Death of the Incredible Hulk

Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno, stars of the late '70s, live-action television series The Incredible Hulk, cap a run of sporadic TV movies based on the old show with Death of the Incredible Hulk. The gloomy title says it all. Bixby's Dr. David Banner, spiritually exhausted after years of rage-induced transformations into a snarling, green monster, takes a last stab at finding a cure by posing as a retarded janitor in a government-funded research laboratory. His secret collaboration with a scientist (Philip Sterling) on "killing" the Hulk's genetic viability goes awry when a gorgeous foreign spy (Barbara Tarbuck) disrupts a crucial procedure and invites the wrath of brutal terrorists, the federal government, and, yes, the big man (Ferrigno) himself. With death chains rattling in the background, various ironies in the story become poignant: After years of isolation, Banner finds friendship and love just in time to risk it all for a lasting peace. --Tom Keogh