Back in the mid-sixties, the producers of the successful TV series, BATMAN, decided to trot out another superhero franchise. Just like BATMAN had flourished in early serials, comic books, radio shows, and pulp novels, their newest hero, The Green Hornet, shared the same roots. With the backing of Twentieth Century Fox, Van Williams and Bruce Lee (then a Kung Fu trainer to the stars) were brought in to reprise the roles of the Green Hornet and Kato, respectively. Although the show was considered a hot property when it debuted, for various reasons the show never got beyond the opening season. Even some guest appearances on the BATMAN show could not save THE GREEN HORNET. Even more disappointing, was that the show was never aired again in syndication. When Bruce Lee passed away at the height of his career, interest in THE GREEN HORNET skyrocketed. In late 2000, Brentwood emerged on the DVD scene and released this Green Hornet compilation (that originally played Hong Kong theaters) movie as one of their debut efforts—in widescreen no less.

For readers not familiar with the show, I just want to provide some basic information. Many assume that THE GREEN HORNET show was just a clone of the campy BATMAN show, but it was actually quite different. Although they shared the basic concepts of two heroes who fight crime with the help of high-tech gadgets and shrewd detective work, the execution was quite different. BATMAN was very pop-oriented, with a dash of psychedelia and cavalcade of larger-than-life villains in colorful spandex outfits. THE GREEN HORNET had no established or continuing villains (perhaps this is why the show failed); the Green Hornet and Kato simply fought organized crime and the ocassional twisted genius. The show was much darker and grittier in style. It played more like a tribute to the serials and radio shows of yesteryear. Also, whereas Batman and Robin worked in tandem with the police, the duo of the Green Hornet and Kato worked outside the law. The criminal factions all believe that the Green Hornet and Kato were corrupt and out for themselves. At the end of every episode, the duo would leave the scene before the police arrived to handle the clean-up. The Green Hornet had only one police contact in District Attorney Scanlon, essayed by Walter Brook. Green Hornet and Kato fought crime from behind the wheel of the Black Beauty, a vehicle so loaded with weapons that it could make James Bond envious. One other tidbit worth mentioning is Britt Reid’s truly gorgeous executive secretary, Lenore Case (Wende Wagner), who is involved in Reid’s secret world of heroism. Sure THE GREEN HORNET comes off a little cheesy today, but this is because the show is so outdated. The series does not revel in its campiness like BATMAN. The specter of Bruce Lee in the series set in motion a number of implications that I will not go into here, but if you go back and watch DRAGON: THE BRUCE LEE STORY, everything will become clear to you.

This TV movie version of THE GREEN HORNET is culled from these 4 half-hour episodes:

The Hunter and the Hunted

Britt Reid (Van Willaims) is a millionaire who runs the Daily Sentinel newspaper, and acts as General Manager to the DSTV television station. Few know that Reid and his valet, Kato (Bruce Lee), are actually underworld figures in the form of outlaw heroes, the Green Hornet and Kato. The leaders of crime gangs are being assassinated by a mysterious organization. This mysterious group is comprised of big game hunters who want to remove the crime elements from the streets of the city. Because the Green Hornet is largely thought of as a bad guy, the group make him their main target. The segment concludes in the grounds of a large mansion where the well-armed hunters throw everything they can muster at the Green Hornet and Kato.

Invasion from Outer Space Parts 1 and 2

Britt, Kato, and Lenore are gathered at their penthouse hideaway, when a group of humanoid beings crash through the walls, and one shapely female alien throws lightning bolts at Kato, immobilizing him. The leader claims he is from another planet, and issues a list of demands to Britt to keep his alien fleet from attacking Earth. Britt uses his TV station to inform the city of the alien’s request. The alien leader takes Ms. Case as hostage and leaves. The whole thing turns out to be a hoax, staged by the evil atomic scientist, Dr. Mabuse (Larry Mann). This is really a huge smokescreen, so Dr. Mabuse’s forces can intercept an atomic warhead transfer. The Green Hornet and Kato begin their hunt to locate Lenore, who proves to be quite a brave hostage. The duo must not only save her, but stop Dr. Mabuse’s evil scheme.

Praying Mantis

They saved the best for last. This segment focuses more on Kato than the other episodes. The action takes place in Chinatown, where a group of Chinese thugs terrorize local restaurants, and generally give Kung Fu a bad name. This group is led by loose-cannon Lo Sing (a young Mako of CONAN: THE BARBARIAN fame), a master of the Praying Mantis style of martial arts. Lo Sing is working for a local crimelord, and their partnership is tenuous at best. When Green Hornet and Kato investigate Chinatown, Lo Sing takes Kato by surprise and injures him. Kato pledges to stop Lo Sing the next time they meet, but Kato must control his temper when Lo Sing’s allies take a female restaurant worker hostage. The Green Hornet comes up with a plan to force a confrontation between Lo Sing and the kidnappers. And when the time is right, Kato can extract his revenge.

It appears that when Fox compiled this TV movie, they removed some extraneous footage to tighten the pacing. As a result, there are some odd edits and transitions. The end effect is not like you are watching a complete movie; it is more like you are watching a best-of compilation. The film includes the classic opening title sequence that was used in the series. However, the end credits include the cast and crew who worked on all four episodes (so it’s not like they just tacked on the end credits from the TV show). Given the time restrictions of a prime time action series like THE GREEN HORNET, there was a lot of elements to setup, which did not allow for the character development of Kato, or any other supporting characters. In the half hour time slot that the show aired (minus commercials), the script had to setup the story, the villains, the gadgets, the Kung Fu, and wrap the story up in an appropriate manner. The Kung Fu scenes were intense, but very short, as none of the hoods could keep up with Kato.

The dark opening segment, The Hunter and the Hunted is a good introduction to the crime-fighting saga, as it depicts the weapons and powers of the Green Hornet and Kato, and establishes the supporting characters as well. The segment comprised of Invasion from Outer Space Parts I and II include some of the more campy moments, since the visitors’ resemble the cheap aliens from the worst episodes of the LOST IN SPACE show. This segment features a strong villain character in the megalomaniacal Dr. Mabuse, essayed by Larry Mann. Bruce Lee makes a fine Kato, but he is not given much to do, except drive the Black Beauty and constantly save the hide of The Green Hornet. But in the final segment, which takes place in the Chinatown area of a metropolitan city, Bruce Lee is given more material to work with, but still does not allow him to shine. This final segment also features the great Mako as Kato’s rival who practices Praying Mantis-style Kung-Fu. But even Mako’s character is a coward at heart and avoids confronting Kato in front of the residents of Chinatown. Kato gets his revenge, but Bruce Lee never got his revenge on the executives that canceled the show.