Wonderful Movie

That was an excellent one.

Fantastic!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Psychiatrist Dr. Stephen Strange (a solid and likable performance by Peter Hooten) discovers that he's been chosen to serve as a sorcerer by an ancient order so he can protect Earth from the forces of evil. Strange's first formidable opponent materializes in the form of ruthless sorceress Morgan LeFay (well played with lip-smacking wicked relish by Jessica Walter).Writer/director Philip DeGuere Jr. keeps the entertaining story moving along at a steady pace, grounds the fantastic premise in a believable everyday reality, smartly explores the central theme of realizing one's destiny, and maintains an engaging earnest tone throughout. The sincere acting by the capable cast keeps this picture on track, with especially praiseworthy contributions from John Mills as wise old sorcerer mentor Lindmer, Clyde Kusatsu as Lindmer's loyal servant Wong, Anne-Marie Martin as innocent college student Clea Lake, and June Barrett as smitten nurse Sarah. The modest special effects might not be that fancy, but they do the trick just the same. Paul Chihara's funky score hits the right-on groovy spot. Enzo A. Martinelli's sharp cinematography provides a neat stylish look. A fun teleflick.

This movie is, as far as I know, the first movie ever created based on a Marvel comic book. The first theatrically released one was "Howard The Duck" which didn't come out until 1986 and to this movie's credit, it is probably an improvement. I don't know as much about Dr. Strange as I do Spider-Man or Captain America, as he's simply not quite as well known. This movie mostly faults from waiting until 74 minutes into the movie to actually show the title character in his costume, which I could recognize. Now a lot of it actually was pretty faithful to the comics. You got to see some familiar characters.Now the thing is, originally I was going to give this movie a lot lower rating, but I did realize something. This was in fact intended to be the pilot for a TV show that was never made. As cheesy as the film was, I actually could excuse its pacing for the fact that it wasn't really meant to be a full movie. The way it went slowly actually did make sense for what it was supposed to be. I never watched any live-action Marvel shows ever. The bad definitely outweighed the good, so it's best to just skip this and watch the awesome Marvel movies released in theaters. **

TV movie (intended as a pilot for a possible series) about the Marvel magical superhero, Dr. Strange. Morgan LeFay (Jessica Walter) is sent to Earth by a demon to prevent an aging sorcerer (John Mills) from passing his power onto someone else. To this end she possesses a young woman named Clea (Anne-Marie Martin) and tries to get her to kill the sorcerer. Clea is traumatized by this, which leads her to being taken to the hospital where she is treated by psychiatrist Dr. Stephen Strange (Peter Hooten), who just so happens to be the sorcerer's intended successor.While it's easy to dismiss this because it's a TV movie and those are largely cliché-ridden and forgettable today, I should point out that this wasn't always the case. In the 1970s TV movies were actually really good on the average, with a lot more creativity and variety than we see today where it's the same recycled soaps, thrillers, and romantic comedies over and over. This does have a limited budget, so those expecting things like Strange creator Steve Ditko's surreal imagery will be disappointed. But if you leave unrealistic expectations at the door and judge it on its own merits, I think you'll find it's a quality movie. Peter Hooten is a little wooden for a leading man but doesn't embarrass himself. Anne-Marie Martin (billed as Eddie Benton) is pretty good and very easy on the eyes. John Mills classes things up significantly. Jessica Walter is delicious fun as Morgan Le Fay. Perhaps the movie's greatest strength is Paul Chihara's score. Again, TV movies today just don't have this level of quality. Next to the Incredible Hulk TV series, this was the best of Marvel's efforts in the '70s and '80s to bring one of their heroes to life on the small or big screen, excluding cartoons. Those who can't enjoy TV movies or those who are fans of the comic book who can't see past their inflated expectations will not like it and should probably skip it altogether. I think most others who watch it will see it's very good for what it is.

---SPOILERS, NOT PLOT RELATED---Comics fans will probably be disappointed with the number of liberties taken with the characters and their motivations (Strange gains his powers after being mutated by an alien machine, instead of through years of study and discipline; his mentor is an English dandy who just happens to live in Manhattan, instead of an ancient reclusive sage who lives in Tibet; Wong is a westernized valet instead of an Oriental mystical disciple; Clea is a ditzy grad student at NYU instead of an extra-dimensional sorceress-in-training; etc.), but the production values are surprisingly good for a low-budget TV production. Most of the supporting cast do their jobs credibly, but Peter Hooten is a cypher. He plays Strange as a somewhat vapid, self-absorbed disco-era playboy and projects no real sense of personality. Instead of being shocked or horrified by the mystical horizons revealed by the other characters, he just seems lost and maybe disinterested. As an example of failed 1970's Marvel Comics TV adaptations (the others that come to mind are "Amazing Spider-Man" with Nicholas Hammond, and "Captain America" with Reb Brown), this is the best of a very bad lot. A marginally better "Strange" derivative is "Doctor Mordrid" with Jeffrey Combs and Brian Thompson.