HULK....SMASH!!!!

[Good Will Riker]

James Hussein Bond wrote:

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The Blu-Ray has been delayed until Friday in Canada because Universal shipped out all the copies to retailers with Ang Lee's Hulk inside it.

I guess Universal loses EVEN MORE MONEY for these discs, since they have to replace every single one of them with the new INCREDIBLE HULK film.

[Captain Craig]

Well I got mine at Target last night and watched the main movie. I've yet to watch any of the deleted scenes but will do so over the next several days.

I much prefer this movie over Ang Lee's. I suspect I'd enjoy it even more if the deleted scenes live up to my expectations and were reincorporated back into the movie. We shall see.

[Mr Light]

Hulk 03 was pretty meh, Hulk 08 was moderately good but no classic. And what a gip that the 1 disc version has deleted scenes but NOT the Captain America cameo! Yeesh!

The whole time I was watching Hulk 08 I was secretly hoping that Iron Man would make a cameo appearance at the final fight and help take down the Abomination. I was thinking how since its just a bit of CGI with no location filming or even Downey's involvement beyond a voice over, they could have easily kept it secret! Oh well. To me, the Hulk is only a good character when combined with other heroes. Or at least when he's Peter David's 90s Intelligent Hulk.

[M'rk, son of Mogh]

^^^
Yeah, but that would have REALLY cheapened the movie. Having Iron Man come in and save the day in a movie called "The Incredible Hulk"?? Yeah, in an Avengers movie, maybe, or for an earlier fight. Not a final fight and not as a cameo. Thematically and dramatically BAD idea.

[Mr Light]

Well how bout Hulk takes out the Abomination, but then he's so coked up and kill-crazy he starts rampaging and then Ross calls in SHIELD who calls in Iron Man

Actually, was Ross part of SHIELD in the movie? I was unclear on that. Because isn't he part of SHIELD in the Ultimates line, which the movies are apparently being kinda based on?

[Dream]

M'rk, son of Mogh wrote:

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^^^
Yeah, but that would have REALLY cheapened the movie. Having Iron Man come in and save the day in a movie called "The Incredible Hulk"?? Yeah, in an Avengers movie, maybe, or for an earlier fight. Not a final fight and not as a cameo. Thematically and dramatically BAD idea.

Also Tony was too busy being with three supermodels to help out.

[Temis the Vorta]

I never saw the Ang Lee version (as a Hulk fan from waaay back, I didn't want to look at it ) but this new version is pretty much in line with what I'd expect from the story. Edward Norton is a perfect actor for the role of Bruce (thank you, no David!) Banner - a weedy, scrawny intellectual with courage and heart to match the fiercest warrior. The best part of the movie was him hiding out in Brazil, living by hope and wits.

I was skepitcal about Liv Tyler's ability to pull off a smart Betsy Ross. Someone more along the lines of Jennifer Connoly or Hillary Swank would be the more obvious choice, but she did fine. She and Norton had real chemistry and sold the love story part of the movie.

Ole Hulky himself was a cypher for most of the story but towards the end, we got small glimpses of him having an actual personality separate from (but reflective of) Banner. Hopefully future movies will move this along and delve into his contempt of Banner and surpassing love for canned beans.

I'm not sure the CGI is quite there yet - Hulk and Abomination looked too plastic, like animated action figures - but I started to buy into Hulk as a character towards the end, when he was losing the fight and using his Banner-esque wits and courage to pull it off.

Overall, a solid beginning.

[James Bond]

Mr Light wrote:

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Well how bout Hulk takes out the Abomination, but then he's so coked up and kill-crazy he starts rampaging and then Ross calls in SHIELD who calls in Iron Man

I love Iron Man, but that would the ultimate in fanwankery.

[Aragorn]

And then Ben Stiller shows up and says, "This is incredible, Hulk."

[DontFeedPhil]

Yeah Liv Tyler Cannot act worth a damn. All she can do is stand there all misty-eyed and look sad or make out with the leading man of the story...Thats about it.
Also if you watch the making of extras you can see how Norton basically tried to direct himself in the role. He's telling Lettier what he wants to do basically saying yeah Ill do it this way and not really giving Louis a chance to direct him. So I guess I can see where the story of Norton wanting to do a slightly more character driven piece over the version we got came from. I mean Norton is a good actor and all but let the director direct for christ sake...
I still prefer the 08 version tho. If the 03 version had the 08's cgi'd hulk version and a better villian for him to fight at the end I would probably like the 03 just as much...

[Trent Roman]

Mr Light wrote:

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Actually, was Ross part of SHIELD in the movie? I was unclear on that. Because isn't he part of SHIELD in the Ultimates line, which the movies are apparently being kinda based on?

I didn't see any indications that he was anything but regular U.S. Military in the film, though it's possible I missed subtler references. In the Ultimate line, Ross was both U.S. Military and head of SHIELD (in the Ultimate line, a U.S. institution), until injured in an explosion and retired from active duty. But the films are picking and choosing from across the breadth of the various comic book incarnations, and inventing some stuff of their own too. For instance, the Ultimate versions of Betty Ross and Abomination are quite unlike those from this film.

Creditorly yours, the Rent Woman

[Hermiod]

Rent Woman wrote:

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I didn't see any indications that he was anything but regular U.S. Military in the film, though it's possible I missed subtler references. In the Ultimate line, Ross was both U.S. Military and head of SHIELD (in the Ultimate line, a U.S. institution), until injured in an explosion and retired from active duty. But the films are picking and choosing from across the breadth of the various comic book incarnations, and inventing some stuff of their own too. For instance, the Ultimate versions of Betty Ross and Abomination are quite unlike those from this film.

Thankfully, since there's little chance of getting Ultimate Betty over as a sympathetic character and the Abomination/Hulk fight in Ultimates 2 lasted right up until the point the Hulk ripped the guy's arms off and beat him up with them.

Of course, with Stark being the head of the US Military's biggest contractor, it's no surprise that Ross would know him. I bet a load of the weapons, especially the sonic guns, he used against the Hulk were Stark designs.

[Pensive]

I remember in the novelization, Stark showed up at the end of the battle with a set of huge-ass handcuffs to cart off Abomination.

That would have also been an acceptable cameo.

ETA:

Hermiod wrote:

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Of course, with Stark being the head of the US Military's biggest contractor, it's no surprise that Ross would know him. I bet a load of the weapons, especially the sonic guns, he used against the Hulk were Stark designs.

Yeah those sonic cannons were Starktech. The opening titles showed schematics and the SI logo.

[Trent Roman]

Hermiod wrote:

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Thankfully, since there's little chance of getting Ultimate Betty over as a sympathetic character and the Abomination/Hulk fight in Ultimates 2 lasted right up until the point the Hulk ripped the guy's arms off and beat him up with them.

Meh. I think I might have actually preferred a version of Betty Ross who could hold her own. Better than the glorified housewife that was 616-Betty, for sure; or even the film version, who you'd think, as a cellular biologist, might actually have been a partner to Bruce Banner, instead of spending her time being the doe-eyed damsel in distress.

Creditorly yours, the Rent Woman

[Hermiod]

Rent Woman wrote:

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Meh. I think I might have actually preferred a version of Betty Ross who could hold her own. Better than the glorified housewife that was 616-Betty, for sure; or even the film version, who you'd think, as a cellular biologist, might actually have been a partner to Bruce Banner, instead of spending her time being the doe-eyed damsel in distress.

There's some middle ground between that and Ultimate Betty who is somewhat unlikeable, IMHO.