The Hulk (2003) should have been an exciting and fun, complex and entertaining, psychological-drama, action, adventure thriller. About the power to defend yourself against bullies and evil monsters and the supernatural ability to grow bigger and stronger. In the beginning of the film Bruce Banner`s mentally unstable but genius mad scientist father David Banner is experimenting on cellular regeneration, strengthening the immune system and achieving biological immortality . His research is shut down by the military and then he experiments on himself and passes down a mutation or genetic alteration down to his son Bruce. David banner is sent to prison for 30 years for trying to blow up the army base and for accidently killing his wife. Many years later Bruce banner and his girlfriend Betty Ross is experimenting with gamma radiation and Nano-med technology to repair cellular damage and to find the cure for all diseases. Then an accident in the lab exposes Bruce banner to very high levels of gamma radiation that unleash the awesome power in the cells of his body that transform him into the Hulk when he gets emotional or angry. The genetic alteration + Nano-med technology +gamma radiation= Bruce Banner transforming into the Hulk. The genetic alteration that was passed down to him from his mad scientist father protects Bruce Banner from the gamma radiation from killing him and the Nano-Med accelerated healing and growth technology that killed all the lab animals. Bruce Banner explosively bouncing Talbott off his chest when he is in the process of changing into the hulk. The Hulk fighting the army in the desert and the hulk fighting the monsters dogs to save betty ross and also when his father transforms into the towering being of electricity known as the real absorbing man in the end of the film is mind-blowing and exciting. The Arabian music and visual effects is beautiful,moving and amazing, but the movie is boring and dull because of all the depressing human drama and father and son Greek Tragedy part of the strory .

Marvel Comics, director Ang Lee, and even the cast took some serious flak from all over for this movie. But if you just take it for what it is - a movie about The Hulk - and go into it hoping for some fun and action, you'll get more than your money's worth. Marvel has re-booted the character, so this film will forever stand alone as a one-time look at the world of The Hulk from the perspective of one creative team. This is exactly how comic books work, with new creative teams coming and going all the time. Sam Elliott and Nick Nolte, as always, basically play themselves and are as fun to watch as always. Jennifer Connelly is likable and tough. Eric Bana is a good Dr. Banner. Technology hadn't quite advanced to the point Ang Lee needed to make his version of The Hulk come to life quite like he envisioned, it seems, but that's OK too. It's still miles ahead of clay-mation or a guy in full-body make-up. 'Hulk' may not be perfect, but it is a good way to spend 2 hours.

I think we can all admit this isn’t the best superhero film. But I believe it’s definitely underrated. I seen this when I was 9 years old in theatres. I haven’t seen it since it was released on VHS until yesterday. I personally find this more enjoyable than the 08 film. I highly recommend seeing this. Sit back and enjoy it for what it is. Don’t over analyze it and you’ll enjoy it. Remember superhero films were still trying to find their footing during this time period. So don’t judge too harshly.

Ang Lee is a wonderful and imaginative director, and his adaptation of The Incredible Hulk is wonderful for the time it was made. Some may be uncomfortable with the child and wife abuse show in the movie, but when the Hulk makes his appearance, he's far stronger and determined than the next movie in the series, and Eric Bana is a far better Bruce Banner than the emaciated Ed Norton. Jennifer Connelly also is a far better Betty Ross, and is far easier on the eyes than the next one (don't even recall her name)...and speaking of eyes! Connelly's eyes are gorgeous. Lee's treatment of the Hulk was fine, but his emerald green skin was a bit much. His ability to leap and take on Army aircraft makes the next Hulk look like a wimp. The monster also had far more character. Frankly, I like Mark Ruffalo's Hulk just fine, but to date this is the best Hulk movie going.

Stan Lee wanted the Hulk to be a Frankenstein-type monster. Not so large but very strong and scary, but without the evil brain that the Frakenstein monster had. Apparently no one wanted such a monster for a movie, although I would have been all for it.

This was the first Marvel movie version of The Hulk. It was directed by Ang Lee and featured Eric Bana as Bruce Banner, Jennifer Connelly as Betty Ross, and Sam Elliott as General Thunderbolt Ross. The film was a new version of the Hulk origins story. It begins with Bruce Banner’s father experimenting with Gamma radiation, which was passed along to his son Bruce who also becomes a scientist. He takes up Gamma research as well, which leads him to become the Hulk. Like many science fiction-fantasy stories the theme is that when humans mess with nature bad things result. The problem was it didn’t have the right balance between the characters and the Hulk.

The first thing that hits the viewer was Lee attempting to relay the story to the audience like a comic book. That meant all the transitions had the look of a comic book with split screens, fades left and right, up and down, etc. This was the first and only superhero movie to do that, and it was a nice nod to the comic fans.

