EXO-MAN (1977)
TV-Movie
Article 2497 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-4-2008
Posting Date: 6-13-2008
Directed by Richard Irving
Featuring David Ackroyd, Anne Schedeen, A. Martinez
Country: USA

A college physics professor becomes the main witness in an armed bank robbery attempt, and a hit man is sent out to kill him to prevent him from testifying. The murder attempt only manages to paralyze the professor. The professor then builds a suit that will allow him to walk and defeat the villains.

I smell failed TV-Pilot here. The story is from Martin Caidin, who was also responsible for the story that spawned into “The Six-Million Dollar Man” and the other bionic TV series. This one looks as if it’s hoping lightning will strike again. Unfortunately, the TV-Movie gets too mired in the “mythic origins” part of the story; it takes forever to get to the creation of Exo-Man, and much of the movie focuses on the professor’s various relationships and his dour mood after he becomes paralyzed. Sadly, the thing doesn’t improve much when Exo-man swings – er, let me rephrase that – plods into action. Sure, it’s impressive that the outfit is bulletproof and can walk through electrical fences, but he looks like a cheap robot, and he moves with the speed of Kharis the mummy, and most of the bad guys who die in his wake do so by their own stupid actions rather than any heroic action on Exo-man’s part. Had the movie become a TV series, the best thing about it would have been Harry Morgan’s character as head of a covert law-fighting organization. At least Steve Austin could run fast.