"Dr. David Banner, physician, scientist, searching for a way to tap into the hidden strengths that all humans have. Then an accidental overdose of gamma radiation alters his body chemistry, and now when David Banner grows angry or outraged, a startling metamorphosis occurs." - "The Incredible Hulk" Opening Credits
The Incredible Hulk: The Television Series Ultimate Collection DVD Review
By Jonathan Boudreaux
Following on the heels of The Incredible Hulk: Original Television Series Premiere - and just in time to help hype the DVD release of big screen disappointment The Hulk - Universal has now released The Incredible Hulk: The Television Series Ultimate Collection. This six DVD set gathers up eighteen episodes of the 1978-1982 CBS series which starred Bill Bixby as Dr. David Banner, a scientist who, after a lab experiment gone awry, turns into a primitive green beast (played by Lou Ferrigno) whenever he gets angry or feels threatened. When the beast is falsely accused of murder, Banner is forced to run until he can prove the creature's innocence and find a cure for his uncontrollable rages. Complicating matters is the fact that Jack McGee (Jack Colvin), an investigative reporter for the trashy tabloid The National Register, is hot on the trail of the creature he calls "The Hulk."
Ultimate Collection culls episodes from throughout the series' run, including "A Death in the Family," "747," "Rainbow's End," "Another Path," "Stop the Presses," "Mystery Man (Parts 1 & 2)," "The Disciple," "Kindred Spirits," "The Psychic," "Prometheus (Parts 1 & 2)," "Dark Side," "Deep Shock," "The First (Parts 1 & 2)," and "The Harder They Fall."
This set is truly a mixed bag. A few of the episodes are entertaining, but for the most part they are terribly dated. While '70s relics like Charlie's Angels remain fun because their tongue-in-cheek tone allows them to age into camp classics, Hulk is often too stubbornly earnest to provoke laughs. In the episode "Another Path," guest star Mako plays a blind, pidgin-English speaking, martial arts practicing Chinaman who David hopes will teach him meditative methods of self-control. With its sub-Enter the Dragon settings (San Francisco's Chinatown here looks more like Chinese Restaurant Town) and lame chopsocky sequences, this episode should be amusing, yet it remains deadly serious (even while the plot remains hopelessly inept). It plays like a humorless version of The Kentucky Fried Movie's "Fistful of Yen."
As if "Another Path" isn't bad enough, Mako's character makes another appearance in the equally ludicrous "The Disciple," which also guest stars Rick Springfield and Gerald McRaney as cop brothers who are out to avenge the death of their father. After Springfield is shot by his father's killer and then left for dead, he somehow manages to drag himself off of the street and up a flight of stairs to seek comfort from his mentor, Mako. Although near death, thanks to the power of positive thinking he is soon well enough to play his guitar in Mako's meditation garden, much to the consternation of McRaney. Not one but TWO incomprehensible martial arts themed episodes? Obviously the series' writers were intent on covering every '70s fad at some point in the series - and in some cases twice. Luckily we aren't subjected to an episode in which the Hulk starts a Pet Rock collection and hangs out with Holly Hobby.
The series is also hampered by poor production values. In "Death in the Family," for example, the Hulk is attacked by a bear - in this case a guy in the worst bear suit known to humanity. Barney makes a more convincing dinosaur than this thing makes a bear. In shots where a real bear is used, it is obvious that the creature is tied up and harmless. Gerald McRaney appears in this episode, too, but as a totally different character. (Believe it or not, he also appeared in a THIRD episode as yet another character. He isn't the only actor to show up in several different roles. Was there some sort of mysterious actor shortage in the '70s?) In this episode, McRaney is all sexy swagger as the foreman of an orchard, yet his stunt double appears to be in his 60s. There are some nice moments in this episode - Ferrigno, for example, has an oddly charming scene with the town drunk - but, as usual, every good point is offset by one or two bad points. Like the scene in which two characters stop to have a leisurely conversation while one is trying to extract snake venom from the other. Suck the poison! A man's dying here!
The most successful episodes are those in which the stakes are lower and a little levity is allowed to slip through. "Stop the Presses" maintains a light tone as guest stars Mary Frann and Julie Cobb, playing restaurateurs, battle an unscrupulous National Register reporter who fakes unsanitary conditions in their restaurant for a photo exposé. David is caught in the crossfire when his appearance in one of the pictures threatens to reveal his identity. Frann and Cobb, along with Pat Morita as the cook, add a much needed touch of humor to the show.
Bixby and Ferrigno are surprisingly affecting in the two parter "Prometheus" when a meteorite causes David to become "stuck" between his normal self and the Hulk. Series producer Kenneth Johnson, who wrote and directed this episode, is also able to keep a strong sense of excitement and suspense throughout "Prometheus" - qualities that the series often woefully lacks.
While The Incredible Hulk may not have aged well, it still presumably has enough of a fan base to warrant the release of this set. They deserve better - Ultimate Collection seems hastily and cynically thrown together. The first disc contains several commercials/trailers that viewers are forced to watch before the main menu comes up, including one for Universal's new Battlestar Galactica boxed set. These commercials cannot be skipped either by using the skip feature or by trying to jump straight to the menu. Viewers must either watch the trailers or use fast forward. This is a terrible thing to foist on those who are willing to pay over $50 for a boxed set. One reason we buy DVDs is that they allow us to see our favorite shows without the bother of commercial interruptions. This is a horrendous practice that Universal will hopefully stop.
Additionally, the episodes are randomly spread throughout the set rather than being placed in airdate order. The DVDs do not indicate which episodes are on which disc until the discs are loaded into the player. Viewers are forced to choose one menu option when they wish to watch an individual episode and a completely different menu option to view the scene selections for the episodes. Surely it would not have cost Universal any greater amount of money to combine these features into the same area in an attempt to actually make the DVDs user friendly.
