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The Incredible Hulk Returns (TV) More at IMDbPro »

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19 reviews in total

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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Best of the Reunion Movies and Closest To the Series, 28 November 2005

Author: voicemaster71 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS :

After watching the Incredible Hulk reruns in the summer of 1987, I went through Hulk Withdrawal Syndrome since I didn't have a VCR back then. Then my wish came true in the spring of 1988 during my sophomore year in high school. The Incredible Hulk is my number one all time favorite series and I truly fell in love with the Incredible Hulk Returns the very moment it aired on that Sunday night on NBC. Of the three reunion films they made, I felt Returns is the closest to the series for the following reasons: 1: This movie started with the intro of the original series with the colored lettering added. And by the way, it was not Edward Platt who did the narrative in the intro, it was the late Ted Cassidy (Lurch from the Addams Family).

2: Nicholas Corea was one of the head honchos along with Bill Bixby and served a director of the movie.

3: The famous slow motion from the series was used in this movie.

4: Jack Colvin returns as Jack McGee. This is the only reunion movie he was in. Why he was not in the others I will never know.

These are the reasons this movie gets my vote for being closest to the series. However, what separates it from the series is the lack of continuity. Lou Ferrigno talks about this in his book, "My Incredible Life As the Hulk". The reunion movies were filmed by that cheesy cheap company, Roger Corman's New World Productions instead of Universal and Kenneth Johnson had no involvement in it. Otherwise, I'm sure the continuity goof would have been corrected. The biggest continuity goof for me was that Jack McGee was back to pursuing the Hulk (and not even running into him once), but he'd forgotten all about his "John Doe".

Bill Bixby once again delivers nothing short of superb excellence in his performance as Dr. David Banner (or David Banyon to everyone around him). Lou Ferrigno was bigger and bulkier than ever as the Hulk and gave an outstanding performance. I enjoyed seeing Jack Colvin one more time as Jack McGee, but only wished he had been in there more. Lee Purcell has got to be one of the most beautiful women that ever appeared on the Hulk as Dr. Maggie Shaw. Her relationship with David and her residence at that beach house gave me flashbacks to the Married episode.

Noteworthy villains were Tim Thomerson and veteran Hulk guest actor Charles Napier. Lance Rubin was the right man to succeed Joe Harnell in the musical score and gave it a more technological late 80's sound.

What I didn't care for was the addition of Thor and Donald Blake. This movie did not need that. But for what it's worth, Eric Allen Kramer was fun and amusing as Thor, the Norse God and Steve Levitt's Don Blake was pretty much a geek. It was like the Geek and the Jock as best friends.

I would definitely recommend this reunion movie to anybody who has never seen it. Even though it's a little more comic bookish in story than the old series, it's still worth watching. I give it two thumbs up.

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5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Extremely Entertaining, 22 February 2001

Author: Matt Walsh from San Carlos, CA

Though not a huge fan of 'Hulk' I caught this show and found it extremely funny and entertaining. Yes, this is far from fine drama, but I found it to be a cut above shows of its type and wish I could watch it again.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
The Hulk returns...with a beer drinking Viking, 2 January 2007

Author: Bjorn (jbjorns) from Iceland

For those who didn't exactly take the series seriously might have a heck of a time with this comeback movie for The Incredible Hulk. But for those who did take them seriously (those being me), I find this a rather silly entry.

The humane aspect is what fueled the series. Bill Bixby was an irresistible lead and his quest for a cure never failed to be interesting. In short it was the drama that made the show as appealing as it was. In The Incredible Hulk Returns we see him team up with Thundergod Thor as David's attempts to cure himself are once again thrashed. The Hulk and Thor battle criminals who are out to steal David's machine, the one he built which might have helped to cure him.

The film starts off well and then goes downward after Thor's introduction. He's made to be pretty silly but still he's engagingly played by Eric Kramer and somehow he's pretty likable. The action scenes are fine and the Hulk moments are solid. Lou Ferrigno looks incredible and everything concerning David Banner and the Hulk is good stuff. But the campy feel and humor is something the shows didn't go much for and undermine the whole proceedings, like it wasn't taken seriously enough. But maybe that's what they were aiming for.

Jack Colvin makes a welcome return as relentless reporter Jack McGee who once again misses out on the big story. As always Bixby is rock solid and the flick works in some places but misses in others.

