Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman

After having just watched a 1973 TV movie and a 1987 TV movie with the bionic characters, I had the opportunity to watch the 1989 TV movie with the long title "Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman". In fact, I never even heard about this movie before now in 2022, as I sat down to watch it.

I have to admit that I wasn't harboring much of any high expectations for this movie from writers Michael Sloan, Brock Choy and Robert De Laurentiis, as the previous two movies had been mediocre entertainment as best. But I figured that since this 1989 TV movie had Sandra Bullock on the cast list, then I might as well give it a chance.

The storyline in "Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman" was every bit as straight forward and generic as it had been in the previous 1973 TV movie and the 1987 TV movie, so I wasn't in for anything great here. Sure, it was watchable for what it was, but it was by no means a gem in cinematic history.

The acting in the movie was adequate from the likes of Lee Majors, Lindsay Wagner, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Yagher and more.

Visually then "Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman" didn't really impress much. The special effects were sparse, so nothing to write home about there.

My rating of director Alan J. Levi's 1989 TV movie "Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman" lands on a bland five out of ten stars.

DID YOU SEE THE PART WHERE SANDY RUNS AROUND THE TRACK AND FIELD??? WHOA! SHE WAS SO SO SO SO SOOOOO SEXY IN THAT LEOTARD! IF ONLY THAT FILM WAS FOR SALE ON VIDEO OR SOMETHING, I WOULD'VE GRABBED A COPY OF IT SO FAST! BUT NOOOOO, IT WAS MADE - FOR - TV! I'M ****ED.....

I must admit, when my hubby told me this was going to be on last night, I laughed out loud. Sandra is/was/will be very cute & perky, & she does a good job no matter how bad the script/storyline is. The 2 hours I spent in front of the TV was well worth the laughs I got from the sound & visual effects. I miss the old Bionic sounds from the TV show!!!

If you have the opportunity to watch this, I'd say do it, but don't expect too much. Instead, just expect a cute story with a bit of a love line & a bit of a spy line.

Was I glad to see some more of Steve and Jaime. I just loved the 1970's series. However I missed two things in all three reunion movies. First of all, I missed the 1970's look (furniture, clothes, cars, etc.) since I believe the 1970's was the ONLY decade that had style and taste (I hated the 1980's). But most importantly, where were the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman theme music? It was a mistake not to include the themes. In fact, almost all remakes/reunion movies used the theme of the original shows. Just look at Mission Impossible, The Saint, The Wild Wild West, The Avengers, SWAT, etc. They all used the themes of the shows those movies were based upon. It wouldn't be James Bond without the James Bond theme. Yet sadly in none of the SMDM-BW reunion movies the theme from either show was present.

American cheats to win gold at the Olympics. True story? No, but if it was, it could be about ANY American athlete...Marion Jones et.al.

Actually, this is a movie which brings back TV favourites "The six million dollar man" and "The bionic woman"...remember? Steve Austin as the six dollar million man? Jaime Sommers as the bionic woman? These two characters are people who have had horrific accidents which nearly kill them, but they are 'fixed' by a secret US government organisation using advanced mechanical/electronic devices (to replace lost or damaged limbs/organs). Austin and Sommers then use their 'superpowers' to fight spys etc. That's the basic plot of the old series.

This telemovie (?) features Sandra Bullock (!!) as a new 'bionic' person. Looks to have been a pilot which never got commissioned into a television series. Surprise, surprise!

If you are nostalgic about the original series, you will enjoy seeing Austin and Sommers again. The special effects are different to the original series. I'm giving this movie a really low score for the stupid Olympics segment I mentioned earlier. Truly inane. Did the US Olympic team watch this movie for inspiration/justification?

Anyway, I first saw this movie LATE at night on commercial TV, maybe a couple of years ago, or so. May even have been a premier! For die-hard fans only.