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HULK

LondosHair

Regular
Just saw it last night -- firstly, two things for anyone going to see it:

1) If you have to tinkle, do it before the movie. It's 2 hours and 40 minutes long. I did and my body thanked me. :)

2) Do not go expecting to see a feelgood, Spider-Manny, "superHERO" flick. I've heard way too many people say they didn't like the movie because they were expecting him to be more of a superhero. These are people who have obviously never read any or much of the comics.

Hulk has never been the classic superhero, fighting for justice at the drop of a hat. The Hulk story, comics and movie, is about emotional turmoil, anguish, and freedom. It speaks to the innate feelings that exist deep down inside all of us that say "I wish I could do more/I wish I was better/nobody really understands me/If only I could just..."

I think Ang Lee captured this element beautifully in this movie.

Something notable about the movie is that there is no cursing in it. Aside from your every day "hell & damn" stuff, I don't even recall hearing the word "ass," let alone the big S & F guns. Just goes to show you that a good movie can STILL be made in this day & age that doesn't lose IQ points by having the characters curse like sailors when the slightest thing happens.

CGI Hulk -- amazing. Obviously this is a much different character than Gollum, but the detail put into this character is incredible. Basically, they took a bodybuilder (Lee Priest), and created the CGI character skeleton and muscular structure based on him, then exaggerated it (to say the least). I'll just say the clips they show in the trailer on TV don't do Big Green justice. There are scenes in the movie that are 10x more detailed. When he movies, the muscles actually flex and change shape as they would on a real person, instead of the cheap-looking CGI we're used to, where they basically stay the same shape and just kind of "smush" into other objects when they come in contact. A good example of that is the human bicep -- when your arm is stretched, the bicep is long. When you bend your elbow, the bicep contracts and gets rounder. Cheap CGI will leave the muscle in one basic shape while the arm bends, but Hulk's changes as it should.

They were able to capture Eric Bana's eyes almost perfectly, and the emotional expressions displayed by Hulk are very believable.

As far as interpreted realism, you HAVE to resolve yourself to the "fact" that this is who he is -- a 15ft tall, 1100lb green monster. Once you accept that as the character, it's easy to read him and believe him.

Jennifer Connelly did a great job, and I was very happy with Sam Elliott as Gen. Thunderbolt Ross. Nick Nolte looked, during the entire movie, just like his now-famous mugshot from a few months back, but he gave an outstanding performance as Bruce's father.
 
Hmm, I thought it was only 2 hrs 20 mins but it was still way too long. I didn't go tinkle early enough and was suffering through most of the movie. :p

I am not familiar with the original version of the Hulk but I did know he was quite different than the TV version. I wasn't really expecting a whole lot from it so I enjoyed the movie but there were things that were definitely lacking.

The movie was too long and the situation with his father was a bit overdone too. Also, the science and the story seemed a bit ... weak as well. I didn't like the fight scene with the mutant dogs as it was just too brutal for a PG-13 movie I thought. I guess I couldn't get over the fact that they were still dogs. :p

Maybe spoilers ahead ...

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The fight scenes in general bothered me. Maybe I am just used to a lot more violence but they seemed "off" to me somehow. I got the feeling that The Hulk (or perhaps the people making the movie would be more accurate) was trying to not harm anyone intentionally because everyone he came in contact with wasn't killed (that I remember). I just would have expected him to kill someone accidently because he didn't realize how strong and powerful he really was.

I didn't even notice the lack of swearing but I thought that was great that the movie worked so well without it. I just wish the two of them would have at least kissed! :rolleyes: :p

Anyway, I did like the comicbook type panels and cut scenes and thought they were well done and original. A bit cheesy sometimes but I still liked how Ang made us feel like we were inside a comic book or watching a comic book come to life. The animation of The Hulk was also great as well as the emotions conveyed through him.

Overall, a good movie and very entertaining but am also very glad it was free. :D
 
I got the feeling that The Hulk (or perhaps the people making the movie would be more accurate) was trying to not harm anyone intentionally because everyone he came in contact with wasn't killed (that I remember). I just would have expected him to kill someone accidently because he didn't realize how strong and powerful he really was.
In the comics, Hulk has never intentionally killed innocent civilians. In a recent issue, a small boy died because Hulk knocked down a building in a moment of blind rage (he has those a lot :)). This set the authorities on a manhunt for him.. meanwhile Bruce Banner has to deal with the emotional stress from it all, and he doesn't deal with it too well, as you can probably imagine.

