The Incredible Hulk

This pre-series pilot was a good way to start off a TV saga based on a comic book superhero. To me, it is a TV-movie classic.

As you'll see in this pilot (as well as the series that followed it), our hero is really a reluctant hero. We have a man who changes into a seven-foot green creature, but he doesn't want to. All he wants is to be rid of the curse. Still, he has to give his alter-ego credit for having saved countless lives.

The three characters in the series are also ones that I can relate to because of various common traits, and they are as follows:

David Banner: he is a man looking for solace. In addition, I know what it's like to be close to obtaining certain goals, only to have them suddenly slip away. He's experienced that himself when he has thought that he would finally be cured of his problem, only to have something happen and ruin that chance.

The Incredible Hulk: he has experienced something we all experience in life: rejection. In his case, the rejections tend to result from some misunderstanding. Like the Frankenstein monster, the Hulk is misunderstood, and, therefore, people confuse his intentions. Few people will admit it, but I am sometimes misunderstood. And I suspect that other people's general misconceptions about me has often played a role in my being rejected.

Jack McGee: he is, of course, the newspaper reporter who chases the Hulk, thinking our hero is a killer. McGee is persistent in his goal to capture and expose the Hulk. Like McGee, I am very relentless when it comes to reaching certain objectives, and I tend not to give up until they are finally obtained.

The 1977 Hulk adaptation done as a pilot for the TV series was, by TV standards...well, incredible. Lou Ferrigno and Bill Bixby were perfectly cast in their roles. The "special effects" were about all they could do at the time, so you can't hold the body paint or Tina Turner wig against them. They didn't detract from the story at all, but rather, boosted it: making them superior to most special effects today. The origin, of course, was rewritten, as was Hulk's level of power, to make them more believable. Well, it worked, and this version of the Hulk is still a favorite among Hulk fans to this day. Interesting to note is the music and sound. First of all is the opening "Dr.David Banner...physician...scientist..." segment. It's not present in this movie, since this was only the pilot. Also, you'll notice the sound of wailing voices as he transforms, in contrast to the weird Twilight Zonish-noise used from mid-1st season until its end. "The Lonely Man" theme (played at the end of each episode) gave this show its own signature, and helped to boost otherwise lame episodes, giving them more poignancy than deserved (of the series run, "The First," and "Bride of the Incredible Hulk" were the best [both 2parters]). I really felt the lack of a signature sound/theme is one of the key factors holding back the big-budget movie that just came out.

The Hulk's first incarnation on TV was this made for television movie starring Bill Bixby as the green giant. I don't know Hulk's origins in the Marvel Comics series, but here Dr. David Banner (Bixby) is experimenting with gamma rays, trying desperately to figure out how people get an incredible flow of Adrenalin when faced with utter danger. Having recently lost his wife in a car crash and not being able to save her in his attempts to lift the vehicle, Banner is nothing short of obsessed with finding out why he failed where others succeeded in saving their loved ones. Once he starts injecting gamma rays into his body he turns into the green giant whenever he gets really mad.

This is no grandiose spectacle, it's rather cheap looking really, with that oh so 70's look and feel with special effects at a very minimum. It is however a very well written and totally involving story, well acted and ultimately very tragic. The scenes involving the Hulk aren't spectacular visually speaking but they are powerful, especially his first appearance on that rainy thunderstorm night when Banner gets mad while changing his tier. The love story here, between Banner and a fellow scientist, is very well played out and makes for a strong ending for the film.

This film was the starting block for a long running TV series, but on it's own the film is very satisfying, definitely won't entertain younger viewers who're used to such visual extravaganza's as most modern superhero films are these days. I however like it very much, it takes it's time in establishing the character, it's a very human story that doesn't go overboard despite it's subject matter and it has a bitter ending that makes it all the more memorable.

This cheap looking made for TV film is also a lot better than the 2003 version which I found simply terrible.

Forget the recent laughable FX travesty starring Eric Bana, watch this gripping TV movie which was the pilot for the long-running series. Credit must be given to Kenny Johnson for straying from the comics (which featured the Hulk fighting mutant super-villains) and bringing in a more believable premise. Despite the slight name change, David Bruce Banner is just as tormented a character as his comic book namesake. As Bruce Banner in the comics is haunted by the abuse he suffered from his father, David Banner is disturbed by the fact that he could not save his wife in a car crash, which drives him into investigating what factors can trigger human strength at times of stress. Of course, he injects himself with too much gamma radiation, and whenever angered, his body and muscles expand, his clothes rip and he turns into Lou Ferrigno, wearing a bushy wig and painted green. After he first becomes the Hulk, David wants to find out why and how it happened, with the help of a scientist friend. He sets about finding a cure, only to be hindered by nosy reporter Jack McGee.

The Incredible Hulk certainly has its moments. Bill Bixby gives intensity and emotion to his beleaguered character, and Susan Sullivan is solid as his only friend Dr. Elaina Marks. But the best sequences involve the presence of the Big Green Man. In terms of physical shape, Ferrigno was at his peak here and he was excellent as The Hulk. Unlike the bloated, badly drawn movie Hulk, this Hulk is mean, convincingly hard and capable of violence, but he also has a heart and tries to save innocent people.

This is a lot better than the television show that followed and that footage in the rain with David transforming into The Hulk for the first time is outstanding! Note the editing and music used in this footage. Right after this scene we cut to the lake scene with the direction and music still on a very high standard: even the green paint on The Hulk's skin looks more impressive than usual! But this high standard of production could never last in the lower budget weekly television series, which is too bad as this movie displayed what The Incredible Hulk series could have been if more money was put into it! I am told The Incredible Hulk series got more female viewers than male viewers so maybe I was the wrong sex for it?