Hulk (2003)

[LandBaron 1]

This movie is bad on so many levels. First, its shot really weird. Second the Hulk looks like he goes to all you can eat buffets when ever he's not on screen. The main bad guys in the movies are dogs, and Nick Nolte has some anger issues that dont fit in just right. This movie is a steaming turd.

[Nasher 29]

It so unusual for a director to be miscast in a movie but Ang Lee seems to have made that a new possibility by balking at making a super hero movie and deciding instead to make an artistic exploration of angst and loss with some leaping around in the last 10 minutes.

 

I recall renting it with friends and two of us were asleep before half way and were warned not to bother with finishing the movie the next day.

[Lutheshow 2]

This movie was so bad. Most Marvel fans don't even consider this as a valid part of the collection.

 

Stan Lee didn't even want to have a cameo n'uff said.

[jeffersx 0]

Hulk (2003) is horwful (combination of horrible and awful) and should definitely be the subject of a future HDTGM. I saw it in the theatre and just remember walking out after the show in complete confusion about what I had just seen. I'm not sure what Ang Lee was going for, but this movie still just baffles me that it ever got made.

[thestray 361]

Oh man... I'm in the extreme minority of people who kinda liked it, haha. There's a lot wrong with it, but it had it's moments for me. I would not mind them doing this movie though.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

While I can appreciate the film a little more now, I remember being sooooooooo disappointed when it came out, as more than anything, it wasn't the kind of movie that it NEEDED to be. I remember the marketing and merchandising really being aimed at kids, and then seeing the film and knowing there were going to be a lot of upset parents at my theater, not because of the adult themes or anything like that, but because no one does anything but TALK for the first hour of this very long movie.

 

Also, I like Eric Bana now, but at that point in his career, he'd been in a few things people would have seen, but he was still essentially an unknown. That is NOT the kind of actor you need in a movie like this where all you have is the actors spouting jargon back and forth for the first hour. If nothing else was different, having Edward Norton the first time around may have at least made this a more tolerable movie for general audiences. I liked him in the second film, but they could have put anyone in that thing. It's like the casting was backwards in that regard, like Eric Bana ordinarily would have been the guy that you would have gotten to replace Norton if he was a prick to work with the first time around or tried to hold out for more money or whatever led to him NOT being invited back for Avengers. I liked Ruffalo as Banner, but it would have been cool to see them bring Bana back into the fold.

[GiveMeYourBaby 102]

Watched the beginning of this on HBOGo today, and it is even more terrible than I remember. Wooden acting, random dialogue and it was a box office bust of epic proportions. All great HDTGM fodder.

[seanotron 2307]

I'm with Roger Ebert on this one. This movie is weird and insane and wonderful. I love it. Nick Nolte is giving us all a masterclass in chewing the scenery HARD. And truthfully, I wish some of the current Marvel directors would take a cue from Ang Lee because this movie is shot so beautifully. He really managed to project a comic book page onto the screen.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I have to agree that it really was shot beautifully. I appreciated that Ang Lee really wanted to bring the comic-vibe to the screen, but unfortunately it just did not pay off for me. I think it was a combination of everything rather than just his directing. The acting from every single cast member was awful. The special effects were awful. Everything is awful (please sing the tune of Everything is Awesome while reading this).

[Lando 2019]

The only death in this movie is this:

[seanotron 2307]

I have to agree that it really was shot beautifully. I appreciated that Ang Lee really wanted to bring the comic-vibe to the screen, but unfortunately it just did not pay off for me. I think it was a combination of everything rather than just his directing. The acting from every single cast member was awful. The special effects were awful. Everything is awful (please sing Everything is Awesome while reading this).

 

I totally get it not working for people. I don't even think it really works. But I still like it.

 

I agree that the CGI is super inconsistent. Ebert even pointed out the oddity of faraway shots of the Hulk looking worse than closeups, which makes no sense at all.

 

BUT there are some really great effects, like that fight between Hulk and Absorbing Man where they jump from cloud to cloud via lightning. That thing is absolutely beautiful.

 

I would also argue that the casting is much better than the Ed Norton Hulk.

Sam Elliot's Thunderbolt Ross > William Hurt's Thunderbolt Ross

Jennifer Connolly's Betty > Liv Tyler's Betty

Etc., etc.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I totally get it not working for people. I don't even think it really works. But I still like it.

 

I agree that the CGI is super inconsistent. Ebert even pointed out the oddity of faraway shots of the Hulk looking worse than closeups, which makes no sense at all.

 

BUT there are some really great effects, like that fight between Hulk and Absorbing Man where they jump from cloud to cloud via lightning. That thing is absolutely beautiful.

 

I would also argue that the casting is much better than the Ed Norton Hulk.

Sam Elliot's Thunderbolt Ross > William Hurt's Thunderbolt Ross

Jennifer Connolly's Betty > Liv Tyler's Betty

Etc., etc.

Oh man yeah the cloud fight was actually pretty spectacular. But that video that Lando posted above may be some of the worst I've ever seen. It came out in 2003 and all of that reads like a 90s movie.

 

I also agree about Sam Elliot being greater than William Hurt but I have to say I really liked Liv Tyler more than Jennifer Connolly. I may be slightly biased because I genuinely love Liv but I enjoyed her performance in The Incredible Hulk more.

 

And I don't think any of the Bruce Banners beat Mark Ruffalo so that's not a fair fight haha.

[Zeuz's Lazy Eye 6]

I LITERALLY fell asleep in the theater for this one, I think it's just more of a boring movie than an outright terrible one.

[GiveMeYourBaby 102]

What drove me nuts about this movie before it even came out is that nebbish Bruce Banner was being played by Eric Bana, who they could have convincingly done a Lou Ferrigno and just painted himself green to transform into the incredible hulk.

 

As for they way the movie is edited, the comic book transitions were distractingly terrible and cheesy.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

I LITERALLY fell asleep in the theater for this one, I think it's just more of a boring movie than an outright terrible one.

My biggest issue at the time was that it wasn't the kind of movie that it NEEDED to be. I caught it a night or two before it came out, and all I could think after the first half or so was that we were going to have SO many angry parents. I mean, not necessarily because it wasn't for kids (although it wasn't), but because it is SO boring, and nothing happens that would interest kids in the least. It was totally marketed to kids though, and if you'd seen the toy aisles, you'd think that this was going to be the action/adventure movie of the summer, not a movie about daddy issues. We do have it to thank though for Hulk Hands, possibly the greatest toy ever.

 

Anyway, if it was going to be a talkier film like this, it needed a star, someone that could hold your attention through an hour of technobabble and psychological stuff, not an unknown like Eric Bana. I think they got the casting right the second time around with Norton, or at least it was closer, because he's a good known actor that can be pretty captivating with the right material. However, the Hulk movie that he got was a different beast altogether.

 

Edit: Oh jeez, I only just saw that I'd basically repeated what I'd already said in a comment from three years before...

[Elektra Boogaloo 3371]

I think this would be a great movie to do! It is so BORING, yet everyone who worked on it is amazing. It boggles the mind.