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The Incredible Hulk

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2003 6:35 am
by Latte Thunder
I wasn't planning on seeing this one, originally. The ads and trailers make it look really goofy and the CGI Hulk in the ads looks really cartoony... but the opportunity arose to see a certain workprint and I took it.

My opinion has changed drastically after seeing it. I guess it's in a studio's best interest to make their comic movie look as exciting as possible in the trailers, and they're not going to do that if they show Bruce Banner researching and experimenting on nano-medications. So naturally, all we see in the trailers are the Hulk's rampages. The movie is a lot more than that, though.

I should have expected something more than a Hulk-Smash-a-thon, I guess. This is an Ang Lee movie, after all.

Eric Bana plays his role well even if the star of the movie is a CGI puppet. Nick Nolte is the real gem, though. He plays his insane, obsessed role as if he were a nuclear biologist version of Tom Waits. He's disheveled and weird and really makes the movie. The Hulk, though, is the real star and he's balls-out cool. It takes a long time for Banner to make his change, but when he does it's showtime! There are several Hulk scenes and all of them are pretty exciting, particularly the big San Fran rampage. It seemed to go on forever, but at no point was I ever tired of it.

I don't want to say anything too specific, because I don't want to blow it for anyone but I'll say that I liked it as much as I liked X2 and more than I liked Reloaded... even if the ending in the workprint made very little sense. The build up of this movie takes two hours, but the resolution seemed to come out of nowhere and took ten confusing minutes to wrap up. I really hope that they change the ending before it hits theaters because I was left scratching my head.

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2003 12:29 pm
by Kimberly
I'll wait for video :D

Oh!! When the movie ended did he hit the road and did they play that sad music as he started to hitch his way along?

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2003 6:05 am
by Latte Thunder
ha! no... but there is a line about not making him angry because you wouldn't like him when he's angry.

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2003 2:41 pm
by Griff [Mola]
Just saw it - but didn't. My dildo cousin neglected to tell me he had to work that afternoon and hadn't anticipated the lengthy running time, SO... I was pulled out of the cinema prematurely, right after the San Fran fiasco, and was left with a lot of loose ends (and suprise twists and more, I'm sure) dangling...

But hey, what I saw, I liked. Ang Lee has definitely done something different here - which may enrage some comic book nerds - but should be admired, especially in light of recent so-so efforts such as SPIDER-MAN which was just so damn... unsuprising.

Wow, and he broke alot of visual storytelling 'rules' and conventions. If mainstream audiences can get used to something like this then the language of film is definitely gonna see some change over time. No more of this 'crossing the axis of action' horseshit they teach in schools. The editors threw out the rule book when it came to putting this sucker together.

The hulk's rampages were hysterical. I was in fits of fucking laughter. And J-Co is still stunning to behold, if a little too gaunt nowadays...

Lastly, I dug the effects. Sure, there were some dodgy shots but there were more than enough great ones to make up for them. Save the CGI bashing for something that really deserves it, folks.

Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2003 2:51 pm
by Remo D
Total agreement--this one sure snapped me out of my recent funk. Perhaps the best-cast comic book movie I've seen... Bana was perfect, so were Connelly and Sam Elliott--but Nick Nolte practically walked off with the whole thing!

Yeah, maybe it looked cheesy in a workprint or some such, but the Hulk himself works just fine, simply because there's so much more to the movie than his CGI presence. Let's face it--Bana in a green muscle-suit wouldn't have cut it--this movie is about making him do impossible things. If you can still enjoy the original stop-motion KING KONG (and Lord help you if you can't), then you're perfectly capable of accepting what you get here, and it's entertaining as hell.

Matrix Re-what?

The Hulk

Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2003 7:35 pm
by ROBERT
This was a real surprise for me. The Hulk is an excellent comic adaptation. Great casting,Fine CGI,(for once)well thought out characters,excellent scripting. I can't believe it made it through the Hollywood system.

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2003 6:18 am
by Latte Thunder
Can one of you guys spoil the ending for me? Like I said, I saw a workprint and it's possible that the ending was recut. The one that I saw was just weird as hell and left me extremely confused.

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2003 6:48 am
by Chris Slack
Originally posted by Latte Thunder
Can one of you guys spoil the ending for me? Like I said, I saw a workprint and it's possible that the ending was recut. The one that I saw was just weird as hell and left me extremely confused.


The ending was the same as the one on the workprint but the CGI was more polished in the theatrical release. Still it was a kick ass movie that I will probably see again during it's run.

