Before he was the Terminator (1984), before he fought the Predator (1987), and even before he was Pumping Iron (1977), Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in his first movie, the low budget crap fest Hercules in New York (aka Hercules Goes Bananas, Hercules: The Movie, 1970). Calling it a crap fest so callously does do it some injustice as it is a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

The film begins on Mount Olympus, as Hercules whines to his father Zeus that he wants to have adventures with the mortals below. Zeus gets annoyed with Hercules’ discontent and launches him to Earth by blasting him with a lightning bolt which hurdles him off the mountain. After scaring old women on an airplane, Hercules lands on a naval ship and somehow gets enlisted. He then promptly throws another fit, beating up the entire crew as it docks in New York City. There in New York, Hercules befriends a schlub of a pretzel vendor named, aptly, Pretzie (played by veteran character actor Arnold Stang). Pretzie persuades Hercules to become a professional wrestler to pay for their hotel bill, and then the two start to get muscled by the mafia. All the while, hilarity is ensuing.