1988; 100 minutes
Written and Directed by Nicholas Corea; Produced by Nicholas Corea, Bill Bixby, Daniel McPhee
Following two years without transformative incident, David 'Banyon' is working at a science facility where the completion of his invention of an innovative gamma transponder brings him to the tip of a cure, which will finally allow him to lead a normal life with his latest love, Maggie Shaw (also a scientist at the facility). As he begins experimentation on himself yet again, a former student - Donald Blake - of his interrupts proceedings to talk about his discovery of a hammer some time ago, a weapon that allows him to call up Thor (the God of Thunder...) at will. Proving a sceptical David wrong Blake indeed calls forth Thor, who then goes on to cause havoc at the lab, this predictably triggering the Hulk's arrival. A battle ensues leaving a wrecked lab and Blake hanging around to help David put things back together again. Meanwhile some bad chaps plot to steal the transponder for ransom money, ending up kidnapping David's girlfriend instead. Thor and Hulk join forces to get back the girl and wipe out the bad chaps.
Adopting a more childish approach than the preceding TV series, the first TV movie veers more than it had previously into fantasy territory with the magical materialisation of Thor (not quite a faithful retelling of the comic story). Hulk's hair looks worse than ever here, and the dialogue frequently takes on a juvenile persona - 80s TV was nowhere near as sophisticated as TV was later to become, but I feel there was also a deliberate agenda here to make the film more accessible to kids. Younger viewers who may be used to the current Marvel machine and its interpretations of the comic characters will scoff at both Thor and Hulk no doubt. One notable appearance comes in the form of the ever-active Charles Napier, who appeared in the Triangle episode as well as being credited with the voice of the Hulk throughout much of the series' existence.
Seven years seemed like a long time back in the eighties (I know, I was there), and the first time I saw this film I was expecting great advances in the special effects. Alas it was firmly rooted in its 1977 origins. I will say though that Ferrigno looked even more beefed up here than ever. The film unfortunately is plagued with illogical occurrences (e.g. when Blake first appears he takes the risk of climbing into the facility with a grappling hook/rope and manages to find David's lab, rather than simply stopping the guy on his way in or out of the building), and is on the whole a tedious extension of the classic series.
Number of Fists: **
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