Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1989)
A film review by Timothy Voon
Copyright 1997 Timothy Voon
The 1989 BIONIC SHOWDOWN should have been one of those tele-movies long forgotten in the whirlpool of ordinariness surrounding the 80's. If not for a then unknown, but now well known star known as Ms Sandra Bullock, this movie would not have come to my attention at all. In this particular episode of metallic hardware, Sandra is the latest instalment or should I say successor, of the Bionic Woman aka Jamie Summers (Lindsey Wagner). Back with old flame Steve Austin (Lee Majors), whose circuits are getting outdated as quickly as CPU's come in and out of vogue, they once again battle the forces of evil.
Moving away from the popular theme of Bionics vs Cyborgs, the plot has been redirected towards a scenario more common ground to the 80's - namely the cold war between the east and west. Playing on the hot prospect of tense relationships between the Soviet Union and the United States, the villains aim to antagonise all concerned in order to generate self-profit. Their wild card comes in the form of a new bionic man.
So where does Ms Bullock fit into the big scheme of things? Well, she's a young woman who was crippled during her childhood, and carries with her intelligence, wit, sensitivity and humour. These characteristics become evident in movies like SPEED and WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING, are present a decade ago. Even in this early piece of acting, she is beginning to show the elements of vulnerability that make people love and want to protect her. This is a weapon more powerful than bionics if you ask me.
As for Jamie Summers and Steve Austin, surviving the eighties has become harder than just reliving the seventies. With good humour and humility, they graciously make room to the new generation of bionics that has emerged to replace them. Jamie gets to pull a door apart and uses her bionic ear only once. Steve gets to flex his bionic muscles, but gets badly beaten by the new bionic on the block. Sad to say they are a living testimony of the changing times and rapidly advancing technology.
However, the spotlight in this movie falls on Sandra. She is left with the difficult task of defeating the evil bionic. For some unknown reason she is technologically weaker than her male counterpart, and has to use her brains instead of her brawn to defeat the villain. All that starts well also ends well, but one gets the benign feeling that this movie was intended to spawn a new tele-series. But time has revealed that this was not to be and fortunately so, otherwise Sandra Bullock may not be the movie star we know today.
Timothy Voon e-mail: stirling@netlink.com.au
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Copyright 1997 Timothy Voon
The 1989 BIONIC SHOWDOWN should have been one of those tele-movies long forgotten in the whirlpool of ordinariness surrounding the 80's. If not for a then unknown, but now well known star known as Ms Sandra Bullock, this movie would not have come to my attention at all. In this particular episode of metallic hardware, Sandra is the latest instalment or should I say successor, of the Bionic Woman aka Jamie Summers (Lindsey Wagner). Back with old flame Steve Austin (Lee Majors), whose circuits are getting outdated as quickly as CPU's come in and out of vogue, they once again battle the forces of evil.
Moving away from the popular theme of Bionics vs Cyborgs, the plot has been redirected towards a scenario more common ground to the 80's - namely the cold war between the east and west. Playing on the hot prospect of tense relationships between the Soviet Union and the United States, the villains aim to antagonise all concerned in order to generate self-profit. Their wild card comes in the form of a new bionic man.
So where does Ms Bullock fit into the big scheme of things? Well, she's a young woman who was crippled during her childhood, and carries with her intelligence, wit, sensitivity and humour. These characteristics become evident in movies like SPEED and WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING, are present a decade ago. Even in this early piece of acting, she is beginning to show the elements of vulnerability that make people love and want to protect her. This is a weapon more powerful than bionics if you ask me.
As for Jamie Summers and Steve Austin, surviving the eighties has become harder than just reliving the seventies. With good humour and humility, they graciously make room to the new generation of bionics that has emerged to replace them. Jamie gets to pull a door apart and uses her bionic ear only once. Steve gets to flex his bionic muscles, but gets badly beaten by the new bionic on the block. Sad to say they are a living testimony of the changing times and rapidly advancing technology.
However, the spotlight in this movie falls on Sandra. She is left with
the difficult task of defeating the evil bionic. For some unknown reason
she is technologically weaker than her male counterpart, and has to use
her brains instead of her brawn to defeat the villain. All that starts
well also ends well, but one gets the benign feeling that this movie was
intended to spawn a new tele-series. But time has revealed that this was
not to be and fortunately so, otherwise Sandra Bullock may not be the movie
star we know today.
Timothy Voon
e-mail: stirling@netlink.com.au
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