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.
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.
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
