Q & A w/Louis Leterrier & Suggestions Box

[RedIsNotBlue]

The 2nd Transporter was garbage. From what I have seen from Unleashed though it is an amazing film especially visually.

 

[ROBOCOP CPU001]

The transporter films are fantasticly cool!

the fact he cast statham..who is becoming a british version of Bruce willis IMO, shows that the director has taste.

 

[CGHulk]

The purple pants might also look better in non-cgi form in close up's...if that's neccessary.

Cloth sims have gotten better since 2003 too.

 

[ultimatefan]

I think it´s surprising people are now so supportive of a full CGI Hulk, if I remember, it was one of the most criticized aspects of the first one. I know CGI has improved, but the "rubbery" effect still is there.

 

[Ions]

I know CGI has improved, but the "rubbery" effect still is there.

Yeah its a feature of prosthetics/animatronics to.

 

[Sava]

Yeah its a feature of prosthetics/animatronics to.

i know the answer to all our problems...stop motion!!!!

 

[Buttman]

i know the answer to all our problems...stop motion!!!!

Genius!

My question -
I know you've hinted at it vaguely being a sequel, (Superman Returns?) So, I'm asking, are we just going to begin with the Hulk, or is it going to follow on from the original, with everyone thinking Bana is dead?

 

[Kent]

I don't know if Mr. Leterrier is still taking questions, but if he is, here's mine:

Do you have any response to concerns fans of the first film may have that this movie will be moving into a happy-go-lucky "stupid fun" direction without the psychological aspect to it all that was so prominent in the Hulk?
Will Bruce still be portrayed as a tortured person, for whom the Hulk is a definate curse, or will the movie try to distance itself from the darker aspects of the Hulk mythos, in favor of a light "It's fun to be the Hulk" kind of tone?

As far as suggestions go, I'll mention some stuff I want, that I'm sure has already been mentioned before:

- A proper sequel (none of that "The first movie may have never happened" stuff)

- Eric Bana returning as Bruce Banner (this sort of goes back to the first point).

- CGI Hulk. (The Hulk I know and love has a body frame that simply cannot be done with a man in a suit).

- Tortured Bruce (no "I'm happy with being the Hulk" thank you very much).

 

[Obi-Ron]

The same process as the first films, processing whoever plays Bruce so his voice sounds deep and strong. As with the first, Eric Bana voiced Hulk and they just modified it to give the deep voice someone with such a huge size like Hulk would.

Has it been determined that Eric Bana was the voice of Hulk? I thought that was a mystery. Sigh, if only Ang Lee had put Bana in the motion capture suit...

BTW Thanks, Advanced Dark, for all your efforts.

 

[Ions]

Has it been determined that Eric Bana was the voice of Hulk? I thought that was a mystery. Sigh, if only Ang Lee had put Bana in the motion capture suit...

Someone posted that in a previous thread. And rewatching Hulk again(for the umpteenth time) I can pick Bruce's voice out. Very vague though.
I don't think the Bana in a suit was possible, as soon as filming ended Bana took a 9 month acting break to spend time with his family back in Aussie.

 

[Advanced Dark]

I think it´s surprising people are now so supportive of a full CGI Hulk, if I remember, it was one of the most criticized aspects of the first one. I know CGI has improved, but the "rubbery" effect still is there.

I thought the CGI in the first Hulk was awesome. It was only bad during the trasnformation scenes which is why I've been saying use other methods during those shots. Think about it. This was really the first film where a CGI charcter was the main attraction in a live action film to this extent. Not only that but they had to put the character in every environment from nightime, daylight, flying, fighting, falling, interacting with planes, bullets, people, dogs (LOL), etc...Aside from the trasnformations I was sucked into the film and totally enjoyed it and loved the CGI.

 

[Advanced Dark]

Has it been determined that Eric Bana was the voice of Hulk? I thought that was a mystery. Sigh, if only Ang Lee had put Bana in the motion capture suit...

BTW Thanks, Advanced Dark, for all your efforts.

Ang Lee was in the mo-cap suit. I thought he did a great job and though the film wasn't so well received by fans I thought it was his most difficult directing job to date. The bonus disc really shows how involved and attached he was to the project. Another small thing about first movie that bugged me a little was it felt like I was watching the A-Team. You know how nobody gets killed in the destruction and battles. I guess it needs to be suitable for kids but when you make a film as dark as it was...who cares. LOL. In most films if a bike accidently bumps into a car it explodes with fireworks going off but in The Hulk when he threw a helicopter into a mountainside it just kind of landed there real hard with not even smoke. What's the trajedy of the character in the origin film if he has enough control not to even accidently kill someone in his rages...except Josh Lucas. At the same time The Hulk is a character Marvel has pride in and he isn't a murderer but when he's that size and that strong you figure he'd slip up at least once.

