Absolutely amazing

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Blistering performances.

Ryan Gosling. the Ryan Gosling. as the young Hercules. this is all. because the script and the acting are far to give more. and the desire to use the success of other series is the worst idea. the disrespect to the Greek mythology is only a small detail. the real sin is the ignorance to propose a coherent story. the fights and the expressions of friendship are not convincing because each is only a drawing. the good intentions are suffocated by costumes and silly situations. Hercules is a hero and his grow up in the series is only the ordinary grow up of a young man from our time. and imagination of scriptwriter is ill. so, the great fans of the Kevin Sorbo are the only happy public of this bizarre series.

A spin-off/prequel of the equally as great "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys", "Young Hercules" was a fun and entertaining show for young viewers that never really got a chance. The show was I believe on Saturday mornings and was easily one of the best shows Fox had on at the time. While Ian Bohen had played Hercules in the YOUNG HERCULES movie and some of the "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" episodes, he was replaced here with Ryan Gosling who did an impressive job with the role. Also good with their roles was Chris Conrad as Jason, Kevin Smith as Ares, and Dean O'Gorman as Iolaus. In addition to the rather good acting, the directing and writing were also surprisingly well done. It would have been cool to have executive producer Sam Raimi direct an episode, but that never happened. Perhaps if he had been more involved in the show, it would have become more popular and might not have been canceled.

Young Hercules is a very upbeat and adventurous counterpart to the adult version of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Unlike Hercules:TLJ, Young Hercules is obviously aimed at younger kids who couldn't be interested to sit for an hour and watch some boring episode of Hercules and get completely confused by watching plot lines twist and turn, people dying, then coming back to life. Young Hercules offers them the chance to love Hercules and Ancient Greece by giving them action packed episodes that are only a half hour long. Perfect for anyone who loves Ancient Greece and Hercules, heroes and gods, but doesn't want to be confused, or sit through an entire hour of television of the same thing over and over again. :)

The show wouldn't have been made if Ian Bohen didn't play Young Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Ian looks and acts way better than Ryan Gosling. Ian looks more like the part and Gosling isn't that great of an actor. If Ian didn't want the part, the show should have been scrapped. The show would have lasted longer and would have been more popular if Ian had taken the part.