The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

RELEASED TO TV IN 1989 and directed by Bill Bixby, "The Trial of the Incredible Hulk" is the second of three movies in the wake of the TV series that ran from 1977-82.

PLOT AND MAIN CAST: Drifter David Banner (Bill Bixby) is held as a suspect in a crime connected to the Kingpin, Wilson Fisk (John Rhys-Davies), but is helped by blind lawyer, Matt Murdock (Rex Smith), who knows he's telling the truth and just so happens to be the masked crime-fighter Daredevil. Lou Ferrigno plays the jade giant while Nancy Everhard appears as Murdock's office associate. Marta DuBois plays the crime victim manipulated by the Kingpin.

This one isn't as good as the previous "The Incredible Hulk Returns" (1988) because it's hard to beat Eric Allan Kramer's charismatic performance as Thor. The way Daredevil is depicted in his first appearance on the screen is pretty faithful to the comics (a mix of Stan Lee's original version with Frank Miller's early 80's version), except that the creators inexplicably opted for an all-black costume rather than dark red. Perhaps it was cheaper to have a black costume or maybe they felt it would be more realistic. Either way, it was a mistake. Nevertheless, the costume's not bad and it sorta makes Daredevil look like a ninja.

Daredevil's origin is eventually divulged and it's pretty interesting. I always felt he was one of the more fascinating superheroes due to his blindness and heightened other senses. It would take fourteen more years before Daredevil would make his theatrical debut (2003) and 26 years before he'd get his own TV series (2015). Ferrigno is effective as usual as the green goliath. Unfortunately, the creators fumble the ball in the female department as the characters played by Dubois and Everhard are pretty unsubstantial.

THE FILM RUNS 93 minutes and was shot in the Vancouver, B.C., area. WRITER: Gerald Di Pego.

GRADE: B-/C+

Of all episodes (I know this is a feature film), this one will come across as quite grim. On the whole, this is the only episode where viewers will see the Hulk 'extra' angry.

ITV (UK TV) showed this in the mid 90's, which was generously cut. As a result of this the film lost its 'anger' identity for the entire plot, rendering the story useless (evidently it was edited terribly - with VHS style Pause/frame motion movement when changing to the hulk).

However (oh is this good news(?)) the good came when our channel Five played the film in its entirety a couple of years ago. It showed David's real fear of being attacked in a train, and when he turned into the Hulk, it was the first time we saw the Hulk with the intent to kill. He was ultra angry. He was ripping the seats off and snarling like a rottweiler!

Specifically during a scene at a Court, Banner was at his Hulking-best (he was even choking one of the lawyers with his hand - one of the many scenes deleted by ITV).

After it being aired on Five, the restored savageness could now justify the crap story. When ITV played it they literally killed off the point of the story... which was basically saying that David is getting a bit **s*ed off with his alter ego.

This is essentially a daredevil movie, but I really liked it. It's low budget , but gets the spirit of the comics. I always liked the guy who played Banner (sorry can't remember his name)in the TV series, he was easy to sympathize with. Haven't been able to bring myself to watch the recent daredevil or hulk films. Stan Lee criticized the movie because of daredevils costume and a few other things, but frankly for the budget (and all the early marvel movies were low budget with an oddly 1970's feel),the director and cast have managed very well. As for Fisk/Kingpin being bald, frankly no one could actually look like the giant bald guy portrayed in the comics, also don't remember anyone commenting about gene hackman playing Lex Luther in the superman movies (he is revealed to be wearing a toupee at the end of one movie)

Second TV movie after the cancellation of the Incredible Hulk series holds well. In this film Bruce Banner heads to New York still trying to find a cure for his transformation spells into the Hulk. In the process he is arrested for the attempted rape of a young woman in a subway (in fact he actually helped her). He is given Matt Murdock as his lawyer and with the help of his alter-ego Daredevil he sets out to prove his innocence and rescue the woman who has been kidnapped. As part of a plan to release a Daredevil TV show Universal thought it would be good to see if audiences will enjoy Daredevil. Oh well the show never went further than this, but it still is a pretty good original appearance for Daredevil. Followed by The Death of the Incredible Hulk. 3 1/2 OUT OF 5 STARS.

David Banner (Bill Bixby) has been drifting and avoiding confrontations after faking his own death. He fears his anger could turn him into The Hulk (Lou Ferrigno) after the gamma radiation experiment. Blind lawyer Matt Murdock is secretly superhero Daredevil. His nemesis is wealthy criminal Wilson Fisk (John Rhys-Davies) who directs a diamond store heist from the comforts of his tower. In the subway, two of Fisk's men harass Ellie Mendez. Banner gets in the middle and turns into the Hulk. He ends up getting arrested after Mendez is threatened and she turns witness against Banner. Murdock takes on his case. Christa Klein is his assistant. Albert G. Tendelli is an incorruptible police captain.

I watched The Incredible Hulk sporadically when I was a child. The sad tone probably put me off. Watching this as an adult, I'm appreciating the characterization of Banner. The Hulk makes a few appearances including a dream sequence of the trial with a Stan Lee cameo. It's missing a final big Hulk battle with Fisk's organization. That could have been epic. This is sort of a backdoor pilot for a Daredevil series that never happened. The cast is good and there is some possibilities. Filming in Vancouver does hold it back. This is an interesting attempt at comic book adaptation back in the old days.