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Jon Quixote And Uncapie Review THE HULK!! And Is There Already HULK 2 News'!
Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
I just got in from seeing a midnight show of HULK over at the Cinerama Dome, and I’ve had my tickets for the 7:10 Friday night show for weeks now. All I want to say about the film right now is that I dug it. A lot. And I want to see it again. It’s a remarkable bigscreen experience, and I strongly encourage all of you to check it out at the best theater within driving distance of you some time this weekend.
One of our trusty comic reviewers, Jon Quixote, is first up with a review this morning:
THE HULK
Directed by Ang Lee
Written by John Turman, Michael France, James Schamus and probably a whole lot of people not lucky enough to be credited
Starring Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliot & Nick Nolte
A Jon Quixote Review
So what makes a good comic book movie?
That’s a loaded question, because there’s not going to be any one answer. So let’s just pretend we’ve discussed it at length and arrived at what I really want to talk about, which is fidelity to source. Yes, the fuel which burns our little talkback engines. Each and every comic movie we’ve seen has made these little changes: Organic Web-Shooters. African-American Kingpins. Gay Magnetoes (Yeah, the comment about Rogue’s hair was a dead giveaway. You’ll also notice that, while the yellow spandex was the first to go, they hung on to the purple helmet). And each time, some of us, myself included, have gone apeshit. But, thus far, the people behind Marvel’s movies have also put considerable effort into staying true to the source, drawing on classic storylines for their script and some going as far as ripping panels from the page in a direct translation.
THE HULK breaks the trend. The change to the lead character may not be overt, but it is significant – rage and transformation is explored as a blessing as well as a curse, and the personalities aren’t nearly as split: there is no animosity between Banner and the Hulk. Other changes are less important, but more dramatic; David Banner’s amalgamation with a well-known Marvel Super villain, the adjustment made to Bruce’s origin, and let us not forget, never forget, the feeding of scarves to Hulk dogs. And the story, a few “classic” elements aside, is an original.
This is not Stan Lee’s Hulk. It’s definitely not Peter David’s Hulk. It’s certainly not the Hulk we see (every ninth issue or so) in the comic books today. It is, almost exclusively, Ang Lee’s Hulk.
And now I’m going to tell you why HULK shows more fidelity to its origins than any other comic book movie we’ve been given.
Other comic book movies, even the good ones, looked at their source, kept the story elements they wanted, and then proceeded to make a movie about that material. Ang Lee looked at the source and then translated its storytelling language into film.
When we saw Spider-Man, Daredevil, Wolverine on that screen, no matter how much of the comic the filmmaker took for his movie, what we got was still traditional movie. In that regard, it was a superficial adaptation. And that’s not a critique. But Ang Lee is able to use comic books to give us a movie unlike any other we’ve ever watched in form and content. UNBREAKABLE was close, but while that movie was also heavily influenced by comic book visuals and layouts, it lacked the energy, the vibe that draws us to the comic book in the first place. But it’s here, in HULK.
The result: If you love comic books The Medium, your love is there on the screen for you. When Ang Lee kicks into comic book mode, the movie surges, crackles with energy, with comic book energy. It’s rock and roll, bright-pink trading card bubble gum, a pinball bouncing your eyes from image to image bang, bang, bang, turn the page. It can take something as simple as a tour of Bruce’s lab and work and inspire awe – the attention to every shot, every camera placement, every transition is stunning. And it’s all in the language of comic book; sometimes, after a half dozen or so transitions, your eyes go wide and you see how they would have been laid out on the page. Sam Raimi and Bryan Singer are gonna watch this movie and go ‘ohh, right,’ and then thump their heads on the wall. Because, in hindsight, it seems so obvious.
Now the movie isn’t perfect. It lags, particularly in the middle, and most often when they start talking about repressed memories and other psychobabbles that combine with technobabbles to explain the Hulk transformation. This is the emotional stuff, and ideally it should be thought-provoking, at the least it should be interesting, but rarely felt like little more than tacked-on exposition and all I could think about was midichlorians. It doesn’t really help that Connelly and Bana have all the chemistry of a 6 year old mixing Kool-Aid and dish soap in an attempt to make nitro-glycerin. (I was sure it was going to work)
The rest of the performances, however, are stellar. Sam Elliot was born to play Thunderbolt Ross, Josh Lucas is suitably smarmy as Glenn Talbot, and…Nick Nolte. Sure, the role gets really dumb towards the end, as though they were concerned the movie wasn’t nearly superheroey enough and had to throw something flashy in there, but damned if ol’Nick doesn’t steal the entire movie right out from under everybody anyway. Fun Fact – Nick Nolte first became a household name in the TV Mini RICH MAN/POOR MAN, episodes of which were directed by none other than Bill Bixby! Tell your friends.
As for Big Green, well, let’s just say that if you walk out of the theatre bitching about the way the guy looks, perhaps you’d better take a long look at your expectations. The eyes, the eyes are always a dead giveaway when it comes to computer animation, but they do a lot of long close-ups and…I was convinced. Even moved, from time to time. And when he kicks into action, oh momma! The Hulk is going nuts, Ang’s doing the comic book adrenaline thing, tanks are flying, fighter jets buzzing, explosions all around. I literally broke into a sweat in a frigid movie theatre because, for a while, I stopped breathing. Luckily I noticed before any permanent damage was done.
I was completely swept away. It might not be a perfect movie, but it does exactly what it needs to do, exceeding expectations most of the way and showing us something truly unique. It delivers everything you need from a big Summer blockbuster, never once insults your intelligence, and manages to sneak in a little bit of art, to help it stand out among the crowd. Like the 15-foot cranky Green guy needed any help. And here’s Uncapie, one of the biggest monster fans I know. Wonder if HULK passes muster with him?
"The Hulk" is the best movie this summer! Lots of action and a great story makes this film work. Ang Lee's directing is top notch and has created a visual comic book for the screen with wipes, panel slides and dissolves that draw the viewer in. The origin of the "Hulk" in this film is quite different from the comic book, but makes sense if its marketed for 21st century film goers. Eric Banna as "Bruce Banner" portrays a sympathetic character the audience can identify with. A man trying to better the world. Jennifer Connelly, beautiful as ever is "Betty Ross" who is the one person that can tame the "Hulk." A version of a rampaging "Beauty And the Beast," if you will. The "Hulk" himself doesn't want to hurt people and attacks only when attacked. Like Mary Shelly's misunderstood creature in "Frankenstein", he's confused and alone against the world. Steely eyed actor, Sam Elliot, does a magnificent job as "General Ross" doing what he must do. You get the feeling that he's torn between wanting to save the "Hulk" but, must destroy him in order to do so. Nick Nolte is the creepiest out of the bunch. He portrays "Banner's" father and what a right bastard he is! He looks "exactly" like those photos the Malibu sheriff's took of him when he was busted for DUI. As a scientist, what he thinks he's doing is right, but has no conscious for the actions he partakes in. The "Hulk Dogs" were surreal and scary. Experiments gone haywire. Like a demented video game. One pedigree in particular I'll never look at the same way again! Overall, the movie has a great look though I felt that the "Hulk" CGI during the first moments we meet him seemed cartoonish. But, after awhile your suspension of disbelief kicks in and you feel for the character. Ang Lee brought out depth in the CGI animated creation with facial expressions and pathos which allows the audience to feel what the "Hulk" is thinking. He becomes a part of us. The "Hulk" is the good guy and we want him to win. He becomes our hero.
UncapieIf people fall in love with the Hulk the way I think they will, then sequels are inevitable. Wanna know what they’ve got planned?
Harry,
Reader since 1997 (to this day, your review of Batman & Robin makes me laugh). Anyway, this is from USA Today online. If you haven't seen this & want to use it & want credit me, call me "NewsMan" (and I have *no* relation to USA Today - I just happened to see this there). Tomorrow, I Hulk out myself!
CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY!!
Hulk producer Avi Arad already has the film's screenwriter/producer, James Schamus, working hard on Hulk 2. Schamus says his script further delves into Bruce Banner's epic struggle with his inner demons, resulting in the emergence of an evil, gray-hued Hulk. Shamus says he's toying with the idea of incorporating two possible villains: The Leader (described by Lee as "a giant-head brainiac") and The Abomination ("a big ugly guy the same size as the Hulk").Well, that’s intriguing stuff. Have to wonder how much of it is just Schamus thinking out loud, and how much of it is actually concrete at this point.
At any rate, thanks for sending it in.
"Moriarty" out.
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Wow. This might be worth selling the kids and going to see. Am I first? And what does that mean?
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Jun 20, 2003 8:37:28 AM CDT
Hulk 2: Banner moves to Glendale and becomes an adult film star
by lance rock
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Looks like weve both been scuppered by this weasel....wonder if he's a Hulk-Weasel ?
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He's just doing what the Sony suits tell him to do. Take the money and run. Thats what i say.
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sorry. pardon me.
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Ninety percent of the review give Hulk very good ratings. Some people fail to understand the fact that the Hulk looks bright green in the movie is because he is glowing with radiation. I am so fucking excited I don't know how to contain myself! This movie is going to FUCKING RULE, I know it! Yeeeeeeeaaaaaah!
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Do I smell a call from the studio to my house? EH? GOOD TITLE EH?
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I am so psyched, I can't even type. But had to thank Moriarty for the news, and you guys for the reviews, and couple this with the sigh, the wonderful news about "World of Tomorrow" finding a distributor, and (squeal) being a summer movie next year (go Jude!), I'm just going to be the most unproductive person today. No way will I be able to think straight until I see "Hulk" and I'm sooo glad that you guys have fallen for it. It always looked fantastic to me, and every time I saw Eric Bana's face, my heart just crumbled, so good stuff, you guys, and yay, only about 12 hours left before I get to talk and talk about the wonder that is "Hulk." *Spoiler* Last night, Ang was on "Charlie Rose" and sigh, they showed that part when Talbot meets Bruce for the first time, and then walks out, and the picture breaks into frames as he walks away: one on Talbot, one on Betty, and one on Bruce -- blew me away. So beautiful! And that was only like one minute. Gosh!
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It kills me that I'm not seeing this until Tuesday at the earliest. Puny family obligations in other states! Walrus smash!
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Jun 20, 2003 9:42:54 AM CDT
It would be cool to go with an even more "comic book-ish" storyl
by terry_1978
Even if you don't like the character, he is one of the Hulk's main antagonists, and it would only be inevitable to have him and Abomination in a future flick. Besides, we'd get the chance to see Banner crush armies of Leader driven robots and weaponry.
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Jun 20, 2003 9:45:11 AM CDT
Best use of weird stock footage since "Glen or Glenda"
by crimson dynamo
Really, some Ang Lee's scenes reminded me of Eddie's use of stock footage of buffalo running through the plains in "Glen or Glenda". And the transformation scenes in the movie from Banner to Hulk lacked the suspense and "Oh shit" factor that you felt when Bill Bixby turned into the Hulk. Pull the strings! Pull the strings!
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I always liked the Hulk. Someone that just runs around in an angry rage with green skin and purple pants simply rules. And I am psyched to see this movie.
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Jun 20, 2003 10:09:41 AM CDT
And let's not forget the classic "Daredevil kills a guy" faux-pa
by chastain-86
Goddammit, I wanted to kick the scriptwriter in the nuts after I saw that. How fuckin' hard is it to understand that DAREDEVIL DOESN'T KILL PEOPLE UNLESS HE HAS TO?
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...because King of Space is strongest there is. King of Space is also a bored office monkey (non-Hulk, at this time, but 5:00 is coming) who wants to see the Leader, his Humanoid, some Rick Jones stupidity, and dammit somebody gimme some Wendigo next time, too! Of course, given the atmosphere surrounding this premiere, Avi Arad is probably drunk on green Schlitz, and asking some intern "Can we get that Italian Red Skull from the atrocious Captain America movie with Matt Salinger, too? That was coooool."
Can't wait to see this. Even if it blows goats, it HAS to be better than Daredevil...even Supernova was better than Daredevil.
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Jun 20, 2003 10:16:00 AM CDT
Evil Grey Hulk is interesting.. But he better kick some ass, and
by joeblowe
I hated how this hulk just stood there and stared at everything. Not a beast at all.
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Caught a midnight showing last night. (Got about an hour of sleep before heading of to work.)__If you are being honest, TRULY honest with yourself, then you have to admit that ILM has blazed new territory here. The Hulk, while not 100% realistic, is the closest CGI character we've had yet to a "real" creature. Better than Jar Jar, or Yoda, and yes, better than Gollum.__The Hulk actually INTERACTS with his surroundings. Compare the soaking wet Hulk to Gollum in the pool. The speed of movement, the lighting actually matches the "real" lighting on the set, something WETA failed at half the time...and the Hulk is BRIGHT GREEN. He would have looked even better if he had been grey. Let's see how good Gollum would look if he were the Hulk's color.__Sorry boys, but when push comes to shove, ILM still leads the pack. I'm going back tonight to see it again.
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Chastain: DD as killer. As you probably glean from my review, I don't mind changes..as long as they're there for a reason. The reason they turned DD into a killer was so they could have his "I won't kill" redemption at the end. Of course, the problem with that was the original story had the "I won't kill" at the beginning and took Murdock through the motions of turning him into a vigilante who turns his back on the law in favor of revenge, which was FAR more interesting than the cliched "If I kill you I'll be just as bad as you" we got in the movie. Unfortunate, to say the least. *** Joeblow. Hulk has never been the beast. At least not until a few recent "new" takes. Classically, Hulk has been about the Id - it's not just Rage Banner repressed, but love, sadness, etc. The Hulk isn't a creature of Anger, he's a creature of impulse...it just often manifests in anger. Ang does that pretty well.
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Jun 20, 2003 10:32:23 AM CDT
After getting a glimpse of "HULK" on the sci-fi channel ... seei
by jdanielp
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Saw the Hulk Wednesday night in Orlando. In my opinion, it is very hit and miss. Hit as a wonderful comic book movie, Miss as an art film. Some of the dialogue and acting are beautiful (ie, David Banner talking with Bruce about ten minutes from the end), most of the action is decent at best. It is very slow for the first half hour while we meander through backstory. The editting is mostly crap... like someone went through the entire library of Powerpoint transitions. ("Wow! Water effects! I don't know why that would be a good idea for this particular scene change, but isn't it neat?!") The split screens were a nice idea, but mostly wasted. We don't need two shots of David Banner turning a key. We don't need four shots of the same three helicopters. That's distracting. I will say, however, that the movie was satisfying. Go out and see it, buy popcorn. It's a nice lazy afternoon summer flick, and you'll more than likely have fun and enjoy yourself. It is not the art house masterpiece Harry and his chosen reviews make it out to be. It tries to be, but fails. Example: Betty speaking with Banner, about fourty five minutes into the movie... she's in focus, he's out of focus, for the whole dialogue. Why? It doesn't add anything to the film, it's not symbolic, it's annoying. A good director is invisible in his films, but Ang Lee is in your face through much of this movie, and it brings you out of the experience.
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News just in, Hulk 2 to be produced/directed by Merchant/Ivory.
Bruce Banner is working as a butler for a wealthy English family.
He has managed to keep calm for several years, then one day he accidenly cuts his finger slicing the crust off of some cucumber sanwiches he's preparing for the family's afternnon tea,
"HULK SMASH ALL CROCKERY". -
Jun 20, 2003 12:23:50 PM CDT
Hulk 2: Hulk and Hulkerer with Crazy Gary Busey as the baddie!
by overmuch
"The sun's been down eight minutes before we see it. It's true science."
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Why does every reviewer on this site use that phrase? Am I leaving now, yes!
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... starring Native American pro wrestler Tatanka as Hulk's number one adversary... namely, the Native American pro wrestler Tatanka. Word. http://www.nativetatanka.com
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For the life of me I can't understand why Harry raved about this movie. I saw it an early screening and it was, without a doubt, the biggest disappointment I've seen all year. I am a big fan of the comic (especially of the past few years--the Bruce Jones arc has been phenomenal) and this paled in comparison on every level. What in the world was Universal thinking? They had the rights to the Hulk and they turned it into a boring art house movie. The Hulk doesn't even appear for the first 45 minutes, which would be okay if Bana or Conelly held our interest--which they don't. Could Ang Lee have picked two less interesting actors for those roles? Some early critics jumped on the Ang Lee bandwagon but, thank God, more honest reviewers are now beginning to weigh in. If you read today's New York Times review you've got an honest assessment of this film. The only real highlight of the movie was Nick Nolte's hair. He's got Muppet Hair! That was worth the price of admission alone. Come to think of it, I saw it for free. But at $9? Nah. Wait for the video.
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In the sequel, the conflict between Hulk and Banner will result in the formation of a balding, T-shirt ripping, leathery, sun tanned Hulk who calls everybody "Brother" and takes the wrestling world by storm. He will then have to fight off the unholy alliance of a vampire and a werewolf. He kills the vampire first, but then the werewolf gets exposed to gamm rays and turns into a Hulk-werewolf. The werehulk runs into the woods and the wrestling Hulk follows a trail of dead, raped deer to find him. There is a huge battle at the end but before Hulk can kill the Werehulk, the Werehulk announces that he is really from Krypton and he flies away, leaving the door open for Hulk 3. Ang Lee is reportedly seeking an actor who can plausibly portray the wrestling Hulk. Freddie Prinze Jr. is reportedly up for the part.
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With the sole exception of Blade II there hasn't been a bad movie based on a Marvel comic post 1997.
