Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur (3 Stars)

This is the fifth of the five Hercules television movies, and it's the third movie starring the late Tawny Kitaen. It's disappointing in comparison with the four previous movies. Of the 90 minutes, over 30 minutes are flashbacks to the first four movies. There are seven flashback sequences, mostly introduced by a character saying to another, "Do you remember when we.....?" As I understand it, no fifth television movie was planned, but there were scheduling problems, so a fifth movie had to be written in a hurry. The writers knew that there wouldn't be time to film a full 90 minutes, so they wrote in all the flashbacks. That's sad.

Two young treasure hunters open a sealed door in the woods. This lets out a Minotaur. Or should I say the Minotaur? In Greek mythology there was only one creature with this appearance, a man with a bull's head.

One of the treasure hunters escapes and goes to Hercules to ask for help. As we find out later, the Minotaur let him escape, because he wants Hercules to go to him. Hercules travels to the Minotaur's hiding place near the town of Alturia, accompanied by Iolaus. He discovers that the Minotaur is his half brother Gryphus. He was arrogant because of his great beauty, so Zeus cursed him and made him ugly.

Yes, this is ugly. How can Zeus do this to his own son? The Gods are strange.

"Daddy, Daddy, tell us a bedtime story!" That's an excuse for another flashback.

Hercules is a happy father and a satisfied husband. At the beginning of the movie he says he wants to give up his adventuring in order to concentrate on his family. But it's not that easy. Hercules lives to help others.

When Iolaus pays him a surprise visit he realises that he can't give up fighting for justice. His first impulse is to refuse the request for help – "Let someone else do it" – but Iolaus soon persuades Hercules to track down the Minotaur.

Don't worry. he won't stay away from his wife for long. He's not stupid. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a long married life ahead of him. Oops, sorry! That's a spoiler! Wait till tomorrow and I'll tell you what happens next.