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Topic: The Incredible Hulk

Douglas Meltzer
Moderator

Posts: 4554
From: New York, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 14, 2008 12:40 PM

With Universal’s latest “Hulk” movie in the theaters, I thought it might be a good time to look back at an earlier incarnation of the big green guy. The CBS television series debuted in 1978 and ran for 5 seasons, followed by three made-for-tv movies.

Universal 8 released a 2 x 400’ version that’s very well edited. However, it’s a strange combination of the 1977 two hour pilot and the series’ 7th episode “747”.

Part One:
We start with titles that appear to be made specifically for this 8mm release, since they combine the casts from both the pilot and the later episode. Dr. Bruce Banner (Bill Bixby) is driving with his wife when a tire blows out, causing the car to veer off the road. Banner is thrown clear while the car rolls over, trapping his wife inside. As it starts to catch fire, Banner desperately tries to lift the car to rescue his wife, but he cannot summon enough strength. As the fire rages on, Bruce wakes from his nightmare and stares at the empty space beside him in the bed.

At the Culver Institute, Dr. Banner is interviewing a woman who was in a similar car accident, but she was able to lift the car in order to rescue her young son.

Obsessed with discovering why his case studies found remarkable power in times of stress when he could not, Banner sees a correlation between gamma levels and increased strength. In a radiology lab, he exposes himself to high levels of gamma radiation. We know this is risky because the “danger” light on the instrument panel is flashing.

Driving home in a thunderstorm, the tire blows out (not a good film for tire manufacturers) and Banner tries to change the tire in the torrential downpour. The jack breaks, injuring his hand, and boy does he get angry. So angry that his eyes turn white, his shirt starts to rip, and he becomes the title character (bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno). The Hulk smashes the car, picks it up and tosses it down a hill, where it explodes.

Stopping by a lake, the Hulk sees his reflection and in a nice touch, we see the transformation back to Bruce Banner in the ripples of the water.

With a change of clothes, Banner calls a radiation specialist for help. Bruce heads to the airport and boards a Columbia Airlines flight. That’s a dead giveaway something bad is about to happen. Columbia was the airline name in “Airport 1975”, so whenever Universal had a tv script that called for a plane in peril, you could expect to see footage from that disaster film.

A flight attendant is seen doping the flight crew's coffee, but a passenger takes one of the cups by mistake. Of course, he’s sitting next to Banner. The flight attendant and the co-pilot are actually drugging the rest of the crew so they can steal the priceless King Tut artifacts that are in the cargo hold. They plan to parachute out with the loot and let the plane crash.

Part Two:
Banner is concerned about his unconscious seat mate and knocks on the flight cabin door. The evil co-pilot asks the doctor to follow him to the cargo hold to get the “medical kit”. He imprisons Banner in a large metal container, opens the cargo door and starts to push it off the plane! Banner becomes the great green beast and after a struggle he finds himself dangling outside the aircraft. The Hulk soon takes care of the bad guy but a key hydraulic line is punctured! The Hulk changes back to the good doctor and soon he’s in the pilot’s seat trying to fly the plane. A passenger hops into the co-pilot’s seat to help. This young fellow is Brandon Cruz, who played Bill Bixby’s son in “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father”. Good time for a reunion.

With ground control attempting to give Banner a quick course in flying, things get stressful and his alter ego appears, just in time to give a strong tug on that stuck wheel. The plane lands safely, the Hulk scares the passengers and runs off.

A very solid edit job by the Universal team, but I wonder why they chose to include “747” as opposed to continuing on with the original film. One possibility is that they felt there should be more action in part two. The digest is enjoyable, moves quickly and it’s always nice to see the very talented Mr. Bixby on the screen. The print quality is good. The color on my print has faded a touch, but there are still strong blues and especially (a good thing, considering the hero)…..greens.

Doug

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I think there's room for just one more film.....