Hulk (2003) is STILL the BEST live-action version of the Hulk.

[HulkMaul990794]

I remember how excited I was to see this movie as a 8-year-old kid and then seeing it in theaters and loving it and I never had a problem with it and I have never gotten why it was so hated or why it's considered inferior to Edward Norton or Mark Ruffalo's Hulk.

I remember wondering for years as a kid why they never made a sequel to the 2003 film and remember how confused I was when Marvel completely rebooted Hulk with The Incredible Hulk (2008) and I always thought the 2008 film and Edward Norton's Hulk was good, but nowhere even in the same league as Ang Lee's Hulk. But then when I got into my teens and became a big Internet guru, I found about how much most comic book geeks and the movie-going masses absolutely hated Eric Bana's Hulk and how many people lump it into the big list of several 2000's comic book movie misfires like Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Catwoman, Ghost Rider, etc.

But, I just recently rewatched Hulk again all the way through on my 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray with perfect Xbox One quality with the volume really loud and the room lights completely off...and man......not only did it look and sound amazing and was it the absolute best movie experience I have personally had in a long time...but I was blown away by how much this film still holds up to this day. I love the Danny Elfman score, the story, the action and I'd go as far it holds up way better than ANY OTHER comic book film of that period, but I would go as far as to say it's better than ANY OTHER comic book film ever made period and THAT INCLUDES movies like Spider-Man 2 or the Christopher Nolan Batman movies or any of the X-Men films (as much as I still heavily enjoy them).

I just cannot get enough of this film and I long for a day when comic books and movies like this started being made again and long for day when the masses see this film for the massively underrated and missunderstood masterpiece it really it is.

 

[Greens]

I must have watched the Hulk scenes about 100 times. I used to love this movie.

 

[henzINNIT]

I never liked the 3rd act all that much but I certainly agree it is unfairly lumped in with inferior super hero movies. It's from a proper film-maker and for all its faults is far more interesting than most in the genre.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Agreed with this, it is.

 

[Ninjablade]

Not a huge fan of Hulk, but it does have one of my favorite visuals of any CBM fight sequences of David Banner and Hulk duking it out in the clouds as they travel between lighting strikes.

 

[Kuwolski]

I've always been a big fan of this.

 

[Roose Bolton]

I think it’s something of a mess, but I do think it’s the only honest to goodness attempt at actually adapting the core elements of the Hulk character beyond the man/monster smashing superhero aesthetic.

 

[psylockolussus]

The movie has no replay value for me.

 

[Hannibal75]

Hulk poodles and Nick Nolte.
Nuff said.

 

[jolldan]

Really enjoyed how they did the struggle between Banner & The Hulk in this one

I still prefer Norton's just for the final fight.

Hulk with a car as boxing gloves is always a win lol.

 

[Roose Bolton]

Hulk poodles and Nick Nolte.
Nuff said.

You’re right. Oscar nominated actor Nick Nolte. Nuff said indeed.

 

[Hannibal75]

You’re right. Oscar nominated actor Nick Nolte. Nuff said indeed.

And Oscar winner Halle Berry starred in Catwoman.

 

[Dark Raven]

The special effects for Hulk 2003 are terrible and Hulk looked rubbery and fake. That said, Hulk 2008 still looked fake as well, especially the fight with the army on the university campus when Hulk jumped down from that passageway.

If there were a movie that combined elements of both, but featuring Hulk as he looked in Avengers, that would've been much better.

The desert fight with the army in Hulk 2003 was great even if the special effects weren't. That's something missing from the 2008 film. Sam Elliot was better as General Ross than William Hurt. But Hulk 2003 seriously dragged in places and we were subjected to looking at a rock or other odd visuals when we wanted to see some smashing going on.

TIH was almost too much of a reaction to Hulk 2003, which meant that the pendulum swung in the opposite direction almost to an extreme in some cases.

I would've liked a Hulk film with Avengers Hulk (as opposed to Endgame Hulk) where he might still be on the run and Wolverine is sent after him. Of course, that can't happen now, as Ruffalo is now the Professor.

 

[jolldan]

I dunno if it was maybe just in my home town that this spread but interested to find out, I remember one of my buddies trying to tell me that they created a robotic version of the Hulk (which I know they did do at some level) that did all of the running in the desert scene. By the next week at school pretty sure literally half my year bought that eve after seeing the movie lol.

Honestly felt like cracking him on the back of the dome just to see if his brain was still intact

 

[HulkMaul990794]

The special effects for Hulk 2003 are terrible and Hulk looked rubbery and fake.

The desert fight with the army in Hulk 2003 was great even if the special effects weren't. That's something missing from the 2008 film. But Hulk 2003 seriously dragged in places and we were subjected to looking at a rock or other odd visuals when we wanted to see some smashing going on.

Sorry, I couldn't disagree with you more on the look and special effects of Eric Bana's Hulk. I personally loved and still love the way he look and I personally see his Hulk as the ideal version of the way the Hulk should look. But, if anything, outdated television and DVD quality definitely DOES NOT do this film justice, so you probably never know how absolutely amazing and beautiful this film absolutely still looks if you don't have the recent Blu-ray edition.

 

[henzINNIT]

People complained about the Hulk effects even back in 2003 and I never really got why. The motion and lighting is mostly really good if you ask me. Hulk is a big green guy so he stands out as much as you'd expect. He looks 100 times better than the Incredible Hulk.

 

[Guts]

It had my favorite climax as far as Hulk movies go.

 

[Enriquespy]

As a whole it wasn't a good movie.

It did had cool scenes tho.

And by scenes I mean the one where Hulk fights the army in the dessert.

 

[metaphysician]

The Ang Lee Hulk is nowhere near as good as the Ruffalo version. However, its still miles ahead of TIH. At least the characters in Hulk 2003 actually feel like characters, and not paper thin cutouts from central casting. Even Edward Norton practically sleep walked through the thing.

 

[Filmfreak]

I only truly liked Ruffalo's Hulk in the first Avengers movie. In the rest he became too much of a comic relief character.

As for the 2003 version I used to love it. And though I definitely don't hold it that dear these days, I still think it's underrated and has some really good things in it. Especially directing and casting-wise.

 

[Roose Bolton]

And Oscar winner Halle Berry starred in Catwoman.

Also played Storm in some of the most successful comic book films ever made.

 

[JimThompson]

I like it. Certainly was more enjoyable than The Incredible Hulk.

 

[Detective Conan]

It’s a fairly close approximation to the Peter David’s run. Even the Hulk dogs that everybody hates in that film are from the comics.

I think of it as this weird, indie under the guise of a superhero film that may have bit off more than it could chew with its dour psychological examination of the character when audiences weren’t exactly primed for that type of introspective exploration of a silly comic book character like the Hulk(interesting to note Nolan would attempt something similar with Batman with much more successful results two years later with ‘Batman Begins’).

I enjoy the symbolism and artistic ambition of the film, and much prefer it over the bland and forgettable MCU reboot which always felt like an apology for the Ang Lee film with its over-course corrections. To this day, just about the only thing I remember about the 2008 film was the Iron Man cameo. While I wouldn’t call the Ang Lee film a masterpiece per se I do think of it as a interesting pyscho-drama that was released at the wrong time.

 

[Detective Conan]

Sorry for the double post: I just wanted to say I can’t believe I forgot to mention that one of the best things about the film is Danny Elfman’s awesome soundtrack.

 

[Marvel united]

Still remember seeing it in theaters. Loved the movie when I was 13 but I've since recognized a lot of the issues that bring the movie down. I wouldn't say it's terrible, appreciate the ambition from Ang Lee