Blade was great, X-Men was even better. Blade II was BAD (only bad one yet). Spider-Man was incredible. Daredevil was terrific, and X-Men United was the best yet. Aside from Blade II Marvel films haven't let us down yet, so I have no reason to believe Hulk will be a letdown. -
I read earlier in the talk back that some one said that ILM's Hulk was the first real computer imaged character to come to life. Whatever! Did you even see The Two Towers? WETA's Gollum look so incredibly real it often hurt my eyes. For me . . . thats a tell tale sign, cause' when something hurts my eyes then Im known that Im looking at something real. The Hulk did not hurt my eyes. And dont get me wrong he looked better than I thought he would and I had high expectations . . . but Gollum blew me out of the water.
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I SPOOLED THIS LAST NIGHT AT THE THEATER I WORK AT AND THE WHOLE MOVIE IS SOOOOOOOOOO LONG-WINDED WITH NOTHING TO SAY! THERE IS NO PAYOFF FOR THE EMOTIONS THEY TRY TO BUILD! AND ANY CREDIBILITY THE EMOTIONAL REALISM GAINS IS INSTANTLY RUINED WITH THE SILLINESS OF THE HULK FIGURE ITSELF! THE COMIC BOOK STYLE EDITING IS SORT OF COOL, BUT DIDN'T REALLY HELP MOVE THE STORY FORWARD - IT JUST GAVE 'MORE ANGLES' TO TRACKING SHOTS. I'M SORRY, I WAS REALLY, REALLY BORED DURING MOST OF THIS MOVIE. "HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE" AT LEAST KEPT ME INTERESTED WITH LIKABLE CHARACTERS!!!!!
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The INCREDIBLER Hulk.
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Jun 20, 2003 2:08:29 PM CDT
Is that Deylight guy with his "Stone Cold - HELL YEAH's" banned
by theaflacduck
Stone Cold was in a couple Nash Bridges episodes ... and he has NOWHERE NEAR the universal appeal and the pure cinematic charisma that Hulk Hogan has. Give it a rest. You can't just FORCE an AICN catchphrase man! it has to happen organically! So quit forcing 6 or 7 Stone Cold references into every talkback. Remember, Hulk Hogan = Funny & Stone Cold = Not Funny.
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dude I am so there! I hope John Sayles writes, directs and edits Hulk 2. Where Eric Bana unionizes some illegal immigrant farmworkers, and if he hulks out, it happens off camera or after the end of the movie.
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Daredevil blew asschunks. "Hmmm I'll fight a blind guy in a playground, I didn't whip his ass so I guess I'm in love" The back bone of the film was based on this shallow relationship, hence a shallow film. And what a great and beleivable fight at the end, Kingpin just gives up. CRAAPP!!! "Go ahead tell them you got beat by a blind guy" man I didn't know crime lords were so easily stifled.
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Jun 20, 2003 2:57:18 PM CDT
It's nice that the online hardcore comic book geeks love it, but
by minderbinder
Saw it a few days ago and hated it...many people will be pissed they wasted their money on this, just wait for the bad word of mouth and the hulk sized drop at the BO next weekend.
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Look, I've been a Hulk/ Thor/ Dr. Strange Marvel fan since I was just a wee lad. And I always loved the Bill Bixby transformations on T.V. Trust me, I wanted this HULK movie to be as splendid as any of Ang Lee's other movies.... I wanted it to be a damn fine Hulk movie, and I had every right to expect it. But sorry, it sucks. Take 2 hours of painfully inert dialogue scenes that do not build any narrative rhythm -- add in characters you don't really care about -- mix in Nick Nolte chewing the scenery like Jeremy Irons in "Dungeons & Dragons" -- then bake at 350 degrees with over used military cliches of the worst order (Sam Elliot causes groans every time he opens his mouth). It is grotesquely violent without any sense of the playful or ironic, like many better comic book flicks. The whole film is UNFUNNY, UNPLEASANT, and has ZERO sense of adventure or Hulk-ish exhiliration (except for the brief minutes he leaps over the desert mesas). Comparing HULK to the great excitement and energy of X2 is the perfect way to understand what I'm talking about. Mr. Ang Lee has handed us a turgid green turd of a movie. Yeesh.
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SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER HEY THERE IS A SPOILER HERE The film was a bit long, should have been more tightly edited, but from the moment that David Banner bit the electrical cord and "transported" himself and Hulk to the canyon and lake, that sucked. I know that there's a comic book story, but a bit of omission or tighter editing would have made it more understandable. I consider myself to be a sophisticated filmgoer, and I was scratching my head *trying* to make sense of whatever the hell David Banner was "morphing" into. Just live or die, don't do this in-between where we can't tell what the hell happened to you. Notch out.
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To youse guys who are dissing the comic (let alone the movie)... Lemme say the new storyline, which started up about a year ago, took some getting used to, as it was much more low-key and artsy than what had gone before. But, the build up is worth it, as the climax at the end knocked my socks off. (referring to the battle royale tween Hulk and The Abomination in the next-to-most recent issue) The lastest issue starts to set up something which looks just as cool if not K00LER!
Check it out. Way better writing than all the X-book drivel.
Anyway, I haven't seen the flick yet but am going to in about an hour. :) -
I have to say, as the Alpha Geek in my small circle of slightly idiotic geek friends, I am rather disappointed in the action figures for this movie (I haven't seen the movie yet, but the toys are EVERYWHERE). I was hoping for a quality fast-food tie-in (the JLA at Burger was better than the first wave of figures from Mattel!).
I've been poking about the Web, checking out the reviews (I may not agree with most of them, but they give some idea of the "normal people" perspective)...It seems that, when the movie has to justify itself as an action flick, people start touting its art-house pedigree, and when people start looking for art-house meaning, suddenly it's a comic-book movie. All I can say is "Man, I hope this doesn't suck."
That's as intellectual as I can wax. Sorry.
I am Guthrie. -
I'm sorry, I always hate when people post multiple times saying the same fucking thing over and over so I promise this will be my last. I just still can't believe I've waited my whole life for a Hulk movie and I got this POS. I liked both X-Men 2 and Daredevil a lot, both were faithful (at least Daredevil was entertaining). There is nothing entertaining about the Hulk. Ang Lee was so intent on making a "serious film" that he forgot to let the fans have any fun. The best part of the movie? Mutant Poodle! I shit you not. There is a mutant Fifi in this POS movie. Jesus.
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SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!
The last 5 minutes are very poor - the first time I've thought the CGI-is-like-watching-a-video-game criticism was true.
But as for the rest, three freakin cheers. -
ZZZZzzzzz..... I should have downloaded it and saved myself the $3.75 my theater charges for matinees. Christ, that movie was a snore-a-thon.
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I loved the hulk stuff.....kicked ass. but all the rest.....the slow ass pace, dark action pieces and just boring babble hurt the film for me. He wanted it to look like a comic come to life obviously, but failed to keep that child-like fan spirit of the comics. way too serious. The first hour sucked donkey scrod....soon as the hulk beet talbots ass in the house..it got kick ass......the ending sucked for me. too dark and difficult to understand what the fuck was clearly happening....felt like it was added in at the last second. Still, a high 6 or 7 out of 10. Gollum isn't so great to me now.
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what a load of shit. fuck ang lee. i think they forgot that THE HULK IS A COMIC BOOK ABOUT A GUY WHO WHEN ANGERED TURNS INTO A GIANT FUCKING GREEN BEAST!!!NOT A PYSCHODRAMA ABOUT MANS ENDLESS STRUGGLE WITH DUEL PYSCHOSIS OR WHATEVER THE FUCK. jesus, people were actually booing in the cinema I was in and I have never been to a movie were about %50 of the audience boo the screen. and yes the hulk looked shit too.
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This movie would be ten times better if the Hulk was dressed in his traditional red and yellow.
Hulkmania is STILL Runnin' Wild! -
It just looks bad. From the bad CGI Hulk to Nick "Look like I just got out of rehab" Nolte's acting, this one looks like it's best saved for watching on HBO. While I'm sure the initial box office will be big, the word of mouth will kill it. It's funny because I've talked to a lot of casual fans and they all say the same thing, "That's not the Hulk I grew up on" i.e. Mr. Radio Shack Bill Bixby. Who knows, it may be a great film but so far the previews make it look like a bomb. By the way, Hulk 2 (if it gets made) should feature Hulk Hogan as the High Evolutionary, transforming animals into Hulkanimalmaniacs. "My Beast Brothers are gonna run wild on you brother!"
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I sure hope Gollum has a dick, because there are quite a few of you who are sucking it. Is this a Hulk talkback or a LOTR chat on AOL? If I had one dollar for every set of finger-cuffs on this site, I would be a rich fucking man! OGONE HAS SPOKEN!!!!
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I have to say the animation of both is superb and equal. The rendering is another issue.
If you look at both films, they have different color schemes. TTT has a blue-tint to the cinematography and Gollum fits into that world fine.
The Hulk however is largely in braod daylight. In fact, the weakest shots, IMO, were the night shots of the Hulk.
As for performance, well The Hulk doesn't have a word of dialogue. Everything has to be conveyed either through his actions, his expressions, or through other characters. This the Hulk did very well.
Gollum had a lot of weight to his character due to the nature of the story. His was a more dramatic performance.
The Hulk's was more like a kid throwing a tantrum.
ILM and Weta have great animators, many of whom have worked at each facility or others and are friends.
The industry has a lot of grat work, really great work. All you people saying "Gollum looked real and the Hulk looked fake" need to give it up. Both accomplishments are brilliant.
It's an effects evolution now, not revolution. -
I haven't seen the Hulk, so I can only comment on what I have seen in trailers, etc. The Hulk is great CGI if he works in the world Ang Lee created for him. THis is why Gollum looks so good, he fits the PJ created for him. So does the Hulk fit the world that we can created for? By the way, LOTR bashers let up, both the films were very exciting and in many ways advanced cinema.
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A troll? Here? Never!
This place is full of trolls Fister. Where you been? -
Two positive reviews here, versus two negative reviews I have read in newspapers.
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Yo, this would be the shiznit, my nizzle.
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Ang Lee has yet to make a bad movie.
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"Ride With The Devil" was the flick that made me believe Toby M. could pull off Peter Parker.
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...Hulk Poodle.
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Just got home from seeing the hulk today..and man oh man..I have had insomnia for a few days/weeks now..and I just got done with the hulk..and man it really help..I fell right to sleep...Everything you see the hulk do is in the previews..even the end. The only good thing about this entire movie..is Sam Elliot..and a great performance by nick nolte at the end.
Sam elliot made this movie and gave the monster what it needed.
and the mutant dogs..(that happened while I was adjusting my pillow, to go back to sleep.)
So yeah..very dissapointing..
to sum up..
"Hulk not good...hulk bad..hulk ok in looks...and cgi..other than that..hulk resemble and effect like enema...."
One thing though for A MAJOR PLUS..and that is "HULK GOT TO SPEAK.."...the highpoin of the movie..
Goodbye all..going out now that Im refreshed from my nap..
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God, i cant wait to see Hulk. i really cant. i havent been dying with anticipation for many movies this year, nope, not even Matrix Rehashed or whatever its called. I'm getting more excited with every talkbacker who slags this off for its crimes of, oh my dear Christ, having a STORY!!! CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT???? PSYCHOLOGICAL DEPTH?????????? Jesus Christ!!!! How will you cope? I mean, we all know 12 Angry Men would have been improved immeasurably had they all got up and ate each other alive. If i wanna see nothing but a stupid oaf running about smashing things, then i'll watch Jay Leno. that is NOT what the comics were about, or indeed still are about. anyhoo, what do i know?? sheesh its only a movie. but, i'm just home from my AA meeting (sober a month today!!!), and i came on here. i hope ang lee did a James Whale on this. Bride Of Hulk anyone??? When is the UK release date, by the way. All my local cinema has in new tonight is 2 Fast 2 Furious.
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SUMMARY: The movie had fairly exciting, though highly unplausible, fight scenes. But mediocre acting (in most cases) combines with REALLY REALLY ATROCIOUS CAMERAWORK to create a mediocre movie.
WHAT IT DOES WELL: Nick Nolte, who plays Bruce's father, is by FAR the best actor in the movie. Pleasure to watch. Eric Bana, playing Bruce, is pretty bad for the first third of the movie but improves later. The fight scenes were also fun to watch; they were really the only reason to bother seeing the movie. They were very unrealistic though, such as helicopters that maneuver impossibly well, missiles that destroy solid rock cliffs, etc.
WHAT IS DOES WRONG: First and foremost, the camerawork was embarrassingly amateurish! It made it really painful to watch. Here's a list of everything it does wrong:
1) Multiple views on the same screen. Constantly throughout the movie it shows you picture-in-picture with two, three, or four images onscreen at once. People cannot watch four things at once, or even two -- it's really distracting. Not only that, it moves them around and adds/removes viewports while you watch, which is extremely dumb and distracting. And here's the real killer -- often it shows you multiple images of the same person talking! Connelly would be talking about some boring thing and it would for some reason show you two views of her head. In another part of the movie, it showed four views of a single puff of smoke! WTF?
2) Bad camera switching. Even when it thankfully only has one image onscreen, it sometimes will switch from a view of someone talking to another view of the same person. This doesn't sound bad but it really is when you see it -- in a conversation, filmmakers only change the camera view when they're changing who you're looking at. Well when you see it you'll know what I mean.
3) Flickering. Sometimes it flickers between two images. Highly annoying.
4) Extreme close-ups. Minor but somewhat annoying -- like a soap opera, it would sometimes show extreme close-ups of someone's face for no reason.
Anyway, other things wrong with the movie include mediocre acting -- Sam Elliott is bad as the general, Connelly is flat, etc. Also there's the unrealistic fight scenes that I mentioned... for example when fighting around the Golden Gate bridge they never cut off traffic from it; they just let all the cars go on it while fighters fire missiles all around it. -
I caught Hulk this afternoon. This movie had me from the very first frame. I loved the feel of this movie; I loved the scene changes and multiple perspectives; I loved the music; and I loved the acting. I've never read a Hulk comic and, frankly, had very little interest in this picture. I only went to see it because I knew that it was a Lee / Schamus creation, and the boys didn't let me down. This wasn't a comic book movie. This was a movie whose protagonist, coincidentally, had also been featured in a comic book. After a couple of Marvel disappointments (X2, DareDevil), it's great to see them post a success. This is the first movie I've seen this year that I just might see again.
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PUNY MOVIE!!!
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Jun 20, 2003 7:11:31 PM CDT
Just saw it. Audience giggled an doutright laughed at the plot,
by red giant
Ok here are specific comments. Final Fantasy had much more realism in both the look and motion of its digital actors, does that gies you a clue? I am not exagerating, some scenes are the *same* level of realism as Shrek. A few parts of scenes, like about 5-6 sec of the tank battle, I could maybe stop laughing at it. This movie just begs to laugh at it. For tehrecord, I really liked SPiderman overall, and it could have used some tweaks with the GG portions. I love LOTR in general. I thought cityscapes in SW new movies very good, scripts suck, acting very wooden (thanks George). Didn't pay to see Daredevil. This movie will absolutely piss off *normal* moviegoers. Only arthouse types purposely pretending to appluad this movie will clap, or maybe Hulk blind-devotion fans (there are always some fans of every movie like that). At no point in the movie does Hulk approach Gollum, so I don't know where those reports come from (fanboys?). The leaping in the desert wil make you laugh outloud, not even close to realistic motion. ILM really botched this up bigtime. I don't know what they were thinking. And the SCREEN WIPE SHIT needs to go. You will laugh until you cry at the faux-artistic b.s. to go with the boring, smarmy dialogue. Sorry I need to stop now, the more I think of this movie the more upset I get at it. I doubt anyone will see it twice, maybe once out of curiosity. Lat time I got this feeling of "How the hell can they make, edit and release shit luke this" was AOTC and Alien Resurrection.
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Hulk Smash?
Well, yeah, for the most part. Spoilers Ahead... Proceed at own risk.
I was a little scared when I first saw the Hulk's face. I was scared because I thought that the CGI naysayers might have had a point. To ILM's credit, this is one of the only times that the viewer can say to themselves that the Hulk looked like a computer animation. ILM has succeeded in making a 15-foot tall, angry green guy look real. Some of the water effects, as it drips off of the Hulk's body are shear art; due to the fact that it looks real instead of appearing to be digitally rendered.
Before I make this next point, please indulge me in saying that I love Ang Lee and his vision of how to make a story real. That being said, the whole comic panel thing was a bit overused. At times this overuse of the panels takes the viewer out of the film. This is not to say that the whole movie misses the mark, there was some great stuff there. I loved Hulk vs. the tanks. It was straight out of the comics and onto the screen. Hulk jumping around the countryside was way cool and the long fall back to Earth from the plane was a nice touch as well. Oh, and having Stan and Lou together was an excellent idea!
Random thought. Does Bruce's father do what he does in the end to get stronger or to, ultimately, save his son from the horror that he has wrought?
Bottom line for this fanboy, Hulk Good; not as good as X2, but good nonetheless. I'll probably pick up the DVD around Christmas.
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you know I saw this movie this afternoon at the Zigfield theatre. The best sound you can find, the best quality. This movie is simple the most amazing, and most action packed movie this summer. I Cannot imagine ANYBODY looking at this movie and being displeased with it. if you are, then you should consider why you watch movies in the first place. I saw one female critic say that the character of bruce banner was dull and dry and that why didnt the hulk have anything to say, Reviews like that remind me of the SHIT that came out of harry and morietys mouth about the matrix reloaded and other movies.
