The Incredible Hulk (2008) (Blu-ray)

When I sat down to watch this movie, I had no real expectations as the last Hulk movie was very poor, however with the recent spate of excellent Marvel films I was keeping my fingers crossed. Firstly I must say this was a huge improvement from the movie a few years back. The CGI was a lot less obvious and the movie had a much fuller story. Nice cameo from Lou Ferrigno as the security guard and of course Stan Lee. Looked good on Blu Ray, however not as much for me as Iron Man. Major downside for me was Liv Tyler, just didn't find her at all convincing.... to girly, breathless and pouting for a top scientist. I have to admit that I have not had the same issues on the Blu ray as some of the others here. Nice tie-in at the end with Iron Man as well..... Looking forward to the Avengers! Summary is good movie, just not quite up there with Iron Man and the Dark Knight

Just sat and watched this for the second time this afternoon, the first time on blu-ray.

It looked stunning, I thought it looked pretty good on Dvd, but it is taken to another level here. The facial expressions of the Hulk really stood out, I can't remember seeing the anguish in his eyes when I watched it before, but it certainly shows up now.

The fight scenes look tremendous obviously, I especially like the Hulk's use of weapons, bits of metal, whole cars as boxing gloves!

Cool or what?

The performances are good, I was surprised when I heard Ed Norton was going to play the lead - intrigued as well though, as this is not his normal sort of role. He was very good in the part, the right mix of dedication, suffering and tragedy written across his face.

Liv Tyler does a good job too, all she has to do is look into the camera with those huge eyes of hers and tremble her bottom lip and you can truly believe that she loves Bruce Banner so much it hurts - extraordinary.

Tim Roth's part could be construed as a typical stock villain but he manages to imbue Blonsky with a real desperate malevolence and a genuine feeling that he is a few sandwiches short of a picnic basket.

The only slightly duff note for me comes from William Hurt, normally an actor who convinces in every part he plays, I found General Ross underwritten and found it hard to take his character as real - maybe it was the duff wig and even duffer moustache.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable experience, with a bit more class on show than anyone had a right to expect. I found the character of the Hulk to be sympathetic, scary and sometimes very real, especially in some of the close ups.

If this is just the first movie in the series then the followup(s) will have to go some way to maintaining the standard set by this one. From the sweeping shots over the cramped brightly coloured houses in Brazil to the night time battle at the end the look of the film is rich and lush, the photography is clever but not too flashy and I felt that I had been thoroughly entertained.

HULK SMASH!! Indeed

Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Italian: DTS 5.1

Subtitles
English SDH, English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, Korean

Big fan of Ang Lee's the Hulk, so wasnt sure if this new amped up version was gonna do the trick, but it did. Straight Up Action Style movie, Norton was good and cool last scene.

A more accessible and less heavy-handed movie than Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk, Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk is a purely popcorn love affair with Marvel's raging, green superhero, as well as the old television series starring Bill Bixby as Dr. David Banner and Lou Ferrigno as the beast within him. Edward Norton takes up where Eric Bana left off in Lee's version, playing Bruce (that's the character's original name) Banner, a haunted scientist always on the move. After being chased in Brazil by General Ross & his soilders. Banner finds himself back in the U.S. & tracked by new super soilder Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) who goes onto become Hulk's new enemy the Abomination. Liv Tyler turns up as General Ross's daughter & Banner's love interest Betty (& plays it better than Jennifer Connelly did). The original Hulk Lou Ferringo also pops up again as a security guard. Ed Norton again proves how versatile an actor he is & plays Banner with a lot more realism than Eric Bana managed. This is the fim Ang Lee should have made back in 2003, but at least it's better late than never. Compared to the rest of the Marvel films I would put this on par with the likes of Spiderman 1 & 2, Xmen 2 & Blade. Take a bow Mr Letterier as this is what a Hulk film should be. Good to see the big green dude back where he belongs. Simply Incredible!!!