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

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.

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.

I found this older movie streaming on Peacock. I watched it for two reasons. The first was a very young Sandra Bullock in her very early career. The second was because years earlier I had enjoyed the TV series this is based on.

Lindsay Wagner is Jaime Sommers, the Bionic Woman, while Lee Majors is Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man. The two of course are very close and by the end of this movie it seems they will get even much closer.

It is a cold war story of spying and espionage. The latest person to get the medical treatment to turn her into a super person is 25-yr-old Sandra Bullock as Kate Mason. She ends up being entered in a track and field competition with athletes from the USSR, running the 400 meters.

This is not a great movie but entertaining as a slice of how TV movies were made back then. When the various characters went into super speed mode they simulated that by slowing them down, basically into slow motion, but it works!

Fun viewing.

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.

Another great comeback for Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner as the bionic duo of Steve Austin and Jamie Sommers. Unfortunately, the movie tended to show more of Sandra Bullock at times than Lee Majors or Lindsay Wagner. Yes, a lot of people who commented here said that she was great. I agree her character was fantastic. Her character, Kate, overcame paralysis when she received a bionic leg. But I felt that her character was only supposed to be a supporting one here, not in practically every other scene. But I think this is probably how she got noticed in this film and made it to the big screen. The story is basically about a bionic villain who tries to assassinate Russian diplomats watching an olympic-type event. Note how they couldn't use the word, Olympics. Probably the IOC said no to the producers.