roles. By actor, reverse chronologically:
Sam Worthington (film: Perseus in Clash of the Titans (2010) and Wrath of the Titans (2012))
Brad Pitt (film: Achilles in Troy (2004))
Ryan Gosling (tv: Young Hercules (1998-9))
Kevin Sorbo (tv: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995-99))
Worthington as Perseus. On the films, then on Worthington, who’s new to this blog:
[the Titans films:] Clash of the Titans is a 2010 British-American fantasy adventure film and remake of the 1981 film of the same name produced by MGM (the rights to which had been acquired by Warner Bros. in 1996). The story is very loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus. … it received generally negative reviews from critics and received two Golden Raspberry Awards nominations. The film’s [financial] success led to a sequel, Wrath of the Titans, released in March 2012. A third film titled Revenge of the Titans was in development but then later cancelled.
[Worthington] Samuel Henry John “Sam” Worthington (born 2 August 1976) is an English-born Australian actor, best known for his portrayals of main character Jake Sully in the second-highest-grossing film of all time, Avatar; Marcus Wright in Terminator Salvation; Perseus in Clash of the Titans and its sequel, Wrath of the Titans; and Alex Mason in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops and its sequel Call of Duty: Black Ops II. … He performed predominantly in leading roles in a variety of low-budget films [before moving to major studio films], ranging from romantic drama and comedy-drama to science fiction and action.
Poster for the first film:
(#1)
Worthington as Perseus:
(#2)
Haven’t found a shirtless shot of Worthington in character, but here’s one of the man at the beach:
(#3)
The man is well-built and nice to look at, but not record-breaking in physique — but he’s well-represented on the net as enormously built and muscular (thanks to software manipulations), apparently in the form his fans would like to fantasize about his having. As the mythical Sam Worthington, you might say.
Brad Pitt as Achilles. The Titans movies were stinkers from the critics’ point iof view, but they made a ton of money. Troy, on the other hand, got critical acclaim and big bucks as well.
On the film, from Wikipedia:
Troy is a 2004 American epic adventure war film written by David Benioff and directed by Wolfgang Petersen. It is loosely based on Homer’s Iliad, though the film narrates the entire story of the decade-long Trojan War rather than just the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon in the ninth year. Achilles leads his Myrmidons along with the rest of the Greek army invading the historical city of Troy, defended by Hector’s Trojan army. The end of the film (the sacking of Troy) is not taken from the Iliad, but rather from Virgil’s Aeneid as the Iliad concludes with Hector’s death and funeral.
A poster:
(#4)
Pitt in costume as Achilles:
(#4)
and shirtless, but still as Achilles:
(#5)
Pitt is quite proud of the body he achieved for this role, and the net is full of postings about Pitt as Achilles, almost all of it providing advice on how to use Pitt’s rigorous workout routine to get a body like the one in #5 — if you’re a man and really really dedicated to the project.
My 8/6/13 posting “Seven Supermen and Brad Pitt” has a final section on Pitt with a write-up about him, a photo of the beautiful young man (Thelma and Louise), and one of the bulked-up mature hunk (Fight Club).
Back on 2/18/09, in “The Curious Case of B. B.”, I posted about someone who misquoted the movie title The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (which stars Pitt) as The Curious Case of Benjamin Britten — which prompted someone else to post a womderful photo of Pitt as Britten with Tom Cruise as Peter Pears (actually Pitt and Cruise in Interview with the Vampire).
Gosling as Hercules. On the tv show, from Wikipedia:
Young Hercules was a spin-off series [framed as a prequel] from the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. It was aired on Fox Kids Network from September 12, 1998 to May 12, 1999. It lasted 1 season with 50 episodes and starred Ryan Gosling in the title role. The series was based on the Greek mythology hero, Hercules.
Gosling as the young Hercules in the show:
(#6)
An unusually beautiful hero, but then he was playing the young Hercules.
Gosling on this blog:
on 10/22/11, “Annals of taboo avoidance:’, about the site Fuck Yeah! Ryan Gosling
on 8/15/13, “Hollywood Sparks”, with a write-up about Gosling and shirtless photos
Sorbo as Hercules. About the earlier show, from Wikipedia:
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is an American television series filmed in New Zealand. It was produced from January 16, 1995 to November 22, 1999, and was based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles (Hercules was his Roman analogue). It ran for six seasons, producing action figures and other memorabilia as it became one of the highest rated syndicated television shows in the world at that time. Later it would be surpassed by its own spinoff show, Xena: Warrior Princess.
… The show starred Kevin Sorbo as Hercules; Michael Hurst, who had become a naturalized New Zealand citizen, first guest-starred in Season 1 to 2 as his sidekick Iolaus, and became a series regular from Seasons 3 to 6. Rotating as Hercules’ other regular companion, particularly in the first three seasons, was Salmoneus (Robert Trebor), a wheeler-dealer ever looking to make a quick dinar. In the later seasons, particularly after Kevin Sorbo suffered a serious health issue in Season 4, Michael Hurst, Robert Trebor and Bruce Campbell as Autolycus, King of Thieves, featured prominently along with the late Kevin Smith (1963-2002) as Ares, to ensure Kevin Sorbo could reduce his front of camera workload.
And very briefly about Sorbo:
Kevin David Sorbo (born September 24, 1958) is an American actor best known for the roles of Professor Radisson in God’s Not Dead, Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Captain Dylan Hunt in Andromeda, and Kull in Kull the Conqueror.
Sorbo as Hercules in the show:
(#7)
(Sorbo with a half-smile is entirely appropriate, since the show had a lot of humor in it)
and shirtless, still as Hercules:
(#8)
(in his woven leather plants).
Gosling has a very nice body, Sorbo is a serious muscle hunk (fitted for playing a Greek hero). Both fine to look at, but different body types.
I found the show immensely enjoyable, and as a bonus you get (in it and in Xena) really stunning New Zealand scenery.
February 29, 2016 at 10:03 am |
Though it was a DOG of a picture, Harry Hamlin in “Clash of the Titans” was my all time fave!!!
February 29, 2016 at 11:44 am |
I came across photos of Hamlin while looking up “Clash of the Titans”. He looks great. But that was, what?. 1981.
March 1, 2016 at 1:29 am |
On Facebook, a racy comment from Mike McKinley:
A photo:
March 1, 2016 at 1:54 am |
Other recommendations on Facebook were for hunky men playing heroic characters: from Michael Palmer for Marc Singer (I’ve posted on him in Beastmaster on this blog) and from Rod Williams for Val Kilmer. But neither is recent and neither portrayed a hero from Greek mythology. Hunky men in movies and tv (many in heroic parts) is something of a theme on this blog; I’ve posted on them dozens of times (see entries on my “Shirtless” Page), but in this posting I accepted the limitation to relatively recent movies/tv and to Greek-mythological heroes (in fact, to the central figures in such movies and shows), rather than roaming widely and pleasurably over the field of hot hunky actors.
March 1, 2016 at 2:01 am |
Still more recommendations on Facebook came from Xopher Walker, for supporting actors in productions I mentioned: Kevin Smith as Ares in Hercules … Legendary, Eric Bana as Hector in Troy. Yes. yes.