The film is outstanding and a testament to how far cinema has come. See the movie, Enjoy it, Dont look at how fucken ridiculous it is that the beast can jump or survive a fall from the stratosphere. Dont think about how much better it "coulda" been if this or that was in place, DONT. just enjoy the fucken movie, it ruled. -
I so wanted to love this film. It properly respects the HULK comics that it smashes forth from. It treats the story and its characters seriously. But this film is so humorless and slow that it takes forever to get to what you paid your money to see. And despite all that slow build-up you don't really care for anyone. Yeah, you feel a little for Betty Ross but that's it. I believe this film is a colossal mistake in how it choose to adapt the original source material. I can't believe I'm saying this but I prefer the Bill Bixby TV series over this. After watching SPIDER-MAN and the X-MEN movies I couldn't wait to go see them a second time. With this HULK film I doubt I'll even sit through a showing on cable. I'd rather read the comic book.
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I'd just like to second Dinobot_x's post about Blade II being waaaaaaaay better than Daredevil. The fight sequences in Blade II were way more fun to watch than the ones in Daredevil. Dinobot's comments are bang on, that park scene in DD is terrible and the rest of movie is weak because of it. It's interesting reading the feedback on all the comparisons of the Marvel films. Some people love Daredevil and hate X2...can you fucking believe that? Daredevil was mediocre, and so is the Hulk (though a like the Hulk a smidge more).
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Hulk 2 would be even worse.
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Jun 20, 2003 8:58:07 PM CDT
IF YOU DONT LIKE THIS MOVIE YOU....ARE A FUCKING RETARD. AND IF
by juxtapoze
i dont get some of these haters. whaty exactly do they want? i just dont get it, who wouldnt be happy about a movie like this.even if your not a fan.
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Blade 2 was a POS compated to Blade. Daredevil was entertaining, but not my favorite comic movie (that would be X-Men 2). But rest assured--both Blade 2 and Daredevil are better than the green shitfest that is the Hulk!!!
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I love comics. I love comic movies, even when they're bad. I like CGI. And I went in not expecting a great movie, but cautiously optimistic. So why did I hate The Hulk? The story was haphazardly thrown together, throwing half an hour's worth of backstory at you in like five or ten minutes. Not in a glimpsing way, like fragmented memories. More like the stoned kid running the register at Burger King trying to tell you about the Hulk's origin. "Like, there's this guy, and uh, he was a scientist, and he did stuff to himself, and he had a kid, and the kid got fucked up cause of the stuff his dad did...". The acting was either phoned in or embarassing, depending on the actor. If you weren't thrilled by the effects in the trailers, be afraid. They showed you the best stuff. The audience giggled when Bruce turned into the Hulk. There's an embarassing scene where the Hulk jumps on a fighter jet, and the pilot carries him up into the atmosphere, where the Hulk grows frost on his cheeks and falls asleep, sliding off. Words cannot describe how fake this was. The cutscenes in Final Fantasy were much more realistic than this. The jet looked like it was from a Playstation One game, and The Hulk looked like Shrek in the middle of a snowball fight. The film was building up to a final battle with Hulk versus the Absorbing Man, but just as Banner arrived at some military base at night, my girlfriend asked me if I wanted to just go home, and for the first time in my life, I said yes. I made it all the way through Blair Witch 2, Jason X, and Cop and A Half, but I couldn't survive a full showing of this film. Avoid at all costs!
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Jun 20, 2003 9:04:33 PM CDT
Hulk smash? Good. Hulk have bad feelings about his father? SUCKS
by xthecrovvx
Since I'm tired, I'll keep it quick....the things people were worried about...the Hulk's trailer CGI, the atrocious looking Hulk dogs, Nick Nolte looking like Doc Emmett Brownafter a season on Oz.....they turned out FINE....the Hulk looks and moves great, the emotion was in the eyes, the Hulk dog scene OWNS, and Nick Nolte plays crazy good...in addition, Jennifer Connelly can do no wrong, Eric Bana is a pretty damn good Bruce Banner, EVERY scene where the big green guy gets to do what he does best is downright asskicking fun, and I personally liked the comic book panel editing....but, the problem is that Ang Lee drops the ball in so many ways with this movie its a sin. And while I'm actually pretty optimistic that now, whoever handles Hulk 2 now has leeway to have a shitload of fun with the character, suffice to say, the winner, and still comic book movie champion for now is X2. I'll go into detail some other time. Im gonna go have a burger. Revolution is my name.
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Jun 20, 2003 10:36:00 PM CDT
It's just like the A-Team...notice how nobody dies in this movie
by biltbuckley
It's just like the A-Team...notice how nobody dies in this movie? The Hulk throws people 1/2 a mile, through the walls of a house, crashing helicopters...But no one dies? Pathetic P.C. crap.
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Thats was one of the manyh things that sucked about this movie.
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SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER!!!
Can someone please explain to me what in the world went on at the end of the HULK? I am refering to the David Banner vs. Bruce Banner incident that occured right after the biting of the power cord thing. Was David Banner the Absorbing Man? What the heck did he turn into when they were in the water. Does a nuclear blast kill David but not Bruce? Wouldn't the nuclear blast be absorbed by the absorbing man? Someone please help. My email is rayost@adelphia.net -
Believe me when I tell you that I wanted to like this movie so much. I'm not a fanboy, but I did grow up on Spider-Man comic books and the Hulk television series. I'm the type of guy that if there's a comic book movie from eith DC or Marvel, I'm going to see it. It would bring me back to my childhood and allow me to witness my favorite fictional characters to be seen in action. The point of my statement is that I didn't have a problem with the movie because I nitpicked the shit out of it such as "Where's Rick Jones? And why is Banner's dad such a loon?" I did, however, find fault with this movie in the sense that I felt Ang Lee tried too hard to make this good. What do I mean? The tone relies too much on making the film transition like a cinematic comic book, complete with split screens and poised boxes showing reaction of characters as an afterfact.....presumably. On the performance side, Eric Bana was exceptional. He did resemble the character, and Jennifer Connelly was ok as Betty "I'll get thru to him" Ross. The single best performance was not Nick Nolte, who I personally hated in the flick. It was Sam Elliot. Elliot had a serious demeanor I have never seen him in. He played a mean, yet caring Ross. Not to read to much into his character but the guy was torn apart between doing what he felt was his duty and being a likeable father to his daughter. The pacing of the movie I also had problems with because they was pointless dialogue that just went on and on. The Hulk itself looked like Shite-R-Man and His Amazing Friends...WE ALL KNOW THAT. But, during the movie the CGI grew on me. What turned me away was his leaping like he was fucking Doomsday from Death of Superman and also how he would be 9 feet one minute and then 15 the next transition. Whatever. The action I would give a high B. The chemistry between Bana and Connelly was very average. The one credible performance, I think, was Sam Elliot's. I hated Nick Nolte in this movie. I hated his character even more. I just hope people do like this movie, but has Marvel struck out? I sure hope not. -
Hey, I thought the movie wasn't too bad. The first hour dragged, too much BS about repressed memories and inner demons, but the fight scenes were great and the Hulk himself looked good. All of you namby-pamby comic geeks that want to quibble small details need to get another hobby. .................................... That said, whatever happened to Jennifer Connelly's breasts? Remember the Rocketeer, or that film when she was locked in the mall with the geeky teen? She was stacked back then!!! What happened?
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G- You know its one thing to try and criticize TTT - it certainly had its flaws. Yeah its #9 on the all-time money list but your definitley right, it probably is a flaming pile of poo right? But whats really got me laughing and inspired to post and fester in your cesspool of ignorance was your brilliant comment earlier that Tolkien was a bad writer who couldn't create characters...this is one of the funniest things ive heard in some time. I fear you must have missed that day on writing back at GED night school. To say that Tolkien is a bad writer is just so incredibly ignorant. In case you missed the memo, Tolkien's LOTR was voted the greatest novel of the 21st century. And no, your not allowed to compare Tolkien to the Maxim article your life partner read to you last week in bed. Keep reading, we're all here to support you - you can do it, any day now you can get that GED - GO Grim GO!
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The people on this talk back that are saying that the CGI Hulk looks fake are so fucking jealous that The Hulk is Gollum's equal, if not better, that they are lashing out with retarded comments. Some idiots thought Gollum was proof that ILM has been dethroned and therefore George Lucas(he started and owns ILM) has been dethroned. Face it, Gollum's 15 minutes are up. And any Fanboy who disagrees can go fuck themselves.
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Ok, I just saw this movie toight and it has been the best movie I've seen so far this summer.... For everyone dissing this movie because it was "boring" wow stop seeing movies please because your retarted... I am sorry that story plot and real characters are boring too you, then why see any movies and just wait next week for Charlie's Angels Full Gayness and get a movie where you get nothing but stupid bull shit for like 80 minutes... Also for all you guys saying Hulk CGI sucked, well what exactly were you expecting to be better? It was much better then the CGI Neo/truck exploshine scene from Reloaded... Also if you guys want to diss movies, don't go after this movie, because the Hulk was fun... If you want to bash a movie go after Legally Blonde 2 Red White and PRETTY STUPID...
P.S. Punisher teaser trailer pissed me off -
I got to see (the)HULK on Tuesday and have had a few days to think about it.First the Misses:and this is a big one-I NEVER REALLY CARED.Not for Banner.Not for Betty.They never seemed to come alive.Only Thunderbolt Ross seem fully realized.Big ups to Sam Elliot.The film got off to a slow start.This didn't bother me all that much.But for a movie that appears to be marketed towards kids,it takes too long to see our hero.I think anyone under 18 would be bored shitless for the first half of THE HULK.Now the Hits:The dessert chase ruled this world and the next.THAT is the Hulk I grew up with.When Hulk is swatting off missiles and hurling junk at helicopters my heart lept.Saving the Golden Gate Bridge was a nice heroic touch.The last scene was cool.Some might groan that Banner didn't change,but I liked it.Overall I dug it.The mandatory sequel should be faster paced seeing as we've gotten the origin out of the way.Unless we have to go through it all over again to explain the Grey Hulk.
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Daredevil AND Blade 2 are the mistakes of this crop of comic book movies. They are better left forgotten, and we shouldn't argue over which pile of shit smells worse. The Hulk is different, its like a comic opera. Constant crazy colored swirls, meaningless monolouges. The plot is worse then "eh" its just bad, but the visuals are amazing.
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I have finally figuered it out..after reading more reviews on here and people who said this was the awsome movie and ang lee should be applauded..and praised and given they're second born children..should go make a psychiatry appointment immeadiatly.(And yes I know I am not the best typist)..But on that not I know why reviewers have said ANY GOOD THINGS ABOUT THIS MOVIE IS BECAUSE..they suckered into a wrong movie...Im sorry people and lovers of this hulk movie..but this is not a hulk film..this is "What If:the movie"
What if they made a movie so bad that only a hand full of people loved it..
what if they made a movie that is not hulk..just a hulk in a parralel universe for people who have no taste in theyre comic book movies..and want somethin and all things incorrect and boring...
another title..and finale title should be...
WHAT IF:THE HULK WENT TO THE WESTMINSTER MUTANT DOG SHOW"..
Brake out the Mutant kibbles and bits...
So for all those who loved the film..we who are the loyal to the main hulk..we will not find you in fault...for you are living in the world of "WHAT IF"...and we know that in our universe..Hulk sucked...
and with shreck 2 coming out next year..."what if: shrek met hulk?"
and if mike myers and the grunt team for the hulk are not available..let harry be the hulk (let him work out the stresses..and moriarity be shreck..and thus make waffles"
WHAT IF:
and thats why we did not get a true hulk movie...it was a what if..
a shame... -
They were clearly meant to resemble a comic book.OK,so it came off sort of "24" at times.I still appreciate the intention.
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It's hardly a disaster and it will still appeal to a large audience, but HULK is Marvel's weakest effort of their recent superhero releases. DAREDEVIL had its limits, but it was a small picture by comparison and there was no denying the screen chemistry of Ben and Jen (Garner). HULK can't even be mentioned with X-Men or Spidey. The CGI is good enough. That's not the problem. Ang Lee tries so hard to get us to care about these characters, but ultimately they remain distant. The film seems to get sidetracked on tedious details and misses touching the audience. Bana plays to script as uninvolved and Connelly feels more pity than anything, once barely raising an eyebrow when she's told Bruce has to be destroyed. (If she doesn't care, then why should we?) Plus there's no romantic chemistry in the script or between the leads. The elder Banner and Ross barely break out of 2 dimensional characatures. Ironically, it is only the totally CGI inhuman character that's worth caring about and rooting for. He evokes sympathy if for no reason than he's the only one confusedly wondering how he wound up in this movie. The final battle was mostly a dizzy unecessary myopic mess. And rather than the standard comic book origin story, they throw in everything - radiation, mutated genes, and 'nanomeds'. As with so much of this film, more is less. We're so relieved to get away from the dour, uninvolving background story, that even the old slide show cartoon Hulk would have been welcome. Ang Lee's judgment is usually hard to second guess, but it seemed as if from the beginning he was trying to push a square peg into a round hole, and just kept pounding harder when it didn't fit. I don't mind him having his own vision of the Hulk, but he seemed to be clueless how to get us to share it and fit it into popular culture, or an entertainment format even. This is one time they maybe should have stuck to doing a popcorn movie. Hopefully, Hulk won't damage the franchises to come, other than re-think giving a director too much budget and creative control for his own good. Two stars out of four seems fair. We'll have to wait a year now to see if the magic returns.
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I agree that some parts of the first hour are too slow. And the first appearance of "hulkman" or whatever he's called when he turns green - it wasn't as spectacular and scary as it should've been. But in the desert Ang Lee really lets loose and anyone who wants a fun action summer movie and yet didn't at least enjoy Hulk fighting the tanks and planes might as well just go down on the shotgun right now because you cannot be satisfied with anything. Still, I'm not surprised people didn't like it. I admire that Ang Lee took this comic strip and the studio's money and made a movie that -
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It's turned into a love/hate movie with no riding the fence. Fine by me and I will check the whole mess out soon. What bothers me on the surface is not the CGI. It's the design of the Hulk. The Mountain Dew colored Hulk doesn't even look like the Hulk. His face looks mis-shapened. Like how Jerry Lewis looks now with weird fat cheeks. Lee's Hulk looks over weight and constipated with eyes that have that Banjo-Boy from Deliverence feel. Like he has a load of shit in his purple pants. Now if you think that doesn't matter than compare the crappy American Godzilla to the original. I'll waste my money on this Hulk for a matinee but I'm not walking in happy...
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Could hulk have spoken a little bit more. Sure, I loved "puny human" and that bit at the end about David wanting power and taking it. "Hulk smash" and more "puny humans" would have been something for the fans. I was a little surprised that they had David banner be the absorbing man....C'mon..that should have been Creel and saved for a sequel. I could have easily have seen David being Maestro (For those who don't know this is a future hulk that is incredibly evil bwahahahaha) He had the look, and the fact that he went through the exact process of "creating" Hulk is more convincing. Plus is it would save a shit load of time travelling shit. very few films can survive a time travelling storyline. Ending a little confusing. Betty worked. Ross good. Talbot hahahahaha. Gamma Dogs excellent (best fight sequence). no rick jones. no doc samson which was good. Now heres something you may not have thought of. The guy that got trapped in the gamma chamber with bruce...never died...just got sent away....possible leader or abomination???????? hinted at sequel right there. Good film. X2 still rules all. Punisher trailer looks good (simple seen of punisher killing dolph lundgren) And people please stop comparing this to LOTR. No shit it was CG. I read one more LOTR comparison I will renact Jay and silent bob strike back...you know what i mean.....snoochtothemuthafuckinsnootch
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Bio Dome was a bad movie,
Street Fighter was a bad movie,
Dumb and Dumberer was a fucken REALLY bad movie... so why would people go to see summer blockbusters only to come out and say it sucked? first off its too late, they got your money, and if you really didnt enjoy it then maybe you should find another hobby to spend your money on, or maybe just not see movies that you know are blockbusters.
Second, The movie is what it is, A comic book adaptation. You cant please everyone. Spiderman tried and it was close to pleasing people who knew little about spiderman and hardcore fans but still many were left wanting more. Bottom line is mArvel is doing a hell of a job bringing these characters to life. MAny of you may have felt that the backstory to the hulk was unecessary but it takes time to develop a character, to truly feel and care for a character, if you arent interested in character development then see Charlies Angels or Tomb Raider. To believe that hulk was just a creature of Rage with no Origin of where that rage came from would cause all you fucken doofy critics to dog that as well . I Would like to see how you personally would have come up with a better way to tell the tale of the hulk...
the movie is what it is. For those who say the CGI is fake looking, Like someone said, go back to the fucken 80s when graphics didnt matter to tell a story. Would you rather some 15ft saban power ranger guy in a green suit destroy little toy tanks?
the people who didnt like the hulk, do US and YOURSELVES a favor, stay away from movies like this in the future so we dont hear your bitching. -
Jun 21, 2003 4:31:07 AM CDT
You HULK haters are all children! The HULK is the best comic boo
by antoninus
I loved HULK!! Repression was the name of the game, and that's what the first 45 minutes of this great film was, a REPRESSED action movie. I bet Ang Lee was giggling at all you action movie buff retards squirming in your seats waiting for some sort of mayhem. He he. Go Ang Lee! Way to not pander to the idiotic mainstream masses and give them a Hulk in the first five minutes! The film itself paralleled the plight of puny Banner, REPRESSED RAGE and FURY. But when the Hulk finally bursts forth, look out! (And this is the best CGI I've seen since Jurassic Park, by the way). And those crazy wipes and frame-within-frames! The best I've seen since a French New Wave era Truffaut film! All you smooth brained beanies who thought this film was boring need to go back to your DVD's of the very childish Spider-Man. HULK is the strongest one there is! Ang Lee has accomplished something very difficult here. He's done what Alan Moore did for the Swamp Thing. He's done what Grant Morrison did for JLA. He's done what Tim Burton did for Batman. Ang Lee has taken material whose origins lay in pulpy poppish comic books, and transformed it into art. 'Nuff said.
