DVD Review: The Incredible Hulk 3-Disc Special Edition (2008)
The Incredible Hulk, 3-Disc Special Edition DVD Review
Let me begin this review by saying that I am a huge fan of the Hulk; he is probably my favorite superhero from the Marvel universe. Like many others, I was disappointed with Ang Lee’s much maligned 2003 depiction, but I see Louis Leterrier’s version as a solid superhero flick and a vast improvement over its predecessor.
The movie picks up with Dr. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) on the run from General Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt), whose short-sighted desire for Banner’s gamma ray power threatens humanity’s safety. Thunderbolt’s relentless pursuit of power and biological weaponry leads to the recruitment of Major Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), an elite soldier chemically enhanced to stop the Hulk. After reuniting with his love Dr. Elizabeth Ross (Liv Tyler), Thunderbolt’s daughter, Banner continues to stay on the run and desperately attempts to find the cure for his incredible condition. The movie’s conflict reaches its crescendo when Blonksy exposes himself to gamma rays in a more concentrated dose than Banner. Blonksy then becomes the Abomination, a malicious beast whose strength exceeds that of the Hulk.
This representation is refreshing in its performances as well as its aggressive depiction of the Hulk. The movie is symmetrically presented, providing a brilliant, intuitive, and mild Banner juxtaposed to a physically superb, raging, combative Hulk. Edward Norton’s Bruce Banner along with Leterrier’s angrier, more physically intimidating Hulk make this a satisfying superhero film, and an excellent foundation on which to build the anticipated Avenger movie and the eventual Hulk sequel.
In the special feature edition of The Incredible Hulk, Disc 1 contains the feature film, with a commentary and deleted scenes, disc 2 contains the special features, and disc 3 is a digital copy of the film. The Incredible Hulk special feature DVD has a few interesting features but leaves something to be desired. The features include:
- An alternate opening to the movie
- A short behind the scenes look at the making of the movie
- Two features on becoming Abomination and the Hulk
- A feature on the process of adapting the comic book to the screen
- A close look at how a “Hulk-Out” occurs on and behind the camera
The special edition features are less than adequate, considering all that could have been included on the DVD. One weakness of the special feature DVD is the large portion of material dedicated to the CGI aspects of the making of the movie (which is great considering the amount of CGI in the movie, but a drawback in proportion to the more actor focused material in the special features). Among the material focused on the actors, there aren’t enough commentaries or interviews by Edward Norton, whose creative direction and performance made the movie. The biggest weakness of the Hulk DVD is the relative scarcity of material. In comparison to the Ironman, 2-Disc Special Edition (a DVD loaded with hours on hours of entertaining documentaries), the Hulk is significantly lacking on the amount of material.
Despite its shortcomings, the DVD does have a couple of particularly noteworthy features. The alternate opening is done well, and more importantly contains a really cool (and really discrete) appearance of Captain America-the leader of the Avengers and one of the up-coming Marvel movies. The other strong points are the making of the Hulk feature and comic to screen adaptation feature, which I thought provided an interesting visual aid to the moving making process.
All in all, I give the movie 2.5 out of 4 fuses; the 3-Disc Special Edition DVD receives lower marks.
Starring: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, and William Hurt
Director: Louis Letterier
Studio: Universal Home Entertainment
Release Date: October 21, 2008
Runtime: 112 minutes
Rating: PG-13