As far as "bad guys" go, I can't recall anyone that Hulk has killed outright, although in 40 years of the comic being around, I'm sure there could be some.

Hulk and Banner are the same person; so both have the same emotional attachments to people and places. This is why he doesn't intentionally hurt anyone. Glen Talbot is an exception in the movie, of course, since Bruce transforms and Glen is the antagonist that triggered it. BUT, at the same time, he could have ripped Glen's head off with his thumb & pinky finger, but he didn't. :)
 
Ok, but my point was that I think they were too subtle in the whole not killing anyone and them being the same person essentially. You know the history of the Hulk in the comics so you can more easily accept those traits in him but I didn't think it came across well in the movie.

It would have been much more interesting to me to have the Hulk accidently kill (the example you gave from the comics would have been perfect) or injure someone seriously, realize what he had done as Bruce and deal with that tragedy/emotion instead of the crap with his father.

As for Talbot, again the spoiler space just in case ...

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Ok, he didn't kill Talbot but it sure looks like he intended to. He throws him and the couch he is sitting on through a window and then kicks him in the back as he is hanging on to the porch railing which sends him flying across the street. He just so happens to land on another person to break his fall? The fact that he comes back later on in the movie with a few scratches and braces was a bit far fetched to me. :rolleyes:
 
Oh, and Hulk does have a B5 tie-in. Daniel Dae Kim (Crusade's Lt. Matheson) plays an assistant to Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross. :)
 
Yeah, I mentioned that in another thread in the B5.personnel forum and on my boards. I forgot to mention it here. :eek: :LOL:

I like him a lot. :D
 
As far as interpreted realism, you HAVE to resolve yourself to the "fact" that this is who he is -- a 15ft tall, 1100lb green monster.
Okay, I don't read the comics but ... where does the extra mass to make the 1100lb come from or go when the Hulk returns to his non-green form? :LOL:

Though I gather that question doesn't fudge physics quite as much as the magical stretch censor pants. :)
 
Okay, I don't read the comics but ... where does the extra mass to make the 1100lb come from or go when the Hulk returns to his non-green form? :LOL:
A question that's as easily answered as "How does Superman fly?"
Answer: He just does. :)

Though I gather that question doesn't fudge physics quite as much as the magical stretch censor pants. :)
Actually...

(SPOILER)


















During his first transformation, he barely keeps 'em on... they're pretty much torn to hell when Betty finds him at home the next morning. During his second transformation, he's made angrier. When Hulk gets madder, Hulk gets stronger (and bigger), so he loses 'em altogether. Thankfully it's a nighttime scene so some well-placed shadows did the trick... at least until he changed back to Banner...

The "magical stretch censor pants" were put on him on purpose, because he was being subconsciously induced into changing into the Hulk. As Banner, they were really loose & baggy, but when he changed, they just stretched & didn't come off. Good thing, too, since the following 15 minutes or so were all in broad daylight :)
 
Okay, I don't read the comics but ... where does the extra mass to make the 1100lb come from or go when the Hulk returns to his non-green form?

If I remember my Marvel Universe history correctly, it's theorized that Banner gets his extra mass from an extra-dimensional source whenever he turns into the Hulk and that mass goes back to that extra-dimensional source whenever he becomes Banner again.

as "How does Superman fly?"
Answer: He just does.

Now, it's theorized that Superman flys via a form of telekinesis... of course it's interesting that he can't move anything else with his mind.

The "magical stretch censor pants" were put on him on purpose, because he was being subconsciously induced into changing into the Hulk.

Stan "The Man" Lee came up with a solution to the stretchy pants a long time ago.... basically, he used the same explanation that he used with Reed Richards (aka Mr. Fantastic, who is able to strecth his body to incredible extremes) Mr. Fantastic's uniform (and the Hulk's pants) are made with someting called "unstable molecules," which allow clothes to resit tearing, ripping and virtually any other kind of harm... the theory is that Banner, being almost as smart as Reed Richards, developed unstable molecular pants to wear, because he knew that there was always the possibility that he might transform into the Hulk and no self-respecting scientist would let his monsterous alter-ego go out in the nude.


Of course the movie doesn't go into this at all and there's really no logical explanation as to why Banner's pants hang on the Hulk's gigantic waist.... the Hulk is at least 15-feet tall and weighs in the 1,200 pound range, there's no earthly way that a pair of size 32 Wrangler's could withstand Banner's transformation into the Hulk.
 
