starring Lee Majors, Martin Balsalm
directed by Richard Irving
74 minutes
Former NASA Astronaut Steve Austin (Lee Majors) is testing an airplane for the Air Force when it malfunctions. He is unable to land the plane safely. He loses his right arm, left eye, and parts of both his legs when he crash lands the plane. Oliver Spencer of the OSO (a covert government agency) offers Dr. Rudy Wells (Martin Balsam), Austin's friend, the means to repair Steve's body.
Rudy pulls Austin out of an induced coma and explains to him what is going to happen but doesn't tell him everything. One day Steve wakes up to find that his arm, his eye, and his legs have been replaced or augmented. It takes him time to learn and get used to his new limbs but now he is stronger and faster than he ever was before.
Steve goes for a picnic with Jean Manners, his nurse, once he has recovered sufficiently. They stop on the way back after the picnic to help a woman whose son is trapped in a car that ran off the road. Steve rescues the boy but his new arm suffers some damage. The woman is grateful but then she freaks out when she sees wires sticking out of Steve's arm.
Steve is reluctant after that to let them repair the damage but Oliver Spencer talks him into it and into doing a job for OSO. There is an important man being held by terrorists in the desert in the Middle East. Steve parachutes into the desert a few dozen miles from the camp. He runs to the camp where he is captured and discovers that the man is already dead.
Spencer knew that the man he was sent to rescue was already dead. The mission was meant as a test of Steve's abilities and his determination. Steve passes the test. He breaks out and with another prisoner, with whom he shares a cell briefly, they escape in a plane that is kept at the terrorist camp.
Thoughts
This is the first of three made for TV movies about Steve Austin that predate the Six Million Dollar Man TV show. I used to watch the TV show in reruns 40-45 years ago. I don't think I ever saw any of the movies. The TV show was a mid-season replacement show that started airing in early 1974.
Darren McGavin plays Oliver Spencer. He is best known for playing Kolchak, the Night Stalker. I don't think I have ever watched a full episode of that show but I am aware of it and probably saw bits and pieces of it in reruns when I was younger.
Martin Balsam only played Dr. Rudy Wells in this movie. The character was played by two other actors in future movies and episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman.
Steve is supposed to have been a civilian astronaut in this movie but at some point that part of his back story changes. The organization that Spencer (and later Oscar Oldman) work for is the OSO in this movie but that later gets changed to the OSI.
I can't help but wonder how this movie was influenced by the experiences of disabled veterans of the Vietnam war. I haven't read or heard any commentary on that but given when this movie was made and the nature of Steve Austin's arc in this movie it seems like it must have had some impact on the making of the movie.
Steve demonstrates the strength of his new arm and new legs during the rescue and escape from the desert. There is no demonstration of what his new eye is capable of doing. The sound effects and music that I associate with the TV show are also missing from this movie.
This was a fun watch. I was curious to see how it all began. I am planning to watch the other two pilot films of the Six Million Dollar Man but I'm not sure what sort of a time table I will be watching them on.
03/23/24
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