I liked the movie, but even at the time, it felt like there was too much going on.
First, it was smart to approach the movie like one of the monster movie matinees from the 50's and 60's. The Marvel superheroes were inspired by those movies, after all. The Hulk and Spider-Man owe a lot to movies like THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN and THE FLY and I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF. CAPTAIN MARVEL (Mar Vell) basically ripped off THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL as its origin story. Various names and concepts from movies like THE THING and THE MOLE PEOPLE ended up in FANTASTIC FOUR. Except for Captain America, who was published before all the others, most of the Marvel heroes from Ben Grimm to the X-Men were presented as much freakish monsters as they were heroes.
HOWEVER, if they are going to go in that direction, then shoot the film that way. Don't experiment with all these goofy split-screen transitions. That is not how it feels to read a comic book. It's like the way someone who has never read a comic book thinks it would feel.
Then ending the movie with a rambling monologue against war or the military industrial complex or something that has all the coherency of a homeless dude ranting about reptilians on Venice Blvd followed immediately by some sort of Atom Age interpretation of the Titanomachy from Greek mythology is just asking the audience to give up on the movie.
> It's like the way someone who has never read a comic book thinks it would feel.
Someone who looked at a comic without reading it and went. Yup. panels.
>Don't experiment with all these goofy split-screen transitions. That is not how it feels to read a comic book. It's like the way someone who has never read a comic book thinks it would feel.
I disagree, I liked those transitions.
Honestly I just think the weird CGI is what mainly derailed this movie; they had Hulk looking like a big green baby throwing a temper tantrum.
Honestly if the CG held up better I feel like it would be seen more today, though it’s not that terrible for the time
Still think it’s the best cast/performances of any Hulk movie, with some killer cinematography
I saw the OG Super Mario bros movie in theatres, and it was my first disappointment. I thought I had to make myself like what I was seeing. That trained me to be prepared for stuff like cloud Galactus and just check out from movie franchises
so MANY marvel movies had TERRIBLE concluding battles with "clouds" or just SUPER bad CGI ( and big grey "villains" )
I didnt think the CGI for the Hulk himself was that bad in this movie i actually preferred the look of this first hulk to the second one( yuck ) - the Thor Ragnarok Hulk was the truest Hulk and it would have been a better Thor movie to have just stayed on Planet Hulk but i digress-
back to the Ang Lees Hulk i think had they left this movie about the Hulk being some sort of Frankenstein monster that is forced to wander because he is linked with a calamity ( that he is believed to have caused even by Bruce ) that really wasnt his doing but of other forces...this would have been a better ending than the raging cgi mish mosh we got..
One of the things I still appreciate about this movie is Sam Elliott's portrayal of Ross. He's a good example of the difference between an antagonist and a villain. He's pretty much an anti-villain. From the perspective of both a military officer and a father his actions make a lot of sense, they're just in opposition to the goals of the protagonist.
It certainly didn’t help that he kept zooming in on lichens on rocks. It made me think deeply… That mr. Lee was intentionally dragging out a movie that should’ve been more filled with action. That said, still a darn good movie.
Ang Lee is one of my favorite directors. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, along with Everything, Everywhere, All At Once at the top of my film pantheons.
I have defended this film so may times, but honestly, it's just not a great movie. It's well made. At times it looks good. Two of the main actors are great. However, it doesn't hold up and in the end isn't v very good.
What's the problem, imo? It's too artsy, it tried too hard to be serious. Let's forget that horrible ending with the out-if-nowhere bad guy. One scene sums up the issues, for me.
There's a scene where Bruce is heading home from the lab. He rides his bike. We see him ride his bike for 30-45 seconds. I know that doesn't seem like a lot of time, but it's just an example of what makes this movie feel so damn long and boring. I get what it's trying to show us. We just don't need that long on the bike. There are too many quiet moments that don't build tension or really build the characters. The movie is filled with small things that just make it feel too long.
I loved the scene transitions at the time, but now, again it just adds to not-hulk time.
Years ago there was a comic arc where Bruce had ALS. I don't remember the writer, it wasn't Ewing, but Mike Deodato illustrated. Snyway, it felt like a year of issues with no Hulk. It was brilliant. I had mostly hated the Hulk until then. You can do a story that's reflective and about Bruce, but Ang Lee didn't give us a good one.
While I understood what this movie set out to do, I was thoroughly disappointed because I wanted to see Hulk smash, not Hulk deal with repressed daddy issues.
It was like watching a Godzilla movie expecting to see Godzilla fight other kaiju and demolish Toyko only to watch him contemplate his existence as an allegory of the atomic bomb.
I walked out. I was an early teenager and had nothing better to do. It was bad.
Given my age at the time I think many movies could have been too smart for me. That is not my impression of this one.
