Entry 92: The Incredible Hulk (1977)

The Incredible Hulk (1977)

Dir: Kenneth Johnson

"Within each of us, ofttimes, there dwells a mighty and raging fury."


Well, here it is...I've had a few folks ask me if ol' Greenskin was ever going to make an appearance in this blog; see, in addition to off-kilter cinema, I'm also a huge fan of comics, and the Hulk is my absolute favorite.  While many superhero film adaptations are a little too big/mainstream to pop up here in the Basement, there are a few that fit my (admittedly pretty goddamn lax) criteria.  So toss on your best pair of purple pants, dial up the gamma radiation and join me for the 1977 telemovie The Incredible Hulk!

Years after failing to save his wife from a fiery car wreck, brilliant but obsessive biologist Dr. David Banner (Bill Bixby, TV's My Favorite Martian and The Magician) is determined to discover why some human beings are able to exhibit feats of superhuman strength during times of crisis while others are not.  He is aided by foxy fellow scientist/love interest Dr. Elaina Marks (veteran TV actress Susan Sullivan).  Determining that increased gamma radiation from the sun's rays effects human strength, Banner accidentally exposes himself to a gamma overdose during a botched experiment, which causes him to painfully transform into a 7-foot green creature (Lou Ferrigno, Pumping Iron, Hercules) whenever he grows angry or terrified.  After spooking some hunters, the creature draws the attention of tabloid reporter Jack McGee (Jack Colvin, Embryo, Child's Play), who comes snooping around Banner's lab.  After McGee's meddling and the creature's destructive rage cause an accidental explosion, Marks is killed and Banner, believed to be dead, is forced to go on the run in hopes of finding a cure for his affliction...

I'm pretty goddamn fond of 70s TV movies in general, and The Incredible Hulk is at the top of the heap of my personal favorites.  Writer/director Johnson (TV's Bionic Woman and V) was famously bewildered by comics and threw much of the source material away, choosing instead to base the tone of his film on Victor Hugo's Les Miserables and the melodramatic angst and mad scientist-trappings of Universal's classic Frankenstein and Wolf Man movies.  The comics fan in me may chaff at this, but I can't deny the effectiveness of the results.  As Banner, Bixby gives a soulful, riveting, haunted performance and grounds the film in broken human emotions.  His remains the DEFINITIVE screen Banner.  Ferrigno is imposing and genuinely scary as the monster and Colvin brings the right amount of sleaze and slime to his reporter role.  While the time-elapse transformation effects and slow-mo action sequences (something Johnson perfected during his tenure as showrunner on Bionic Woman) feel extremely dated today, the film carries an emotional weight that still resonates and is often lost amid the bombast of today's superhero blockbusters.  Jesus Christ, I'm getting all touchy-feely about a 70's superhero movie...Somebody get me a box of tissues!  The Incredible Hulk was a ratings smash and led to a 1978-82 regular television series.  That occasionally-effective, often-silly series never quite matched the high watermark set by this impressive movie.  Do check it out.  Fun fact:  though he's become indelibly linked with the character, Ferrigno was Johnson's third attempt at casting the role.  First choice Arnold Schwarzenegger was deemed too short and too handsome; second choice Richard Kiehl (Jaws from the Roger Moore Bond films) was actually cast and filmed for a few days, but was ultimately deemed "too skinny" to play the Hulk.