Incredible Hulk, The (DVD)

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Video:

"The Incredible Hulk" looks phenomenal in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The highly detailed film benefits from solid resolution and strong coloring. Many elements of the film are CGI based and the direct digital-to-digital transfer of the film creates a DVD that easily ranks among the better films on the aging format. The battle scenes between the Hulk and the US Army and then between the Hulk and the detestable Abomination look absolution stunning. Explosions show off 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 and I felt the very small hint of edge enhancement was more than manageable. "The Incredible Hulk" easily shows that there is life left for the standard resolution DVD format.

Audio:

Audio for "The Incredible Hulk" is presented through Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and features matching French and Spanish soundtracks. An English DVS 2.0 mix is also included and subtitles are featured for English, Spanish and French. The audio mix is very aggressive and "The Incredible Hulk" sounds spectacular when amped up through a good six channel system. 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, it pushes any surround system hard.

Extras:

Universal has packaged "The Incredible Hulk" as a three disc special edition. Opening up the packaging reveals that two of the DVDs are housed in the protective casing, but the third disc is simply held in the familiar paper sleeve with the round see-through plastic window that lets you clear see it houses the Digital Copy Disc. This third disc contains no supplemental materials, but it does allow 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, but it feels like a slight to advertise this as a 3-Disc special edition when the third platter will only appeal to a limited audience. It is a nice bonus, but I was expecting a special edition with an absolutely amazing collection of bonus materials. Instead, "The Incredible Hulk" is just slightly above average in its bonus offerings.

The first disc boots up with a substantial number of advertisements for everything from a fifth "Beethoven" film to "Iron Man" and advertising the Blu-ray format. The disc itself contains some supplemental materials, with the Feature Commentary with Director Louis Leterrier and Tim Roth as the largest offering on the first DVD. 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. The Deleted Scenes (13:28) collection on this DVD consists of an extended scene between Blonsky and Ross and five deleted scenes not found in the film. The excised material is worth checking out once or twice, but it doesn´t lend a lot to the final film and I can see why it was left on the cutting room floor.

The aptly named "Bonus Disc" contains most of the supplements of the 3-Disc release. I found it odd that I was required to press "Bonus Features" to see the contents, but the seven features are then accessible from one screen. The Alternate Opening (2:34) is touted on the packaging and I wasn´t overly impressed with it, to be honest. What exactly was supposed to be going on? The second set of Deleted Scenes (29:15) numbers at seventeen and provides a little more entertainment than the first collection found on disc one. They started off with a bang with a very funny 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 this bonus DVD. 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 features a couple hours worth of bonus materials and a digital copy of the film. It seems a little slight considering it is billed as a three disc special edition, but fans of the big green brute should be more than pleased. Where this DVD release really excels is in the sound and video of the feature presentation. It is very good with some of the better visuals you will see on DVD and a very powerful sound mix. All-in-all, this is a very good DVD release and Marvel fans should rejoice.

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