The Hulk [Blu-ray]

Director: Ang Lee Ang Lee

Overview

Ang Lee directs the live-action feature film The Hulk, based on the Marvel comic book created by Stan Lee and illustrated by Jack Kirby. Emotionally stunted Dr. Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) is part of a research team at the University of California at Berkeley. Corporate hustler Glenn Talbot (Josh Lucas) takes notice of the lab and makes plans to take it over. Then Bruce accidentally gets hit by an experimental ray and grows into a huge beast, destroying the lab in the process. A creepy janitor who claims to be his real father, Dr. David Banner (Nick Nolte), starts to secretly use the experimental ray on himself. He creates some mutant dogs and sends them after Bruce's lab mate and ex-girlfriend Betty Ross (Jennifer Connelly). After Bruce saves her life in the form of the Hulk, she lets her distant father, General Ross (Sam Elliott), take him to an abandoned army base in the desert. However, Glenn Talbot takes over the operation and wants to patent the creature's superpowers for his own profit, so he holds Bruce unconscious in an isolation tank. When provoked, Bruce turns into the Hulk and makes a break for San Francisco, leading to a desert chase sequence involving military aircraft, tanks, and bombs. Only the sight of Betty can make him turn back to his human form. When he is eventually captured, Dr. David Banner shows up for a final confrontation with his son and his old adversary, General Ross.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/16/2008
UPC:	0025195047401
Original Release:	2003
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	2:18:00
Sales rank:	22,487

Special Features

Feature commentary with director Ang Lee; Deleted scenes; Evolution of The Hulk; The incredible Ang Lee; The dog fight scene; The making of Hulk; The unique style of editing Hulk

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Eric Bana	Bruce Banner / Hulk
Jennifer Connelly	Betty Ross
Sam Elliott	Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross
Josh Lucas	Glenn Talbot
Nick Nolte	David Banner
Paul Kersey	Young David Banner
Cara Buono	Edith Banner
Kevin Rankin	Harper
Todd Tesen	Young Ross
Celia Weston	Mrs. Krensler
Lou Ferrigno	Security Guard
Mike Erwin	Teenage Bruce Banner
Regi Davis	Security Guard
Craig Damon	Security Guard
Regina McKee Redwing	National Security Advisor
Daniel Dae Kim	Aide,Officer
Geoffrey Scott	President
Daniella Kuhn	Edith's Friend
Michael Kronenberg	Bruce Banner as Child,Bruce Banner as Child
Rhiannon Leigh Wryn	Betty Ross as Child
Lou Richards	Pediatrician
Jennifer Gotzon	Waitress
Louanne Kelley	Delivery Doctor
John Littlefield	Security NCO
Lorenzo Callender	Soldier
Todd Lee Coralli	Soldier
Johnny Kastl	Soldier
Eric Ware	Soldier
Jesse Corti	Colonel
Mark Atteberry	Technician
Eva Burkley	Technician
Rondda Holeman	Technician
John A. Maraffi	Technician
Michael Papajohn	Technician
David St. Pierre	Technician
Boni Yanagisawa	Technician
Brett Thacher	Comanche Pilot
Kirk B.R. Woller	Comanche Pilot
David Sutherland	Tank Commander
Randy Neville	F-22 Pilot
Amir Faraj	Boy
Sean Mahon	Comanche Pilot
Ricardo Aguilar	Boy's Father
Victor Rivers	Paramilitary
Lyndon Karp	Davey
John Prosky	Atheon Technician
Thomas Rosales Jr.	Rebel Militant
Ray Buffer	Atheon Captain (uncredited)
Andy Arness	Soldier (uncredited)
Rory J. Aylward	Second Tank Commander (uncredited)
Cougar Zank	Army Military/ SWAT (uncredited)
Sasha Barrese	Alice
Reggie Davis	Security Guard
Pete Anthony	Conductor
Velvet Revolver	Performer
Danny Elfman	Composer

