Hulk Hogan's Worst-Rated Movie On IMDb Was A Forgotten Attempt At A Greek Epic

Pro-wrestler and 1980s bastion of masculinity Terry "Hulk" Hogan passed away on July 24, 2025. He was 71. He was best-known early in his career for his sweaty antics in the WWF (later WWE) ring, and later became better known for some of his controversial actions and opinions outside of it. Also controversial was his filmography. Hogan, like many pro-wrestlers, attempted multiple times to become a movie star, although it was with only dubious success. He effectively played versions of himself in the bonkers sports dramas "Rocky III" (1982) and "No Holds Barred" (1989), but more frequently appeared in whimsical, kid-friendly movies like "Suburban Commando" (1991), "Mr. Nanny" (1993), and "Santa With Muscles" (1996). 

Few of these films were hits — indeed, most of Hogan's kids movies were widely derided bombs — but that didn't stop the Hulkster from trying. As recently as 2009, Hogan made another kids movie — his final live-action film appearance — in the form of an all-but-forgotten obscurity called "Little Hercules." "Little Hercules" is a PG-rated, kid-friendly peplum film (!) wherein Hogan played Zeus. The title role was played by Richard Sandrak, a 12-year-old Ukraine-born bodybuilder who rose to fame as a child, billed in performances as "the world's strongest boy." He could bench-press 210 pounds when he was only eight. 

"Little Hercules" was Sandrak's big break into movies, helped along by his trainer and publicist Frank Giardina. In addition to Hogan, "Little Hercules" starred several members of Hogan's family, including children Brooke and Nick, and his wife Linda Claridge. It also starred celebrities like Robin Givens, Judd Nelson, and David Naughton. Surprisingly, Elliott Gould appears in "Little Hercules" as Socrates.

The film is too obscure to even warrant an entry on Wikipedia, and was supposedly released in 3-D, although I can find no information as to the theaters where it played. It appears to have racked up $513,722 in box office receipts, so it was available somewhere.

"Little Hercules" has no reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, but many users on IMDb have seen it ... and rated it very low. Of 630 user reviews, it has an average score of 2 out of 10, which is quite bad indeed. Almost half the users rated it a 1. Only two of those 630 users bothered to write a review, and one of them felt that Robin Givens, perhaps surprisingly, gave the best performance in the movie. Judd Nelson was apparently quite awful, and Hulk Hogan, wholly in character, only offers outsized grandstanding. That, however, may be appropriate when playing Zeus, king of the gods. 

The plot is very simple. On Mount Olympus, the young demigod Hercules (Sandrak) longs to experience life as a human being. He arrives in Burbank, California and befriends an average human family (Givens plays the matriarch) who teach him the ways of the world. Marc John Jeffries plays his new friend, Curtis. To limit his godlike strength, Zeus and another god named Marduk (Paul Wight) make a bet that only allows Herc to use his magical muscles only three times while on the Earthly plane. If he tries a fourth time, Hercules will forfeit his strength forever. This will prove to be an issue when Hercules enters his high school's Olympic Games tourney.

Evidently, there is a scene in "Little Hercules" wherein Zeus appears to his son, offering to give advice ... from inside a toilet. According to a user on Mubi, that was a very potent symbol for the quality of "Little Hercules." 

Sandrak would, as he grew up, grow tired of bodybuilding and move into stunt work. 

The director of "Little Hercules" was an actor named Mohamed Khashoggi who appeared in several very, very low-budget indie films before directing "Little Hercules." To date, it remains his only directorial effort. It remains to be seen if he will ever step behind the camera again.

Hulk Hogan's film legacy, meanwhile, rests more comfortably in his cameo in "Gremlins 2: The New Batch."