The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989)

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.

I grew up watching the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno "The Incredible Hulk" television series as well as the made-for-TV movies, so in going back to watching this I am tempted to bring in a bit of nostalgia but I will do my best in suppressing that as much as possible to give a relatively objective review. However, I still found this to be entertaining. To this day I can appreciate the sense optimism in the writing and film making that came from the 1980s. Even though "The Trial of the Incredible Hulk" was 1989, I can still feel that optimism and go along with the fun that it brings; even with all its faults and missed opportunities I can still sit and enjoy it for what it is. A care free, fun comic book television film. Even with the fun I had, I do want to bring up the aspects I have against the movie first before ending on its strengths. For instance, a film called "The Trial of the Incredible Hulk"...there's no trial. Unless you count one dream sequence that runs a little too long, then that's it. This felt like a completely missed opportunity to put David Banner and the Hulk on trial. This could have been a very interesting commentary on the people who commit crimes that have been diagnosed with split or multiple personality disorders. I believe there could have been a lot of material to work off of in those regards and gave the audience something with much more depth to it in a time where comic book movies hadn't gone far down before. But to be fair, that's not necessarily what the original series was all about. It had heart of course, but it wasn't known for its social commentary. The show, as well as the TV movies are a campy good time; albeit with a grounded and internally tormented lead character. And another thing that I have a small gripe about is *SPOILER ALERT* how the villain, Wilson Fisk, gets away. He flies off in an aircraft that I would have seen the Fantastic Four riding around in, which is a little too silly for how relatively grounded the film was being prior. Yes, it did have plenty of its campy moments but it never felt like a cartoon...for the most part...until the end. Other than that this was still enjoyable for what it is. As long as you're not trying to take it too seriously then it shouldn't be hard to get into. Bill Bixby does yet another great job in the role of David Banner and shows that he did have some talent behind the camera as a director. It's always fun to see Lou Ferrigno pummeling some bad guys. Rex Smith as Matt Murdock/DareDevil is actually pretty fun and charismatic. And the Kingpin, played by John Rhys-Davies is obviously chewing some scenery. In terms of villains, he isn't a very well developed character but at that point the Kingpin was known best for just being a big bald guy that runs crime from atop his tower so the actor did what he could to at least make him a little fun to watch. So if this sounds like you could sit and have some mindless fun then here you go.

Dr. David Banner (superbly played by Bill Bixby, who also directed) gets jailed for assault after stopping two men from terrorizing a woman on the subway. Banner's shrewd blind lawyer Matt Murdock (a fine performance by Rex Smith) turns out to be vigilante superhero Daredevil, who enlists Banner's assistance in taking out arch criminal Wilson Fisk (John Rhys-Davis in top-rate smoothly villainous form). Bixby, working from an earnest and engrossing script by Gerald Dipego, relates the compelling story at a steady pace, maintains a serious tone throughout, and stages the action set pieces with a reasonable amount of flair and competence (a nightmare sequence with the Hulk trashing a courtroom rates as the definite exciting highlight). Moreover, the teaming up of two classic Marvel superheroes is both interesting and inspired, plus the Hulk (intensely portrayed with growly menace by Lou Ferrigno) seems more fearsome and dangerous than ever. Bixby and Smith display a natural and engaging chemistry in the leads, with sturdy support from Nancy Everhard as Murdock's smitten partner Christa Klein, Marta DuBois as the frightened Ellie Mendez, Nicholas Hormann as Fisk's cowed henchman Edgar, and Joseph Mascolo as hard-nosed police chief Albert G. Tendelli. Both Chuck Colwell's sharp cinematography and Lance Rubin's melodic and melancholy score are up to speed. Worth a watch for fans of the series.

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)