 

[Ions]

Ang Lee was in the mo-cap suit. I thought he did a great job and though the film wasn't so well received by fans I thought it was his most difficult directing job to date. The bonus disc really shows how involved and attached he was to the project. Another small thing about first movie that bugged me a little was it felt like I was watching the A-Team. You know how nobody gets killed in the destruction and battles. I guess it needs to be suitable for kids but when you make a film as dark as it was...who cares. LOL. It most films if a bike accidently bumps into a car it explodes with fireworks going off but in The Hulk when he through a helicopter into a mountside it just kind of landed their real hard with not even smoke. What's the trajedy of the character in the origin film if he has enough control not to even accidently kill someone in his rages...except Josh Lucas. At the same time The Hulk is a character Marvel has pride in and he isn't a murderer but when he's that size and that strong you figure he'd slip up at least once.

Agreed with most of this. I think this has more to do with Marvel and Universal not wanting Hulk to be a killer. But yeah, that strong, I doubt he has the intelligence to realise accidental deaths resulting from his actions. But that's their choice. It's hard enough for Hulk to get fans as it is(just because of the dark and psychological aspects of the character), let alone if he's killing civilians and military.
Not everyone can identify with Bruce or Hulk. Where as Spider-man is custom made to be identifiable with just about everyone.

 

[Advanced Dark]

^ All true.

 

[Ions]

I thought the CGI in the first Hulk was awesome. It was only bad during the trasnformation scenes which is why I've been saying use other methods during those shots. Think about it. This was really the first film where a CGI charcter was the main attraction in a live action film to this extent. Not only that but they had to put the character in every environment from nightime, daylight, flying, fighting, falling, interacting with planes, bullets, people, dogs (LOL), etc...Aside from the trasnformations I was sucked into the film and totally enjoyed it and loved the CGI.

Also agree here too, though I didn't find the dogs a laugh. They are a little comical with their massive jowls. But they were pretty serious and dangerous. Imagine if the fight was as long as Ang wanted it to be, could of given it a much more raw/edgy feel to it as the dogs and Hulk became more desperate. Ah well.

 

[Advanced Dark]

No I loved the dogs but they really weren't...dogs because they were CGI that's what I meant...while everything else was live.

BTW I just found someone else on myspace and I'm setting up the same thing again I hope. This place is gonna get crazy if I can get the person to join here. You have no idea. Edit: Oh hell I just found someone else too. It might take time on these people though...we'll see. I'm working on it.

 

[RedIsNotBlue]

The dogs were a little too much and felt forced. The CGI for the most part was amazing so I don't see why anyone is complaining there.

 

[Ions]

No I loved the dogs but they really weren't...dogs because they were CGI that's what I meant...while everything else was live.

BTW I just found someone else on myspace and I'm setting up the same thing again I hope. This place is gonna get crazy if I can get the person to join here. You have no idea.

Oh you bastard! Don't tease us like this.
Is not fair. Trying to guess who it could be, hmmm. This person is involved in TIH, so hmm.
Hell the only person thats confirmed with this film is Zak?

 

[Advanced Dark]

^ Actually I openly asked Louis to get Zak over here so hopefully that will happen. I'm evil huh? And to think people busted my balls when I was e-mailing people to get answers. It'll take more time do to scheduling/timing I'm sure but it won't be right away. I'll keep your posted. <laughs in a dark evil manner and scurries away...>

 

[Sava]

Also agree here too, though I didn't find the dogs a laugh. They are a little comical with their massive jowls. But they were pretty serious and dangerous. Imagine if the fight was as long as Ang wanted it to be, could of given it a much more raw/edgy feel to it as the dogs and Hulk became more desperate. Ah well.

if the final dog fight sequence cost them 30mill, i wonder how much the original version would have cost, thats most than half the budget right there

 

[Sava]

No I loved the dogs but they really weren't...dogs because they were CGI that's what I meant...while everything else was live.

