I grew up watching the 1978 TV live action version of The Hulk. I was 6 years old when the pilot first aired and knew nothing of the comics. At that age I was nowhere near old enough to understand much of anything in a drama such as this besides, "The Hulk is strong, the Hulk is a hero, the Hulk is misunderstood and the reporter is a jerk!" But the plots, with clearly defined villains and victims for our anti-hero to play off of were still entertaining, I also had my parents there to explain some things. Now that I'm older, I can appreciate the production value and the dedication Bill Bixby was known for throughout his career. The acting is solid as well. I also noticed the employment of Slow-Motion to the same great effect, creating weight and power in super-human acts as in The Six Million Dollar Man.
And the soundtrack is excellent...hearing it again as an adult, the themes just popped out at me immediately: Banner's tragedy theme most often played on piano and in full orchestration during big action sequences. And the love theme heard in the pilot but understandably less frequently throughout the series due to Banner's circumstance. The reporter's sneaky six-note theme sometimes only played rhythmically on hi-hat cymbals. But the Hulk's theme (also used for tense scenes) really stands out...wow, the repeating descending string or horn pattern over and over accentuates clearly some bad stuff is going down.
Four decades later, I still find the show entertaining. And for everyone who complains about how it's not like the comics (which I also came to love as an adolescent)...I'd direct them to Hollywood's several less-than-successful attempts to recreate the comics on the big screen over the years. Perhaps the comics just don't translate well to live action.
And the soundtrack is excellent...hearing it again as an adult, the themes just popped out at me immediately: Banner's tragedy theme most often played on piano and in full orchestration during big action sequences. And the love theme heard in the pilot but understandably less frequently throughout the series due to Banner's circumstance. The reporter's sneaky six-note theme sometimes only played rhythmically on hi-hat cymbals. But the Hulk's theme (also used for tense scenes) really stands out...wow, the repeating descending string or horn pattern over and over accentuates clearly some bad stuff is going down.
Four decades later, I still find the show entertaining. And for everyone who complains about how it's not like the comics (which I also came to love as an adolescent)...I'd direct them to Hollywood's several less-than-successful attempts to recreate the comics on the big screen over the years. Perhaps the comics just don't translate well to live action.