Thanks for the pants theory/explaination guys. I must admit I thought it was funny he still kept them on during the transforming between human and Hulk ... with the exception of the fight with the mutant dogs. I actually assumed the pants got ripped off during the fight.
 
Its not reached the UK but I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping that having a director of the quality of Ang lee has bought the hulk to life.

By what you have said it seems like this is so
 
I just got around to seeing the movie the night before last. I thought that I would add my 2 cents. :D

First of all:

S P O I L E R . W A R N I N G


Most of my comments below contain things that could be considered spoilers, and even bits that aren't spoilers are so intermingled with spoilers that I am not sure that I could really separate them out.



Ok, but my point was that I think they were too subtle in the whole not killing anyone and them being the same person essentially. You know the history of the Hulk in the comics so you can more easily accept those traits in him but I didn't think it came across well in the movie.

I never read the comics either, although I did watch the 1960's cartoon and saw some of the Bill Bixby live action series. I didn't think that they were too subtle about the Hulk being the same essential personality as Banner. I thought that came across very well. The previously made point about how well the eyes were done in the Hulk CGI was a key here, although the Hulks general reactions to Betty were a none-too-subtle connection to Banner's emotional landscape.

Although the Hulk never crushed a Human-in-the-open like he could have, neither was he exactly any more careful with military vehicles containing humans than he was with the mutant dogs.

The place where I thought movie seriously threatened to break my willing suspension of disbelief was not in the basic premise of Banner growing and shrinking into and out of Hulk form (which is what LH said you had to be able get over). It was their depiction of noone being hurt, much less killed, in any of the tanks or helicopters that the Hulk destroyed. I mean, come on! The Hulk picks up a tank and throws it clear across a dessert valley and not only are the crew not a pile of bloody broken corpses, but the movie goes out of its way to show that they are completely uninjured and standing next to their destroyed tank when the Hulk bounds away after the fight.


It would have been much more interesting to me to have the Hulk accidently kill (the example you gave from the comics would have been perfect) or injure someone seriously, realize what he had done as Bruce and deal with that tragedy/emotion instead of the crap with his father.

My opinion is that having Banner deal with what he was and where he came from was enough for him to deal with internally / emotionally / metally for one movie. Allow them to keep something in their pocket to use in the sequel. ;) :cool: :p :LOL:

In my personal view the downfall of the movie was in the long periods of time when I found myself sitting there thinking "These people are all complete morons". By "these people" I was generally referring to Gen. Ross and the military. About the only that Ross did that made sense was when he "invited him outside". The whole, loooooong, running battle sequence(s) that followed required Ross to be a complete idiot. One of my friends that I saw the movie with pointed out that the military in this movie behaved the same way that the military (or police) always behaved in version of The Hulk. That is true, but there is one critical difference. In those cases (although I can't speak for the comic books) they never knew the true nature of the Hulk and that when he calmed down he turned back into Banner. In this movie they already knew that before they ever engaged the Hulk. *That* makes it stupid. He was in the middle of the dessert and nowhere near any civilians. Why in the world would you not try to wait him out and approach after he reverts to being Banner? You can attack just as effectively later if it looks like the Hulk is moving in the direction of a town. Why would you do everything in your power to keep the Hulk in fight-or-flight mode continuously, especially after you have seen him absorb quite a bit of ammunition and heal instantly? Why would anyone essentially push him out of the seclusion of the dessert toward more heavily populated areas? Yes the Hulk, after the first armored battle, started heading towrd Betty. However, before that he had stopped at his childhood home. Ross should have given him every opportunity to stay there and settle down, not attack him as soon as he stopped.
 
Well having grown up with countless episodes of the A-Team, Knight Rider and Airwolf, nothing surprises me.

In the A Team all the crack commando's shot at the floor and were even more inept at shooting people on screen than stormtroopers! more importantly whenever ther was a big car crash and a vehicle went over a 50ft cliff, the bad guys always climbed out of the burning wreckage rubbing the sides of their "bruised" heads!!!!!!! :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

The final straw for me was when this happened in an episode of Airwolf, which originally was a lot darker. I saw an episode where a chopper is shot down and hits a cliff wall, and you guessed it... out pop the pilot and other bad guy rubbing their heads and getting away from the blazing slag heap behind them! :LOL:

Nothing surprises me anymore!!!!
 
I didn't think that they were too subtle about the Hulk being the same essential personality as Banner. I thought that came across very well. The previously made point about how well the eyes were done in the Hulk CGI was a key here, although the Hulks general reactions to Betty were a none-too-subtle connection to Banner's emotional landscape.