Technical Credits

James Schamus

Michael France

John Turman

James Turman

Ang Lee	Director
Larry J. Franco	Producer
Gale Anne Hurd	Producer
James Schamus	Producer,Screenwriter
Avi Arad	Producer
Kevin Feige	Executive Producer
Michael France	Screenwriter
John Turman	Screenwriter
Gary L. Dagg	Key Grip
James Turman	Screenwriter
Clay Lilley	Stunts,Stunts
Jerry Wills	Stunts
Corey Eubanks	Stunts
Callie Croughwell	Stunts
Joshua Croughwell	Stunts
Andrew Lantieri	Stunts
Tristan Morts	Stunts
Hailey Peitzman	Stunts
Megan Robinson	Stunts
Wyatt Tipton	Stunts
Thomas Wazney	Key Grip
Avy Kaufman	Casting
Craig Branham	Stunts
Merritt Yohnka	Stunts
Rick Avery	Stunts,Stunts
Sean Graham	Stunts
David S. Rowden	Stunts
Sonny Tipton	Stunts
Clay Fontenot	Stunts
Wendi Bromley	Stunts
Megan Marshall	Stunts
Molly Peitzman	Stunts
Mika Saito	Stunts
Jesse Tipton	Stunts
Gabriel Womark	Stunts
Gregory Barnett	Stunts
Casey O'Neill	Stunts
Jason Rodriguez	Stunts
Dane Farwell	Stunts
Kevin Grevioux	Stunts
Darlene Ava Williams	Stunts
Eric Abrahamson	Stunts
Jake Brake	Stunts
Michelle Croughwell	Stunts
Bevin Kaye	Stunts
William Morts	Stunts
Gunter Schlierkamp	Stunts
Jennifer Fong	Executive Producer
Martin Valinsky	Stunts
Dotan Bonen	Stunts
Brady Conrad	Stunts
Cameron Croughwell	Stunts
Scott Fisher	Stunts
Hannah Peitzman	Stunts
Ava Williams	Stunts
Eugene Gearty	Sound/Sound Designer
Dennis Sands	Sound Mixer

Editorial Reviews

Ang Lee's inventive direction and some state-of-the-art special effects help to rip the incredible Hulk -- a green giant who is anything but jolly -- from the pages of Stan Lee's Marvel comics of the 1960s. In reality (to the extent that "reality" is a workable concept in films like this one), he is geneticist Bruce Banner (Eric Bana), a troubled young man whose past holds terrible secrets he can never fully remember. Intense emotional stress turns him into the Hulk, a raging monster who smashes everything and everybody with whom he comes into contact. The lone exception, of course, is the lovely Betty Ross (Jennifer Connolly), Bruce's co-worker and the daughter of a hard-bitten general (Sam Elliott) overseeing top-secret government projects. Nick Nolte has a relatively small but showy supporting role as Bruce's father, a discredited scientist whose fall from grace has something to do with his son's deeply disturbed psyche. Resisting the temptation to fill the screen with live-action comic-book panels, Ang Lee alters the origin of the printed-page protagonist to include psychological complexities that even Stan Lee never anticipated for his troubled antihero. It takes a fairly long time for the Hulk to make his first significant appearance, but he does so in a dynamic, explosive manner. By rendering his leading character with computer graphics, Lee and the special-effects team enable the Hulk to perform feats that might look convincing in comics but would normally never pass muster in live-action movies. Hulk’s combination of larger-than-life action and intricate back-story made it an exceptionally ambitious undertaking, and the film succeeds on its own terms. Even if you've never read a Hulk comic book, you can enjoy this exceptionally well made thriller.

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse

The hotly anticipated summer blockbuster The Hulk sets up a power struggle between father and son that manifests itself in the form of a giant green CGI creature. As Dr. Bruce Banner, Eric Bana certainly has the right bone structure and muscle mass to be convincing as the alter ego of a comic book superhero. He maintains an intense, cheerless attitude while Nick Nolte overacts as his Charles Manson-looking mad scientist father, Dr. David Banner. The clincher hangs on a repressed memory lurking in Bruce's subconscious, which is alluded to in the opening sequence of close-ups and replayed in various flashy ways. Much of the film's structure is flashy, with multiple split screens, fancy dissolves, and moving comic book-style cells that may seem gimmicky to some. Still, there are thrilling moments and striking visuals when the Hulk appears, especially during the extended chase scene across the desert and through the sky, culminating in the trashing of the San Francisco Bay area. Throughout it all, Jennifer Connelly is weepy and worried as Dr. Betty Ross, who never seems to spark with the closed-off Bruce. Surprisingly, it's Sam Elliott who brings a sorely needed gentle humanity to the role of Betty's stern and distant father, General Ross. After the main special effects-laden climactic sequence, the tacked-on ending marks a radical shift in tone toward a Hulk with a purpose rather than a Hulk on the run, presumably for the function of setting up a sequel. As a good monster movie, the action is entertaining and the main drama is intriguing, but the downbeat story and long running time might disappoint viewers looking for the charm of other contemporary superhero movies.

All Movie Guide - Andrea LeVasseur

An interesting effort to give one of the staples of mass entertainment something extra in the way of insight and feeling. Andrew Sarris

New York Observer