Hulk (2003)

Director:

Ang Lee

Writers (WGA):

Stan Lee (Marvel comic book character) and
Jack Kirby (Marvel comic book character) ...

Release Date:

20 June 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Unleash the fury!

Plot:

Bruce Banner, a genetics researcher with a tragic past, suffers an accident that causes him to transform into a raging green monster when he gets angry.

Plot Keywords:

Radiation | Monster | General | Technology | Scientist

Awards:

2 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Eric Bana	...	Bruce Banner
Jennifer Connelly	...	Betty Ross
Sam Elliott	...	Ross
Josh Lucas	...	Talbot
Nick Nolte	...	Father
Paul Kersey	...	Young David Banner
Cara Buono	...	Edith Banner
Todd Tesen	...	Young Ross
Kevin Rankin	...	Harper
Celia Weston	...	Mrs. Krensler
Mike Erwin	...	Teenage Bruce Banner
Lou Ferrigno	...	Security Guard
Stan Lee	...	Security Guard
Regi Davis	...	Security Guard
Craig Damon	...	Security Guard

Also Known As:

Big Green (USA) (fake working title)
The Hulk (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, some disturbing images and brief partial nudity.

Runtime:

138 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX | SDDS | DTS-ES

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Iceland:12 | Portugal:M/12 (original rating) | Malaysia:U | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Canada:PG | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 (cut) | Germany:16 | Ireland:12 | Mexico:B | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:All | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39955)

Filming Locations:

Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Holds the record for largest second weekend box office drop for a film that opened at #1, with a -69.7% drop.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Hulk pulls the poodle from the windshield of Betty's car the entire windshield is smashed. The next view of the car shows only a hole on the driver's side of the windshield.

Quotes:

Betty Ross: All you've given Bruce is fear. Fear of life.
Father: Fear. Perhaps, Miss Ross. And loneliness, too. Yes. I feel them both. But I have lived completely once. I was so much in love. And she so much wanted a baby. My baby. I could tell from the moment she conceived that it wasn't a son I had given her, but something else...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Andy Barker, P.I.: The Big No Sleep (#1.5)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Mother

Very impressive!

I finally caught up with the film on DVD, after missing its cinema release and just not having the urge to see it until now. It has had some rather bad press, so I wasn't actually expecting very much.

One of the reasons I have waited so long was to let my son, (who is now eight) grow up a bit before seeing it. He was interested in the tie-in products filling the shelves in all the stores on release. A blanket-marketing ploy that is becoming more and more hysterical, I fear.

Another was that I was wary of renting it as the Hulk character has been rather mal-treated in live-action form.

Until Ang Lee's film.

Firstly, this isn't by any stretch of the imagination, a kids' film. Though my younger children watched it, it gave them serious food for thought about what scientists do to animals and people in the name of science. My oldest was enthralled. She appreciated Lee's magnificent use of the film medium.

This is a very dark movie. The origin-story has been manipulated and updated linking the two lead characters (Bana and Connelly) in a sorrowful, fearful event that happened to them both in their childhood. Nice touch.

"Banner's" (Eric Bana's) father (played by Nick Nolte) shuffles back into his life after 30 years incarceration for causing the events that had traumatized the young Banner. Banner later finds that his father had "experimented" on him when they were still a whole family. This creepy device effectively modernizes the story and it's ultimate revelation is a clever way of releasing the pent-up rage that Banner jr has locked within his mind. This rage feeds the Hulk. Banner finally becomes the Hulk after some incredible bravery in the lab.

The film's effects are superb. I am a very happy viewer. This is great cinema. A wonderful adaptation of a tortured, misunderstood human being.

Highly recommended, by me, for true Hulk fans.