Hercules: Which one was the right one for the role?

[Acerimmer1]

there are tons and tons and tons of pictures of arnold with thin legs. this could be because those pictures were taken after he broke his knee. in his book he wrote that he fell threw a stage and broke his left knee. he had to rebuild his leg(s) completely. they were never the same again of course but for someone who broke his knee and still won the next year's olympia i think he did pretty damn good. there are some old pictures out there where his legs look huge. even his really young pictures where he looks really big at 19 his legs were big. they weren't defined but they were as big as in 1975. in 75 they were kinda thin but they were that size when he was 19 and that's big for 19 and that era.

Could Park have had access to steroids or was his physique definately natural?

[Sculpter]

I've always been partial to Reg Park as he always looked more rugged to me than others that have played the role.

[Gord]

Arnold looks massive in those shots, but based on looks alone I'd go with Reg too.

[Dreadlifter]

Park definitely has that Hercules look nailed. I like Reeves but if you compare the arms raised pics of him and Park it shows the huge difference in size.

[doison]

Kevin Sorbo is clearly the winner.

[Gord]

Kevin Sorbo is clearly the winner.

Lol, but somehow Kevin Sorbo's Hercules series didn't seem to quite capture the historical accuracy of ancient Greece. 

[gibberj2]

Kevin Sorbo stopped working out years ago. he's skinny now.

[doison]

Kevin Sorbo stopped working out years ago. he's skinny now.

When wasn't he skinny?

[gibberj2]

when he started as hercules he wasn't skinny. he was pretty big and of course he's tall. tv and movie big is not bodybuilder big... come on.

[Gord]

when he started as hercules he wasn't skinny. he was pretty big and of course he's tall. tv and movie big is not bodybuilder big... come on.

I think you're right there.

Sorbo's physique was clearly better when he started the series. He was both bigger and more defined, but as the series went on he got worse, as if he just stopped training.

[gibberj2]

I'm not talking about later in the series I'm talking about after the series and now. in andromeda he's skinny and one time i saw him on Conan O'Brien and he was skinny like Conan.

[dantelis]

This one:

[img ]http://www.danger-man.co.uk/images/portmeirion/hercules.jpg[/img]

Actually, I think this is the most impressive Hercules pic, even if Reeves is smaller than Parks, Ferrigno and Arnold.  (Unfortunately, I can't find a bigger, better version of it online.)



It cuts out the two men standing besides him, but I think it is what sold Reeves as Hercules to the public back in the 50s and 60s.  Compared to the other two men, Reeves truly looks like a god among men.

Here's thumbnails of more Hercules bodybuilders from Brian's Drive in Theater site:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&client=googlet&q=+site:www.briansdriveintheater.com+hercules