Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10494 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-11-17
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: PAL, DTS Surround Sound, Dolby, Digital Sound, Anamorphic
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: Dutch
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 132 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Amazingly, Ang Lee's Hulk makes a fair fist of pleasing everybody. The latest in a run of Marvel Comic-to-film transfers, it acknowledges the history of a character who dates back to 1962 while recreating him in contemporary terms. Though this, Hulk's origin still draws on the 1960s iconography of bomb tests and desert bases, this new take mixes gene-tampering with gamma radiation and never forgets that poor Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) has been psychologically primed by a mad father (Nick Nolte) and a disappointed girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly) to transform from repressed wimp to big green powerhouse even before the mad science kicks in.

The long first act is enlivened by comic book-style split-screen effects and multiple foreshadowings--Lee keeps finding excuses to light Bana's face green--but is also absorbing personal drama from the man who gave you The Ice Storm before flexing his action muscles on Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. When Banner begins his Jekyll-and-Hyde seizures, the ILM CGI boys step in and use Bana as a template for the most fully-realised digital characterisation yet seen in the movies. Comics fans will thrill as a credibly bulky, superswift, super-green behemoth tangles with mutated killer dogs (including a very vicious poodle) in a night time forest, bursts out of confinement in an underground secret base, takes on America's military might while bouncing around a Road Runner and Coyote-like South Western desert and then invades San Francisco for some major "Hulk... smash" action. Artful and entertaining, engaging and explosive, this is among the most satisfying superhero movies.

On the DVD: Hulk two-disc set doesn't quite hulk-out as well comparative Marvel movie releases for the X-Men films, Spider-Man and Daredevil. Disc 2 assembles a pile of those infotainment documentaries prepared to drum up pre-publicity but which feel a bit redundant once the movie is out, especially since there's so much repetition between the featurettes. It's all very well, and some of the technical stuff is fascinating, but this particular film could do with a more in-depth thematic approach: there's a lot about how the CGI Hulk was realised but little on the development of the story, the performances or the general tone, though Ang Lee's slightly sparse commentary makes interesting stabs in that direction. The biggest revelation in the background material is that Lee, known for his delicacy of touch, himself wore the motion capture suit and smashed up plywood tanks as a guide for the CGI animators. --Kim Newman

Special Features

• Feature commentary with Director, Ang Lee
  
• Hulk Cam: Inside the Rage - Inside access to behind the scenes footage throughout the film
  
• Thunderbirds teaser trailer
  
• Superhero Revealed: The Anatomy of the Hulk (interactive) - Manipulate and dissect a 3D Hulk model to explore his extraordinary abilities
  
• Deleted Scenes
  
• Hulkification - "You're Making me Angry" scene drawn by accomplished illustrators from around the world (in Japanese Anime, Euro Style and Marvel Comics style)
  
• Evolution of the Hulk - A deep look into the production and technology that have brought Marvel's strongest superhero to life on the big screen
  
• The Incredible Ang Lee - A tribute to Ang Lee's hands on directing style and his dedication to the Hulk
  
• The Dog Fight scene - Step by step breakdown of the scene from storybook to finished scene
  
• Making of "The Hulk"
  
• Ang Lee - A unique look at the unique comic book editing style of the film
  
• DVD ROM feature - Featuring PC wallpaper and screensaver

Synopsis
THE HULK, adapted by Ang Lee (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON) from the Marvel comic book series, stars Eric Bana as Bruce Banner, the tormented scientist whose temper periodically transforms him into a raging green monster. Fellow scientist and Hulk-love-interest Betty Ross (Jennifer Connelly), shares a strange connection with Banner--both have abstract childhood nightmares that hint at a shared dark past. The missing pieces of the puzzle are revealed when Banner's unstable, mad-scientist father David (Nick Nolte) appears out of the blue, followed by Betty's father Ross (Sam Elliot), a military cowboy. Banner is ultimately trying to understand what it is that makes his strange and unpredictable metamorphosis occur, while his outbursts distract him, leading him out into the streets of San Francisco, to the Golden Gate Bridge, and on a tour of the American west's national parks where he unleashes his anger in violent tantrums. A threat to the country that is treated like a natural disaster, the military is quick to respond, chasing the Hulk with helicopters, machine guns, and even heavy artillery, as he bounds away in mighty leaps, trying to escape. The CGI work used in creating the Hulk is funny and convincing, and the gorgeous landscape photography makes his presence all the more amazing. A vibrant colour scheme adds to the film's visual thrills, split-screen editing breaks up the slower scenes, and the music by composer Danny Elfman perfectly punctuates the contrast between the soft love story and wild action sequences. While parts of the film recall the introspection of FRANKENSTEIN, the outrageous crowd-pleasing monster-military chases hearken back to KING KONG and the GODZILLA movies.

