Le procès de l'incroyable Hulk

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)

The Trial of the Incredible Hulk was the second in a trilogy of made-for-television films continuing the agonizing journey of scientist David Banner and his quest to cure him of the inner monster called the Hulk. The Trial of the Incredible Hulk stands as the best of the bunch, and remains a fairly well-written and superbly acted telepic.

Banner is arrested and charged for a crime he doesn't commit while travelling through a city. His court-appointed attorney is the blind Matt Murdock, who strives to free Banner, who feels he must be locked up. Murdock is also fighting against the corruption of Wilson Fisk, the city's resident crime lord, in the guise of the oddly black-suited Daredevil. We find that like Banner, Murdock had an accident with radioactive materials, but while taking his sight, the atomic trauma left Matt with enhanced senses of smell, hearing, taste, touch, and radar-like sensory perception.

The late, great Bill Bixby is in top form as the strained David Banner, and his brutish counterpart, the Hulk, is again portrayed intensely by the legendary Lou Ferrigno. Rex Smith, veteran of a variety of television shows and soap operas, is excellent as Matt Murdock, and his athletic alter ego, Daredevil. Smith delivers most of the best lines in this film, and might have been a good lead in a spin-off Daredevil series. Character actor John Rhys-Davies is Wilson Fisk, the cool and calculated crime boss, known by the moniker, the Kingpin, in the comics.

The film's effects and action sequences are standard television fare -- done quickly and cheaply -- but still, it is a very promising and uplifting film, right down to its exciting climax and positive ending.

Recommended.

The Trial of the Incredible Hulk was the first live-action appearances of Daredevil/Matt Murdock and Kingpin/Wilson Fisk. For a die hard Daredevil fan, it does kinda fall flat but it's a very good attempt for "PG" rated tv. I liked Rex Smith as Daredevil and I would have enjoyed a tv series spin off, which was a possiblity at the time. I even liked the suit BETTER then the new film version! I would believe him to be more ninja like then in shiny leather, sorry... The fighting here wasn't to par with the new flick but his mannerisms give you a since that he does have a bit of struggle as a blind fighter (even if he has gifts). With the new Hulk film on the way it's refeshing to know that all these characters exist in one reality in the comics. It's fun to see them together "In The Flesh". I highly recommend picking up the new 2 disk set, which also features "Return of the Incredible Hulk with a lackluster version of Thor as his partner in heroism.

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+