BTW I just found someone else on myspace and I'm setting up the same thing again I hope. This place is gonna get crazy if I can get the person to join here. You have no idea. Edit: Oh hell I just found someone else too. It might take time on these people though...we'll see. I'm working on it.

you are such a tease!!!


but your last surprise was a great one, so

 

[Stuart Green]

9/16/2006


I know a lot of fellow "Hulk" fans didn't like that the first movie lacked the whole tortured Bruce Banner tone, the "I must find a cure of the monster within me before I lose control and hurt someone else" aspect of it. But you also have to remember that there wasn't exactly time for him to find a cure because he was abducted by the military and held by the soldiers. While he did mention he was going to isolate and kill the Hulk before he did any real harm while speaking over the phone to his father, we just never got to see any of that happen because the film was too busy showing Bruce being held by Ross' men, the flashbacks of Bruce's surpressed childhood memories and so on.

But I do admit the parts that make me cringe from the first film were the moments where Bruce Banner is liking the changes, because it goes against one of the most popular aspects of Hulk's mythology: Banner DOESN'T want to change into the Hulk.

I also loathed the Hulk being CGI. With no disrespect intended, it's being overused in movies these days and looks fake. When I first saw "Hulk", I vividly remember Hulk's moments getting unintentional laughs (most notably when Hulk grows while held in the containment foam and all of the metamorphosis scenes). The first time the Hulk was shown in the movie, I recall a gentleman behind me actually getting up and yelling, "That ain't Hulk! It's a green Stay Puft with hair!" and that guy's outburst drew applause from almost half the audience. I'd rather see an actor in make-up, but if anyone else feels differently, we can agree to disagree, right?

Anyway, while I'm here, I did want to ask two quick questions to Mr. Leterrier, if he's still here. I don't think these have been asked before and I checked carefully over this thread, but if I missed them, sorry for the repeat questions:

#1.) Do you plan to explore the Betty Ross/Bruce Banner love interest further? I was very disappointed with their chemistry in "Hulk", since they were introduced as a broken-up couple from the start of the first movie.

#2.) Will we actually hear the Hulk speak this time like he does in the comics? I would love to finally hear him yell "Hulk Smash!" in the new movie.

Any answers are very much appreciated.
Thanks for your time.


Sincerely,
Stuart Green

 

[Spider - Man]

I totally disagree. I think in the action scenes he should be all CGI but the transformation scenes it might be better off with quick flashes of a man in suit or animatronix. I don't expect man-in-suit to work in action scenes...no way. Animatronix should be used whereever it can be. It worked great in Jurassic Park. Louis said they'll use the best tech for the scene that is needed. If cgi is the best he'll use it but the transformation scenes sucked in Ang's Hulk film. I loved the film as a whole but they should have used other methods and this is the way to do it.

So I agree nobody is big enough to fit the shoes of The Hulk in a suit. No way but the transformation scenes hell yes, and animatronics in non-action shots or some close ups might be better. Trust me...you wouldn't even notice and that's a good thing.

Ok, you are right. The transformations would lok better (heck, couldn't look any WORSE than in the first film) but for all the other scenes, I do NOT want 2 guys in suits slugging it out ala Godzilla and Gigan!

 

[Spider - Man]

The same process as the first films, processing whoever plays Bruce so his voice sounds deep and strong. As with the first, Eric Bana voiced Hulk and they just modified it to give the deep voice someone with such a huge size like Hulk would.

I'm pretty sure it was Ang who voiced the Hulk in the first film just like he "played" the Huk by being the mo-cap person for all the CGI scenes. Look at the special features on the dvd.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

ok, i´m going to play along too..

So, as you know (or should), The Hulk is more than a green goliath that smashes a lot of things and fights the Abomination and The Leader on a daily basis.
The Hulk is the physical manifestation of Banner´s repressed feelings.
That alone says that the Hulk should be an amazing serious and deep movie, not a light fun little movie made for teens and fanboys that don´t get a thing about the character, expect that he is green, big and likes to scream "Hulk smash".

- How serious and adult of a movie are you going to make?
- How deep into Banner´s repressed feelings and psyche, are you going to get into?
- What are the things that you think were not so well addressed, and you are going to get into?
And, for the record, in my opinion, Hulk is the best comic book movie made so far....but not perfect.
- How important is, in you opinion, for Hulk to talk?
- Are you going to get into the changes Ang Lee did, like the growing Hulk?
- Rest my mind a ease, what is your vision of the Hulk? And i don´t mean the story you guys are going to use, but what is Hulk to you?
- Why is Abomination the Hulk´s 2nd (some say is the 1st) biggest enemy? And no, it as NOTHING TO DO with the fact that he is big, green and as strong as the Green Goliath.
- Read my signature, and tell me, do you agree with it?

That´s all for now...