It's still an above average entertainment for a fan of the series.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
A very entertaining tv movie, 26 June 2003
Author: daniel-may (daniel-may@talk21.com) from sutton coldfield west midlands

I first watched this movie when i was 6 years old. Im 15 now and i still enjoy it. I was always fascinated by the incredible hulk, and with Lou Ferrigno's wonderful performance, you'll never be able to leave your seats.

My favourite scene was David Banner seeing thor for the first time i thought that scene was brilliantly done. However, this film has its weaknesses. The main weakness was the scene where the hulk is trying to pull the helicopter down, i thought he could do that himself and not have thor to help him, despite that they still couldn't pull the helicopter down.

However this didn't really effect the entertainment too much. It is a great shame that the late Bill Bixby isn't with us.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
A never ending road for Banner, 3 May 2003
Author: IrockGswift (IrockGswift@aol.com) from east orange, new jersey

After six years since its last prime-time show (June 1982) Stan Lee and Nicholas Corea brought back Marvel Comics' strongman "the Incredible Hulk. Though this time David Banner has become the closest ever to be cured. He has a new girlfriend,bumped into a old colleague,and well into his medical career. Unlike in the past he worked odd jobs until his alter-ego was summons. But David banner in this movie has a new life were he doesn't feel he has to runaway anymore. Till an old colleague sneaks into David's job and his trouble begans. David's colleague tells him a story that during his journey up north he discovered a hammer that can summon an old viking hero. As the old viking hero appeared David mis-judged his well-being as being destructive which forced him to become the hulk. That was one of the best scenes in the movie were the hulk and the viking hero (Thor) battle it out. Overall the hulk over-powered Thor and Thor wanted to call a truce. A real Marvel classic!! Now that their fight got some exposure David had to put his plans for a cure on halt till the situation died down. This also brought on the attention of the trailing reportor Jack Mcgee and some bad guys who wanted to take the gamma transponder that David and his colleagues worked on. Since the hulk was seen David had to go back to his old secrecy way of life,and not letting the new relationship with his girlfriend progress. That's until he found a way of permanently curing himself. But matters got worse as the bad guys capture his girlfriend to get to the transponder. Which leaves David to team up with the viking warrior and his master to save Maggie (David's girlfriend). Though they saved her David had to leave because there was to much attention focused on the green creature and his association with his job. A sad ending as in the former prime-time series. Though I enjoyed Thor because of his comical outspoken personality. A great come-back series. But poor David must continue his journey to find a cure and live a normal life he once had.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Best of the Bunch., 27 June 2003

Author: Richies50435 from Detroit MI USA

This is the best of all the Incredible Hulk TV movies on the grounds that it had a satisfying ending. All the other Hulk movies were good movies, but the ending just didn't deliver. Admittedly the story is actually the weakest of the Hulk movies but Bixby and crew inflate the material to make this a very satisfying movie of the week and coupled with the good ending this is again the best Hulk to date.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
The Hulk And Thor Kick Butt!, 7 June 2002
Author: Big Movie Fan from England

This was a fantastic movie. After an absence of about six years the Hulk was back teaming up with the Norse god Thor to battle a bunch of gangsters. The film may have had minor faults but not enough to spoil my enjoyment of the movie.

The Hulk certainly looked different. He seemed a lighter shade of green, he seemed taller and he definitely looked more muscular. But he looked in great shape as he battled with Thor and then teamed with Thor.

Thor was another comic book character from Marvel. The comic book Thor had a red cape and could fly. This Thor could not fly and had no red cape but to be honest that would have looked rather corny on film. Eric Allen Kramer played Thor who laughed in the face of danger and only seemed truly happy when he was involved in a battle.

The movie itself could be considered different to the original series. This movie was more like an episode of Knight Rider with it's stunts and it's action but I'm not complaining.

Jack Colvin was back as Jack McGee in this movie. It would be the final time we saw McGee as he would not return in the next two films. He didn't really have a prominent role in this film, certainly not as prominent as he had in the series. That was my only complaint.

