[font=Comic Sans MS] [/font] I saw an advanced screening last night. Unless this version is different from Friday's release, there was no Captain!

*spoiler alert*

There is mention of "The Super Soldier" project back during WWII. But was decomissioned. But there is a little left that Ross has kept on ice. Thats what was givin to Blonski. Which works. He becomes faster,stronger, and after pretty much being pronounce unrecognizable after getting shit kicked by Hulk, Blonski heals, better than ever.

He gets more injections, becomes more aggressive and unstable. Not until he meets Sterns (who helps Banner), Blonski makes Sterns hit him with the Gamma. Being "super" isn't enough. He wants to be the Hulk.

There was nothing at the end credits, but this however could be different. There were clips in the trailers that are not in the film. The army guy talking to Ross, "Who have another bioform project gone wrong" or something like that. In the trailer there was a scene of someone walking in the snowy mountains, not in the movie.

You do see SHIELD & Nick Fury's name in a computer/email scan scene. Everybody went nutz at the end when Stark came out and talked to Ross. "Listen were getting a TEAM together."


For a review:

Hulk Smash! I thought it was awesome! Norton was believable,Roth was a perfect fit, I'm not Tyler fan but she was bareable in this. The CG was great. THe Darker Green is much, much better. The Hulk is not indestructable. He does get hurt,you see cuts that don't heal right away. The fight was fantastic. It was longer than Ironman fight, but not by much.
Definately spend the buck to see it on the big screen, worth it.

One of the problems I'm having is with the loss of the Acrtic scene where Bruce tries to commit suicide. I thought that was one of the strongest scenes in the leaked draft. It also helps explain the whole falling out of the helicopter scene near the end. He knows that he won't die from the fall.

It seems Marvel is throwing in a lot of nods, cameos and Easter eggs in their foray into films. We know Iron Man had a lot including Captain America's shield. Well, it seems like they went the same way with TIH.

Things to watch for include:

[spoil][align=left]A memo to Nick Fury
Dr. Samson written on paper
WWII Super Soldier program
Tony Stark scene
Stark Industries documentation in the opener
SHIELD database, SHIELD documents, etc.
Samuel Sterns
Stan Lee cameo *A very good one)
Bill Bixby TV show early on
Lou Ferrigno as a security guard
College reporters named Jack McGee and Jim Wilson
Serum cannister had name of it's inventor as well as being labeled Weapon Plus
Culver University similar to the Culver Institute where Bill Bixby's David Banner worked in the TV series pilot[/align][/spoil]

This is the list thus far. There may be others as well.

HULK strongest there is!! it freakin rocked the CGI was fantastic, the fights were brutal, the Hulk had emotion and didn't look stupid at the same time. cool references like Mr. Blue becoming the Leader towards the end too. this is the greatest summer for comic fans. Iron Man, Hulk, and Batman all within months of each other

My friend and I didn't see Captain America either.

that's because Captain America isn't in it. only the super soldier program that helped to create Captain America is in it. it's what turns Blonsky into a super soldier at the start. the injections in his neck and back. Dimes above is wrong, that's Stark, (Iron Man) who makes a cameo, referring to getting the Avengers together.

Oh well, heres hoping that he makes it into the deleted scenes or an extended cut of the film.

I liked this one, and I can see why it has gotten better crowd reactions than Ang Lee's movie did. The cast was really essential to that, I believe. Norton, Tyler and Hurt provide performances here that really satisfy. The story itself, edited or altered or wtf-ever it was from the script leak a few months back, still made a great deal more sense than 2003's version. And Blonsky, holy crap, compared to Nolte and his homeless nutjob with a Science hobby-kit schtik, wow what a better bad guy they had here. Effects wise, Hulk, and Blonsky toward the end, appeared to match the environments a lot better. And the lab transformation scene was pretty fantastic. All in all, a movie I can say I am a fan of, and not be sort of ashamed about it. Thanks Marvel Studios.

That said, I liked Iron Man better.

There are parts of this Incredible Hulk that bugged me. In 2003's version, you get a real sense that Banner and the Hulk are 2 seperate beings. Of course they aren't, but they think they are, or want to belive they are so much that the denial becomes part of thier character. You don't get that at all here. And Hulk only speaks like twice in this one. Allthough the effects here were decent, I liked the way Ang Lee's movie portrayed the actual Big Green Guy as a character. When he escapes from the base in the desert and he's running away like a maniac-God of destruction, well, the 08' version made me really miss moments like that. In the new one, Hulk is more of a gigantic retarded kid, and that kind of bothers me.

