Hulk (Blu-ray)

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The HD-DVD release looked absolutely splendid and thankfully, the encode is identical on Blu-ray and the 2.35:1 VC-1/1080p transfer is again top notch and this is one of the better looking releases on the Blu-ray format and while the film may not be as good as its visuals, it does make watching "Hulk" a little more enjoyable. Ang Lee wanted this film to be a comic book come to life and the colors are what really stands out for "Hulk" and I can´t think of too many films that handle colors as well as this film does. Detail is exceptionally strong and provides an image that ´pops´ off the screen. Black levels hold up exceptionally well and the overly dark fight scene between our hero and the big bad puppy dogs looks wonderful with good shadow detail. While this film won´t win over anybody with content, the visuals are worth checking out.

Sound:

I am again impressed with how "Hulk" sounds in high definition and the Blu-ray release is easily the best "Hulk" has ever sounded. The HD-DVD release was snubbed of a TrueHD mix, but the English DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio soundtrack is stunning. It is loud and it is aggressive and I´m under the impression that the previous "Hulk" film sounds better than the "Incredible Hulk" starring Edward Norton, Jr. Listening to the Hulk smash things is very entertaining and from scene to scene, "Hulk" is one of the best discs I´ve yet to pay witness to. Bass response of the .1 LFE channel is very strong and equally matched by razor sharp high frequencies. All six speakers were busy when the soundtrack got as aggressive as the gamma radiated freak. Dialogue is clear and intelligible, even when somebody is simply screaming to get away from the angry green one. My favorite movie music man, Danny Elfman contributed the score and it sounded incredible.

Extras:

The Blu-ray release of "Hulk" starts off prompting the viewer to select one of seventeen languages to start the menus. Thankfully, English was on the top and not the bottom as the Universal menus aren´t the fastest scrolling menus in the world. The Blu-ray has had its featured ´upgraded´ a slight bit as the previously named "Hulk Cam" is now simply a Picture-in-Picture function of U-Control that appears in fifteen of the film´s thirty two chapters. Requiring Profile 1.1, the PiP feature includes some very nice snippets about the making of the film and is intertwined with a few good interview segments, but only about forty five minutes of footage is contained in this video supplement and most of the film is left silent.

The rest of the features on the Blu-ray release are aligned identically to how they appeared on the HD-DVD release. First and foremost is the Feature Commentary with Director Ang Lee. Ang Lee may not be the best English speaking director from Hong Kong, but he does an admirable job. Lee is very optimistic and pleased with his effort and this is painfully obvious in the commentary. Due to the age of the commentary, it does not recognize the film´s failures and after listening to the track for the first time in a few years I still find this an engaging commentary from a man who doesn´t have the strongest grasp on English, but the film was hardly the success Lee expected it to be while recording this commentary track.

Deleted Scenes (5:51) are mastered in 4:3 and does not fill a widescreen television. They contain further development between Betty Ross and Bruce Banner and include an additional scene with the Hulk from my childhood, Lou Ferrigno. Evolution of the Hulk (16:17) features a chat with character creator Stan Lee and gives a very nice background on the big green hero. This is a very good supplement and should perhaps have been watched by Ang Lee. The Incredible Ang Lee (14:28) is a tribute of sorts to the director. The Dogfight Scene (10:09) looks at the fight in great detail between the big bad Hulk and the not quite as big doggies. It is nicely done. The Making of the Hulk (23:43) is actually quite good and provides a lot of information on the production of "Hulk." Finally, The Unique Style of Editing the Hulk (5:34) looks at how the film tried to mimic the comic book. This short feature points out some things that were perhaps missed by viewers.

Closing Comments:

This film will always disappoint me as I was so hopeful that Eric Bana would become a huge star after "Hulk" and has only been tarnished by his inclusion in the Ang Lee film. There was so much talent attached to the film that I am still shocked it is as disappointing as it truly is. The film and its effects looked wonky and the oversized Hulk just wasn´t as powerful a presence as he appeared on screen. It didn´t help that it took nearly half the film´s length before he appeared. The sight and sound of this Blu-ray release are awesome and the reformatted special features are a slight improvement over the HD-DVD release, as long as you own a Profile 1.1 capable player. I still can´t recommend this film on the movie itself, but it is reference quality in presentation. It is impressive to see and hear Hulk smash! But you just don´t care what he smashes.

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