Dr. Strange

BOTTOM LINE: A pretty cool one-shot TV pilot for Marvel Comics' Sorcerer Supreme. Too bad it never went to series. It certainly showed a lot of promise. It's presented here in its original 4:3 aspect ratio and looks & sounds good. No extras, but worth catching to see what could have been. 4 STARSTHE STORY: Stephen Strange is a staff psychiatrist working at East Side Hospital in New York. Unbeknownst to him, Strange has been watched over from a distance since childhood by a mysterious elder sorcerer named Thomas Lindmer. Now with the sudden return to our world of an ancient evil, in the form of seductively beautiful but decidedly deadly Morgan LeFay, the old magician must contact Strange and quickly initiate him in the ways of sorcery; a changing of the guards, so to speak. Reluctant at first, when Dr. Strange realizes the apocalyptic threat posed by LeFay, will he embrace his destiny to become Earth's Sorcerer Supreme?THOUGHTS: Yeah, the final costume is hokey, (the first outfit is much better-looking), the special effects aren't so special, the acting is pure hammy 70's... but underneath it all this TV pilot had the makings of something fairly cool and unique. Unlike TV's Spider-Man and the Hulk, who just tripped up small-time crooks & creeps, Dr. Strange took on hellish demons & battled otherworldly forces of Darkness for the fate of Earth in his very first adventure! Peter Hooten was a swingin' 70's ringer for our good doctor: sincere, determined, compassionate. Clyde Kusatsu, as Wong, made for a loyal & fastidious disciple of The Ancient One, replaced here by none other than Merlin the Magician himself! (though they never say so by name), played by rascally John Mills. Villainous Morgan LeFay is brought to life by sultry Jessica Walters, in a delicious, scenery-shewing performance. Rounding out the primary cast is Anne-Marie Martin (bizarrely billed here as Eddie Benton) as Strange's presumably future girlfriend and confidant, Clea Lake. The effects, while tame by current standards, at least tried to give us a show. They are admittedly trippy, and do convey the idea that these folks are wielding some serious magical might. Special mention to the cool stop motion demon (Dormammu?) who controls Morgan LeFay and sets her loose on Lindmer & Strange. I had never seen this movie before buying this DVD and found it to be quite entertaining, in its own 1970's way. Certainly it would have been something to have had Dr. Strange go to series and eventually perhaps team up with Spider-Man, Captain America and The Incredible Hulk in a retro TV version of The Defenders. (The fevered dream of many a 10 year old, back in the day.)THE DVD: Shout!Factory gives us a decent yet regrettably barebones standard-def release of 1978's DR. STRANGE. Picture is steady & solid, with a mostly clean image. Some fading is present, but Universal likely didn't take very good care of this particular film. Audio is strong and the soundmix is level. Zero bonus content. English subtitles for hearing impaired viewers is accessible on the main menu screen.

Having not seen the Dr Strange TV film when it aired, I was looking forward to seeing it on DVD & I enjoyed it.

It does not meet the quality of the the newer Cuthbert Cumberbatch version - maybe if I had seen this version first I would have liked it more. I have collected all the versions pf Dr. Strange I can find and am happy to have this as part of my collection.

I remembered this TV movie and it was great to see it again as an adult. Of all the 1970's Marvel adaptations, this one was the best of the bunch even though this pilot was never picked up for a TV series. The Spider-Man, Thor, Captain America and Hulk TV/movies from this era were unwatchable and completely laughable. This one might have been done straight without the audience thinking it was completely hokey. Dr. Strange's origin is much changed and the changes work because the story moves along better. The movie is very well cast. Although the sets and effects are low grade, they did manage to evoke Steve Ditko's psychedelic backgrounds with stage sets - no easy task. I noticed some of the background sound was from "Outer Limits" and the astral projection effect looked a lot like the "Time Tunnel." I also heard some un-credited voice work from Michael Ansara at the end. The video transfer is clean and the flaws with props and set pieces are much more visible, but that's okay here. This movie is a memory from another time and gladly it is preserved here. No frills DVD menu and no special features.

Before the MARVEL Cinematic Universe or Benedict Cumberbatch ... Back when Spider-man and the Hulk were on CBS in live-action form they aired a 93 minute tv film created as pilot featuring the origin of the Sorcerer Supreme. Peter Hooten stars as "psychiatrist" Stephen Strange with a Alex Trebek vibe vs Evil Morgan Le Fay from the 4th dimension and a possessed patient Clea Lake. The comic origins are a bit of a muddled even with Stan Lee on board as a consultant. Ultimately it tanked, but the costume is fair enough, Wong even shows up and there are some nameless entities and cat morphing sequences, not to mention a kooky electronic score. This has just surfaced on DVD and I think the boys could slay with modern MCU gags.... Back when Spider-man and the Hulk were on CBS in live-action form they aired a 93 minute tv film created as pilot featuring the origin of the Sorcerer Supreme. Peter Hooten stars as "psychiatrist" Stephen Strange with a Alex Trebek vibe vs Evil Morgan Le Fay (played by Archer's Jessica Walter in her prime) from the 4th dimension and a possessed but non magical patient Clea Lake (clearly position as a love interest but not the Mistress of Magic of the comics). The comic origins are a bit of a muddled even with Stan Lee on board as a consultant, Strange has a vaguely Harry Potterish backstory, dead parents, secret destiny and all. Ultimately it tanked, but the costume is fair enough for the period. Wong even shows up played by great Hawaiian-born character actor and there are some nameless entities and cat morphing sequences, not to mention a kooky electronic score reminiscent of ST:TMP, seriously I half expected V'Ger to show. All and all I was thrilled that this had finally surfaced on DVD and I can't wait for a future RIFFTRAX treatment.