All in all, a great movie. Fans of comic books will love it.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
A rare live-action superhero team-up, 21 February 2000
Author: Henry A. Stephens (henricus@mciworld.com) from Vero Beach, FL

Marvel Comics loves to team its superheroes up far more than DC ever does. In the comics, this means frequent crossovers, enough to make you wonder whose book you're reading. On TV, it means guest heroes who don't have their own shows.

This often happens in the cartoons, but this TV movie -- the first of the post-cancellation Hulk specials -- was actually the first time Marvel tried it in live action. And it was only the second team-up of ANY live-action superheroes. (The first was Green Hornet guesting on the 1960s Batman show, an episode viewed more often than the actual Green Hornet series!)

I liked the Hulk series, even though his powers were limited for a TV budget. Bill Bixby's acting as Banner compensated for any change to the hero's motif. But he still was a gamma-charged powerhouse whose appearance was triggered by rage. Thor didn't survive as well with the Hulk's writers. He's not a Norse god here, just a revived Viking warrior. Donald Blake doesn't become Thor, he summons him from the hammer like a genie, with lightning instead of smoke. And Thor doesn't even get to fly. Or wear a red cape. And the acting doesn't compensate for these changes.

Apparently the writers were envisioning Thor as a "buddy" series spinoff. If Hulk was "The Fugitive," then maybe Thor would have been "Route 66"? I think the writers should have spent more time with comic book themes than with 1950s TV shows.

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3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
A great TV movie., 29 January 2005

Author: jeffman52001 from Normal, IL, USA

I am so glad they made 3 TV movies of the Hulk, it is great to see Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno reprise their roles from "The Incredible Hulk" TV series, and Jack Colvin reprise his role as investigative reporter Jack McGee in this TV movie.

David Banner, using the alias David Banion, is working for an institute that is into research and he has helped develop a gamma radiation machine that will probably cure him. David Banner is living with his co-worker and lover, Dr. Margaret Shaw, played by Lee Purcell(Airplane II: The Sequel, Valley Girl, and The Unknown). Margeret does not know his secret. David Banner has not turned into the Hulk in 2 years and does not want to put Margaret in danger.

David is working at the lab late at night and an old acquaintance of his, Donald Blake, played great by Steve Levitt (Private School, Hunk, and The Experts), who knows who David is. Donald tells his adventure exploring a cavern in the mountain, discovers a tomb of an ancient Viking warrior, named Thor, played superbly by Eric Kramer(True Romance, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, and American Wedding). Donald uses a hammer he discovers in the tomb, the hammer of Thor, it is a way to summon Thor. Donald demonstrates how it works, David and Thor meet, Thor makes David anger by pushing him, and turns into the Hulk, they have it out, but they stop fighting cause of the police showing up. Jack McGee is at the institution the next day asking questions, David sees McGee and hides cause Jack McGee things he is dead.

I won't tell you the rest, but I will tell you there are forces out to steal the gamma machine, Jack LeBeau, played by a sci fi great Tim Thomerson(Trancers 1-6, Nemesis 1 and 3), and his goon, played by Charles Napier(Rambo: First Blood Part II ,Austin Powers:The Spy Who Shagged Me).

This movie is awesome, I give it 10/10 and 2 thumbs up.

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
As the story goes on..., 27 January 2006

Author: Brian T. Whitlock (GOWBTW) from WILMINGTON, NC

When the show left the air in 1982, The Incredible Hulk is all but forgotten. The cast are back with a little twist, they put Thor in the reunion movie. Unlike the TV show, they indeed put in another Marvel character to make the movie worthwhile. I know my comics very well, I know that Thor(Eric Kramer) and The Hulk(Lou Ferrigno) are few of the strong titans around. And Ithink that the fight between the two could have been better. And I'm surprised that Banner(Bill Bixby, 1934-93) didn't pin the blame on Thor. Banner goes by Banion since Jack McGee(Jack Colvin) is after the creature. When McGee goes too far, it's up to the heroes to make the save. Thor takes out the car with Mjollnir(The Hammer), and the Hulk takes out the rest of the trash including Mcgee who had to "hang around" for the police to question him. I know his reporter days are permanently suspended! This reunion movie was great, and when I was younger, I was very afraid of the show. Goes to show how silly I was, I watch reruns nowadays, and I laugh my head off at everything. Great movie, great story, will Banner find the cure? Or will he keep trying? See the movie, enjoy the shows while you can. Rating 5 stars.

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