Incredible Hulk, The (Blu-ray)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

"The Incredible Hulk" contains a very strong level of detail and coloring that seems to be lifted right from the frames of a comic. This CGI-based picture shows its digital pedigree with an incredibly clean transfer that shows no flaws from either mastering or the source print and the very minor amount of edge enhancement that I noticed on the nearly perfect DVD release is completely absent here. Explosions show off the films brilliant and warm coloring, while the film´s darker scenes continue to look crisp and clear with strong black levels. The transfer is very clean and no dirt or other problems with the mix are present throughout the film and the source materials used were in perfect condition. Film grain is not very noticeable through the entire picture. While I wasn´t as impressed with the Blu-ray release, this is still a very good looking title.

Audio:

When I had first watched the film, it was to review the DVD release. Upon booting up my Samsung standalone player for video and sound comparison, I had forgotten to set up the sound. Pressing two buttons resulted in a wall of sound that reminded me of the strength of the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack compared to the older Dolby Digital mix. "The Incredible Hulk" is a very good sounding title that is again just shy of being reference material. It is a very aggressive mix and the film pushes any good home theater rig. The film´s many action sequences are quite enveloping and the .1 LFE channel thumps loudly throughout the film. Sound moves very cleanly from one channel to the next and the directional effects never feel forced. The Lou Ferigno voiced Hulk sounds deep and powerful and vocals from those not gamma radiated are equally strong. The musical score by Craig Armstrong exudes a strong presence throughout the film and sounds quite warm through the 5.1 mix. "The Incredible Hulk" is a very impressive sounding disc and while it can´t topple reference quality titles and is a noticeable improvement over the solid sounding DVD release.

Extras:

"The Incredible Hulk" arrives on Blu-ray as a two disc special edition. I´m not sure what will change besides the 3D slipcase after the ´Limited´ window closes, but this Blu-ray set contains the film and bonus features on one platter and a DVD Digital Copy Disc. in a paper sleeve. This disc contains no supplemental material and allows for the portable playback of the film on iPod or Zune devices or through a PC or Mac computer. I do like the concept of providing a digital version of the film on permanent media and enjoy that Blu-ray releases provide alternate means to watch the film. It still doesn´t rival the DVD Combo releases from the defunct HD-DVD format, but I feel we are getting somewhere closer to world media peace. The disc touts My Chat BD Live functionality, but I was unable to figure out how to make it work on my Playstation 3 at this time.

The Blu-ray disc contains most of the features from the 3-Disc DVD release, but moves beyond the DVD format with the familiar U-Control functionality. Five different items are available in what may be the best example of U-Control yet. Thunderbolt Files are spread across all twenty chapters and provides interactive information that is scene dependent as you watch the film. This includes some very nice background information on locations and the characters as you watch the film. The Scene Explorer is active only during chapters 10, 11, 17 and 18. This feature allows you to watch the scenes through their development from Storyboards, VFX Plate, VFX Stage 1 and VFX Stage 2 through either thumbnails or full screen imagery. Chapters 10, 16, 17 and 18 have the Comic Book Gallery. This pops up comic book frames as you watch the film and is quite sparse. The Animated Comic is active only during the eleventh chapter and should have been a standalone feature instead of in U-Control. It is nice to watch though and looks great in high definition.

The Picture-in-Picture functionality provides an excellent array of information and is active in all chapters but 7, 13, 15, 19 and 20. There is a lot of making-of information and background material covered here. The Blu-ray disc provides more than the extensive U-Control features to aid in the enjoyment of watching the film. The Feature Commentary with Director Louis Leterrier and Tim Roth is a pretty good listen if you do not feel like engaging the interactive content, but doesn´t cover near as much material. The two recorded the track together and their thick British and French accents make for a difficult listen at times, but this is an energetic and informative track that is enjoyable. Tim Roth is a person who is just fun to listen to and that fun is evident here and while I feel the U-Control is a little more enjoyable, this commentary is a must listen to for fans.

The disc presents the same stand-alone materials from the three disc set and I must say I´m amazed at how much material was put on a BD-50 platter. I am not overly impressed with the Alternate Opening (2:34). What exactly is the point of it? The Deleted Scenes (42:45) were presented separately on the DVD 3-disc set, but they are combined for a very lengthy viewing experience. Some of these scenes are extended material, while others scenes were completely removed. While some of these scenes deserved to be left on the cutting room floor, I found some of them to be very enjoyable and my favorite scene in particular was the pizza delivery scene. The Making of the Incredible (29:52) is brought to you by Volkswagen. It is a decent making-of featurette that combines the polish and talking heads interviews that are so familiar to these types of documentaries and covers everything from Ang Lee´s film to the effects used in this second film.

Four shorter featurettes are also contained on the Blu-ray disc. The Becoming the Hulk (9:23) has Edward Norton, Jr. and the filmmakers talking about Norton´s involvement in the film and the new direction taken with this new Incredible Hulk. They show many designs and give good background on the choices made for this film. Of course, the villain needs his own feature and Becoming the Abomination (10:16) is a discussion on the Hulk´s slightly larger nemesis. I still don´t like the Abomination character. Anatomy of a Hulk-Out (27:50) is a collection of three featurettes that look at the CGI work involved to transform Norton into the green giant. Finally, From Comic Book to Screen (6:33) looks at a comic book subplot that became a scene in the film, which was the scene where Hulk took Betty to safety after the campus attack.

Closing:

Just a few years after Ang Lee tried his hand at producing an Incredible Hulk film, Universal and Marvel studios bring the character back for a film titled "The Incredible Hulk." This is an action-centric picture that reboots the character and lessen the plot heavy details for more explosions and fast-paced action. I felt the cast of Ang Lee´s film was superior with Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott and Nick Nolte, but this movie was just a little more fun. The 3-Disc DVD set was quite solid and the Blu-ray release is a solid improvement with a very strong set of next generation materials that includes Profile 1.1 and 2.0 features. The sound is very strong, but the disc doesn´t improve upon the picture quality by much and that is largely due to how good looking the DVD release was. This is the best way for Marvel fans to enjoy "The Incredible Hulk" and one of the nicer Blu-ray titles yet released.

---

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---