Smashing film! Far from an abomination…
There’s nothing in this world that would have made me cringe more than if someone mentioned the 2003 Hulk movie. While certainly a hearty attempt at a very old television show, that was good for its time, the true story of the human element was lost in translation with Ang Lee’s version. Instead of a comic hero, he made it a dramatic overture. That didn’t really do it for fans of the comic, or this reviewer. Scarred and still healing from that 2003 movie, most audiences probably didn’t put much faith in this version, which had been a rumored to have some controversy surrounding it regarding the direction of the film. Ultimately, the final product did this and only this…. it impressed.
A restart/reboot of the franchise came fast and hard, spending little time explaining the origin of the Hulk (it is explained during the opening credits — which is brilliant). It starts furiously with Bruce Banner (Norton) trying to control himself and, more importantly, his inner rage. Still on the run from the government, he finds himself in Brazil working at a bottling plant. When his blood finds its way into one of the bottles, he is found by the US government. From that point on, he’s on the run. Trying to control himself, trying to run and trying to find a cure, Banner finds himself where he started, at Culver University. Looking for a cure he finds his old flame, Betty Ross — daughter to General Ross, his pursuer, and she and him run together. I’ll leave it at that.
Again, this movie is truly a non-stop thrill ride (as cliche as that sounds). Banner is less of a whiny tool and more of a driven man. Bill Bixby’s Banner from the old television show was like this and partly the reason why the show was successful. Even more fascinating about Norton’s Banner was his ability to capture the comic’s scientist perfectly. He’s a scrawny man with a determination to keep the government from using his accident as a tool of destruction. Norton played this character so brilliantly.
As for the director and the screenwriter (Louis Leterrier/Zak Penn), they couldn’t have credited a better storyline. It’s really quite no-nonsense, it doesn’t delve too deeply into the characters and their complicated pasts, as the 2003 movie attempted, it was just a straight tale of a lonely man trying to piece together his life. Leterrier kept the smooth trail of story flowing in the right direction, keeping the characters just real enough to understand and relate. Penn made sure there were sensible plot points that, when put together, didn’t leave any loose ends for the audience. Again, it’s very much the opposite of the 2003 film.
As for the CG involved, better, cooler and more human like. Not too green, but green enough to make him the Hulk. Clearly the advances made in the last five years truly helped the look of the massive monster. Good stuff.
Blu for Green
With every great action film comes great visuals and audio on Blu-ray, The Incredible Hulk is no different. It packs all the visual punch you would expect from Blu-ray (even better looking than the theatrical version) and excels with leaps and bounds in the audio category. You’ll never be the same when you hear it for the first time in 5.1 HD or better. Completely lossless and something to lose yourself with. Also, let me just commend Universal Studio for doing one of the best jobs with transferring a movie to HD. Upon discussion with other editors who have reviewed Blu-ray, we have all agreed that Universal’s methods of transferring to HD has been nothing short of remarkable. Not to single out a studio, but I would be very curious on their method of transferring. Excellent looking stuff in The Incredible Hulk though.
As for the features, here’s what you get:
• Alternate Opening
• The Making of THE INCREDIBLE HULK: An in-depth look at the making
of the blockbuster film, featuring interviews with Edward Norton, director Louis
Leterrier, and producers Avi Arad, Kevin Feige and Gale Anne Hurd and the entire
cast and crew. The documentary covers the film’s innovative take on the character,
look and storyline, as well as the casting process, production and profile of director
Louis Leterrier.
• Becoming The Hulk: This featurette focuses on Edward Norton’s approach to the
iconic role and the incredible visual effects employed by award®-winning studio
Rhythm & Hues to create the character on screen.
• Becoming The Abomination: From the first motion-capture session to the visual
effects at Rhythm & Hues, viewers go behind the scenes with actor Tim Roth and
watch as he transforms both his mind and body into the super villain known as The
Abomination.
• Anatomy of a Hulk Out: Behind-the-scenes looks at three of the movie’s most
exciting action sequences:
• Hulking Out in the Bottling Plant – Go inside the first action sequence of
the film where both viewers and the army are given a glimpse of the Hulk to
come.
• Hulking Out on Campus – A behind-the-scenes look at the creation of a
Hulk action sequence, featuring airplanes, guns, and even a sound machine.
• Hulking Out in Harlem – From pre-visualization animatics to visual
effects, this featurette shows how filmmakers created one of the largest
action sequences in Marvel film history.
• From Comic Book to Screen: See the incredible comic books come to life
courtesy of narration, sound effects and “living” panels of action.
• Feature Commentary With Director Louis Leterrier And Cast
• Digital Copy of THE INCREDIBLE HULK: Compatible with PC, Mac or
iPod.
• Deleted Scenes
BONUS FEATURES – EXCLUSIVE TO BLU-RAYTM HI-DEF:
•· U Control: Universal’s exclusive signature feature, U Control puts viewers one click
away from going deeper into the making of the film without ever interrupting the
movie, through animated comic book panels, storyboards, early renderings of the
visual effects, interactive cast and crew interviews and exclusive information about
the characters, back story, and THE INCREDIBLE HULK physics.
– Thunderbolt Files – Explore the top-secret files of the forces hunting
The Hulk with this interactive feature that takes you deeper into the
movie – without ever leaving the film.
– Scene Explorer – Discover the secrets behind the special effects!
Explore all the individual layers that go into an effects-intensive scene
with this unique Blu-ray feature.
– Comic Book Gallery – Enjoy a Hi-Def experience of the classic comic
book images that inspired key shots in the movie.
• BD-LIVE FEATURES – Blu-ray and Playstation3 players with an Internet
connection can access exclusive interactive applications that allow viewers to
communicate with friends and family while watching the film.
All of the features involved with this Blu-ray are great. I’m happy they didn’t use the alternate opening as it was really not as powerful as the one that made it into the theatrical version. I have to give props to the featurette of how the film was made. It was intense and very-well thought out. Everyone involved with the project seemed to be passionate about restarting the franchiser properly. That’s so important when it comes to The Incredible Hulk. Overall, excellent features, especially the Blu-ray portion of them.