is this film better liked than the '08 Hulk now?

No. Not even close.

Yes. The Incredible Hulk is just a generic forgettable mess. This movie is better in pretty much every regard.

I always thought 2008 was underrated.

I rewatched Hulk 2003 recently. And it was just as bad, if not worse, than I remembered it.

To each his own opinion. Personally, I came away feeling that this movie was a bit of a misfire. The only Hulk action that I liked was the fight in the desert.
The 2008 version, on the other hand, was, for me, a lot closer interpretation of the character. The only thing I was not crazy about, was the fact that he did not heal from wounds like the 2003 Hulk does. He is supposed to regenerate damaged tissue faster than even Wolverine does, and he had scars instead of showing him heal quickly.

This is a finer crafted film. On it's own it's the best Hulk movie, but it didn't fit with what Marvel was doing in the future. I love the comic book visual transitions, which I never understood why people hated that so much? Hulk has a well developed origin story in here, and the desert battle against the military is epic, among the best action in any Marvel movie.

I really couldn't stand the 2008 movie. Edward Norton is very limited as an actor anyway, and then you're just trying to placate all the complainers of the 2003 version. It just didn't work, I thought it was a terrible movie.

I prefer the 2008 film mainly cause I dislike the story of Banner's father. Plus the weird premise of him becoming the absorbing man. Plus the actual performance of the actor playing his father is so silly and over the top. "Just look at what they've done! To you! To me! To humanity! You worthless excuse of human trash."

No. It’s not.

i was 10 when 2003 hulk came out and I always thought of it as the definitive version. not perfect of course but a solid film from a better age of comic book movies