The Death of the Incredible Hulk [TVM3]

1990; 95 minutes

Director of Photography Chuck Colwell

Written by Gerald DiPego; Directed by Bill Bixby

Produced by Robert Ewing, Bill Bixby, Hugh Spencer-Philips

Some time after his last incident, Banner has acquired a role at a science research institute as a cleaner, secretly using the facilities during shut-down hours to extend his own research towards finding a cure for his affliction.  Simultaneously a cat-thief is tasked with taking important materials from the labs, although only because she is essentially being blackmailed.  Coming into unexpected contact with one another in this way, Banner and the thief Jasmine form a relationship, the motivation provided by which drivers Banner forth to reach his cure.

Bixby himself had previously tested the directorial waters with The Incredible Hulk TV series on the excellent season 4 episode Bring Me the Head of the Hulk, as well of course on the TV movie preceding Death...  He knew the character and material better than anyone, so it is sorrowfully that I consider this final outing to be lethargic and almost unworthy of the name.  It certainly doesn't live up to the best or even the decent examples of the TV series, failing to elicit excitement or joy in any measure.

Hulk himself looks bizarrely clownish as he did in the other two movies, although Ferrigno was in fantastic physical shape again (he was touching 39 when he made Death...), with Bixby looking a tad worse for wear (it was a great loss to the media world when he reached his own premature demise just three years later).  The approach of this movie eschews that of Return... and Trial... by using no other superheroes (although they weren't especially super in those films...), and thus should have emulated the sentiments of the series itself a little more.  Nonetheless it feels a tad child-friendly, underpinned by a zimmer frame TV-esque (for the time) score, and a lack of the moody John McPherson lighting that characterised some of the excellent earlier episodes back in the late seventies.

Additionally, there's a lack of logic and believability (yes, I know we're talking about a transforming green giant, but a story can operate within the confines of its own fantasies with verisimilitude if handled carefully).  One example of this occurs early on when David doesn't suss that he's about to be mugged even when a limping young stranger leads him down an unpopulated alleyway - this is a fiercely intelligent scientist who's previously come across every bad character in America (only to be beaten up by half of them), you'd think he'd be slightly more wary by this stage!

There was some talk of a further movie (though I'm not sure how, given the conclusion to this one), which was never to be.  Thus, this made-for-television film was the unfortunate finale of the entire Incredible Hulk run that remains - in its entirety - a classic cycle in American television.

Number of Fists: *½

68: East Winds (4.11)

1981; 48 minutes
Director of Photography Edward Rio Rotunno
Written by Jill Sherman
Produced by Robert Bennett Steinhauer, Karen Harris, Jill Sherman
Directed by Jack Colvin

In Chinatown, whilst quietly experimenting with chemicals in his temporary abode, David is set up with a 'mail-order bride', against his wishes obviously. Trying to get rid of his new 'wife' a detective arrives, sending the woman into guilty flight. The detective seems to be correctly suspicious of the woman, who is actually more interested in a considerable quantity of hidden gold in David's apartment. She also happens to undertake enforced work for the Chinese mafia, placing David in a muddle of unwanted forces.

The second episode directed by Colvin, this leisurely paced outing is talky in places, particularly one lengthy sequence where the detective explains the events of the first Hulk appearance (his word on nothing is accepted, not just because of the green giant but also because of deeply rooted police corruption). It is notable in that Hulk receives an unusually bloody knife-wound during his first battle, and later David is the victim of a fairly nasty torture via scalding water. This is otherwise a fairly average story from long time series collaborator Jill Sherman.

Number of Fists: **

The Trial of the Incredible Hulk [TVM2]

1989; 100 minutes

Director of Photography Chuck Colwell

Written by Gerald DiPego

Produced by Robert Ewing, Bill Bixby, Gerald DiPego, Hugh Spencer-Philips

Directed by Bill Bixby

David, via Hulk, helps a woman being attacked on the subway by two thugs, but is then mistakenly accused of being the assailant. Matt Murdoch, lawyer, approaches David with legal assistance.  David is pulled into a plot to capture gangster criminal Wilson Fisk, AKA Kingpin.  Of course, Daredevil is also on the scene after Fisk.

A lacklustre continuation of the television movies, again adopting other Marvel characters as did the preceding film - this did not follow on from the philosophical vision of the original series.

Number of Fists: **

The Incredible Hulk Returns [TVM1]

1988; 100 minutes

Director of Photography Chuck Colwell

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: **

82: A Minor Problem (5.07)

1981; 48 minutes

Director of Photography Edward Rio Rotunno 
Written by Diane Frolov

Produced by Karen Harris, Jill Sherman, Andrew Schneider
Directed by Michael Preece

After being offered an interview for a laboratory assistant position at the Dere chemical research institute, David arrives at the place only to find he can't get in - it appears to be deserted.  He looks around the local town, but there's nobody there either, with food left half eaten, etc., as if the populace simply vanished instantaneously...

The opening ten minutes or so sets up a very intriguing premise that reminds me of watching something like an episode from The Twilight Zone or the sixties Avengers TV series.  I had hoped that it was because, with this being the last episode, there were efforts at play to wrap things up to some extent, but it was never to be.  I suppose closure would more so arrive in the form of the final TV movie that Bill Bixby himself directed in 1990 (Death of the Incredible Hulk).  Still, it was a pretty good episode to go out on, with some enjoyable scenery destruction from Hulk himself as a parting gesture.