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2003 1:39 pm
by TheZoo
I thought it was great !!!!!!!


It was a bit slow in the beginning but i forgot about it after the 1st "fight" scene.

The cast, effects, story, filming everything was great. I, like Chris, will be seeing it again.

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2003 3:53 pm
by FOG
Some of the effects wowed me, and the style of the whole thing was awesome. I really dug all that.

My only real disappointments came from a slow beggining, a score that didn't fit (I could've sworn this wasn't the same movie as crouching tiger?), and the fact that it was just a little too long.

Cool movie overall. Taking the HULK into space?? That was fucking awesome.

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2003 4:25 pm
by DylanDog
Saw it last night and thought it was pretty cool as well. I wasn't a big fan of the dogs and it did take a litle too long to see "HULK SMASH!" but let's face, where else can you see someone punch a helicopter?? I had totoally forgotten Jennifer Connolly was in it so that was like a pleasant surprise for me. Good fun, go see it....

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2003 6:02 am
by Latte Thunder
Ha! That scene where he smashed the helicopter was god damn cool. The scene with the tanks too was great.

I thought the part where he spit the warhead was a little much, but what the hell? I enjoyed it greatly.

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2003 5:32 pm
by FOG
I guess all the effort was put into making HULK look as best as possible, and those dogs just snuck right by the effects people cause they looked seriously BAD.

Worse than those crappy monsters in the collesium thing in the newest star wars movie.

Well... maybe not THAT bad.

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2003 2:14 pm
by Nocturnaloner
The Hulk is by far the weirdest and trippiest of the new comic book adaptations. I'm not at all surprised to see mixed reviews in the general press, because this is a "comic book movie" with the pacing and sensibilities of an arthouse film, not at ALL what most people are expecting. People tend to hate it when you don't give them exactly what they expect.

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2003 2:45 pm
by Kimberly
Welp I said I didn't want to see it and I did...

Movie was just as fucking depressing as the old tv show was!!

I laughed.... and yes I even cried....

Some of the best CGI I've seen...

I can totally understand people not liking it (just got off the phone with my dad and he hated it) if they go in expecting a total action movie from start to finish...

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2003 6:45 am
by Darth Tanner
Caught up to this last weekend and thought it was good as well. The effects were actually pretty decent, but I thought the actors were what made the movie (particularly Sam Elliott and Nick Nolte). Since I was never really into comics, I didn't have the Hulk background like most fans who went to see this. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the story. There is definitely a lot of fun to be had here and I actually liked this a lot better than MATRIX RELOADED and DAREDEVIL (although I thought X-MEN 2 was better).

BTW, did anyone else catch the Lou Ferringo cameo? He was the security guard talking with Stan Lee at the beginning on the movie. Pretty cool:)

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2003 8:15 am
by Kimberly
I gave my dad a ring yesterday. He actually went to see this and he hated it. I can totally understand why. He went in expecting like total Hulk rampage from start to finish. He thought it was *boring*... Then goes on about how *in the TV show* he never use to leap hundreds of feet in the air. I tried to explain to him that they tried to stick to the *comic book* Hulk Vs. TV show Hulk. He still hated it...

While I did like Nick Nolte. I felt that by the end of the movie his *over acting* was starting to grate on my nerves. Did he come like straight out of having his mug shot taken to filming this movie? He looked identical to that infamous mug shot in this movie...

:)

Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2003 9:28 pm
by I am 138
Just got back from Shrek...er Hulk. It was pretty good, not as many shots of food as I was expecting, though.

Was Nolte suppoused to be the Absorbing Man?

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2003 6:12 am
by Latte Thunder
Originally posted by I am 138
Was Nolte suppoused to be the Absorbing Man?
I think that's what they were implying.

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2003 7:49 pm
by I am 138
The powers seemed very similar, but he didn't look anything like...uhm, Creel? Was that his name?

Hulk

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2003 7:57 pm
by ROBERT
I thought the creature was Zaaaxxx. The little known electrical creature, from the old comics. Since he's in that state for most of his brief appearance. It looked like him when Banner's Father juiced up, and took to the sky.

Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2003 8:48 am
by I am 138
Yeah, I thought of Zaaaxxx as well. I believe that character took over Gen. Ross' body and fought the Hulk in the 80s. But Zaaaxxx couldn't absorb the properties of the things around him. I woulda rather seen The Rhino or The Abomination; maybe next time.

Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2003 11:55 am
by DylanDog
Man, I gotta start hitting the comics again. I barely remember any of these guys you are talking about. I just remember The Leader and Doc Samson.