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Hulk (2003) is STILL the BEST live-action version of the Hulk.

posted 5 years ago by [deleted]
6 replies | jump to latest

I remember how excited I was to see this movie as a 8-year-old kid and then seeing it in theaters and loving it and I never had a problem with it and I have never gotten why it was so hated or why it's considered inferior to Edward Norton or Mark Ruffalo's Hulk.

I remember wondering for years as a kid why they never made a sequel to the 2003 film and remember how confused I was when Marvel completely rebooted Hulk with The Incredible Hulk (2008) and I always thought the 2008 film and Edward Norton's Hulk was just okay, but nowhere even in the same league as Ang Lee's Hulk. But then when I got into my teens and became a big Internet guru, I found about how much most comic book geeks and the movie-going masses absolutely hated Eric Bana's Hulk and how many people lump it into the big list of several 2000's comic book movie misfires like Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Catwoman, Ghost Rider, etc.

But, I just recently rewatched Hulk all the way through on my 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray with perfect Xbox One quality with the volume really loud and the room lights completely off...and man......not only did it look and sound amazing and was it the absolute best movie experience I have personally had in a long time...but I was blown away by how much this film still holds up to this day. I love the Danny Elfman score, the story, the action and I'd go as far it holds up way better than ANY OTHER comic book film of that period, but I would go as far as to say it's better than ANY OTHER comic book film ever made period and THAT INCLUDES movies like Spider-Man 2 or the Christopher Nolan Batman movies (as much as I still heavily enjoy them).

I just cannot get of this film and I long for a day when comic books and movies like this started being made again and long for day when the masses see this film for the massively underrated and missunderstood masterpiece it really it is.

[–] EvilPinata (1186) 5 years ago

Despite how poorly they also aged, I definitely wouldn't say this is better than Blade, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, or the X-Men. I never hear it talked about in as high regard as those movies, let alone ever. Most of the praise those movies get are due to nostalgia for sure, but any praise this movie gets is from nostalgia too.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

To this day I like the sequence when the Hulk fights the military from the desert base all the way to San Francisco. It’s 20 minutes of awesome that surpasses most MCU fight scenes.

The rest is the movie though.... while I’m more forgiving, Ang Lee tried too hard to be artsy with it. That’s his thing, but I don’t know if it was right for the Hulk. If he wants to do an artsy superhero movie, that’s fine, but do something original, like what Shyamalan did with Unbreakable.

Studios today still make the mistake of finding directors that, while talented, are not compatible with the superhero vision that will maximize profits and maybe even help spawn a shared universe, and that’s what I think happened with Hulk. People didn’t connect with it, so there was no sequel. I forget where I read that the 2008 Incredible Hulk movie was supposed to be a loose sequel before they integrated it into the MCU, which would explain why the 2008 movie glossed over the origin story in the opening credits before starting off in Brazil, where the 2003 movie ended.

[–] Wuchak (8831) 4 years ago

I wholeheartedly agree that the 22-minute rampage of the Hulk that starts at the 92-minute mark is the highlight. This enthralling sequence realistically shows the Hulk taking on the military as was often portrayed in the comics. This is one of the best action sequences ever put to film IMHO and is worth the price of admission.

I also favor the serious, intelligent, respectable manner in which the story is presented. There are no goofy, campy elements to be found. Meanwhile the cast is great except for Bana, who's a fine actor, but he's too much of a handsome muscleman who looks like he could kick some serious arse without turning into the Hulk, which takes away from the whole concept of Bruce Banner. Bill Bixby, Edward Norton and Mark Ruffalo fit the character better.

Another plus is Ang Lee's filmmaking skill with various creative editing/framing techniques (supposedly giving the feel of a comic book). I've never seen this type of work in any other film, at least to this degree of innovation, and it works for me.

Unfortunately, The drama is presented in a lazy, convoluted way that somehow detaches the viewer from the film, but I'm okay with it as long as I put on a pot of coffee. This will naturally turn-off Hulk fans who were expecting a fast-paced, simplistic "Hulk will SMASH" story.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7790) 4 years ago

I couldn't disagree more. Frankly I prefer the first MCU Hulk film to this. The stuff with his father was just a turn off for me. Though I never got to see my preferred Hulk film anyway since my favorite Hulk character Rick Jones has never been in a movie.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

I also love this film. I wouldn’t agree that it surpasses Nolan’s Batman trilogy, but it’s certainly one of the few superhero films I’d call a favourite.

[–] FootOfDavros (8389) 2 years ago

I believe I agree.

Maybe not quite a masterpiece but it's got something lacking from MCU efforts.