And then, after spending the entire film trying to catch Banner, the Army just lets him go. Sure, they needed a way to contain Blonsky. But the sudden about face caught me off-guard. I was kind of scratching my head, wondering if there was a longer discussion/fight about it that I had missed. It just seemed like a really abrupt and sudden transition to me.

Blonsky, pre-mutation, really gave me a lot of hope for the Cap movie though. His enhanced abilities looked, while spectacular, just close enough to believable. Enough for me to think a WWII movie about a super soldier might not come off as corny as it might sound.

Iron Man was just a lot more fun to watch. I'm sure I'm going to end up with both DVD's on the shelf someday, but I know which one will get more use.

Oh, and the Stark scene at the end was a'ight. Allthough it seemed a little forced.

who did the CG for this? the scene where Betty is sitting with Hulk in the rain looked AMAZING! Hulk was right there in the same space as Betty. Really convincing. funny how my opinion changed after seeing the film. thought it looked like shit earlier!

Rhythm & Hues did the CG (of the Hulk anyways). They did a pretty impressive Marlon Brando recreation in 'Superman Returns' I recall (the scene in the Fortress of Solitude).

Yes, it was mostly R&H. The visual effects were under-budgeted though (one of the films many production woes) and many non-hero shots were sent off to other studios. So blame the bad FX on them.

Here's a youtube vid of the Marlon Brando thing. It's a shame that all of this incredible work was then just blurred to hell in the final comp.

[flash width=425 height=355]http://www.youtube.com/v/EtJ6QFHgGy0[/flash]

Though despite all the crowing about how this one will be the success the first one wasn't, this one made $8 million less on its opening weekend than the first one did 5 years ago. Think the jury's still out on whether audiences really care about the Hulk.

Although audiences weren't sure what Ang Lee's Hulk was going to be like when it premiered. I saw it opening night thinking it was going to be awesome. I was subdued after it was over. I'm waiting til next weekend to see this one.

Yeah, I guess I jumped the gun on that a bit. After mulling it over for a few days, I'm not convinced anymore that I did actually like it better, per se. I guess it seems like this is a more serious take on it, or maybe just less cartoony than the 03' version. I dunno'. While I like Norton 100X better as Banner than Bana, I just can't help but think he still kind of missed the mark. And the whole thing at the end, while neat looking, is still bugging me.

Another thing that is bothering the rotten asshole fuck out of me right now is how Marvel cut the Hulks big green balls off in comics. Iron Man is in every damned comic book these days, and the Hulk isn't even in his OWN book anymore. Wtf? Planet Hulk kicked ass, WWHulk not so much ass, but was still okay. Skarr was cool, but not really quite the gamma fix I was looking for. And Incredible Hercules? Snore-fest. Amadaeus Cho is a'ight, but as a duo book, this one is fucking whack. And someone please tell me, who is this Red Hulk and why again am I supposed to give a shit? Jeph Loeb should go produce Heroes and stfu. I only bring this up because when the Iron Man movie hit, there were special covers and shit and 35 issues of current Iron Man stories on the shelves. And now that the Hulk is out, we only see him in flashbacks. Did they not know if they really liked the movie either? Because then I wouldn't be so confused at how this is playing out.

When all is said and done, I have to say that both Hulk films are flawed and far from the definitive Hulk movie. I can't see this one holding up to repeat viewings, whereas I can watch the Ang Lee Hulk every so often and wonder what the hell is going on (and it is a genuinely interesting film).

Random Thoughts:

- While at times the new Hulk looked great (almost exactly like the Hulk of the comics), other times he looked like a videogame character. For future films, Rhythm & Hues can do the Hulk's head/facial expressions while ILM can be in charge of the rest of his body.

- Why were the final 10 mins/75% of the "big NYC battle" confined to an apartment building rooftop? I wanted to see the Hulk impale the Abomination on top of the Empire State Building (or at least use the 'Sam the Record Man' neon records as a throwing disc weapon. . .people in the Toronto area will know what I'm referring to).

