Peter Parker (Nicholas Hammond) is a college student trying to work his way through school. Peter’s passion is photography. In an attempt to use his passion to earn some money, he applies to be a photographer for the Daily Bugle. The editor of the paper, J. Jonah Jameson (David White) is not impressed with Peter’s work.
While they are discussing Peter’s possible employment, a television news report comes into the office. It seems that two well respected men, one a doctor and one a lawyer, robbed a bank and then crashed their car into a brick wall killing the two men instantly. The money from the robbery disappeared. According to the news reports, the mayor received an extortion note demanding a ransom of fifty million dollars. He claims that ten prominent people in the city have been brain washed and, on his command, will kill themselves if the ransom is not paid. The note also claims that the writer is responsible for the recent robbery of the bank and the subsequent suicide of the robbers by the use of mind control.
Peter returns to school to work on his school project. During an experiment a spider is dosed with a radioactive substance. The spider bites Peter. The bite causes Peter to take on superpowers. Peter can climb walls and has gained super-strength. It doesn’t take long for Peter to become involved in tracking down the extortionist, Edward Byron (Thayer David), and his henchmen, and upstaging Captain Barbera (Michael Pataki) of the police.
“Spider-Man” AKA “The Amazing Spider Man” was released in 1977 and was directed by E. W. Swackhamer. It is an American made-for-television superhero film which aired on CBS. The film also had a small theatrical release outside the US. The pilot was picked up and a television series based on the movie ran for two seasons. The series was titled “The Amazing Spider-Man”. The movie was the first Spider-Man film released by Columbia Pictures. In addition to the series, two sequels, “Spider-Man Strikes Back” 1978 and “Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge” 1981, were also released.
Some made for television movies are really good. Some are just expanded episodes. This one is more of the latter. The movie is quite campy and a bit corny. The special effects kinda suck, especially when Spiderman is crawling up a building. One of the inconsistencies of the film is that Peter Parker has allergies. After he is bitten by the spider, he still has allergies. You’re Spiderman. You have superpowers, why do you still have allergies? The music score is typical of the seventies, lots of brass and wah-wah with some disco influences.
The basic plot of the film deviates somewhat from the original comic book canon. There’s no Uncle Ben or Mary Jane, but it still has some of the standard origin story highlights. It’s not great by any means but it does have that 70’s nostalgic allure.