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I used to read the Hulk, Sider-man, Fantastic Four and Daredevil. I saw the Hulk on TV every week. I also love Ang Lee's movies. When I came to watch Hulk, I knew the CGI might be a problem. It wasn't. The direction and acting and script, however was. Too much exposition, incoherent character development (one flashback is all you need,) hammy acting (Josh Lucas, turn in your SAG card,) unintentional laughter which was good considering the lack of humor throughout, seizure-inducing split screens, boring scenes (can you speak up?) Often, when the scene dragged, the slit screens would pop up to distract us. But th audience I was with was not fooled. People were laughing, or worse, asleep. And these were teens! A few people even left. I feel bad for Ang Lee. The last movie that was hyped like this, was Godzilla. Everyone was expecting something great and there was the hype. It opened modestly for a blockbuster but then faded. Ang Lee moves from one genre to another anyway, not alwasy successful. His western with Jewel - not so great. Maybe years later, the Hulk will get itas kudo as a cult classic. If you see it, go to a matinee or something. This movie is no Spider-Man.
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I believe what you thought was bad is actually the "editing," not the "camera work."
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Veeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrryyyyyyy slow. The 15 minutes that the army chased the Hulk were great. Much of the movie was bad however. Good acting throughout, just a bad movie. The hulk dog scene was poorly done, for example. All the action in that scene is very blurry, very hard to see. disappointing.
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Hulk is the da man. Not Yoda but Hulk. The best CGI I've seen in a long time. Both Hulk and Gollum are pretty good but like they said it's the eyes that give it away. Anyways whoever is reading this, let me just tell you that the Hulk is a very good movie. It's the most serious of all the comic book movies. I hope you enjoy it. P.S. I wanna know, who does his dad turns out to be? Whoever knows please post it because I'm not really familiar with the comic book but still loved it.
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Hulk was just an average movie. Not a classic but not an abomination (like Matrix Retarded). And Daredevil was better than Blade 2. There you go.
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Hulk was just an average movie. Not a classic but not an abomination (like Matrix Retarded). And Daredevil was better than Blade 2. There you go.
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Jesus i get tired of the repetitive hulk bashers on here.. it seems that all they do is moan that the movie dragged on in places, mmmm its called developing the story!!
It seems people just wanted to watch 2 hours non stop of the Hulk on a rampage. well it doesnt work like that guaranteed the sequel will be CGI overload and you will see a lot more HULK.
I mean look at X2 compared with X1 it expanded its action sequences but i still thought they were a little lightweight, Wolverine and Nightcrawler saved the film, all the others just had cameos.
Oh and dont get me started on matrix reloaded, sure great film but bad cgi, bad storyline, and tacked on fight sequences that never really felt like they were relevant to the story, and damn if you think the HULK dragged well i was catching plenty of zzzz's through THE ARCHITECTS droning speech!!.
Ang lee makes artistic looking movies and i think he takes the hulk to a new level in marvel comic conversions.
Some Gay fanboys dont realise how much we have progressed from the days of batman and dare i say it spawn!!.
get a life and go back to sucking a wookies genitals, or jerking off over bullet time. -
I don't think I've ever seen someone honestly look at a movie for what it's supposed to be in my life. Too many "critics" at the papers, magazines and shows just don't seem happy unless Glenn Close is shoved up their ass. I'm also glad you didn't take the path of the ignorant with cliche' lines, like "Hulk Smash!", or "This muvy sux ballz!". Maybe there's still hope for the world that a true reviewer will rise from the multitudes of men to lead us.
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I don't think I've ever seen someone honestly look at a movie for what it's supposed to be in my life. Too many "critics" at the papers, magazines and shows just don't seem happy unless Glenn Close is shoved up their ass. I'm also glad you didn't take the path of the ignorant with cliche' lines, like "Hulk Smash!", or "This muvy sux ballz!". Maybe there's still hope for the world that a true reviewer will rise from the multitudes of men to lead us.
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Jun 21, 2003 8:10:54 AM CDT
I know that Moriarty already did the "pirate movie bashing" thin
by alpha-x
That could have been memorable.
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I watched Hulk last night, and I was pleasantly surprised. Better than Spider-Man, and light years ahead of Daredevil.
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I'm not surprised this doozy has left some viewers scratching their heads but I loved every frame of it. Ang Lee really delivered something great and it's first time I've seen live action that could be described as "Kirby-esque". Beautiful stuff.
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The HULK is a very unbalanced movie, I found the film to go on a little long in some areas, repeating others... The references (or homages) to 'Frankenstein' and 'King Kong' are a little annoying for anyone old enough to have seen those original scenes done better.
I liked the acting, Josh Lucas as Talbot was quite annoying though, as the traditional human bad guy in it for the $. Also the actors in the flashback scenes setting up our story were really weak. I was actually disappointed with what Eric Bana as Bruce Krenzzler was given to do. I was one of the few who seemed to enjoy Nick Nolte's take on his character.
The dialogue and plot are kind of lumpy, it could have benefitted from some editing. We could have benefitted seeing how HULK reacted to civilians or what news coverage was like, to establish the scope of a giant green monster tearing through San Fran. The Hulk is actually a lot more thoughtful than in the books, he's gentle around Betty and only lashing out at people he should be angry at. Not much misplaced rage at all. So much of this was plagued by short-sightedness or bad execution.
The CGI is really bad in spots, but I was fine w/ most of it, though the audience was laughing at the effects. I kept hearing the word 'fake' being whispered around me, and I can't exactly say that description is incorrect. There is a cool stylistic flourish that reminds you of a comic book, but it is repeated in boring ways later on and becomes irritating. The desert town was gorgeous as well as one all-too brief scene in a dream, Jellyfish are swimming on Mars atmosphere, that is an incredible Dali-esque look.
I have no idea what happened in the end with David Banner, I wish there was more to his character than simply a guy who was put away for 30 years. I would have liked to have seen an example of David beating on his wife and child in that small brick room of theirs. I never took Bruce's early childhood seriously and the Hulk didn't seem like such a bad existence, where was Bruce or Betty's concern for civilian lives or property damage !??
I was really disappoined until HULK took to the desert, from there it looked like Ang Lee had been given all of Universal's cash. Having seen those scenes, I can now see just how atrocious the marketing campaign has been in comparison. I loved the movie only for that one scene which brought to life the character for a moment. I won't need the smallscreen DVD, but seeing that on the big screen was worth 6 dollars, it just could have been worth more. They'll probably blame poor box office on piracy but I'm sure with all those tie-in deals they'll hardly care.
"Go see: THE HULK, sponsored by the government of Mexico!"
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I love fantasy movies, hell I love MOVIES. Super hero movies are my greatest love, but this piece of garbage should not have been allowed to live. Look..the CGI's where incredible and if they would release a DVD of just them I would be happy. The story was just stupid, I grew up on comics and my hopes have been met lately with X-men, Daredevil & Spiderman. These have remained as true to the books as could be expected, but the "Hulk" give me a break. This was some idiots version and in my mind thats vandilism!
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Jun 21, 2003 10:58:03 AM CDT
Two of the best damn reviews I have read for HULK yet, guys!
by dog of mystery
Better than mine, too. Even though mine was written at five in the morning with no caffeine in my system. No, I'm not gonna post a link to it. Those that know where Scorched Planet is have already read it. Those that don't...well, isn't that more of a blessing than anything else?
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Let me say that I am not a drooling fan boy and I stopped collecting comic books years ago. The Hulk was never one of my favorite characters, so my problems with this movie are not of the "they messed with the formula" variety, but I can't understand how anyone with two eyes can't see that this movie is a god-awful mess. Just a colossal, tremendous, tedious misfire. I read that upon completion Ang Lee was going off the deep end because he thought he made a stinker, and then he watched the final film, edited and color-timed and he was "proud". That's just PR spin. There was probably a studio suit putting a gun to his head because only a seriously deranged person would be proud of this. The fun of the Hulk, the intrigue, is that we are supposed to share in Bruce Banner's exhileration AS WELL as his fear of his transformation. At no point in the movie did I feel any of the sense of wonder, awe and terror that a person would feel if he were going through these transformations. And the whole repressed anger thing? OK, I get it (a little stale and Freudian) but I get it - but Banner didn't seem to have any anger at the beginning of the movie, and then all of a sudden he's this angry guy. The editing was awful. Almost film-school amateurish at times. A close look at a good comic book panel would reveal nice, balanced yet dynamic compositions; these were almost random and looked like a bad corporate presentation. On top of that, they served to take you right out of the action. The fades and wiped were stock Final Cut Pro crap that even a first-year film student would avoid. I got the feeling that they edited this movie traditionally, realized how turgid and boring it was, and then added that stuff in as a last minute attempt to make it interesting (Note: It didn't work). And Nolte! Oh my god. It's like he walked right out of that coked-up drunken mug shot and gave one of the most laughable, hammy, downright embarrassing performances of his whole career. The part one Bruce first Hulks out and jumps through the roof, and the camera zooms through the hole and Noltes on the floor like a crippled kid without crutches, shaking and saying "my bruce" I winced at how awful and just plain WRONG it was. The acting all around was atrocious, and you could tell there was a complete disconnect between the live action movie and the CGI action. Like two wholly different movies. Overall, the film is way too long. I am not even going to get into the mutant poodle (Best-In-Show gone Resident Evil). The ending is one of the most incomprehansable FX driven clunkers in all of history, and that final speech given by crazy Nolte on the platform in the hangar was like a theater production put on in the basement of an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting house. All around just an atrocious mess. That's all I have to say.
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I'd be interested in seeing a demographic breakdown of reactions to HULK. I don't know if I'd have liked this movie at 15. At 35, however, I love it. Is Hulk's problem that it is a comix film for grownups?
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Is this film so bad that AICN readers have stopped posting? Sheesh! You'd think there would be more posts about it.
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Are you kidding me? The critic digs Hulk? He has got to be kiddin' right? The movie gave me a major headache. There's no plot in this movie! The visuals are too cartoonish. It's so obvious that the CGI Hulk can't act. There's no chemistry between Bana and Connelly. The movie boggles the mind and moves from past to present haphazardly. The entire movie is ridiculous. This isn't an intelligent film at all. It's a film for the mentally impaired.
I really tried to suspend my disbelief but I just can't. We all know that a creature as heavy as an elephant can't leap that high. The Hulk is just too heavy to be leaping that high.
What about the Banner's trousers? Is he using Spandex? During his first transformation, Bruce's pants stayed on. His shirt was ripped during his transformation but his pants did not come off. So what gives?
During the desert chasing scene, the Hulk's pants still stayed in place. Come on, he's fifteen feet tall! How come his pants didn't get ripped? Can't the computer programmers make a naked Hulk? I know it's supposed to be PG-something and nudeness is a no-no but can't they make it more realistic?
Whatever! My 2 hours were wasted. I should have knitted a shirt. That would have been more productive than having to sit through the entire movie. The movie was pure torture. Thank you Ang Lee!!!
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The Hulk looked fine, but what was wrong was, as usual, the physics of it. Those three-mile leaps looked silly on film, and how can Hulk throw a tank across the desert then have trouble lifting the cannon he ripped off the top of another one. At least Nolte and Bana didn't overact in that last meeting before their muddled, hard-to-follow and ultimatly pointless letdown of a climactic battle.
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Are you kidding me? The critic digs Hulk? He has got to be kiddin' right? The movie gave me a major headache. There's no plot in this movie! The visuals are too cartoonish. It's so obvious that the CGI Hulk can't act. There's no chemistry between Bana and Connelly. The movie boggles the mind and moves from past to present haphazardly. The entire movie is ridiculous. This isn't an intelligent film at all. It's a film for the mentally impaired.
I really tried to suspend my disbelief but I just can't. We all know that a creature as heavy as an elephant can't leap that high. The Hulk is just too heavy to be leaping that high.
What about the Banner's trousers? Is he using Spandex? During his first transformation, Bruce's pants stayed on. His shirt was ripped during his transformation but his pants did not come off. So what gives?
During the desert chasing scene, the Hulk's pants still stayed in place. Come on, he's fifteen feet tall! How come his pants didn't get ripped? Can't the computer programmers make a naked Hulk? I know it's supposed to be PG-something and nudeness is a no-no but can't they make it more realistic?
Whatever! My 2 hours were wasted. I should have knitted a shirt. That would have been more productive than having to sit through the entire movie. The movie was pure torture. Thank you Ang Lee!!!
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Jun 21, 2003 12:09:29 PM CDT
The audience actually threw personal items at the screen...
by bpoint2008
This movie was so bad Michael Jackson refused to take his own kids to see it much less the kids he supposedly molested. Ang Lee - bad choice. The Hulk is not Shakespeare. The Hulk IS not greek tragedy. If you want to make a greek tragedy, fine, but this movie works best when it plays to the popcorn crowd. Jennifer "I had my breasts reduced so I could be a serious actor" never showed an ounce of chemistry with Eric Bananna. I am laying the blame on Eric Bananna. I am bitter she had the fat sucked out of her tits but the woman can act, although she suffers from the same disease as Madonna in that she likes to effect a bit of an english accent. Did I mention this movie was horrible? It is. The audience threw items at the screen at the end - word of mouth will kill this film. The CGI was fine. The bottom line is they should Hang Ang Lee. I do love how some people are "getting this film"...lol...your cinema IQ's astound me.
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Jun 21, 2003 12:14:08 PM CDT
The audience actually threw personal items at the screen...
by bpoint2008
This movie was so bad Michael Jackson refused to take his own kids to see it much less the kids he supposedly molested. Ang Lee - bad choice. The Hulk is not Shakespeare. The Hulk IS not greek tragedy. If you want to make a greek tragedy, fine, but this movie works best when it plays to the popcorn crowd. Jennifer "I had my breasts reduced so I could be a serious actor" never showed an ounce of chemistry with Eric Bananna. I am laying the blame on Eric Bananna. I am bitter she had the fat sucked out of her tits but the woman can act, although she suffers from the same disease as Madonna in that she likes to effect a bit of an english accent. Did I mention this movie was horrible? It is. The audience threw items at the screen at the end - word of mouth will kill this film. The CGI was fine. The bottom line is they should Hang Ang Lee. I do love how some people are "getting this film"...lol...your cinema IQ's astound me.
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Just saw the hulk in Malaysia, what a good comic book movie. The comic book cuts and camera angles is really fantastic. Ang lee did a great job on this. The hulk look believable although cgi, it was very good.
The best part was when hulk saw betty rose in downtown SF and changed back to banner and the dialog ensured. They was the most memorable moment in the movie. I remember this was as memorable as Spiderman hunting down the burglar who killed his uncle after the wrestling match.
Only complain is the ending and hulk superpowers and invincibility. The way hulk jump from one mountain to another mountain is so unrealistic, they should have made it more believable. They made him too powerful, even a only getting little bit injured from tank artillery, they should made him hand or limb coming off and then he slowly regenerate it, that way making a bit vulnerable.
The three hulk dogs was menacing and they should have done a Steven Spielberg moment with betty toss in the middle like that did with the jeep in the Jurassic park 1 and the slowly shattering glass in Jurassic park 2.
The ending was really confusing and short, they should have filmed it daytime and made banner dad kill betty rose and hulk getting angry and killing him. I did not understand how his dad died, too confusing.
I think ending the scene when hulk was in SF could have been the best part with him facing a final showdown with his dad and make his dad like some energy absorbing person ,like pyro or iceman.
Overall a very good comic book movie, I think better than Spiderman as could feel the torment of his character.
I am still wondering why his mom did not hug banner after getting stab by his dad, instead goes out and look at the nuclear blast.
I hope ang lee directs hulk 2, he did a good job with this story.
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The CGI effects in Gumby, er... Hulk, are no more or less convincing than the cel-animation-combined-with-motion-capture effects in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, what?, fifteen years ago. The character is no more or less ridiculous-looking than Godzilla or the Ghostbusters Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. All the other "transformations" are ridiculous. The dogs are scarier BEFORE they're hulkified. Now that THAT'S settled: Is the movie any good? Yes, up until the second ending (everything post-San Francisco.) At that point the movie loses it in exactly the same way most other superhero movies do. You know the villian pulls out his world-threatening pulsating energy field - green/red/blue/silver sparklies -from his fingers/blender-hat/super-ray/Statue-of-Liberty -whatever, and the audience, suitably frightened and amazed, yawns aloud, "Wha' the fug?"
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"unplausible fight scenes" t cut to some wierd flashback, then cut to the splash, seriously.
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I will first say this is without a doubt the best comic book movie to date. Period.
I saw this movie two weeks ago and was awaiting the release of this so I could see it again which I will do tonight.
This movie is all about story and the development of the characters. Is it fast paced like most comic book movies? No. However one thing it achieves well is the convincing of how much the human spirit can endure.
The story is a tragedy. Not a movie about a super hero. The story is not about the Hulk as much as it is about Bruce and David Banner. David Banner has to be the best villain of any movie I have ever seen. Played so well by Nolte that he should get an Oscar nod. Really, I am not bull$hitting you. I loathed this man (David Banner) by the end of the movie. What he puts his son through and the things surrounding it are unimgaineable. He is the true monster here.
The Hulk on the other hand is a monster too but in a different aspect. There is much sorrow to be felt for the creature that Bruce becomes. Yes they are one and the same but you know that this guy is fu*cked up in the head when he reveals he likes it when he becomes the Hulk.
Jennifer Connelly was wonderful in her portrayal of Betty Ross. Sam Elliot shines as her father. Everything comes together perfect.
Ang Lee's directing is awe inspiring for any movie director who wants to know how to make a good movie. This film will be a classic.
