The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

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.

RELEASED TO TV IN 1989 and directed by Bill Bixby, "The Trial of the Incredible Hulk" is the second of three movies in the wake of the TV series that ran from 1977-82.

PLOT AND MAIN CAST: Drifter David Banner (Bill Bixby) is held as a suspect in a crime connected to the Kingpin, Wilson Fisk (John Rhys-Davies), but is helped by blind lawyer, Matt Murdock (Rex Smith), who knows he's telling the truth and just so happens to be the masked crime-fighter Daredevil. Lou Ferrigno plays the jade giant while Nancy Everhard appears as Murdock's office associate. Marta DuBois plays the crime victim manipulated by the Kingpin.

This one isn't as good as the previous "The Incredible Hulk Returns" (1988) because it's hard to beat Eric Allan Kramer's charismatic performance as Thor. The way Daredevil is depicted in his first appearance on the screen is pretty faithful to the comics (a mix of Stan Lee's original version with Frank Miller's early 80's version), except that the creators inexplicably opted for an all-black costume rather than dark red. Perhaps it was cheaper to have a black costume or maybe they felt it would be more realistic. Either way, it was a mistake. Nevertheless, the costume's not bad and it sorta makes Daredevil look like a ninja.

Daredevil's origin is eventually divulged and it's pretty interesting. I always felt he was one of the more fascinating superheroes due to his blindness and heightened other senses. It would take fourteen more years before Daredevil would make his theatrical debut (2003) and 26 years before he'd get his own TV series (2015). Ferrigno is effective as usual as the green goliath. Unfortunately, the creators fumble the ball in the female department as the characters played by Dubois and Everhard are pretty unsubstantial.

THE FILM RUNS 93 minutes and was shot in the Vancouver, B.C., area. WRITER: Gerald Di Pego.

GRADE: B-/C+

I want to start by saying unlike a lot of reviews for this movie i think this one is better than The Incredible Hulk Returns movie but it still has the odd looking Hulk make-up and not quite as bad music but still could have been better, especially when David is transforming into The Hulk. I loved the sound they used in the series.

Here was have another Marvel star in the guise of The Daredevil with a couple more Marvel characters thrown in for good measure, and once again this felt like another pilot to a TV series. The movies worked really well but could have been more of The Hulk in it and the Daredevil fight scenes could have been more convincing. That aside it was still good to see The Hulk back and if they decide to bring more Marvel friends then more the merrier i say.

I love how they are not playing it safe with these Hulk movies, there was still nothing in TV like this and will always be my favorite TV drama franchise.

Keep them coming i remember thinking when i 1st saw this many years ago and they did.

This movie was followed by The Death of The Incredible Hulk.

The Trial of the Incredible Hulk was the second in a trilogy of made-for-television films continuing the agonizing journey of scientist David Banner and his quest to cure him of the inner monster called the Hulk. The Trial of the Incredible Hulk stands as the best of the bunch, and remains a fairly well-written and superbly acted telepic.

Banner is arrested and charged for a crime he doesn't commit while travelling through a city. His court-appointed attorney is the blind Matt Murdock, who strives to free Banner, who feels he must be locked up. Murdock is also fighting against the corruption of Wilson Fisk, the city's resident crime lord, in the guise of the oddly black-suited Daredevil. We find that like Banner, Murdock had an accident with radioactive materials, but while taking his sight, the atomic trauma left Matt with enhanced senses of smell, hearing, taste, touch, and radar-like sensory perception.

The late, great Bill Bixby is in top form as the strained David Banner, and his brutish counterpart, the Hulk, is again portrayed intensely by the legendary Lou Ferrigno. Rex Smith, veteran of a variety of television shows and soap operas, is excellent as Matt Murdock, and his athletic alter ego, Daredevil. Smith delivers most of the best lines in this film, and might have been a good lead in a spin-off Daredevil series. Character actor John Rhys-Davies is Wilson Fisk, the cool and calculated crime boss, known by the moniker, the Kingpin, in the comics.

The film's effects and action sequences are standard television fare -- done quickly and cheaply -- but still, it is a very promising and uplifting film, right down to its exciting climax and positive ending.

Recommended.

The Trial of the Incredible Hulk was the first live-action appearances of Daredevil/Matt Murdock and Kingpin/Wilson Fisk. For a die hard Daredevil fan, it does kinda fall flat but it's a very good attempt for "PG" rated tv. I liked Rex Smith as Daredevil and I would have enjoyed a tv series spin off, which was a possiblity at the time. I even liked the suit BETTER then the new film version! I would believe him to be more ninja like then in shiny leather, sorry... The fighting here wasn't to par with the new flick but his mannerisms give you a since that he does have a bit of struggle as a blind fighter (even if he has gifts). With the new Hulk film on the way it's refeshing to know that all these characters exist in one reality in the comics. It's fun to see them together "In The Flesh". I highly recommend picking up the new 2 disk set, which also features "Return of the Incredible Hulk with a lackluster version of Thor as his partner in heroism.