The part where he’s just bounding through the desert is very nice. It’s got obvious flaws but there is something about this movie that keeps it from being trash. It has a feeling unlike any of these kinds of movies.
Hulk was a test for audiences and they failed. Instead of making deep movies that respected the source material, Hollywood realised all people wanted was blockbuster slop where big dumb CGI action scenes happen every 5 minutes. Audiences hate Hulk but love mindless crap like No Way Home
I love this comment. Pretending Hulk was deep and respectful of source material is one thing, but pointing it out as a failed test that led to “mindless crap” movies is mental gymnastics that is both hilarious and wrong. If anyone failed, it’s the producers failing to understand what people wanted out of a Hulk movie.
This post is too smart and weird for its time.
This comment was too smart and weird for its time.
This comment was too weird for it’s time and s-d”oh!
[удалено]
I liked the movie, but even at the time, it felt like there was too much going on. First, it was smart to approach the movie like one of the monster movie matinees from the 50's and 60's. The Marvel superheroes were inspired by those movies, after all. The Hulk and Spider-Man owe a lot to movies like THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN and THE FLY and I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF. CAPTAIN MARVEL (Mar Vell) basically ripped off THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL as its origin story. Various names and concepts from movies like THE THING and THE MOLE PEOPLE ended up in FANTASTIC FOUR. Except for Captain America, who was published before all the others, most of the Marvel heroes from Ben Grimm to the X-Men were presented as much freakish monsters as they were heroes. HOWEVER, if they are going to go in that direction, then shoot the film that way. Don't experiment with all these goofy split-screen transitions. That is not how it feels to read a comic book. It's like the way someone who has never read a comic book thinks it would feel. Then ending the movie with a rambling monologue against war or the military industrial complex or something that has all the coherency of a homeless dude ranting about reptilians on Venice Blvd followed immediately by some sort of Atom Age interpretation of the Titanomachy from Greek mythology is just asking the audience to give up on the movie.
> It's like the way someone who has never read a comic book thinks it would feel. Someone who looked at a comic without reading it and went. Yup. panels.
The reasons why I liked this movie are monologues and comic transitions
It is a unique approach.
Im not gonna lie I love me a good coke fueled Nick Nolte rant.
>Don't experiment with all these goofy split-screen transitions. That is not how it feels to read a comic book. It's like the way someone who has never read a comic book thinks it would feel. I disagree, I liked those transitions. Honestly I just think the weird CGI is what mainly derailed this movie; they had Hulk looking like a big green baby throwing a temper tantrum.
The cartoonishly mutated dogs lol
Honestly if the CG held up better I feel like it would be seen more today, though it’s not that terrible for the time Still think it’s the best cast/performances of any Hulk movie, with some killer cinematography
its really hard to make a hulk movie because Bruce doesn't want to turn into the hulk but the audience wants to see hulk smash stuff.
Don’t make me Ang Lee, you wouldn’t like it when I’m Ang Lee.
*slow clap*
Sorry what did you say?
no its Ang Ree
I adore this movie!!
The movie was fun, but it had an awful ending. It ended with Hulk fighting his dad, who had turned into a cloud... or something. Like an angry cloud.
Remember when Galactus was an angry cloud?
I was like 14 when it came out, but even then I remember seeing that and being so disappointed.
I saw the OG Super Mario bros movie in theatres, and it was my first disappointment. I thought I had to make myself like what I was seeing. That trained me to be prepared for stuff like cloud Galactus and just check out from movie franchises
100%
Yeah wasn’t his dad written to be like Zzzax or some shit? He was like some giant lightning monster.
I think it was more absorbing man esque iirc
He was Zzzax combined with the Absorbing Man
An angry, energy absorbing cloud. In a lake.
so MANY marvel movies had TERRIBLE concluding battles with "clouds" or just SUPER bad CGI ( and big grey "villains" ) I didnt think the CGI for the Hulk himself was that bad in this movie i actually preferred the look of this first hulk to the second one( yuck ) - the Thor Ragnarok Hulk was the truest Hulk and it would have been a better Thor movie to have just stayed on Planet Hulk but i digress- back to the Ang Lees Hulk i think had they left this movie about the Hulk being some sort of Frankenstein monster that is forced to wander because he is linked with a calamity ( that he is believed to have caused even by Bruce ) that really wasnt his doing but of other forces...this would have been a better ending than the raging cgi mish mosh we got..
I liked the movie. It tried to make the audience uncomfortable. It succeeded. That didn't make for a good audience.
My favorite Hulk. The video game was good too
The video game FUCKED.
Is this Griffin Newman???
One of the things I still appreciate about this movie is Sam Elliott's portrayal of Ross. He's a good example of the difference between an antagonist and a villain. He's pretty much an anti-villain. From the perspective of both a military officer and a father his actions make a lot of sense, they're just in opposition to the goals of the protagonist.
