Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno representing the "mighty and raging fury" that hides in everybody, for the first time on TV as the first episode of the series of the same name. The movie-length origin story (Episode 1) is mostly faithful to its source material, with a few liberties taken by producers to make it less 'Superman' superhero and more everyday battler trying to control his rage. This film is the catalyst to my favourite after-school program when the adventures of David Banner and his alter ego: Hulk would be broadcast at 4 pm. And, yes, ending the alliterations of superhero names like Clark Kent, Peter Parker, and Bruce Banner by changing it to David are small liberties, but powerful statements all the same! An interesting choice in adding Dr. Banner's first, second and last names towards the ending, bringing the story back to Marvel's choices.
Using his wife's passing combined with his inability to save her as a springboard to his research later in the film, would have made the comic book writers kicking themselves for not thinking of it first! As I remember it from my comic book days, his wife died of radiation poisoning, as the Nuclear Bomb fear was at its peak.
A nice walk down memory lane, though the special effects in today's standards will fall short and may cause some cringing! The transformation alone deserves a mention. Worse than the puppet in American Werewolf in London transformation, the stop motion effects and the soundtrack that accompanies it are so bad they're great! That sound and the music that played at the end of every episode are etched in my mind!
Great acting for an experimental genre that was made specifically for television. The 70's costumes alone seem ahead of its time viewing it with today's enhanced technology!
Using his wife's passing combined with his inability to save her as a springboard to his research later in the film, would have made the comic book writers kicking themselves for not thinking of it first! As I remember it from my comic book days, his wife died of radiation poisoning, as the Nuclear Bomb fear was at its peak.
A nice walk down memory lane, though the special effects in today's standards will fall short and may cause some cringing! The transformation alone deserves a mention. Worse than the puppet in American Werewolf in London transformation, the stop motion effects and the soundtrack that accompanies it are so bad they're great! That sound and the music that played at the end of every episode are etched in my mind!
Great acting for an experimental genre that was made specifically for television. The 70's costumes alone seem ahead of its time viewing it with today's enhanced technology!