The Death of the Incredible Hulk (1990) – Review

The third and final made-for-television Hulk movie was, like the previous two films, intended to be another backdoor pilot and would have teamed everyone’s favourite emerald giant with another Marvel character, the Sensational She-Hulk, but the planned introduction of the emerald giantess into the world of live-action was soon abandoned, instead, we were treated to the death of a beloved character and the end of an era.

This last entry in NBC’s made-for-television Incredible Hulk movies begins with David Banner (Bill Bixby) posing as a mentally challenged janitor so as to gain access to a scientific research facility and the work of scientist Dr. Ronald Pratt (Philip Sterling), who he believes may hold the key to ridding himself of the curse of the Hulk, unfortunately, other parties are also interested in the good doctor’s work and thus much of this movie’s plot centers around on a group of Eastern European spies doing typical evil spy stuff. At the heart of this espionage is the “woman of a thousand faces” Jasmine (Elizabeth Gracen), who thinks she has completed her last act of espionage only to be told by her boss Kasha (Andreas Katsulas) that if she doesn’t complete her next job, the theft of Pratt’s work, her sister Bella (Anna Katarina) will be killed. As is typical with this incarnation of the Incredible Hulk we will get Banner on the brink of curing himself of his monstrous other half only to have the experiment of the day interrupted and Hulk going off on a destructive rampage.

This is either part of an experiment or Banner is cosplaying as Magneto.

In this instance, the experiment is interrupted by Yasmine breaking into the lab to steal the files but all she achieves is unleashing the Hulk (Lou Ferrigno) and putting poor Pratt in a coma. Yasmine is given one final chance to redeem herself by capturing Banner, who they believe is the only one left who can provide them with Pratt’s formula, but because these spies are morons they decide to execute Yasmine in the middle of the operation and this results in a firefight between them and Yasmine which results in her and Banner escaping together, also with the knowledge that Yasmine’s sister was never in danger and that she, in fact, is the leader of the spy network and the one who has ordered her death. One has to admit as plots go this one is a doozy and the romantic relationship that develops between Banner and Yasmine is quite touching, with her pointing out that she is surrounded by monsters whether it be her sister or an emerald giant, but where the film drops the ball is in the whole “Death of the Incredible Hulk” as what we get is less than spectacular.

Is his death caused by another failed experiment?

So how does the Incredible Hulk die? Well, the Hulk climbs aboard the private plane that Bella was using to escape, after the failed attempt at extracting information from a kidnapped Doctor Pratt – who woke up from a coma due to Banner’s psychic ministrations – and when Bella stupidly fires her gun into the plane’s fuel tank the resulting explosions throws the Hulk hurtlingly to the concrete runway hundreds of feet below. But surely falling isn’t something that can kill the Hulk, right? Such a fall wouldn’t even slow down the comic book Hulk and even this version of the Hulk has survived higher falls, so what is different here? Turns out this was never intended to be the actual “death” of the Hulk as he was to return in The Revenge of the Incredible Hulk but such a sequel was cancelled due to poor ratings and any plans to introduce She-Hulk or Iron Man would die along with the David Banner.

“I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”

Stray Observations:

• Does Banner give off some kind of pheromone that attracts muggers? The number of times he’s been mugged and forced to turn into the Hulk is pretty staggering.
• Banner correcting a scientist’s formula on a “chalkboard” could be a reference to a similar scene in the sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still.
• We get Banner explaining to Pratt that the Hulk is believed to be a murderer and is worried that someday that could be the case, but over the past decade the creature has done nothing but help people, and he should ask himself the question “How many people would be dead if the Hulk had never existed?”
• To trigger the transformation, so that they can study the Hulk, Banner electrocutes himself but wouldn’t simply be injecting himself with adrenaline work more effectively and certainly less painfully.
• Pratt is told his funding is being cut because his work has uncovered evidence that the genetic makeup of a person could be altered, with a government agent pointing out this could lead to the creation of a super-soldier, but if that’s the case why shut him down? Even if Pratt is against his work being used that way it’d be easy for the government to step in and take over once he’s finished.
• The foreign agents want Jasmine dead but Banner alive, believing he has Pratt’s secrets, yet they try and crush the truck they’re in between two bulldozers, something which could have resulted in both of them dying.

“Hulk love monster trucks!”

It should be noted that there isn’t a lot of Hulk action in this movie, which can honestly be said about most of the series and the two previous made-for-television movies, but Bill Bixby’s performance has always been the core of this property and as lame as the Hulk’s demise was in this film one cannot fault Bixby or any of the other actors as they all bring their “A” game here and the writing overall was solid, as was Bixby’s direction as he helmed this one as well. As for the aforementioned relationship between Banner and Yasmine, well, this is the heart of this movie and both Bill Bixby and Elizabeth Gracen have great screen chemistry and her and Banner’s desire to run off and live their lives together, before being drawn back into the spy mess by Yasmine’s compatriots, is heartbreaking as is their final moments when Jasmine grips the hand of the dying Banner and says “David, no, don’t die. We can be free now” and he calmly responds “Jasmine… I am free.” It’s moments like this that make you forgive a show’s limitations in the action area and also makes this final curtain call quite memorable, and while this final chapter suffered in the action area it does pack enough of an emotional wallop to recommend.

Note: Even though She-Hulk didn’t make the cut in this film New World Pictures decided to give the character a shot with Larry Cohen at the helm, a script by Carl Gottlieb Danish and actress Brigitte Nielsen in the title role. sadly, investors for such an epic adventure never materialized and the film vanished into the ether.