Customer Reviews

Destined to be re-evaluated as a classic.
Here's a funny thing. A film about a man who turns green and smashes stuff when he gets angry turns out not to really be about that after all.

When I first saw this film at the cinema I was left in a neither-here-nor-there frame of mind. I saw it was good but didn't fully appreciate what I'd just seen. It wasn't really a film about the Hulk but a film about relationships which happened to have the Hulk in it.
Now after the umpteenth reshowing on ITV2 I am finally seeing some of what I think Ang Lee was trying to show us in the first place.

It's a beautiful film about complex emotional issues transposed into a comic book world. Isolation, abandonment, love, familial duty, jealousy, emotional trauma and of course finally anger mixed with frustration at emotional impotence. In many ways it even serves as a metaphor for repressed sexuality. Have no doubt this is a tragedy of immense proportions.
Hulk is a distinctly brave and visionary film which has largely been dismissed as just another comic book film by some yet it doesn't pander to a casual audience either. This is possibly why it was perceived as a failure by so many.

Particularly noteworthy is Jennifer Connelly's performance. Unhurried close-ups of her face, subtly reflecting her changing emotional involvement become almost overwhelming the longer the camera intrusively lingers. I'm tempted to say that this is possibly her best performance in a movie so far even though she's been great in so many others. It's easy to portray such (comic book) supporting characters as caricatures or stereotypes (just look at the dismal 2008 Hulk movie for evidence of that) but Lee and Connelly bring such depth to Betty Ross that she somewhat steals the whole film.
Eric Bana is well cast as the emotionally distant and vaguely unsympathetic Bruce Banner not forgetting the excellent supporting cast including Nick Nolte and Sam Elliott.
Action scenes are handled deftly but similar in tone to the work of legendary director Michelangelo Antonioni, the action is the merely the device by which the larger picture is revealed, and not the other way around.

The difficulty obviously arises when you try to sell a film like this to an audience. Short sighted reliance on populist demographics is always going to fail with a work of this complexity.
So there you have it. A film that is neither fish nor fowl but adroitly occupies the no-man's land in between.

I feel certain that this film will eventually garner the level of praise and appreciation it truly deserves but probably only by future generations. Ang Lee constantly reaffirms just why he has earnt his place among the all-time directorial greats by constantly challenging audience preconceptions and never failing to create thoughtful and intelligent films whatever genre he works in.

"Hulk" a future classic?.......... I have absolutely no doubt.

A smart superhero film? No wonder everyone hated it.
With Ang Lee at the helm there was no way this was going to turn out as yet another repetitive action flick: this is superheroes with brains. It's also probably the most believable of the superhero movies. There are no stupid baddies with capes, special powers and definite articles preceding their names. Maybe the movie does stray from the comics, but serious people won't care because we ended up with a good film instead.

HULK
Sorry but i cant understand how anyone who considers themselves a fan of this or any other marvel comic could hate this movie. Anybody that wants to see a big green guy smashing everything, sorry but this movie was tackled by people that wanted to delve in to the psyche of the human mind, and understand "the hulk in all of us". I think most movie goers wanted to see a shallow 2 hour film laden with special effects (the last 30-40 mins are mind blowing for the effects), if you wanted that you will be disappointed. Just look at the cast and crew, you know what you're in for, Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliot, Nick Nolte (all great here), these guys are real actors, known for their ability to portray characters! The Hulk effects too are totally believable, you can see Eric's face in the Hulk (bar the green and angriness) Hulk does smash the crap out of stuff too, so u wont be disappointed.
I firmly believe anyone who is a fan of The Hulk or just after a great story with some great acting that doesnt want to watch yet another summer blockbuster piece of shallow garbage, this is what you should watch.