I've been a comic book reader for 19 years, and a Hulk fan for almost 10 years.
I've been a Hulk fan ever since 2002, after I picked up "Hulk: The End" one day while browsing in a comic book shop. After I read that book, I started reading Hulk monthly and began collecting back issues written by Peter David.
I'm not really a debater or arguer so hopefully this doesn't lead to that, but I wanted to give my opinion on both movies, as well as tell my stories of attending both movies on opening night.
I remember going into our local theater in 2003, the night "HULK" opened, and seeing the theater decorated in a Hulk theme. They had mini-posters of the movie and even had an employee dressed up as Hulk (In a white shredded shirt look lol). The line was real long to get in and I remember the theater being packed. During the movie, I remember a man who wore a Hulk shirt, slumping over half way through the movie and began to snore. lol. Walking out of the theater that night, I remember looking at people's faces and reactions and seeing nothing but disappointment. Some faces had looked like they had just woke up from a long sleep. It was very disappointing for me, and I feel for the majority of the fans.
A few years later, I go to North Richland Hills' theater in the Dallas area to see "THE INCREDIBLE HULK" opening night. I remember seeing this HUGE statue of Hulk in the theater lobby that was roped off. There were quite a few people lined up to see the movie. When the Hulk starts fighting the military in the campus scene, I remember the audience really started getting into the movie. I also remember claps and and exciting "ooos!" coming from the audience during the ending brawl scene. When the audience walked out of the theater that night, their reactions were much more positive than they were back in 2003. I could briefly hear the excitement in some people's voices as they talked about the last scene and that they couldn't wait to see Hulk in The Avengers. I walked out feeling like I finally got a movie where Hulk got to kick some butt.
So a few weeks ago, to get ready for The Avengers, I pop in the "HULK" and "THE INCREDIBLE HULK" blu-rays and watch them back-to-back. Ang Lee's was a struggle to get through. The annoying theme, the Hulk's size, The Hulk dogs and the lame comic panels when people were killed, really made this movie unenjoyable. I feel if maybe about 20-30 minutes were trimmed, it would help the film's pacing a lot. There were some parts that really made the movie drag.
I put in TIH afterwards, and from the beginning credits I was drawn in. The story was much much more interesting. I like the addition of the pulse and thought Norton pulled off Banner much better than Bana. The campus scene was exciting, fun and awesome to watch. The ending scene was even better. I turned it off and enjoyed it. The only minor nitpicks I have with it still is I think some of the CGI in some scenes are very cheesy looking and I really wish they would have used Abomination's original comic book look/design. Other than that, I still love this movie. I think if this had been the first Hulk movie, instead of Ang Lee's Hulk, we would still have a Hulk franchise going strong ala X-Men and Spider-man. I think Ang Lee's movie really put a bad taste in people's mouths, which is what I think really lead to this movie not doing so well at the box office.
So yeah, TIH definately gets my vote as the best Hulk movie out of the two. After TIH and Avengers, I really hope Marvel has another Hulk movie planned. Now that they have finally got Hulk right, he needs another movie to show he is truly Marvel's second biggest icon (after Spider-man.).