Granted the typical dumbed downed American who is looking for an action movie will hate it and complain how boring it is to them. The truth is this is a movie made for people who love real story telling and good direction. Idiots stay at home and go watch 2fast2furious because you wont be able to comprehend the brilliance this movie has to offer. -
You people who liked the movie so much...I mean, did you SEE that?! That was an embarassment! It looked like the fucking Austin Powers opening! It was a joke. The audience couldn't stop laughing. You have to put CONSCIOUS EFFORT into making an editing mistake that bad. A cardboard cutout with flame behind it... Jesus, that just ruined it for me. I was leaning towards disliking it up until then, when I was violently pushed off of the fence. I'm sorry, but I haven't felt this stupid about looking forward to a movie since "Godzilla."
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Jun 21, 2003 3:02:03 PM CDT
Whoever said Blade II was better than Daredevil needs to be shot
by screenplaywriter
"Blade II"- was a mediocre, predictable piece of shit. You knew the vampires were double-crossers from the first time Blade met them and there was no story.
"Daredevil"-was classy, cool, sure there were some "questions" in some scenes, but it was a good, GOOD FILM and I don't know why alot of people trash it. You had the hero looking for justice in a tough city (like Batman),
a snoopy detective trying to figure out the mystery between Matt Murdock/Daredevil (like the reporter in "BATMAN" with only Bruce Wayne/Batman, the girlfriend with a hidden agenda (Elektra-Catwoman), and a tough as nails crimelord with a viciously cool, suave, and funny henchman Bullseye. The movie was awesome.
"HULK"-ranks up there with "Spider-Man" as being the best superhero movie ever made.
And here's how my rankings go.
1. "SPIDER-MAN"
2. "BATMAN"
3. "HULK"
4. "Daredevil"
5. "X-MEN"
6. "SUPERMAN"
7. "SPAWN"
8. And "BLADE" as last because he ranks with with the poorly made, acted, and directed "Punisher" and "Captain America" movie.
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Wow, Ang Lee... You are an OK director, but every last one of your movies just don't connect with the audience (me included), well, AT ALL. To all those that loved the movie and just say that everyone didn't like it because of the effects, look again. We are disappointed with the story. The plot. The backstory. You know, the actual events that happen in the movie. One problem, however, that I did have with the effects... They were 75% at night. This isn't Godzilla '98, they don't have to hide their big green monster in the darkness anymore. X2, Matrix Reloaded, Italian Job & Finding Nemo own this summer (and previous six months), everything else (Daredevil included) can burn.
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Jun 21, 2003 3:11:15 PM CDT
Lastly, whoever bitches alot about comic book movies not meaning
by screenplaywriter
I mean Jesus people! Give the directors a chance, so what if they do things differently, or do not reach your standards.
I mean you guys complained about Daredevil "oh Kingpin shouldn't be black he's a big, tall, fat, bald, white guy, Bullseye's costume makes him look punky, Jennifer Garner sucked as Elektra, and blah, blah, blah" then you sit here and say "the acting was terrible, the CGI sucked, and blah, blah, blah, the X-Men need their trademark suits, whaaa!"
You people obviously don't care about story and film, you mostly care about "I want it to be like the comic book! Whaaa! I'm going to bitch some more."
I mean give Ang Lee, Mark Steve Johnson, Bryan Singer, and whoever else is directing a superhero movie a chance. They need our support and help. It's a fantasy popcorn movie, you don't need to use your brain, you don't need to be so critical, you go to a superhero movie to have fun and hear the story about how some dude got his amazing powers and see him fight the villian. If you're lot in life is to sit in a theater and critique every little thing about a superhero movie than you must be a bitter man, but I stick by my word and say "BLADE II" SUCKED DONKEY BALLS! It is the worst comic book sequel movie ever and the it ranks up there with the original "PUNISHER" and "CAPTAIN AMERICA".
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Jun 21, 2003 4:08:52 PM CDT
I loved the Hulk until the end. What a crap ending! Harry says t
by tarl_cabot
At least make talbot the super villian.David banner could have made him into a Hulk like creature or 'The Abomonation' and Bruce would have to save the day...That 3rd act killed a very promising film. Rats. Spiderman is still the #1 Marvel film by far.
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Cinematography looked good, CGI was AWESOME (a vast improvement from the Stupor Bowl ad), acting was so-so... but still, a pretty wretched film (too bad it was a Marvel film... they deserve to crank out some great entertainment after all the mismanagemnt in the past that prevented them from putting their characters on film years ago!)! At times I just lapsed into a coma at the lack of action... this is the HULK, for crissakes!! More HULK, more action, more smashing and overall destruction... the CGI made me believe it was an actual 15 foot pissed off giant, but at times he just sort of zoned into space (leichten, my ass!). A major part of HULK's existance is to SMASH!!! Not enough smashing, fighting AbsorbineJunior Man & Hulk Dogs, and just out and out mayhem. You wanna see reflection of the soul and a character looking inward, go see any prime-time TV soap for that doepy crap! You go to see the HULK to see the HULK smash... eveything else is just details. Here's hoping T3, LXG and Freddy vs. Jason save us all from this wretched summer movie malaise, with the exception of X2, of course... I'm outta here!
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For all the bitchen and moaning that goes on and on on how Hollywood is not treating your fav. comic book character with any repsect. Two words for ya. "SHUT UP".
I really enjoyed HULK. I liked the fact that Ang took his time to set up the characters and let us get to know them before hand, instead of going to gamma explosion, HULK SMASH, military VS HULK etc. Face facts thats all you can really do with the HULK, and if thats the movie you guys wanted then good news for you, Charlies Angels 2 opens next week for you posers.
The Sins of the Father theme in the film was a nice touch, although too heavy handed at times. But thats okay because I thought the performances overcame it.
Technically speaking the framing, the disolves, the wipes were great. Again something different and fresh, and for all the people who had said they had trouble keeping there attention on one thing, please see aformentioned Charlies Angels 2.
Ang Lee has created a human story and thats enough for me when you are dealing with a genre of films that are not supposed to take themselves to seriousley. Or would you guys like to go back to the good old days of BAT Credit Cards, and nipples on the suits. OUT. -
Where did they go?
She used to have nice ones. Now she looks anemic or bulemic. Disappointing. -
SPOILERS - BIG TIME. Concerning the last battle of the film... David Banner told his son that he now has the ability to absorb the energy of objects... but it was unstable. Whereas in Bruce it was stable. He wanted Bruce to turn into the Hulk so he could absorb that trait - the ability to stabilize the process. At the end, while David was in water form, Bruce says, "Okay, you want the energy and the rage that's inside me? Think you can handle it? Here ya go mothafucka!! Take 30 years of pent up hostility and emotional impotence - a condition, I might add, that you instilled within me due to that traumatic experience I witnessed as a child." All that bottled up energy was too much for David Banner to absorb and thus the huge, globular WATER-like mass that was pulsing with the images and emotions that had been repressed for thirty years. At least, that was my take on the ending. BTW, HULK fucking rocks on a second viewing!!!!!!!
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I sense a lot of sexual frusteration in this talkback. So many "FUCKING RETARDS" thrown around. -- Guys, it's only a stupid comic book movie. LOL. You'd think this is an abortion debate or something.
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man, marvel and ILM really fucked up this time. I'm pretty sure we're not gonna be seeing HULK on the big screen again for a long time.
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"The Hulk" is made for people who love and respect movies. For the rest of you, "Daredevil" will be on DVD next month. Rejoice DUMB-FUCKS!!!
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this movie was a real mixed bag. i really thought the cgi worked well for the most part. the facial expressions looked a little too fake, but the body language was awesome. i hated the origin, and i wished the movie had opened with bruce banner in the desert pushing rick jones to safety and getting caught in the blast. if the hulk had shown up about a half an hour sooner it would have made this movie kick major ass. i thought nolte was lame and i didn't really feel like we got an understanding of his motivations. i would have dug it if it had been the hulk kicking ass all through the movie. i felt that the movie suffered because it was like the show, where the hulk doesn't show up until late in the story. i did enjoy the movie in parts but as a whole it really lacked. the best part was the dream sequence with hulk in the mirror yelling "puny human". the hulk needs to speak, dammit. i hope there is a sequel that delivers the goods, because we don't need the origin crap next time.
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Jun 21, 2003 7:18:56 PM CDT
HULK i s awesome, just smashed all other Marvel flics though som
by watashiwadare
Hulk great. I forgot what exhilaration in the movies was like. It's mostly like that. Not since Jurassic Park 1 or maybe Natural Born Killers has a summer movie been this rich in creative energy that builds while pushing the drama and never losing focus.
I love filmaking that's in love with inventing things,or reinventing things without cynicism or flash. I appreciate how Lee respected the spirit of the 60's - 70's comic as much as King Kong and Sam Shepherd plays. Kick ass. Maybe it won't be noticed for a while (not Bad Boys-like enough) but all the other comic book flics leading back to Superman 1 (still unbeatable) just got smashed.
KING KONG.
In King Kong, 1933 the first 45 minutes is all talk and development, slow, and nothing happens, totally depriving you of what you expect to see, winding you up with a completely different movie than what comes after the critter is introduced, and once he is, it is spectacular though not overwhelming, just enough to thrill a little and raise expectation for when he shows up again, which is in the sequence involving the log and the great T-rex battle, and the set pieces keep getting bigger and showier as the bar gets raised. HULK follows this path! After setting the story and character conflicts, there's a cool but not nec. showstopping intro of the Hulk, then a bit more to show it's not merely a monster or a CGI effect but a man, and then the spectacular hulk dogs scene, modelled pretty closely to Kong's T-rex fight. Then it keeps getting more spectacular while also pushing the drama intensity and playing up the classic Marvel-ness of the Hulk. Beautiful.
I can't believe they're all gaga over the whiny bore of The Matrix 2 and X2 but are all hesitant about Hulk, which is exactly like the movies we grew up on like Raiders and Jaws and Jurassic Park and The Godfather, at least in the neighborhood, spectacular and literate.
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Well - I found the movie a little hard to follow. I admit that I know more about the X-Men then the Hulk, but I still think the story drifted all over the place. The film seemed to drag at several points and poor Jennifer is probably wondering why she ever took this role. She simply is not directed well and I kept drifting away during conversations between her and Eric Bana. Nick Nolte, on the other hand, managed to give you a couple chills while listening to him. He definitely saved portions of the movie for me. One moviegoer actually got up during the Midnight show and yelled, "This sucks!" half way through the movie. He grabbed his girlfriend's hand and walked out. I HAVE NEVER SEEN THAT IN A MOVIE - EVER! I really enjoyed X2 and am looking forward to the third. This, however, I will never see again.
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Hah! Everyone who was bitching about the HULK cgi looking terrible was wrong, i saw the movie and it lokked great, and most critics agree. So next time dont bitch so much! Cus you have no clue what the final product is gonna look like. =P
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Jun 21, 2003 7:44:45 PM CDT
Hulk II: Career Opportunities...which results in Harry "pulling"
by hell's cigarette
Pun intended. Jennifer's magnificent breats make a triumphant return making all of us very happy.
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Jun 21, 2003 7:47:36 PM CDT
Hulk II: Career Opportunities...which results in Harry "pulling"
by hell's cigarette
Pun intended. Jennifer's magnificent breats make a triumphant return making all of us very happy.
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maybe i'm just a bitch-ass sucka but i thought this movie kicked hella ass. isn't this what all you fan boys have been clamoring for? a dark, no humor comic movie by a serious director who treats your childhood fantasies seriously? i saw what everyone is complaining about, bad acting, bad CGI, boring, but none of it was nearly bad enough to distract from my enjoyment of the film. bana was good, connelly is good looking, etc...the hulk dogs were cool, all the hulk scenes were cool (except the end, that did kinda suck)
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Jun 21, 2003 8:33:00 PM CDT
and i thought the matrix reloaded was a dissapointment
by **relentless**
GODDAMN HULK SUCKED ASS and then some. besides the annoying editing and yes i know it was made to look like a comic, the begging was just too boring and long. the whole movie was talk and more talk and then fake ass special effects. i mean i went in knowing it was gonna be fake but not this fake and retarded. and even though some critics werent too thrilled with josh lucas's performance in my eyes he was the only one that was fun to watch. i'm dreading the day hulk2 comes out
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Ang Lee sank this fucking franchise like a rock. Marvel should remember their own rule: get filmmakers who are FANS of the material!!! Ang Lee said in an interview that he had never read the comic before. Big mistake.
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Didn't hate it, but didn't love it either. Goddamn, does this film take just too freakin' long to set up. The first 45 minutes are bloodless -- and by that I don't mean "gee, we don't see anyone killed", I mean it's empty of passion, of humor, of ANYTHING to move you in anyway. It's dour and broody and boring. Sure, there are fans on the talkback screaming "WELL IF YOU DON'T LIKE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, YOU'RE A FUCKING MORON!" -- hey, I like character development. It's what "SPIDER-MAN" did really well. That first hour of "SPIDER-MAN" is involving, exhilarating, funny, moving -- it grabs you right away and got me high watching it the first time. It's not a perfect movie, and it doesn't hold up as well upon repeat viewings, but MAN, the first hour works. The first 45 minutes of "THE HULK" are just turgid and bland. Too much story here, methinks. Did we really need all of the Glenn Talbot storyline?? Every time Lucas came on, the whole story just sagged. Toooooooo much exposition and blather, and yes, you don't really care about Banner or Betty. They're too mopey, as if they walked in from "THE ICE STORM". The Hulk battles were fun, and I could easily get past the CGI and lose myself in the fun of it -- the desert battles and S.F. stuff were terrific. And I appreciated the faux comic book style, which I thought was fun and different. But the Banner facing off with Dad at the end was just ludicrous. Someone said it seemed like a stageplay, and they were right. And yes, the last 10 minutes were abrupt and murky, and the film drops off on a blah note. The film ain't a wash, but it didn't thrill me as much as it should have. Universal, please yank the franchise away from Schamus & Lee -- they had their shot, and they turned in a "C". I don't want broody comic book films, I want the energy and spirit and crackle and HOLY FUCK element of the first "Star Wars" film. I wanna be knocked on my ass. And I wasn't. And I'm a Mighty Marvelite from way back and I really really wanted to like this film. I predict "HULK: will open huge and sink like a stone. But it'll crack $100M, do well in foreign & video, and get a sequel greenlit. But PLEASE Universal, give another director a shot! The critics aren't wrong about this one (at least the ones I read, who called it a "snooze" with "not enough Hulk".) It wasn't an out and out disaster, but I won't be seeing it again. And I'll bet a lot of other folks won't be doing repeat business either. It'll disappear as quickly as "MATRIX RELOADED", just watch.
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Jun 21, 2003 8:46:14 PM CDT
Daredevil was better. Spider-man was better. X2 was better.
by shingledecker
I wish they could erase the Hulk and start over. He deserves better than this.
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Nuff said.
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Jun 21, 2003 8:48:28 PM CDT
Hulk is great/ somehow every movie I like is hated by talkback
by watashiwadare
Hulk now proudly joins AI, Minority Report, Battle Royale, Starship Troopers, Saving Private Ryan, NBK, Platoon, Gangs of New York, Jurassic Park 1 and 2, Apocalypse Now, Cona the Barbarian, The Godfather...the hall of fame of lame movie swill, my favorite stuff!
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That's a good reason to be all whiny about it. Too much story and character for you? Too weird for fast n furious xxx fans? Not enough pretentious blathering like Matrix Retarded? Not enough flashy lights and cold serve-the-conventions first but don't go too far or alienate the playstation2 crowd marketing considerations at work in the Hulk? What do all these guys out there mean by "theres no plot"? Plot? You mean like, story-- the whole movie is about personal and family conflict and how these things get resolved, all story, all plot! And it's all sincere and has conviction and energy and never panders. Does X2 and Jackass do all that? DAREDEVIL?? You guys were all wet over Daredevil but now it's like you don't know how to react to something real and something genuinely entertaining and thrilling. Weird.
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Bpoint2008
***" The Hulk IS not Greek tragedy. If you want to make a Greek tragedy, fine, but this movie works best when it plays to the popcorn crowd. Jennifer "I had my breasts reduced so I could be a serious actor" never showed an ounce of chemistry with Eric Bananna. I am laying the blame on Eric Bananna. I am bitter she had the fat sucked out of her tits but the woman can act, although she suffers from the same disease as Madonna in that she likes to effect a bit of an english accent."***
I wasn't planning on responding to any poster, but to just give my reaction to the Hulk movie.
But Bpoint, you're focus on Jennifer's breasts gives away you're maturity and intelligence. and I think she's English as her first few movies were made there and in Europe.
Hulk is a Greek tragedy, if they just made a popcorn movie, this movie would be forgotten tomorrow, I think this movie will hold up better over the long haul than most summer blockbusters.
I liked the movie, I know it wasn't perfect, no movie is, but it was in no way a bad movie.
I know it's hard to warm up to Bruce, maybe they should have gotten someone more sympathetic or charismatic to play him, but given his affliction of being repressed and emotionless, it would be hard to make him more likable.
Yes the movie is a real slow starter, my main complaint, but most of the non-geek people I know seemed surprised that it was a real movie with real people in it, and not just explosions and FX shots.
It does surprise me that with all that exposition, most of the relationships and feelings seem to be subtext, there if you pay attention, but not spelled out for you.
Yes the split screens were over done, but not enough to spoil the movie. the only shot that out right sucked was Talbot's death scene, but I like the shell bouncing off of Hulk and back to Talbot.
And the CGI was fine to great, he had real emotions!what would've been the alternative? A guy in makeup? Puppet? Stop motion? most of that looks fake now, CGI is just the best tool right now as all those other methods were before.