- Anyone notice that Emil Blonsky/Gen. Ross/Samuel Sterns have the same villainous motivations as Nick Nolte's Absorbing Dad from the first film? Siphoning the Hulk's power to become/create super soldiers/surpreme beings seems like the cool thing to do these days.

- I miss the suicide scene (which someone already mentioned I believe). The helicopter drop would have made more sense if it hadn't been cut and it would have been nice to see Captain America - though I can't imagine how he would have made his appearance (ice block?) or how he would have motivated Bruce Banner's journey.

- Credit given where credit is due> Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns/The Leader. Alot more goofier then I would have imagined the Hulk's main nemesis being (and I can't imagine him being a Leader of anything really), he was delightful and I look forward to seeing him in future films. I hope he looks better then the 'Batman Forever-Deformed Riddler' look he was rocking when we last see him - although I can't see him as a Mars Attacks alien with a mustache either. The filmmakers have alot of work to do in regards to reimaging the Leader for a feature film - but I guess casting a goofball in the role was one step in the right direction. Maybe Eric Stoltz 'Mask' makeup?

- Besides Ed Norton, Ang Lee had a better cast. Also, no Glen Talbot (keeping loose continuity with the first?) and STILL no Rick Jones. Bummer.

- Comic Question: Does anybody have any idea of who the Red Hulk is? I haven't been keeping up with the books, but from what I've heard they've dropped enough clues that it can be figured out. Any ideas?

And when Robert Downey Jr. shows up (in a forced cameo - I liked it, but it felt forced) I started wondering about the potential Avengers film. I think it's pretty clear that the Hulk will probably be the main villain (would you put your retarded kid brother on the NYPD? You probably wouldn't put him in the Avengers either). Maybe Bruce Banner can be part of the development team ala the Ultimates, but an accident involving the Leader can give us a Berserker Hulk (color him Grey to differentiate the two) for the Avenger team to deal with. Also, add some inner conflict with Banner's split personalities/Devil Hulk and you avoid sacrificing the future Hulk film marketing towards children (because technically the GREEN Hulk is still a hero). Overall, this movie seemed like a marketing exercise after the failed experiment that was like Ang Lee's film.

Marketing Guy to Children: So, you want a realistic, down-to-earth Hulk movie---that's completely off-the-wall---and swarming with magic robots?

Milhouse: And also, you should win things by watching!

As I expected, the movie bombed. In two weeks it hasn't cracked 100 million domestic. It was a stupid decision to reboot the franchise prematurely, but Marvel won't learn and they'll green-light a sequel regardless. The project was terribly marketed, the film was decent, but not at all spectacular, and because of that it's not going to make up for its lack of tickets sold with DVD sales.

Absolutely nothing happens in the movie plot wise, which I understand was the result of merciless editing. I thought the Liv Tyler/Ed Norton scenes were embarassingly bad and cliche. The action wasn't at all clever - just simple 'smash smash, bang bang' stuff we've seen thousands of times. The CGI was hit and miss - ILM's model was better, especially in motion. It was a couple notches above Fantastic Four, which represents the absolute basement of big budget superhero movies, and a couple below Spider-man (the overrated, yet universally acclaimed superhero movies).

This was a very good movie except for the slow mo

I've been giving this some thought, and here's what I've come up with. They must do a Mr Fixit sequence in any sequel to redeem themselves. Or an Ultimate Hulk eating people. Otherwise this whole restart will need a reboot in 5 years as well. Methinks.

Although not the best movie of the summer (probably in the top 10 at least though, right?), the Incredible Hulk is getting ready for home release on October 21st. The HD Room has the info on the release on Blu Ray, or in this case "Green Ray"

Here is the spec list:

* U Control - Thunderbolt Files
* U Control - Scene Explorer
* U Control - Comic Book Gallery
* U Control - Animated Comic
* U Control - Picture in Picture
* Alternate Opening
* Deleted Scenes
* The Making of Incredible
* Becoming The Hulk
* Becoming The Abomination
* Anatomy of a Hulk Out
* From Comic Book to Screen
* Feature Commentary with Director Louis Leterrier and Tim Roth
* BD Live - My Chat
* BD Live - My Scenes Sharing
* BD Live - Exclusive Content


Hmmm.. Edward Norton is not doing a commentary? I can't believe it.