Sunday, August 24, 2008

An Homage to Old School - Hulk Movie Pays Tribute to Hulk TV Series

Before CGI, The Incredible Hulk rampaged in our TV sets in the form of a body builder (Lou Ferrigno) painted in green. He moved in slow motion and was having a bad hair day. The Hulk 2008 paid tribute to the TV series through various references that include scenes and character names that fans of the TV series would The Hobbit should recognize. DVDs of the Hulk TV series are available in case you can't recall any of the scenes.

Here they are in no particular order:

* The Hulk TV series Lonely Man Theme played in the background as Bruce Banner walked in the city streets of Guatemala Generic Drugs holding up his tattered pants.

* Lou Ferrigno cameo as a security guard getting bribed by Banner with a pizza.

* Bill Bixby in a TV show (The Courtship of Eddie's Father) shown at the early scenes when Banner was at his Brazilian apartment. Bill Bixby played interest rate card David Banner in the TV series. A slight, but noticeable name change for the Hulk's alter ego.

* Bill Bixby and Ed Norton as Dr David Banner with gamma ray cross hairs on their forehead. The setup is the same as the TV series including the rotating chair and the cross hair on Banner's forehead.

* "You wouldn't like me when I'm hungry." Said in Portuguese by Banner to the thugs in the factory while rescuing Martina played by Dbora Nascimento. Acknowledged by Banner as not making sense, the line made famous by Bixby is "Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

* Student named Jack McGee speaking to the news media as a witness to the fight between the soldiers and the green giant. He's the first character in the credit card apply who described Banner's alter ego as "a Hulk." In the TV series, the news reporter who hounded Bixby's Banner is named Jack McGee.

* Close up of Norton's eyes at the initial stage of Hulk transformation. Seen in the factory, Bixby's Banner also goes through the same transformation and close up shots of his eyes were seen by audiences.

* David B. as the recipient's name on the envelope when Banner opened the package revealing Betty Ross's necklace presumably from the pawnshop. David Banner is Bixby's character name. Bruce Banner is Norton's character name. Which, by the way, is the same name in the comic books.

Did I miss any?

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