Eric Bananna, how cute. -
Jun 21, 2003 9:37:24 PM CDT
Your making me angry, you wouldnt like me when i'm angry .......
by hurleycd
Ok people, the HULK CGI was amazing, i dont know what your bitching about. What more do you want!? Theres no pleasing you people, the CGI was the best it could possibly be and you still want more. When the hulk starts smashing tanks it feels like he's really there, and no HE DOES NOT LOOK LIKE SHREK, YOU STUPID ASSHOLES! STOP COMPARING HIM TO SHREK! >< Would Luke Firigro in green body makeup make you people happy!? Now, moving along. I have seen the movie and i thought it was amazing, not as good as X2 but it was still a damn good movie. The story was great, the acting was great. The cinemography kinda sucked, and the movie did drag at some points. But the fight scenes were amazingly awesome. Who dosnt wanna see the hulk busting shit up? The mutant dog fight was the best part, and it looked awesome and had people on the edge of theier seats, and the Hulk bashing tanks and chopers in the desert was also another amazing fight. The whole ending was a little disapointing though, it didnt make alot of sence. And i was very confused about the outcome when Bruces dad turned into a fricken bubble. And Bruce Banner in the middle of africa or wherever the he was, that was a bit corny but oh well. I look forward to the sequal ... to all the Marvel Movies. Xmen 3, Daredevil 2, Spider-Man 2 and Hulk 2 =D so looks like we'l hear alot of bitching about each and every one of these upcoming movies from all you people who just cant be pleased, go to hell! And everyone who loved The Hulk like i did, yay for you!!! XD
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No Hulk outtakes. Come on who doesn't want to see him flub his grunting or accidently trip over something. Oh well, maybe on the DVD.
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Bring on the Fantastic Four
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If David Banner is Absorbing Man,
does that make Bruce Absorbing Junior? -
The movie didnt meet my all ready incredibly low expectations. The effects were good, ill give it that, but the effects were good in star wars episode 1, but that didnt make it a good movie did it? Eric Bana and Jennifer Connolly have about as much chemistry in them as a 4th grade science class. They're the most wooden actors ive ever seen outside of a george lucas picture. The whole ending with the blob thing was really stupid and nonsensical. It felt very rushed and was the only point in the movie where the CG suffered. The blends between shots were cool, but split screening sucks. Not a single person on this planet can follow 4 different images at once. It's impossible, and they use it for the silliest things. Two people are having a conversation, lets show it from 3 different angles, and move the boxes around to make it seem like it is interesting! please. The movie was extremely boring, and about 45 minutes too long. And daredevil was better than blade 2? what the hell are you on, sonny?
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Jun 21, 2003 11:16:31 PM CDT
RAAAGH!! Hulk MAD! Eric Bana Look like CORY FELDMAN RARRRRRRGH!
by largojr
doesn't he?
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Run the Fuck Away
This film is a huge hunk of gamma shit.
Here are 4 things wrong out
of hundreds.
changed the orgin. fuck this
abused child disfucktional family crap
I want a gamma bomb.
forgot the fan base.
it's comic fans not ice storm fans duh it's a comic
no real villian. it needed the abomination and all out brawl
in a major city ie- buses and buildings flying
the hulk needs to talk. not just in lame ass dream nonsense.
P.S.
Don't kid yourself about the CGI. It sucked. I don't know what a 15 foot tall green monster looks like but it sure as hell wasn't this poorly renderedshinny plastic looking shrek with downs.
One word...unbelievable.
not incredible.
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Jun 22, 2003 12:43:05 AM CDT
While watching HULK I thought 'i wonder if other people are lovi
by zizzish
i was worried, but now i couldn't be happier. did you like it? i couldn't care less. it's not my job to make other people like this movie. ever since the mistake of the super bowl commercial dashed all the expectations created by the teaser trailer, everyone i know started gearing up to hate this movie. let 'em. if the next time i got to see it i'm alone in the theater, i'll prop my feet up on the chair in front of me and have a hell of a time.
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If anyone cares: I was a little disapointed with the Hulk. I thought it was very slow. Bana was a terrible actor, and after the first five minutes all those split screen comic book frame shots drove me a little crazy. Also, can anyone tell me why (SPOILER) Nolte turned into a giant bubble at the end? However, not to sound like a total pessimist, I thought the action and CGI was incredible.
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I'm really schocked so many of you didn't "get it" Do you realize just how unimaginative and pedestrian this film would have been without Ang Lee's vision?
Remember how unspectacular X2 was, once you got beyond the "Summer Movie" hype?
If you've yet to see The Hulk and are a little put off due to the abundance of negative reviews (both here and in the mainstream), please take a look and make up your own mind.
Me? I fucking loved every minute of it!
BTW-the CGI blew my mind. I was really surprised by how poetic, moving and realistic the creature turned out to be. -
Dare I say it? I'll watch it again when my girlfriend buys the DVD. Honestly though, I dont remember Daredevil been as bad as Hulk when I saw it in the theaters.
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Did any of you pompous assholes think that the first 45 minutes of the film were SUPPOSED to be "bloodless?" It's all about repression; the dude doesn't get a release until the Hulk is finally 'born' onscreen, and the appearance of the Hulk is the catalyst that finally gets everyone else in the movie to deal with THEIR problems. Stop telling studios you don't want an Ang Lee doing your favorite properties; as long as they like the struggle or the story, they've got the essence of the character. You'll be thankful for his contribution to superhero movies in the long run. Then again, if you fucking fanboys who are so busy bitching about the movie you DIDN'T see have your way, maybe we'll have the misfortune of seeing McG do 'Ghost Rider,' with a script compliments of Akiva Goldsman. Hey, as long as the jacket has FIVE spikes on each side, right? Because that's what REALLY matters! Give me a fucking break.
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Jun 22, 2003 1:23:46 AM CDT
Let me re-phrase that: Rarr! Ribbons SMASH puny, aptly-named bit
by ribbons
Didn't want any Hollywood folk skimming the titles of our posts to get the wrong impression.
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I truly can't see how anyone could enjoy this horrible movie. The script had horrible lines, and put the characters in situations that did not make sense i.e. toward the end when they have Bruce locked up and the Army allows the Dad to talk to him and he gets upset. Hell, if they wanted to control the Hulk they would have never allowed the Dad character to talk with him at all. And what was up with the "Dad" character transformation. Talk about running out of ideas. I enjoyed the "rock character" much more in Galaxy Quest!
The acting was flat and had no depth. When I walked out with the crowd at the end, EVERYONE was laughing at how boring it was. The CGI was so bad. . .I was excpecting to see Jar Jar Binks walk by and say "Messa say this movie sucks."
Sorry. They missed the boat on this one. What made the TV show so compelling to watch was the conflict with "Bruce" and how he truly didn't want to transform, and his search for a cure. We as the audience were empathetic toward his situation. This movie was a joke and nothing but a Godzilla wannabe. It amazes me how much money was wasted on this project, but hey that's Hollywood. I won't be spending my money on part 2. -
Some of you who didn't like how certain scenes played out should go watch the movie again. I know most of you reserve the right to steal movies in the first place, so do that if it floats your boat. The story had a lot of integrity, and some of you may have been to busy expecting something else to realize that there is work in that movie that deserves appreciation.
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I'll say this: the dialogue could've been lopped off a bit and the ending could have had more flying fists and mass destruction but all in all, this was a GREAT adaptation of the comic book. The internal conflicts, psychology and emotional torture of this movie was dead on. And the entire desert chase scene was well worth the price of admission. And Ang Lee, you sir made a great visual feast with all the mulit-screens, and wipes that gave this movie a truly comic book feel. If comics were told as movies, your editing and cinematography would be the blueprint everyone else would use. The rest of you Hulk haters can go suck on a gamma cannon.
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What gives me a laugh is when people smugly reference "the dinosaur movie"--the first movie to actually use complex CGI for large amounts of time--as better work in an attempt to make the effects work done on 'HULK' seem primordial in comparison. Gee, guess they don't know that the SAME FUCKING EFFECTS HOUSE (ILM) worked on both movies. That, and the dinosaurs were sometimes realized through animatronics. This is a movie that ILM wanted desperately to do well. You don't think that the BIGGEST EFFECTS HOUSE IN THE WORLD improved in ten years? This was an incredible undertaking, and ILM gave it 100% (well, the crew working on it, at least). There's no honor in insulting someone for giving it their all, especially when they're the best there is at what they do (and they are when they want to be, I don't want to hear any of this WETA shit, WETA doesn't produce five movies a year). Like I already said, some sadsacks are so worked up over the movie they're NOT seeing (after a lifetime of expectations) that they're looking a gift horse in the mouth.
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Caught an early morning screening of HULK at the Universal Citywalk today. It was far better than I thought it would be (much more action than what I was expecting). The last battle between Hulk and his father was a bit bizarre, though I did love the comic book 'lightning imprints' in the clouds while the battle raged in the sky. Also, that last fight was so dark you couldn't really make out what was happening. I did like the fact that they didn't make the Hulk very graceful, the way he kept fumbling with the things he was trying to toss sometimes, that was cool. Had a blast with this one and I'm actually looking forward to a sequel. Funny, I ended the evening with a late night screening of Lucky McKee's MAY, another great film about a tragic monster.
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Guess I'm taking the shotgun approach to reproaching naysayers...firing everywhere and seeing what hits. I apologize for being such a jerk. However, I am ready to defend this movie with a passion, and desperately hope that this backlash hasn't ruined our chance to see more superhero films like this one in the future. It's sad when a movie that gets so many things right becomes a pariah for the things it got wrong. I loved this film, and I'm just hoping that it raises the bar for future properties to come. You guys can waste your lives waiting for the perfect film. In the meantime, be thankful for the auteurs who make great films.
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Who made you nimrods experts on Hulk?From the beginning every writer and artist had their own take on the character.Lee and Kirby created a misunderstood frankenstein like creature,mindless and simple.And an origin which seems silly and illogical(both banner and jones would have been piles of dust after that explosion).Since then every writer who worked on the title changed,updated and molded the The Hulk in so many ways that there is no definitive hulk anymore.Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema made him wilder and more manacing.John Byrne and Mike Mignola made him more of a Hero.Peter David,Jeff Perves,Dale Keown,Gary Frank,Adam Kubert and Ron Garney made him more human(David's stint on Hulk dealt with the origin in a different light.The abusive father,murder of banner's mother by his father which Ang Lee's origin is probably loosely based on).And Bruce Jones writing on the Hulk now is taking the Jade giant to new and exiting levels of storytelling.The movie is Ang Lee turn to have a go at the Hulk.And he delivers the goods in his own unique way.The basic outline of the character is there.Bruce Banner's tragic past and inner turmoil that birthed the creature is there.When hulk appears,He is the comicbook's Hulk.He's huge,He smashes,He leaps,He feels,He breathes,What more can you fucking want?This is Ang Lee's turn to tell the tale.And He told it with much respect to the character and the medium.I will not compare it to anyone's hulk.It's Ang Lee's and I love the story he told.Those of you who are praising the TV series and bitching about how the movie is nothing like the comicbook,The TV series was nothing like the comicbook.So many fans of the comic bitched about the series when it came out.It was nothing like the comic.Hulk was weak,mute and showed up twice every episode for few second.They didn't even call him by his real name.So stop bitching and give Lee his well deserve props for making a well written and well acted story of the Hulk.Cause This is the closest to the comicbook you're gonna get.
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if you're deaf and blind. i feel as though i've lost a week of my life from watching that waste of film. the only decent parts of the movie were when the hulk was there. everything else was tedious and stupid. no good character development, badly written and spoken dialogue, and scenes that just made no sense. there's too much bad in this movie to fit on this site. i think the people who say they liked this pile of shit went to see another movie.
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Just saw the HULK. Thought it was great. The CGI is magnificent.
As a story note, Sam Shephard (sp?) left Betty right before the nuclear explosion. I predict that he is the brother to Mrs. Banner and that's why he rush off, leaving the girl behind. It is his hand that rests on Bruce's shoulder right after his father is taken away by authorities. -
Now that the set up has been done, HULK 2 could be one of the biggest movies ever.
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But you didn't take me up on the offer! I said try and PHYSICALLY stop me from seeing this movie. It looks like you guys once again wimp out on me. Oh well... By the way, I loved the movie. So stow it. Before Stone Cold gives ya a Stunner. TRY AND CATCH ME BIATCH!!!
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Talbot's..."exit" scene. It does look like something out of a fucking Austin Powers movie, and I'm not sure I understand the rationale behind that one. Maybe because Lucas looked fake against the explosion anyway, so Lee decided to go all the way. On an artistic level, I'm stumped. If anybody could help me out it'd be greatly appreciated, 'cuz I could practically here the swinger music behind that mofo.
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Tit: alright the hulk pretty much sucked, except for some of the action. Tell me you agree.
Tat: fraid not, thought is was pretty good.
Tit: Geez, didn't he look kind of fake? green and CGI'y
Tat: Jesus smokin Grapes! it never ceases to amaze me the unease people display towards things they don't understand,
Yeah a great many people still don't know jack about computers or how they do the things they do. combine that with the still mysterious auro surrounding "artist", and you get people refererring to computer animators and they're creations like they're necromancers in a dragonlance novel! These "flatscans" wake up in the middle of the night from the nightmare that they one day won't be able to distinguish a "CGI" sunflower from a "real" one and I think this scares the shit out of them. So instead of sitting back and enjoying the show, it turns into an I spy competition!
Tit: Well what do you expect? it's so obvious..
Tat: It's supposed to be obvious! he's 15 fucking feet tall, and he's green! The Incredible Hulk is the epitomy of obvious!
Oh how I yearn for a society so tolerant of differences that a big green fucker like that could walk into an office and apply for a job without anyone casting a second glance, but that ain't so, he's gonna stand out! And back to anyone ragging on him, as far as I'm concerned if you can't do it, keep your mouth shut, I can do it, and I'm hear to tell ya that shit ain't easy, thumbs up to the boys at ILM!
Tit: Please, Golum was much better, more real. more facial expression, hulk can't act.
Tat: Fuck Golum up his skinny "overacting" ass! Real? talk about cartoony expressions! I've been on this planet damn near thirty years and I've never seen any "real" persons face squash and stretch like that...cept mabye lucille balls. I love tolkien, but that was a little too much " disney" in that character for my taste.
Tit: Oookay, back to hulk.. they messed up the history. No gamma blast!? what's up with the mad scientist dad? and what the hell happened to rick jones, no rick jones!? come on.
Tat:Actually the history is pretty damn close, especially the father stuff, anyone who doesn't know that needs to do some Hulk research, you know "studying" and there was a gamma blast, just no gamma bomb, I not crying about it though. I would have liked to have seen rick, but he'd probably go better with the "Peter David Hulk" which I have dubbed "the thinking mans Hulk" which is my personal fave.
Tit: yeah mabye your Peter guy could have helped this thing out. It had no plot!
Tat: do you even know what the word means, I hear a lot of people throwing around these words lately Plot, Cinematography, Editing. First of all "Every"
story has a plot. I don't care if it's a man planting seeds in his garden, it's got a plot, for the retards out there the plot is: MAN. PLANTS. SEEDS. IN.
GARDEN. Now whether or not you like this "plot" is another story, a botanist might love it, the woman off camera slowly dying from a brain hemoragge wondering why her
husband would rather plant his seeds than help her, may not. Opinions vary. but the fact is all stories have plots. "Cinematography inspectors", here's another group who should be beaten to death with a large mallet. What filter did he use? Uh, He used the enema filter with the night vision lens right before he shoved the camera up your ass!
are these the nimrods directors are trying to impress? No wonder it's so hard to come across decent stories anymore.
Tit: well you have to admit, editing and cinematography can add and detract from a film.
Tat: Dude as long I know what the fucks going on, I'm a happy camper. It's the situation that appeals to me the most, not the fucking camera wipe or angle. story first. Bullshit later. I mean really, If you love the hulk and what his story entails, why are you counting panels on the fucking screen. I'll tell you why, because your not a fan and you shouldn't be there.
Tit: wait a minute, your saying if your not a fan of hulk you shouldn't go see it?
Tat: Comic Hulk, not the "show", that wasn't the hulk. that was some wacky alternate universe.
Tit: Studios Execs won't like that, You need that extra audience to get those big numbers. comic book fans aren't enough
Tat: Tough titty, If you didn't read the comic or comics period, you probably lack imagination or thought they were "beneath" you. Either way your a "flatscan" and I don't want your Unenlightened, finite minded ass, sitting next to me in the theater contaminating me with your inability to make mental leaps. there should be a minimum requirement of having read 50 issues of whatever "comic" movie your gonna see, no one under 50 issues permitted. If this rule was enforced "Daredevil" would have been removed from the theaters by "force" and Frank Miller would have been paid 10 million in resitution for the mental damage that peice of shit must have caused him.
Tit: Hey,I haven't read over 50 issues of the Hulk
Tat: Exactly.
Tit:Neither has Ang Lee!
Tat:Notice, I said it was a pretty "good" movie, not great. No Rick Jones...
Tit: Nope, No Rick Jones....And no Sonic Hulk Slap!
Tat: And no sonic hulk slap. -
Jun 22, 2003 12:13:27 PM CDT
The last 20 minutes killed the shit out of this movie (spoiler)
by the tao of joe
I loved this movie, up until after the san fransico conclusion. then (SPOILER) when hulks dad turned into lightning man, it just seemed like a pointless book end. THey could have easily made it a superman 2-ism, and had him be the bad guy in the second movie, but they go, and have a really shitty fight at night when you cant see anything, and nothing in that last fight was anywhere near as cool as the HULK versus the seven nation army. One weird thing, is that the hulk always looked better in the daytime shots. Maybe the sfx people thought they could fudge on all the night time and under the water at night time shots. Well, everyone rock out.
ToJ out. -
The movied sucked. Face it, all you comic-reading roids.
