Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Originally made as a pilot for a series based on Will Eisner's legendary comic book character, it ended up forever lost as a TV-movie. It wasn't until the arrival of Frank Miller's ill-received big-screen adaptation that this garnered attention once again.Denny Colt (Sam Jones) comes to Central City to investigate the death of his good friend (Philip Baker Hall). After getting a little too close to the truth, Colt is shot and left for dead to drown in the harbor. Thought to be dead, he "raises" from the grave as the masked avenger the Spirit. He joins forces with the city's police commissioner Dolan (Garry Walberg) to find the connections between his friend's murder and a local art heist.The cast of "The Spirit" features some interesting actors in key roles. Sam Jones steps out of his Flash Gordon outfit and into the blue suit and fedora of the masked vigilante. Nana Visitor ("Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," "Torchwood") plays police commissioner Dolan's daughter, Ellen, who has a crush on the Spirit. Television actor Garry Walberg of "Quincy, M.E." fame portrays Commissioner Dolan.Most fans of "The Spirit" will find this failed 1987 TV-pilot much easier to digest than Frank Miller's big-screen adaptation of the hero. Although the movie has its ups and downs, it's more accurate to the tone and visual appearance of Will Eisner's beloved comic book.

I enjoyed this adaptation of The Spirit comics, and in many ways it caught the flavor and humor of the original stories. It had a nice cast of virtual unknowns, and hit all the marks for fun and adventure. Sam J. Jones did a creditable job, and Laura (McKinley) Robinson had P'Gell down cold, and was a gorgeous femme fatal. It had a low budget look, tho, for much of its length, and not enough of the wonderful camera angles The Spirit comic practically cried out for. That said, Will Eisner told me himself, at a ComicCon, that he would rather I never mentioned it again. He wanted a darker, more noir look to it, with a better cast. As for the re-make from 2008, which reeked, the less said the better - I'm sure Mr. Eisner would have plenty of negatives to talk about for that film; many, many more than for this one.

The adaptation of Will Eisner's SPIRIT to the TV screen followed many other offerings developed from comic strip pages or comic books. (Remember, the two aren't exactly the same medium) It is indeed ironic that this is the one and only adaptation (as of the time of this writing)of Eisner's smart alec, wise cracking, tongue-in-cheek super hero.Story has it that Republic Pictures was interested in doing a film version and was in negotiation with the copyright owner in the mid '40's, but they were never able to close the deal. The left over screen play became the serial, THE MASKED MARVEL, one of Republic's best. Perhaps that it was just as well, for that studio had a penchant for tinkering with material adapted from the comic strips, pulp mags, radio and the comic books.As for this 1987 made for TV movie, it's pretty obvious that it was a failed pilot for a proposed television series. Whereas an old, long time comic reader,like myself, can be a little harsh in criticism of an adaptation, a viewer unfamiliar with the character may be able to give some fresh observations, clear of any preconceived notions of what this screen version should look like.Well, while sitting and watching the story unfold, with the characters interacting amid some crime wave, the Little Lady (my wife, Mrs. Ryan) nailed it with one statement. "This can't make up its mind if it's serious or not!" That pretty well describes both THE SPIRIT and his creator, Mr. Will Eisner, the true creative genius in the comics.The film is a sincere attempt to put Eisner's world on the screen. The casting of Denny Colt/The Spirit, Commissioner Dolan and Ellen was really quite well done. Though in a contemporary setting, it was still in the tradition of "the good old days" as far as the costuming goes, you know, when men and women still wore hats! That brings up this one final (and meandering) point, and that is that the director and the production made a conscious effort and succeeded in giving the characters a Will Eisner look as far as facial expressions and body language. We say,Kudos to them for their efforts.It's just too bad that no series followed! Oh, well in today's motion picture world, comic adaptations seem to be a hot item. Maybe some big timer producer and director could do a really 1st class SPIRIT production for the Big Screen. We can only hope.UPDATE: Dateline, Chicago, Illinois. 6/4/2008. By now, everyone who goes to the Movies at the Shopping Centre Multiplexes has seen the poster advertising the new film of THE SPIRIT, (subtitled, MY CITY SCREAMS); which is to be released Christmas Day, 2008. Well, we'll see then just what we've been talking about. Just keep your fingers crossed! TO BE CONTINUED.............UPDATE II: We saw the new film, Writer-Director Frank Miller's rendition of THE SPIRIT a couple of days ago. Well, we got our wish; but is this a good thing or another case of "Be careful what you ask for; because you may get it?" Please read our write-up elsewhere in IMDb.com. THANX!

I saw this pilot when it was first shown, and I'm sure countless "Spirit" fans hate it, because, like Batman, the Green Hornet etc., it took the character in the direction of "camp". But I evidently never got enough of Batman, because I thought it was entertaining, in some of the same ways as that show. There are two parts that stay with me. First, when Denny's partner has been fatally wounded, and he makes a dramatic speech about how he always stood for the law, and obeying the exact letter of it. Then, he says something like, "Boy, was I stupid!" Which is his way of telling Denny to become a vigilante instead, which he does (though the TV Batman kind). Then, there's the scene where he tries to seduce the villainess into letting him go by kissing her, but she isn't fooled, because he's too honest to kiss her convincingly ! This was a great example of "camp", that was also "underplayed", by both the actor and actress.