Superhero Flicks, Part 5: The Hulk

Superman & Batman, Spider-Man & Hulk, Kermit & Fozzy, peanut butter & jelly....


The Incredible Hulk (1977)

The film-

The pilot movie to the TV series.
Man, what a great show this was.
Bill Bixby was fuckin' awesome.
I took him for granted, but when you look back...y'know?
He brought sincerity and verisimilitude to that role, and deflated a lot of the potential silly.
Cool actor.

The history-

Well, first, from here...

Well, I have some fuzzy memories of being in a crib, and a playpen, but my first clear memories start at two, with receiving my first Star Wars action figures.
A bunch of other stuff happened, I'm sure, but the next clear memory that's left is of Dad handing me my first comic, Batman issue 307.
My next memory, and where my memory record finally gets perfectly clear, is of the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno Incredible Hulk series.
Then bam, next comes Superman The Movie.
That's it, no going back, geekdom had taken hold. :)

So, there you go, Hulk is literally my first clear memory. :)

Then, of course, this story happened when I was 5...(Raunchy Hulk)..and full-circled to today.

Oh, right, got an autograph from Lou Ferrigno one time at Scarborough Downs.
He signed it "Hulk".
Still got that on my wall here.


The Incredible Hulk Returns

The film-

"The one with Thor", to most people, so, I'll go with it.
It's the one with Thor.

Loved it, retroactively one of the best episodes of the show.
Possibly the best...but...the two parter where he marries Marriette Hartley, and the one where he runs into an evil old man Hulk were both pretty damned good too.

Wish they'd done more of these, with more Marvel heroes..but...it wasn't to be... :(

The history-

Oh, I was just apeshit when this came on TV.
I still dig it.
I had this recorded on VHS, but I'm pretty sure it degraded, I gotta upgrade this to DVD.


The Trial of The Incredible Hulk

The film-

The one with Daredevil.

This was the first onscreen live-action Daredevil I believe...yup.

Ehhh...not a big Daredevil nut.
And the costume on this guy was weak.
What? No red?
Just a black ninja pajamas getup?
Meh.

The history-

Okay, I deliberately don't remember much of this one, it wasn't that hot, but..there's one scene that burnt into my memory...

And, matter of fact, it's the exact scene depicted on that VHS box up there.

Banner has a dream he's in court being grilled on the stand, and I can't remember what they ask him, I think asking him to account for the time during which he was having a Hulk-out, and..well, it plays out kinda like this...

Murdock- Answer the question, David!

Chick attorney- Why won't you answer the question?

Judge- (barked out in drill sergeant voice) YOUMUSTANSWERTHEQUESTIOOON!!!

Now, loop that about a minimum of 5 times, like "help me Smee", and you get the effect.

Gives me a chuckle for some reason.

Anyway, that loop drives Banner batty, and he Hulks out in the dream, which makes him wake up, and Hulk out in real life.

That's my favorite Hulk-out ever.

But, it's the only bit I remember, so, the rest must've stunk.

Oh, yeah, that's right, there was actually more Daredevil bullshit in this than Hulk, he was actually the guest star in his own movie.
I always got the sense this was an attempted Daredevil spinoff pilot.
...didn't work.


The Death of The Incredible Hulk

The film-

Um...lessee...no guest-star superheroes, Banner pretends to be a janitor, befriends an old man scientist, and his wife,  they try to make a cure for him, some b-plot with Banner falling for and banging a lady spy, possibly Russian, Hulk falls off a helicopter, leaves a crater, turns to Banner, dies.

The finer details are hazy...

But, yeah, for whatever reason, Bixby killed off TV Hulk.
I wished he had found the cure, and walked off into the sunset one last time happy.
Ah, well.
Maybe Bixby wanted to avoid a shitty remake within that continuity.
Kinda like how when Robert Crumb ice-picked Fritz The Cat...
I dunno.

Anyway, Bill Bixby died of cancer not a couple years after this, and he knew he was sick then..so...there weren't going to be anymore anyway.
*Sad sigh*

The history-

So, yeah, by the time this one rolled around, I was old enough not to be heartbroken, after all, I still had Hulk in the comic books, but, I just resigned myself to the (then assumed) fact Hulk was pretty much done in the live-action medium, and warmly reflected on what a great ride it had all been.


Hulk

The film-

From here...

Fuck you, I like the Ang Lee Hulk.
Spidey was good, but I was a Hulk kid growing up, so, this fullfilled the kid in me far better than Star Wars prequels.
Yeah, I'm slamming the prequels a fucking lot, but...come on, 16 fucking years, dreaming of it since childhood, and then...that?!?!
But, Hulk didn't let me down.
It tapped into everything that made the comic great in the 80's/90's which was my span of collecting the series.
And Nick Nolte plays great crazy in this.
I dug him in "Jefferson In Paris", too.
Well, he's done a lot of good shit, I'm a fan.
And, the Velvet Revolver song kicked too.

The history-

The above covers it well enough.


The Incredible Hulk (2008)

The film-

From here again....

A little bit thinner, y'know, less meatier, than the first one, but I enjoyed it.
Would have been a typical issue of the comic book from when I was a small kid.
Or, an episode of the old show.
Each Hulk flick covers different strengths of different eras of the books, I enjoy both.
This one had more monster action, for sure.
Some goofball critic said this was "as good as Iron Man", eh...apples and oranges.
I do dig the Robert Downey cameo, indeed all the other easter eggs in the other Marvel flicks leading up to "The Avengers".
That's been a blast to see unfold.
Why, its been more enjoyable than looking forward to..well...Star Wars prequels.

The history-

Ditto the last one...


So, that's Marvel's big two, up next, The Avengers!