I don't mind changes in comic book adaptations ... if there's a good reason for them. In the Incredible Hulk series, for example, the origin was changed drastically because the comic book Banner got his power after rescuing a teenager trespassing on a gamma bomb site. Not much in the way of deep character motivation there. Making TV Banner a bio-scientist obsessed with looking for a way to tap into "the hidden strength that all humans possess" because he felt guilty over not being able to get his wife out of a car wreck made it dramatic and made the character far more sympathetic. Also, making the Hulk a mute instead of having him say "Hulk smash!" all the time was a good move too.But the comic book Doctor Strange already had a cool origin story chock full of drama, characterization, and motivation. Arrogant, greedy Dr. Stephen Strange gets in a car crash, loses his ability as a surgeon, so goes on a quest to the Orient in search of the legendary "Ancient One" who he's heard can perform miracles. After spending his last dime, he arrives only to be turned down for what he is: selfish. Disillusioned, Strange turns to leave but a sudden snowstorm prevents him leaving the mountain retreat. Soon after he discovers that the Ancient One's disciple, Mordo, is secretly trying to kill his master. Strange tries to warn the Ancient One but Mordo casts a spell on him so that he can't. Stephen realizes the only way to fight magic is with magic and so asks the Ancient One to teach him the mystic arts. The Ancient One reveals that he knew of Mordo's plan and this was all a test to show Stephen Strange that he does indeed have the capacity for compassion and self-sacrifice. Thus, a new sorcerer supreme is born.It's a classic adventure with a theme. But the producers of this film inexplicably chose to ditch all that and present Strange from the start as being this kind-hearted but smooth-talking ladies man kind of guy who *avoided* getting into a car crash that killed his parents. Furthermore, his job title is now a psychiatrist (although his hospital duties don't really reflect this change). There's no Ancient One, no Baron Mordo, and Clea, an extra-dimensional princess in the comics, is just a normal college student here who meets Strange when she is brought in a mental wreck, afraid to go to sleep because she is psychically suffering from being used by Morgan Le Fey as a puppet.A man named Lindmer (or is he Merlin?), approaches Strange urging him to help Clea using esoteric means because he knew his father and knew that even as a child Strange had potential in him. Strange does go along with Lindmer's methods to a point, and is even given a "magic ring," but afterwards rejects that way of life for some reason. Only after Morgan comes after him directly and tries to tempt him with evil power, does Strange finally accept his destiny. It's a vague test, dragged out over the entire movie when it should have been much more potent a story.The Amazing Spider-Man series that started a year earlier made similar mistakes--taking a strong character with a powerful motivation and eliminating it by altering the origin to remove Uncle Ben from the equation. UNCLE BEN, without whom there would be no reason for Peter to become a super-hero. But at least that show had a comic book accurate costume and amazing wall-crawling stunts to keep you interested. Here Strange is given an ugly purple and orange costume (purposefully not shown and altered on the cover of this DVD) which bears little-to-no resemblance to the original Ditko costume. Even the black and red "evil" number given to him earlier by Morgan Le Fey when she was seducing him was truer to the spirit of the comic book outfit. To paraphrase a wise old saying: If it ain't broke, why the heck break it?But it's not all bad; the film does have it's good points. For one, the character is handled seriously enough--almost as if its striving to be another, credible, Incredible Hulk series (there's even a scene where Stephen Strange is flipping through a Hulk comic book!). And the special FX are fairly impressive for 1978 television, particularly the hurling of magical bolts through the hands. Best of all is the accurate description of the nature of astral travel. The actors do a good job with what they are given. Peter Hooten as Stephen Strange is likeable enough but would have made a better Tony Stark (oh, how I wished they made an Iron Man series back in the '70s!)Overall, it's a decent effort, and for someone who watched it when it first aired this DVD is a welcome bit of nostalgia. If you're interested in another take on the character or want to further complete your collection of 20th century TV shows, as I am, I certainly recommend it, just don't expect too much.

I just found out that this movie existed a few weeks ago and the reviews that I read were quite positive. Being a comic book geek with a brand new Christmas gift card, my decision to purchase the movie was an easy one. Well, I wasn't at all disappointed. The cast and script were very good and the production value was terrific. Again, my review is in the context of this being a 1970s TV superhero movie but there are far worse ways to spend 90 minutes than by checking this flick out.

For the time it was filmed , not as bad as I thought . Quite enjoyed it .Quality of the DVD was good too ...

Was a gift and was much appreciated

was an old classic that was entertaining