The problem with The Hulk was that it spent far too much time on the people, and not enough on the Hulk. First, there’s Banner and Ross’s research. Then there’s the government interference, etc. There’s Banner’s crazy father still carrying out experiments, etc. etc. etc. Lee interpreted the story as a human one about Banner struggling to control the beast inside of him, and the government trying to control him. That meant even when the Hulk showed up he was subordinated to Banner. That’s not why people watch superhero movies however. If you go see a comic book movie you don’t want to spend most of the time watching the heroes alter ego, you want to see the superhero. Ang didn’t get that.
C

This review is for "The Hulk" movie from 2003 starring Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, Josh Lucas and Nick Nolte. I was originally going to give this one star but decided to give it two because I think the actors did a very good job with their roles. I've always liked Sam Elliott as an actor along with Nick Nolte. Josh Lucas did a really good job in the movie "Stealth". So with this top notch cast and the fact that I love Marvel movies and shows, I had really high hopes for this movie. Unfortunately, I did not like it. I think there was way too much CGI used in the film. [Note: I grew up watching The Incredible Hulk tv series during the late 70's and early 80's and used to really like that show. So I'm not a real big fan of CGI to begin with.] Also, I didn't like the constant use of the frame in frame and frames side by side formats. But I think the most appalling thing for me was the animal cruelty depicted in the film. Yes, I get it, they weren't real animals. But when they show a frog exploding due to an experiment gone bad or dogs turning into monsters then it turns me off. This was included in my Starz subscription so I didn't have to pay for it directly. It's a good thing too because I would've been very upset if I had. Hope this helps and have a great and blessed day! :)

A recent puzzle yet to be solved is the almost universal disdain for Ang Lee's "Hulk". I have seen this movie many times since its first release in 2003 and I have been struck by the wonderful way Lee has resurrected the Hulk mythology. His stellar choice of Eric Bana as Bruce Banner and the CGI created Hulk that personifies Banner's rage and frustration beautifully is but a part of the main attraction. The great Jennifer Connelly, as Bruce's partner and love interest, Betty Ross, is, as usual, at her incandescent best. Add to this brilliant pair, Nick Nolte, cast appropriately as Banner's crazed father, and the always distinguished Sam Eliot, who plays Betty's menacing father, Ross.

The story of Hulk's origins, its dark premise for the rage that is constantly within Bruce, is developed with particular attention. The anger is rooted much more than in repressed memories. It lies at the heart of Banner's genetic structure, put in there by an overzealous scientist of a father who has injected himself with a serum he has discovered because he is refused human subjects for his genetic experiments. He is a brilliant scientist working for the government, a department who happens to be under Ross.

What is transmitted to Bruce later develops into the full blown syndrome that is the Hulk. The occasion could have been a tragic accident. But as a graduate student at Berkeley Banner puts himself in harms way to save a lab mate who is about to be zapped by a dangerous dose of radiation. Banner takes the full brunt of it and as a result he is subjected to the same force of gamma rays that they had shortly determined earlier as a lethal dose for one of their lab subjects. He should have "exploded" too but it turns out that what he has "inherited" genetically from his father, has also remarkably preserved him during this accident. It has allowed him to unleash the controlled "explosions" of strength in the superhuman power and monstrous presence that is the "Hulk".

Add to this genetic inception and accident for the Hulk phenomenon, the key ingredient that triggers the phenomenon: the anger, borne out of the tragic circumstances around his parents.

This foundation of the creation of Hulk is a small part of this film. Where the film really succeeds is in the filmic elements put together with Ang Lee's unerring eye. The chemistry between Bana and Connelly, Lee's wonderful talent of telling the human story while also showing us his wizardry with film technology, the otherworldy quality of the CGI generated Hulk, and his penchant for getting into the heart of the mythology that makes the Hulk story captivating is nothing short of remarkable. There was a chorus of booing at the CGI of Hulk, its apparent overt greenness and its unnaturalness. We see glimmers of this but they are the brief visions of Hulk's otherworldly mystery. The Hulk created for us is extraordinary. It is real, it is human, it takes an admirable hold on our emotions. The criticism is largely unjustified because the purported artificiality stems out of expectations that should have not been there. Simply put, if the imagination of Lee and his crew admirably and creatively differed from what the comic book purists may have had in mind that is hardly a basis for adequate criticism. At any rate the combination of inspired special effects, the touch of humanity that Ang Lee brings to the Hulk story, and Lee's artistically drawing from the darker undertones of this mythical tale makes this version of Hulk a more profound rendition of the story than the so called improved version with Ed Norton and Tim Roth.

It takes about 45 minutes for Hulk to arrive on center stage, and an hour for the emotional story of Hulk to emerge. The next hour after that is a tour-de-force of special effects. A glorious chase of Hulk by Ross and his army of pursuers across the deserts of California is both an adrenalin rush and deeply touching; there is the touch of the tragic in all this spectacle. Hulk's escape from captivity from an elaborately constructed laboratory deep under the Mojave desert, an impregnable enclave, is one of the more kinetic sequences on record in film. The subsequent chase away from tanks, helicopters, missiles showcases Hulk's great invulnerability. But all this is a prelude to the final visionary human piece, and the great showdown between Banner, and his ultimate nemesis, his father.

The last scene that promises a sequel of course never came to be. It would have been wonderful to see this team return but it was not to be. A small tragedy in Hollywood and for the audience.

Bana, Connelly, were just great. Ang Lee once again shows us the reach of his talent. There is nothing this great filmmaker just cannot do.

The bluray is fine, shipping and handling as expected. The movie however is a significant disappointment which I knew going in. Judt bought it to flesh out my bluray collection since I only had the DVD before. Started out promising, Bana makes a solid Bruce Banner but this movie goes further and further off the rails the deeper you get. By the third act it's just bad. Makes me sadder when a good movie goes bad then when a bad movie is consistent throughout. But at least this movie's failure forged the way for the sharing agreement that got the Hulk into the MCU .