I think we are talking about two different things here because I agree with you and thought the closeup scenes with the Hulk were great. There was a real human quality to him in those moments. Again, I agree with the Hulk's reactions when he sees Betty are a indication of the Banner guy inside him. However, my comments about the subtle Banner/Hulk connection were about him when he was violent ... which was most of the movie.

Although the Hulk never crushed a Human-in-the-open like he could have, neither was he exactly any more careful with military vehicles containing humans than he was with the mutant dogs.

This is what I was talking about. He is very brutal in the movie and I didn't get the sense that he was trying not to kill anyone. Just that he was incredibly lucky (to the point where I had a hard time believing it too) that he didn't kill anyone. At least in the TV show which I vaugely remember right now ... even when Banner was the Hulk, I got the feeling that he didn't harm/kill anyone because of a concious effort not too -because- inside, he was still Banner.

I mean, come on! The Hulk picks up a tank and throws it clear across a dessert valley and not only are the crew not a pile of bloody broken corpses, but the movie goes out of its way to show that they are completely uninjured and standing next to their destroyed tank when the Hulk bounds away after the fight.

I know, I found those scenes really silly too. ;)

My opinion is that having Banner deal with what he was and where he came from was enough for him to deal with internally / emotionally / metally for one movie. Allow them to keep something in their pocket to use in the sequel. ;) :cool: :p :LOL:

I never said they should have him deal with yet another internal struggle -in addition to- the storyline with his father as well. What I meant was that I thought they could have done without the father/experimental story and explore another way for Banner to deal with his origins and understand why/how he becomes the Hulk. If they could have somehow integrated into the movie a way for Banner to realize the power he has when he is the Hulk and what consequences that happen when he does get angry. That story that LH mentioned about killing the boy sounded more interesting to me than the father storyline.

Also, I never thought of the stupid things the military did to stop the Hulk but now that you mention it, I see your point. :)
 
Spoilers
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I finally saw the film on the Fourth. Pillow Rock, while I agree that the military's attempts to take the Hulk ARE foolish, that has always been an important element of the Hulk comics. The Military, lead by the obsessed Thunderbolt Ross, are just as agressive, violent, and stupid as the Hulk. To me, the unbelievable parts were when Talbot went into Banner's cell, and tried to provoke him into turning into the Hulk, who probably would have killed him in those confined quarters, if only by accident. And, also, I think that Tbolt Ross would have had Banner shot, even in Betty's arms, near the end, when he changed from the Hulk.

I liked the CGI Hulk, especially the effect of the bullets making dimples on his skin, and falling, spent. I have mixed emotions about the whole father plot thread, which I don't believe was in the comics. I do like Nolte, and I liked the fact that he was obssessed, in part with trying to destroy the military for all the wrong things it has done in the world. I also liked the topical ending, where Banner/Hulk was about to face down a right wing paramilitary outfit, stealing medicines from the campesinos, ala Colombia.
 
The Hulk Movie was, imo PATHETIC!

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

It took me, a fairly big Hulk (comic) fan, all of 5 minutes to absolutely despise the poor attempt to bring a tragic hero to the silver screen...
(And long for my money back!!)

My first question: Did any of the writers even bother reading ANY Hulk comic from the last 40 years?

- Dr Bruce Banner, an Accidental Hero/Raging Monster/Mr. Fixit/Panthenon Leader, has had many personas over the last 40 years. All of these seem to have been merged (or should I say liquidized) into a raging CGI-Mutant... NOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Secondly - His origin!
- Yes, the story has to be "Dumbed Down", for broad market appeal, but come on - the whole "My father was a scientist that altered his genetic makeup, so now I am a mutant!" thing, is absolute rubbish.... Just like the equally dismal Daredevil movie, filmmakers have once again bastardized a moral tale, turning it into another tale of: "my parents abused me, that is why I did bad things". Grow up!!

Bruce becomes the Hulk by SAVING Rick Jones' life, getting him away from a Gamma-Bomb, in the desert.... etc...

Bruce was abused by his father, but he did not use that as an excuse in his life, he rather chose to made something of it through something rare - hard work!

Do we see this in the movie, no we see his dad as a dedicated scientist, trying to improve mankind.... The man was a monster ... case closed!

This is a *brief* opinion of *some* of the things that I think were wrong with the Hulk movie, not even going into the size of the poor guy...

The one thing that I did, however like about the movie, Jennifer Connelly! :)

Until Hollywood destroys another decent comic character, make mine X2
 

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