I was 14 years old when this movie came out, and I refused to watch it back then. Even though I had been a big Bill Bixby fan from his "My Favorite Martian" and "Courtship of Eddie's Father" days, I wasn't a fan of comic books and figured this series would just be hokey.
Fast forward to 2010.... I discovered that RTV is showing "The Incredible Hulk" TV series, and being a Bill Bixby fan I decided to check out an episode. WOW! I had no idea this was such a great human drama. Well, I started watching episodes nightly for several months, and was quite impressed with the writing and acting (and that haunting theme music I just can't seem to get out of my head), but never got a chance to see the original pilot movie.
Yesterday I found the pilot is available on Hulu, so I watched it. I was overwhelmed. The performances by Bill Bixby, Susan Sullivan, Jack Colvin, and Lou Ferigno were so believable and moving. I'm not a sentimentalist usually, but I nearly cried twice during that movie! It makes me sad to think I missed this for all those 33 years! The emotional range of Bill Bixby in this episode just astounds me. I felt like I was experiencing every nuance of emotion just as he was. I am just amazed by Mr. Bixby's dramatic range, and feel he is truly under-rated and under-appreciated as a performer. I really miss him, and was very saddened by his all-too-early demise. Susan Sullivan's character's bravery and compassion when confronted with the Hulk for the first time is a treasure in acting. I liked Jack Colvin's work in this pilot, and greatly enjoyed the development of his character in the series. He was the quintessential hard-nosed investigative reporter. One surprise for me was the depth of Lou Ferigno's performance. In the series he doesn't get to show quite as much of a range of emotions as he did in this pilot, and I think that is a bit of a shame, as his performance was exemplary.
Bottome line: Perhaps you, like me, missed an opportunity to catch this on its first run because you thought the subject matter (the Hulk comic book character) would just be an insult to your intelligence. Let me assure you this is a great pilot that led to a great series. If you have never seen this pilot, watch it!
Fast forward to 2010.... I discovered that RTV is showing "The Incredible Hulk" TV series, and being a Bill Bixby fan I decided to check out an episode. WOW! I had no idea this was such a great human drama. Well, I started watching episodes nightly for several months, and was quite impressed with the writing and acting (and that haunting theme music I just can't seem to get out of my head), but never got a chance to see the original pilot movie.
Yesterday I found the pilot is available on Hulu, so I watched it. I was overwhelmed. The performances by Bill Bixby, Susan Sullivan, Jack Colvin, and Lou Ferigno were so believable and moving. I'm not a sentimentalist usually, but I nearly cried twice during that movie! It makes me sad to think I missed this for all those 33 years! The emotional range of Bill Bixby in this episode just astounds me. I felt like I was experiencing every nuance of emotion just as he was. I am just amazed by Mr. Bixby's dramatic range, and feel he is truly under-rated and under-appreciated as a performer. I really miss him, and was very saddened by his all-too-early demise. Susan Sullivan's character's bravery and compassion when confronted with the Hulk for the first time is a treasure in acting. I liked Jack Colvin's work in this pilot, and greatly enjoyed the development of his character in the series. He was the quintessential hard-nosed investigative reporter. One surprise for me was the depth of Lou Ferigno's performance. In the series he doesn't get to show quite as much of a range of emotions as he did in this pilot, and I think that is a bit of a shame, as his performance was exemplary.
Bottome line: Perhaps you, like me, missed an opportunity to catch this on its first run because you thought the subject matter (the Hulk comic book character) would just be an insult to your intelligence. Let me assure you this is a great pilot that led to a great series. If you have never seen this pilot, watch it!