Number of Fists: ****

81: Slaves (5.06)

1981; 49 minutes

Director of Photography Edward Rio Rotunno 
Written by Jeri Taylor; Produced by Jill Sherman
Directed by John Liberti (Libertini)

Following a minor mishap on the road when a woman ploughs her car right off it, David assists but even his scientific mind can't do anything about a broken radiator out in the desert.  So the two head off on foot across the desolate highway towards the next town, estimated to be thirty miles away.

They're picked up by another driver a few hours later, who takes them into a town where he says he lives by himself.  That's not quite true of course, as they're both taken captive to work down the mines looking for gold.  Their captor is a descendant of slaves and holds a grudge against white Americans, irrespective of whether they as individuals are guilty or not.  And being an ex-convict, he wants to get rich by fair means or foul.

Decent episode again, largely taking place within the confines of the mine of one of the shacks in the desolate desert town.  John Hancock puts in a great, sometimes chilling performance as the scorned Isaac Ross, while it's also extremely pleasant to see pre-V Faye Grant as the sexy, stubborn female that yet again causes David a whole heap of trouble (if she had only picked him up instead of driving right past him).  Charles Tyner also puts in a good show as Isaac's drunken sidekick.

Number of Fists: ***

80: Triangle (5.05)

1981; 49 minutes

Director of Photography Edward Rio Rotunno 
Written by Andrew Schneider; Produced by Jill Sherman
Directed by Michael Vejar

Winding up in a small town, David is working for a lumberjack company... again?!  Out of hours he has also met and fell in love with a prospering young woman who's achieved an MBA and wondering what to do next with her life, other than spend it with the traveller who has a past still enshrouded in some degree of mystery of course.  Company owner Mr Jordan himself, however, appears to be cursed with infatuation for the woman, and because he's not entirely happy with her hooking up with a 'drifter', he arranges with his bodyguards to have David run out of the town.  Despite the aggressive warnings his rediscovered feelings of attachment take over, leading him right back into the hands of trouble. 

Aside from an excess of smooching and romanticism, Triangle is quite a good story with a number of ensuing complications arising out of the relationship between David and his new-found love (an attractive presence in the shape of Andrea Marcovicci, whose most interesting moment of fame in my opinion came with her role in the tongue-in-cheek horror movie The Stuff).  Some fun bit parts also help to raise this a smidgen above the standard of season five, namely in the ever-enjoyable Charles Napier, Mickey Jones (Ricky himself), and the besotted Jordan played by reliable badguy Peter Mark Richman.  Unusually, this particular tale culminates in a twist.

Number of Fists: ****

79: Sanctuary (5.04)

1981; 49 minutes

Director of Photography Edward Rio Rotunno 
Written by Deborah Davis; Produced by Jill Sherman
Directed by Chuck Bowman

After a young man being smuggled across the border is shot by one of his captors he escapes to a nun-owned santuary where David is working as a helping hand.  The criminals attempt to get the man back, leading the nuns to ask David to impersonate an absent priest in order to give their presence a bit more authority.

David certainly wanders off the beaten track during his adventures!  The titular domain is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, the location making for an attractive setting.  David's turn as a priest is not entirely convincing but it does give way to an interesting story development for a while (and you know that the tree they cannot uproot early on is going to find its way out of the ground one way or another in this episode...).

Hulk's angry first appearance momentarily almost reminds of the raging creature that he was supposed to be, however, overall this episode continues the mundane but watchable trend of season five.

Number of Fists: ***

78: Veteran (5.03)

1981; 48 minutes

Director of Photography Edward Rio Rotunno 
Written by Reuben Leder, Nicholas Corea

Produced by Robert Bennett Steinhauer, Jill Sherman, Karen Harris
Directed by Michael Vejar

A man, apparently suffering from combat shock, stumbles into the alleyway where David is putting out rubbish.  The latter foils an attempted mugging and helps the Vietnam veteran back to health.   Once Hewitt is back on his feet he locates a place where he can conveniently unfold an assassination attempt on a local politician, who he blames for 'killing' him back in 'nam.  This location happens to be a studio run by a woman who is forced to be held hostage until the shooting can take place.

Centering around a good performance from the veteran, played by German-born Paul Koslo (he also played Rivers in Long Run Home), there is some amusement to be had from Hewitt just staggering into the studio saying that he needs to use the place, but the character is clearly a complete psychological mess (something that is explained later in the story by deeper issues than him simply being a returner from the war, as if that wouldn't be enough!).

Some enjoyable small scale destruction from the Hulk in the first half, after David has been tortured in a rather disturbing fashion by authorities, keep this one moving along.  On the other hand, the good-looking, sympathetic dance studio teacher seemingly showing affection for the broken mess that is Hewitt is a bit of a stretch.

Number of Fists: ***

77: Two Godmothers (5.02)

1981; 48 minutes

Director of Photography Edward Rio Rotunno 
Written by Reuben Leder

Produced by Jill Sherman, Andrew Schneider 
Directed by Michael Vejar

While collecting laundry from a female detention facility, David - ever in the wrong place at the wrong time - is taken hostage by three escaping prisoners and forced to drive the van out into the middle of nowhere as the women aim to hold up for a night or two.  A bigger problem is that one of them is pregnant, with the birth not too far away as the shaking of the vehicle on bumpy roads stimulates movement of the new arrival.

The group are pursued by a fascist, trigger-ready warden controller while David himself is believed to be voluntarily assisting the group.  The drama is enhanced a little by the outlawed group's forced pause in a shack as the authorities close in, occurring simultaneously with the birth being underway, although on the whole this is a running of the well worn mill.

Number of Fists: **½