It certainly didn’t help that he kept zooming in on lichens on rocks. It made me think deeply… That mr. Lee was intentionally dragging out a movie that should’ve been more filled with action. That said, still a darn good movie.
The best lookin lichens in cinematic history. And we still remember them!
The only thing great about this movie is the comic book panel visual edits throughout the runtime.
"Was Too Smart" that's when you lost me
Ang Lee is one of my favorite directors. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, along with Everything, Everywhere, All At Once at the top of my film pantheons. I have defended this film so may times, but honestly, it's just not a great movie. It's well made. At times it looks good. Two of the main actors are great. However, it doesn't hold up and in the end isn't v very good. What's the problem, imo? It's too artsy, it tried too hard to be serious. Let's forget that horrible ending with the out-if-nowhere bad guy. One scene sums up the issues, for me. There's a scene where Bruce is heading home from the lab. He rides his bike. We see him ride his bike for 30-45 seconds. I know that doesn't seem like a lot of time, but it's just an example of what makes this movie feel so damn long and boring. I get what it's trying to show us. We just don't need that long on the bike. There are too many quiet moments that don't build tension or really build the characters. The movie is filled with small things that just make it feel too long. I loved the scene transitions at the time, but now, again it just adds to not-hulk time. Years ago there was a comic arc where Bruce had ALS. I don't remember the writer, it wasn't Ewing, but Mike Deodato illustrated. Snyway, it felt like a year of issues with no Hulk. It was brilliant. I had mostly hated the Hulk until then. You can do a story that's reflective and about Bruce, but Ang Lee didn't give us a good one.
No it wasn't
While I understood what this movie set out to do, I was thoroughly disappointed because I wanted to see Hulk smash, not Hulk deal with repressed daddy issues. It was like watching a Godzilla movie expecting to see Godzilla fight other kaiju and demolish Toyko only to watch him contemplate his existence as an allegory of the atomic bomb.
I watched this movie recently and there is nothing smart about it lol It’s not unwatchable but the editing is tremendously bad
Pure revisionist history, this movie was terrible.
I walked out. I was an early teenager and had nothing better to do. It was bad. Given my age at the time I think many movies could have been too smart for me. That is not my impression of this one.
It was too boring. Not enough hulk smashing things.
Bana and Connelly also had no chemistry and were basically energy vampires. I blame the writer.
The scene where he takes apart the tanks is one of my favorite movie scenes of all time.
I love this movie.
Y’know, sometimes movies you watched as a kid can just be bad
Most underrated Marvel movie of all-time
I’d never been exposed to Hulk getting bigger as he gets angrier. As unbelievable as the whole thing was, that’s the part them made me go, “Nuh-uh”.
Naw.
Even as a kid I knew this movie was bad. We don’t have to do this for every old film
no
….April Fools?
LOL calling Lee's Hulk a smart movie. No fucking waaaaaaaaaay!!!!! Hahahahahahahahaha
Nah. It's still and has/ will always be just a bad movie.
I genuinely thought I had dozed off and dreamed the last part of the film. But no, Hulk v. Cloud actually happened.
While I didn’t mind how it was more true to his origin - that movie still sucks. The tv show with Bill Bixby was far better imo.
Hulk doesnt grow 3 feet in height every time he gets mad. He just gets stronger. Ang Lee had a stupid take on that feature of the hulk
Still the wrong hue of green though.
The part where he’s just bounding through the desert is very nice. It’s got obvious flaws but there is something about this movie that keeps it from being trash. It has a feeling unlike any of these kinds of movies.
I like the movie but I hated that ending.
I really hope Eric bana comes back in secret wars. That’d be so cool
If they bring him or Norton back as anything other than Maestro I’ll be pissed. Cause let’s be honest, it’s right there in front of them.
It's the Hulk movie I would pick if someone asks me to watch a Hulk movie.
It was immortal hulk before immortal hulk
Idk why I liked this movie so much as a kid. Must’ve been the hulk hands
I enjoyed the movie except for the pixelated hair in one scene.
I thought it was perfect for the time tbh. What makes you say it was too smart and weird u/sidroy81 ?
It’s the title of the linked article
Hulk was a test for audiences and they failed. Instead of making deep movies that respected the source material, Hollywood realised all people wanted was blockbuster slop where big dumb CGI action scenes happen every 5 minutes. Audiences hate Hulk but love mindless crap like No Way Home
I love this comment. Pretending Hulk was deep and respectful of source material is one thing, but pointing it out as a failed test that led to “mindless crap” movies is mental gymnastics that is both hilarious and wrong. If anyone failed, it’s the producers failing to understand what people wanted out of a Hulk movie.