The movie was slow, somber in tone and the effects were cheesy. I was totally bored, as was most of the audience. The kid behind me said to his Dad "when is the action?" Ang Lee has had my respect before, but he really blew it on this one. Maybe he needs to get his ass out of the CG studio micromanaging the fx team and concentrate on putting together a stoy that moves and doesn't sulk its way through the storyline.
I'm also sick to death of these underlit action scenes (Hulk dog attack) where you can't see sh*t. If you can't put together a believable action sequence and make the fx deliver, then think of another sequence that you can do. None of this "let's hide the cheesy effects in the dark and/or rain. Quick, we're out of time and money!"
Then, let't cut this thing together so nobody can tell our fx really do suck. Puh-leeeze.
It was boring as hell. It made Daredevil look like a masterpiece. (That sucked too, BTW)
Let's face it...the first Superman movie is still the best comic book translation to date.
I predict close to 60% drop off the second week. Word of mouth will kill this beastly bore.
Go see The Italian Job, a movie that actually works on all levels.
HULK blows. -
Jun 22, 2003 1:08:39 PM CDT
I pray that I never have to see another film edited like this ev
by wasp
I've always been kind of biased against cross dissolves. Well, this movie not only uses about a hundred of those, but it finds all kinds of transitions that are ten times more annoying. What is Harry talking about? The editing in this movie SUCKED so bad. The flashy transitions were all terribly annoying and pointless... and seemed to be an attempt to cover up for how terrible the regular cuts were made. Okay, so not only was the editing an abomination, but the story was completely uninvolving and pretty damn cliched. And the performances were pretty lifeless and boring except for Nick Nolte who was just sort of ridiculous. I've always had a decent amount of respect for Ang Lee. Sense and Sensibility, Ride With The Devil, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon... none of these films are great, but they are all reasonably good. The Hulk is the worst comic book movie I have seen excluding the Joel Schumacher Batmans. I can scarcely believe that Ang Lee directed it.
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I saw this on Friday and thought it was pretty darn good. I've been a Hulk fan for years and was counting down the days. My negative comments: The story is awfully slow at times. If anything, I'd have showed less upfront and moved the story quickly to post-gamma event, and then show the other stuff via flashbacks. Second negative... the ending was not only poorly written, but I could barely even see it and still am not sure exactly what happened. Why blow the ending to a summer blockbuster type movie? It should be something everyone wants to see again... not HAS to see again to know what happened. But that said, I enjoyed it and though the Hulk looked great. To the folks that say the jumping/flying didn't look real... give me a break... it's a giant green man for crying out loud. I will say that this is not a movie that will appeal to kids, which makes all the toys/t-shirts/etc. tie-ins look like they'll be collecting dust 'til post-Christmas markdown time. If I was a 10 year old... the first hour would have bored me to tears.
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People who defend this film by saying that "it's art" and those who don't like it are just too ignorant to appreciate what Ang Lee has created. Bullllllshit! Ang Lee has created a mess out of a very powerful and simple story. Everything that made the Hulk a classic has been turned into a convoluted mess by this "auteur." I loved "Crouching Tiger." I own it on DVD. But if Ang Lee was as respectful to the Hulk and the comic book that it comes from as he was to the history and culture of martial arts, then Hulk would be a masterpiece. But as it is, Hulk is a muddled mess. And it's the worst kind of movie mess--pretentious high brow bullshit. What pisses me off more than anything else, is how some defend this movie as high art, and charge that those of us who don't like it, just "don't get it." I get it. I see what he was going for. And I call Bullshit on Ang Lee.
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Notice how no one praises the NON-HULK scenes. Why? Because they sucked. And they were 90% of the movie.
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Jun 22, 2003 2:42:12 PM CDT
Ang Lee: further proof that Oscar cred doesn't necc translate in
by the g-man
Akiva Goldmsan, the screenwriter for "Batman and Robin" won an Oscar for "A Beautiful Mind." Lorenzo Semple Jr wrote the Batman TV show and won an Oscar for "Serpico." Robert Altman turned in an, at best, controversial version of "Popeye." John Huston crapped out "Annie." Simply put, just because someone is an extremely talented filmmaker does not mean he or she understands what makes a genre film work. Ang Lee is now in that catagory.
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The whole rationale behind the awkward framing of Talbot's demise was an attempt to emulate that of a comic book. This coincides with the cinematography, where at the most random times, characters actions are broken up into small comic strip boxes during scenes. Comic books usually depict someone who's about to be engulfed in flames as propelled or overtaken by the disaster. Why do they do that in comics? I dunno, though I would assume the writers would want to illustrate the impact. I thought Lee trying to translate a gesture from a comic book was spectacularly ballsy...though i have read that people did pick up on it, even non-comic fans as to what exactly it was that he was doing. And oddly enough, it has been accepted. I can understand your not liking it. Hell, I never expected a device like that to be used in film. -
Jun 22, 2003 4:15:42 PM CDT
I really liked this movie... until the last ten minutes, that is
by uncle sam
That has to be one of the biggest pooch-screw endings in film history. I went from "this sorta kicks ass" to "this sucks". Why, oh why, did you have to do that, Mr. Lee? And why the hell did that cgi "gamma ray/nuclear explosion" at the end of flick have to look so pathetically fake? Sheesh. It's supposed to be science-fiction, Ang, NOT SOME LAME-ASS FANTASY! FUCK! I really, REALLY wanted to love this movie! The Hulk WAS NOT the appropriate playground for this type of masturbatory experimentation, man. I wanted to see an absolutely great comic book flick! Once again, FUCK!
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Jun 22, 2003 4:15:52 PM CDT
I really liked this movie... until the last ten minutes, that is
by uncle sam
That has to be one of the biggest pooch-screw endings in film history. I went from "this sorta kicks ass" to "this sucks". Why, oh why, did you have to do that, Mr. Lee? And why the hell did that cgi "gamma ray/nuclear explosion" at the end of flick have to look so pathetically fake? Sheesh. It's supposed to be science-fiction, Ang, NOT SOME LAME-ASS FANTASY! FUCK! I really, REALLY wanted to love this movie! The Hulk WAS NOT the appropriate playground for this type of masturbatory experimentation, man. I wanted to see an absolutely great comic book flick! Once again, FUCK!
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No, man, I was commiserating with you. You wrote two posts defending the HULK's fx from people who said it sucked, and I was providing you with a horror story of sorts. I'd have no reason to accuse you of hating ILM.
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I thought this movie was gonna suck, from all the AICN bitching and moaning. The Hulk really wasn't that bad. Not good, but not bad. 2 1/2 stars out of 4. Fun for what it was. Yeah it got overdramatic and slow in places, but this is Ang Lee fer chrissakes, what did you expect? Maybe some of you geeks should take your Ritalin and try to expand your horizons by watching Masterpiece Theater once in a while. + The Hulk's CGI was impressive, but Gollum was more believable to me. + and why won't someone cram a sammich down Connelly's throat? She's turning into a Hollywood Skeletor.
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Thanks. I understood it was a comic book device, an extension of sorts of all the panels (and introductory font) we'd been made to sit through preceding that event. Most of them worked well, that death just seemed like a joke. So I'm wondering if he always intended to employ that technique when Talbot was about to get it (fitting with your idea of characters getting engulfed by flames), or if he thought the scene looked particularly fake and decided to apply the motif of comic books that he'd been using throughout the movie to it. After all, it wouldn't seem odd if the same effect had already been employed, and you'd be beating people like us at our own game by TRYING to make it look fake. Either way, I kind of hated it.
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This movie was so funny.
The CGI is hilarious.
So how is Ang Lee related to
Stan Lee?
Nick Nolte as Ted Kazinski
the unibomber was piss your
pants funny.The part at the end when he turns into a scrubbing bubble pure slapstick.
Go see this movie again and again. Take grandma and grandpa take the whole family.
Just watch their faces as this
piece of "genius" roll out and I'm sure you'll be laughing. -
Saw the HULK on opening night. When all was said and done, my friend looked at me and uttered "THAT WAS AWWWWEEEESSSSOMMMMEEE!" My sentiments exactly. This movie kicked ass in some serious ways (and blew Spider-man out of the water in my opinion). Ang Lee is a friggin' genius. No ifs, ands, or buts! The story was crisp, the characters were well developed (and cast), and the HULK himself looked REAL (this ain't your crappy Scorpion King)! And it was left open for a potential sequel (the book ends: the last thing heard before the screaming began was "...you wouldn't like me when I'm mad...."
WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -
okay, so they could've cut down on the back story at the beginning (no, really, they should've... a lot of that stuff was revisited as the film went on, and/or could've been found out as it progressed. in fact, you couldv'e almost started the movie when talbot first visited betty). and the initial absorbing man moments were interesting. i was looking forward to seeing how they were going to play that out... but... i think they seriously screwed the pooch (probably that poodle) in the climactic father/son battle. as soon as he bit into the chord the whole cinema kind of groaned. which is a shame, because the rest of the film is actually quite a hoot. (btw, did he pull those dogs apart or did he "pop" them?)
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Jun 22, 2003 10:33:08 PM CDT
HULK effects good...rest of movie a snoozefest. Who would've th
by commando cody
This movie LOOKED like it cost 100 million clams, the ILM CGI was great looking in it's final, polished form especially the daylight scenes (the final fight was too dark and video game choppy-looking) and the actors themselves weren't bad...I mean, those complaining the Bana comes off as "dull" and has no chemistry with Connelly should remember the point OF Banner is he's SUPPOSED to be a bit dull and too much the introspective science whiz unable to emote. All that said, DAMN THIS MOVIE NEEDED ANOTHER PASS AT EDITING!!! This thing SERIOUSLY ran too long and dragged at parts, and the audience I saw it with here in LA at Universal Citywalk was visibly shifting in their seats and you could just hear continual stray chatter from people getting bored by the long psycho-babble stretches inbetween HULK scenes. That's not to say the movie should ALL be mindless violence and gratitous action, but come on, this flick seriously could've been tripped by EASILY another 20-30 minutes bringing the running time under 2 hours and made it feel faster moving. I'm surprised it's opening weekend was only 63 million or so (below X-Men 2's 85 and certainly waaaaaaaaaaay below Spider-Man's historic 114 opening bow.) I agree with those that say this will do all right on DVD, but otherwise it'll be like MATRIX RELOADED...open fast and then word of mouth will catch up with it and it'll slow down really fast by people turned off from hearing it's a bit of a snoozefest.
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Infact, despite it's lousy CGI and ending, I would say that only Superman and Batman were better than this movie. It's much more satisfying than X2. And BTW, what's with people saying that Dare-Devil was a good movie? That movie was truly bottom of barrel.
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Jun 22, 2003 10:47:07 PM CDT
SCI FI showed SUPERMAN 1 & 2 Friday... Saturday HBO had SPIDER-M
by commando cody
They all reminded me what a "fun" comic movie adaptation on film could be like. You know, something that actually MOVED along at a clip and you enjoyed the entire movie. The problem with the HULK is the only time this movie is any fun is when the Hulk's onscreen...all the rest of the psycho-babble is just so heavy handed it bogs the movie down. I realize (SPOILER) dealing with a plot point like remembering the death of your mother (END SPOILER) is heavy, dour material but in the end I didn't feel or share Bruce's inner pain or anger the way I felt something for Uncle Ben getting gunned down and then feeling the anger ala Peter of wanting to go beat the shit out of someone. HULK was a good looking production...it was all right, though definitely pretentious in an Ang Lee way, as summer entertainment...but sorry, SUPERMAN 1 is STILL after all these years the best comic book movie translations from start to finish, followed by SPIDER-MAN.
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Jun 22, 2003 10:49:39 PM CDT
Harry and AICN have gotten awfully quiet about this lousy movie
by kenshiro_kane
... could the reason be that THE HULK is a shitty flick? Yes, and now Harry and the gang are keeping their pieholes shut (and preventing any talkbacks, aside from this days-old one, from ripping relentlessly on this mediocre film) because they don't want to piss off the studios? Face it, kids... Harry and AICN can't afford (and I do mean "afford") to piss off any of the big movie studios anymore because it hits Harry and his site right in his fatass pocketbook. This site makes an ASSLOAD of money for Fatass Harry and nothing, not even a shitty movie like Hulk or Daredevil, will get in the way of that now. This one seals it: HARRY AND AICN HAVE SOLD OUT. Word.
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The Hulk could have used a few more scenes like saving the Golden Gate bridge, the major prpblem with the movie (IMO) beside the pacing was it was difficult to "feel" for the Hulk. Where was the misundertood monster that just wanted to be left alone? The CGI was just fine, actually suprpased Spider-Man's CGI. The Hulk dogs didn't bother me as much as I thought they would. The Hulk never really got the chance to "save the day".
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Jun 23, 2003 2:19:36 AM CDT
at least Hulk has a heartbeat instead of just more photography l
by watashiwadare
and do i still owe royalties for saying "Spider-man" out loud?
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Do you have any idea what the fuck you're talking about? Seriously, do you? What the fuck qualifies you to make damaging statements like that when you have absolutely no evidence to substantiate them with? Harry stopped talking about the 'Hulk' after he reviewed it....wow. I think we're on to something here.
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Jun 23, 2003 3:55:26 AM CDT
Check your facts Mory! Bill Bixby didn't direct Rich Man, Poor
by lemur master
Moriarty seems to be depending a little to much on IMDB, a site which is notoriously incorrect when it comes to Television.
Rich Man, Poor Man was actually directed by Boris Segal, and my father, David Greene.
I should know, I inherited the emmy he won for it. Sitting right behind me.
Look to
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/EpisodeGuideSummary/showid-5528/season-all for a more accurate account record of it.
Apparently Nick Nolte got drunk at my parents wedding :)
I'm still not really interested in seeing the hulk. He's always been one of my least favorite comic characters.
So Says,
The Lemur Master -
clark_kent is right. One of the movie's main faults is the boring long-winded exposition. But now that that's out of the way, the sequel should be much better. Kinda like XMen 2 being infinitely better than XMen 1, though that wasn't just because being a sequel freed it from introducing characters.
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Oh man I would LOVE to see the Peter David Gray Hulk done properly in the sequel. IT WOULD FUCKIN' RULE YOUR FANBOY ASSES. It would allow Schamus and Lee to further explore Banner's split personality and also give us some awesome Hulk action with the Gray Hulk in full effect, crackin' wise and kickin' ass. GRAY HULK FOR 2006!!!!!!
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Hulk vs. a Hulk sized Scooby-Doo who has been mutated by gamma radiated scooby snacks. with Hulk Hogan as the mad scientist baddie. (Don't worry Betty, this won't hurt....much....BROTHER!)
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You people will bitch about Hulk being slow and humorless, then will bitch about Charlies Angels for being nothing bt action and silly oneliners. I thought Hulk was alot of fun a much more Adult movie, made for people with attention spans longer than a WWF match.
You really cant please the Movie geeks 100%, and DareDevil was a steaming pile of horse shit. -
Jun 23, 2003 9:17:10 AM CDT
Kiera Knight;y is the sexiest tomboy beanpole on the planet!
by jimmychitwood
#1 J. Connelly has sideburns, that just isn
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This movie was FAR from a great film. It had potential...they really should've left out most of the stuff with his father, and saved that for the next film. Let Talbot and Ross be the big heavies for this film, and save a gamma-baddie for the next. The final confrontation was...um....I mean, what the hell was that? I think that's the point when most of us really gave up on the film after stradling the fence between the boring and needless expositionary parts and the totally kick-ass Hulk scenes------though I will add that the CGI in this film was EXCELLENT, and much better than I thought it would be. I think the CGI work was so good in fact that it freed your mind to see how weak the script actually was in many places.
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A short note. Saw hulk. HULK COOL. Damn sure best bet for BEST EDITING OSCAR. Unbelievably cool scene transitions. Acting well above par. BANA was good choice for Banner. NOLTE ROCKS. CG Hulk was good. Hey, rememeber we are still in the early development of this tech. So even with ILM doing their best, and ANG LEE on site for hands on work, This is the BEST that the current technology can produce. Overall, very satisfactory. Requires a certain suspension of disbelief, but hey, what movie doesn't? DESERT SCENES ROCKED. TO THE LOSERS WHO SAY THIS SUCKED. Do this, get a degree in mathematics and computer programming, develop better tech and apply it. ILM or other effects houses will be glad to have a superstar on their roster. Or you can continue to sit in your mom's basement and whine like whipped bitches. Enjoy the golden age of MARVEL movies folks. We've waited long enough time to enjoy the fruits of our patience. PS as of today 62 mil and best june opening ever. And I will be telling my friends to take next weekend and Learn to love HULK!!!
ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!!!! -
It was good. If it were 2 hours of Hulk smashes it would be Mighty Joe Young. Stop complaining. It was a good origin story. And Hulk 2 will be the Shit.
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Me hated Hulk! Hulk was slow and boring. 5-year old kid next to me asked Daddy where was Hulk? This after 45 minutes into film - I agreed with 5-year old, me got BORED with not enough Hulk smashy smashy! On 3rd Rock From The Sun, whole show finished in 30 minutes, and in movie no even see Hulk for almost first hour! Characters boring! Who was man with big beard and fuzzy hair? He looked like Dr. Teeth from Muppet Show. Movie must have exlposions and car chases in EVERY SCENE, like Gone In Sixty Seconds, that was good movie! CGI looked HORRIBLE. CGI was also horrible in LOTR, Star Wars, Spider-Man, Matrix and X2. Forget CGI, just don't do movies with special effects from now on, they never get it right!! My girlfriend and I WALKED OUT after 90 minutes. If movie can't tell whole story in 90 minutes, it is too LOOOOONG!! Even 90 minutes is pushing it.
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That Hulk is slow. This is the director that started Crouching Tiger with what must have been 10 minutes of tiring back and forth dialogue. Did the suits even bother to watch it before hiring Lee? CTHD was the poorest storytelling I'd seen in a long time.. at least until I sat through the Phantom Matrix.
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I was right. Hulk looks like Shrek. The CGI was better then I thought - but the action sequences fucking blew. I kept nodding off during the helicopter scenes. Just fucking stupid. Doesn't look real. I enjoyed the comic book windows in windows, but it was over used. The acting was, well okay (better than the FX sequences), and Ang Lee can Blow Mee and CGI digital characters can all hop in a bus driven by George Lucas and Jar-Jar Binks and just fucking die. God Bless!
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Your platonic dialogue post is mezmerizing. I love it when someone's head is more fucked up than mine. I wish you'd do full reviews here.. start a blog or something. Hire this fool Harry!
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Jun 23, 2003 12:42:10 PM CDT
Trim it by 45 Minutes, and you'll have yourselves a movie...
by damitol
Saw it Saturday night in a half full theater in Dallas, and heard lots of harsh comments as we were exiting. I'm guessing people were expecting more Hulk smashing and less psychological drama. Maybe one of the special features on the DVD could be a 20 minute version of the film made up of just the big set piece in the middle. I'm betting that would be the most popular feature. I didn't hate the movie - but I just didn't care about anyone or anything. There was no chemistry between Connelly and Bana, the first third dragged and the "climax" was terrible. I thought ILM did a good job and those reaming them for the GCI should think for a second about what they had to work with. A 15' tall green muscle head constantly in motion does not lend itself well to a lot of subtlety in the animation process. My favorite part of the film was the coda, setting up Hulk 2 and beyond (assuming they ever get made after this one fizzles). That was the only time I felt "now we are getting somewhere", and, of course, the credits roll. Kids will be bored (except for the middle set piece) and adults will be disappointed, so I'm guessing that the film will be really lucky to do $120 million. Word of mouth will be the real killer if the audience I saw it with is any indication. If you loved it, great. I've rooted for films as well that most others dismissed various reasons, both retarded and well thought outl. Ang Lee's visuals were wonderful and I kind of liked the unique comic book like transitions, but at the end of the day even a Jennifer Connelly nude scene wouldn't make me go back to see it again. Honestly, I would watch the "now with 45 minutes of redundant and/or unnecessary exposition cut" version if they have the balls to include it as an easter egg on the DVD. BTW - the T3 and Peter Pan trailers look amazing on the big screen, but the voice cracking Haley Joel Omelet one was a bit unsettling.
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Comic book readers of the world, UNITE!!!! I am so sick of hearing complaints from all of you non-comic book geeks about how much you hate the HULK--this movie was not made for you. So quit whining about how you didn't like the camera work and shot selection or thought that the Hulk's character delved too much into psychoanalytical humanity or that the CGI just didn't do it for you. You obviously know nothing about the genre with which we are dealing. The HULK, as are many superheroes, particularly those fathered by Stan Lee, is a tragic figure--he's supposed to be very human and what's happened to him is supposed to create sympathy in the audience for him. It's a fictional story--quit searching for realism. At what point did you forget that this is a story about a giant green semi-monster?? And the film is shot the way a comic book reads, ergo, if you've never read one, or are simply illiterate, you probably won't understand the way the movie flows. It does you no good to complain about this; instead, why don't you stop going to see movies of which you are ignorant. Anyone who has ever read a comic book can appreciate what Ang Lee did with the HULK. So why don't you all do us a favor and take a flying leap into a theatre that's playing 2FAST 2 FURIOUS--as I said before, this movie just wasn't made for people like you. It was made for people like me who knew who the HULK was before his picture was plastered onto every Mountain Dew bottle in America.
Furthermore, stop comparing the movie to the t.v. show--you're only broadcasting your simplicity and in the future please do proofread your posts--it's terribly hard to take anything you say about the HULK seriously when you can't even spell his name. -
Jun 23, 2003 1:11:11 PM CDT
Hulk hater faggots go see weenie-boy angels. This was a Monster
by pjam19
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Where was Jack McGee, the irritating investigative reporter who investigates Hulk sightings? And David Banner needed to say "Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry" about 5 or 6 more times. Where did they get off making Hulk talk anyway? Everyone knows Hulk can't talk. They also needed more footage of his shirt ripping from behind or his toes pushing through his shoes when he turned into the Hulk. I also didn't like how the movie ended in some jungle somewhere. Everyone knows that Banner goes from town to town, taking jobs as janitors and helping out at youth groups and stuff. Then when some kid's abusive father shows up, Banner Hulks out on him. And there should have been a lot more slow motion Hulk running scenes.
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I don't know from Ang Lee, but this movie rocked! The jub-jubs who complained about the filmaking style are wrong. Those transitions and picture-in-picture shots are exactly how a comic book should look on screen. And it was done beautifully and dynamically here. The only other thing I can say is... LOU!!!
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I loved the Hulk movie! The best comic book movie yet. When it comes out in DVD I'll be first in line!
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Wow, I sure hope she doesn't read these these boards.
Women do go through body changes after pregnancy - give her a break.
She's expecting her second child BTW.
As for the Hulk haters. There's nothing you can do for them. They heard dial-tone between their ears for the first 45 minutes of the movie. Take pity and pat them on the head...gently.
-H.
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Just finished reading the plethora of bitching and bemoaing about the Hulk (which as a SUPER FAN, thought kicked ass -- way better than X-men 1, Daredevil and both Blades)... Anyways, what everyone is failing to see with David Banner/Nick Nolte is that I think Ang Lee was trying to do a brief "homage" to paste Hulk villians within the character of Nick. Lets see... #1. Nicks a janitor(menial laborer)as was Samuel Sterns, AKA The Leader #2. As the undercover janitor spying on Bruce, he's Emil Blonsksy, AKA The Abomination, #3. After Nick experiments on himself, he's Crusher Creel, The Absorbing Man, #4. When Nick goes "electrical" at the end, he's Zzzax, a classic Hulk eletricity villian, #5. When he battles the Hulk as a living rock, he's none other than Leader creation Rock (sans criminal cohort, Redeemer)
I will readily admit though, the last 20 - 30 mins of the film was unessential and confusing (think AI -- great flick at the end with Halle left under water / shit the next half hour with wierd robot/aliens) The Hulk would have ended perfectly in San Fransico, but the additional 30 mins afterward was just weak.
Next film with Grey Hulk could be interesting. Definitely needs to be Abomination though. Hulk smashy to perfection.
By the way, to everyone complaining about the Hulk: though Spider-man was near perfection, Tobey Maguire was a stiff unemotional Peter Parker, the Green Goblin/Spiderman roof top conversation was a joke and a lot of the CGI movements were stiff and uninspiring. Just thought I'd remind everyone that though its easy to tear something down comparing it to what you "think" is greatness, sometimes its better to re-examine what you thought was there to notice the chinks in its pristene appearance.
Be forgiving, the squel will kick ass!!!!! -
Jun 23, 2003 5:46:38 PM CDT
"HULK" is quite possibly the BEST MOVIE EVER MADE to be based on
by jdanielp
By the time HULK went into full battle mode, I was nearly getting misty-eyed. Seeing the HULK become convingly real is a dream come true for me. I grew up with a deep love of comic book fantasy. Many a day I would "zone out" as I would go over various comic books and imagine the sequential art as motion picture reality. -- "Thank You" Ang Lee (and all involved) in realizing this film. I even plan to see it again. Tonight, perhaps. -- I am so jealous of movie directors today. God ... if only a studio like Warner Bros. knew how passionate I'd be in bringing superhero fantasy films to the big screen. I "KNOW" deep down inside me that I was born to make great fantasy films ... but I "got real" and chose another path. The funny thing is ... I may have been on the right path all along. If it wasn't for Batman, my favorite fictional character, I would've never met my wife!
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Ok,
I saw Hulk last night after eagerly anticipating for over a year and I thought that the posters on AICN were just being their asshole selves like always, but this time they're right. The Hulk stunk. It was about 3hrs long with 40 mins of Hulk footage TOPS! The Hulk stuff was awesome but the other 2.25hrs of story could put you to sleep. The orgigin of Hulk was too far off from the original for me. I'm not a total stickler either, I can handle the "organic" web shooters.
DOn't get me wrong, this was no Batman 4 (schumacher crap), but it wasn't X-men, Spidey or Daredevil either. My advice is to rent it or buy it on DVD to complete your Marvel collection, skip it in the theater. -
I totally understand what Ang was trying to do, but god... I didnt give a shit about any character in this movie. Hulk throwing the occasional temper tantrum was the only thing that kept me from drifting into a coma. Too bad being exposed to self indulgent crap dosnt have the same effect as gamma radiation! Oh, my bad that only draws out what already exists within... CRAP!
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Mmmmmmm... over bite!
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The HULK is a fine film. Far better than Spider Man. Ang Lee has done a great job.
Special Note: The film editing is "incredible" Fresh & inventive with a comic book esthetic. -
Harry you truly are a hypocrite and a fat bastard, erasing my previous posts because they don't agree with your idealogies about Gollum (HULK is still better and ILM as well). You are a fat ignorant cum guzzling pile of dog shit you fat stupid bastard!
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That's the way I would describe Ang Lee's Hulk (because it certainly isn't the Lee/Kirby creation). This was, without a doubt, the BIGGEST disappointment I have ever suffered from a film that I was eagerly anticipating. It may have made money in its opening weekend, but it is truly a BOMB in every sense of the word (and I suspect the word will be spreading fast). Where do I even begin? The story/script/dialogue was pretentious and boOoring (yawn). The acting was ridiculously bad. Scott Bana and Jennifer Connelly had all the emotional range of my coffee table and Nick Nolte was so over-the-top that it bordered on 'camp'. The direction was self-indulgent and completely distracting to the viewer. I can say this with all honesty, it is the first time I have seen so many parents get up during the middle of a film and leave with their children - and not come back! It just goes to show you that even a respected director like Ang Lee can make a dud. A Hulk film, by the very nature of its source material, would have been better served by a mainstream director. Ang Lee directing a Hulk movie is like Luciano Pavrotti singing with Van Halen.
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That's the way I would describe Ang Lee's Hulk (because it certainly isn't the Lee/Kirby creation). This was, without a doubt, the BIGGEST disappointment I have ever suffered from a film that I was eagerly anticipating. It may have made money in its opening weekend, but it is truly a BOMB in every sense of the word (and I suspect the word will be spreading fast). Where do I even begin? The story/script/dialogue was pretentious and boOoring (yawn). The acting was ridiculously bad. Scott Bana and Jennifer Connelly had all the emotional range of my coffee table and Nick Nolte was so over-the-top that it bordered on 'camp'. The direction was self-indulgent and completely distracting to the viewer. I can say this with all honesty, it is the first time I have seen so many parents get up during the middle of a film and leave with their children - and not come back! It just goes to show you that even a respected director like Ang Lee can make a dud. A Hulk film, by the very nature of its source material, would have been better served by a mainstream director. Ang Lee directing a Hulk movie is like Luciano Pavrotti singing with Van Halen.
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Luckily I went into this movie with zero expectations...I essentially went for the Peter Pan trailer. Some things I didn't like was the whole thing w/ the split screens and stuff. That got annoying around the first 5 min. Also I think Bruce's dad shouldn't have just been destroyed so easily. I mean...wouldn't he just absorb the gamma energy? But the best part of Hulk was definitely the Hulk himself. I couldn't help but say "awwwww" whenever I saw him, and that's saying a lot. Anyways, the point is, despite somethings Hulk is essentially a good movie.
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One of my friends, a big bar brawling weight-lifting mofo told me, hey don't listen to what anyone says about HULK, that movie FUCKIN ROCKED!
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Jun 24, 2003 5:24:13 AM CDT
I haven`t seen Hulk, but I can`t imagine that it will be worst t
by chien_sale
I haven`t seen Hulk, but it can`t be worst. It just can`t since I almost walked-out of the theatre when watching Spiderman. What an awful film!!! BUT if Hulk manages to be bad, wait `till you see The Punisher with surfer boy Thomas Jane! LOL The Horror! FOR HULK 2: they should put a monstrous outfit to some dude, give the film to Joe Dante, make it horror but do the metamorphosis just like in The Howling with animatronics and crude effects!!!
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Saw Hulk over the weekend...and hated it with a capital "H"...the worst superhero genre film since Batman and Robin.
Flaws were many, but I'll give the short version:
(1) The entire backstory and plot was completely made up for the movie!!!! It didn't have the slightest thing to do with the comics...total fictionalized nonsensical, angst-ridden drivel. I-COULD-NOT-BELIEVE-IT! I thought the movie started fairly strong (though it was obviously different than it was supposed to be), but it was just too into the angst to be of interest beyond about a half hour.
(2) The backstory had a strong build-up, but the resolution was rather flat. The last act was rushed and contrived to give us one last final battle when they could have actually saved this resolution for a sequel.
(3) Jennifer Connely's character was useless, her chemistry with Bana nonexistant. Why was she in the movie again?
(4) Strangely enough, the aspect of the movie I was certain would be its biggest flaw was in reality its greatest (make that "only") strength...the CGI of the Hulk. Though not realistic in the sense that he didn't look like a human being (think of the video game look of the movie Final Fantasy), he DID look like the comic book brought to life. Close-ups were fantastic (his show of emotion most especially). His interaction with the military vehicles and elements around him were truly awesome to behold...is there anything more cool than seeing Hulk catch a missile in mid-air, bite the warhead off it, and spit it at the attacking helicopter? And the scenes with the dogs were just BRUTAL!
(5) The comic book elements of split screens and transitional wipes were really great cinematic effects. I liked those aspects a great deal and thought they really brought home the sense that this was a live-action comic book.
(6) The obligatory cameos by Stan Lee and Lou Ferrigno were very cool. I would like to have seen more of them, but it was cool just the same.
(7) The bullshit line from poor repressed Bruce ("The part that scares me the most is that when I lose control...I like it.") was just too over the top. In the comics, Bruce is haunted by what he becomes...scared to death that he'll lose his temper, change into the Hulk, and hurt or kill someone (by accident). He never had some little pseudo-sexual outlet from being able to cut loose and hand the wheel over to the Hulk. Ugh!
(8) It's worth noting that the strongest performance of the group was from Sam Shephard...for me, he totally brought the character of General "Thunderbolt" Ross to life. Nick Nolte did a great job, but I hated his character and the entire storyline involving him. Eric Bana did an okay job, but what he was given to work with in Banner REALLY made him an unlikable character...who can relate to such a mamby-pamby, repressed basket case?
Conclusion:
The Hulk was flawed from its script more so than its execution. Had a different story (most particularly one that held true to the comics and spared us the repressed emotions, genetic monkeying, father-son-angst, and a cheesy final act) prevailed over what was used, I think the movie could have been much better. I liked that it was dark, but it could have been used to better effect without all the emotional baggage. The movie was really enjoyable when the Hulk was on the screen...absolutely, without a doubt, watching the Hulk tear things up was just great. I thought it really brought home how incredibly powerful the Hulk is (in the comic-book sense). He was also far more likeable than his alter-ego Bruce Banner (who came off more of a weirdo than someone we would sympathize with...I kept thinking, "Jeez, just shoot this guy before he changes again and spare us all the trouble."). For the first time in a while, I completely sympathized with the little kids squirming in their chairs waiting for the Hulk to show up again....I was, too!
So all this being the case, I really have high hopes that a sequel will be far more interesting...get a better script, keep the comic-book elements, keep it dark, and cut loose the baggage, and work on the CGI some more...and then we could have a seriously enjoyable movie on our hands. My fingers are crossed!
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Reading through the talkbacks it's pretty obvious that the great majority of HULK HATERs are MTV gen. Lets face it, you kids today have no attention span. Everything has to be given to you in short 3 minute snippets. What you wanted from a HULK movie was "GIMME GIMME GIMME quick, tell story, show HULK, destroy, dinner and a latte. Slam, bam thank you ma'am. God forbid that a director try to tell you a FUCKING STORY. That he try to develop his characters and form a foundation for the movie. The critics love it. A SERIOUS movie lover will too. Movies are not all about effects and explosions. SOMETIMES THE STORY MATTERS. I actually read in one of the talkbacks that the writer didn't understand the multi-frame shots. Man, how dense can you be? Didn't like the edits and transitions? I pity your fucking parents for raising a moron. NUFF said.
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First of all let me say the only redeeming factor of this movie was that I got to stare at Jennifer Connelly for a good 2.5 hours... other than that the highlight of the film was the cameo of Lou Ferrigno, after that it all went downhill. Oh yeah and when the evil scientist died, you know got blown up and then they made a cut out of him and put it on the screen in front of the blast, that was a good laugh too!
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HULK was one of Mr. Elfman's strongest soundtracks to date. Sure, there wasn't a standout charging anthem, as in BATMAN. But a character like HULK doesn't require such. The filmmakers went for something different here. The HULK soundtrack is basically a primal back-rhythm to emphasize the primordial idea and temperment of HULK. Anyone who knows something about music should notice it right away. The soundtrack was strongly influenced by Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring", Middle Eastern and Indian chants and strings, African rhythmic drumbeats, and so on. All wrapped up in a quirky Danny Elfman package. I also noticed a Celtic influence on the dream and flashback sequences, something similiar to what was done in GLADIATOR. Anyone who's still in doubt need only watch the scene of HULK leaping across the desert, truly free at last, Elfman's primitive rhythms urging HULK forward. Pure cinematic brilliance.
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I didn't enjoy the HULK. Where was the interaction between the HULK and the other actors. I mean, he always acted as if he wasn't there. When you get paid the big bucks (as the huge green was was) then bring it home and don't phone it in. Come on, the other actors seemed as if HULK was not even there. Come on big guy.....act.
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