(courtesy of ILM)—and Ang Lee, simultaneously recognizing the advantages and disadvantages of this approach to the character, designed the landscape of his film (scripted by John Turman, Michael France and James Schamus from Schamus’ story) to accom- modate it. HULK employs a constantly moving, sliding editing scheme— partially based on the interplay of comic book panels), but also em- ploying innovative cinematic tran- sitions at virtually every other turn. The result can neither be “read” like a comic nor watched as a tra- ditional movie; the effect is just disorienting enough to give the strange surprises a chance to ac- tually fit in. Similarly, the perfor- mances are quite appropriate and believable, from Bana’s bottled emotions to Connelly’s conflict between affection and duty, to Elliott’s military precision (an ad- versary he may be, but a villain he isn’t—he’s a man doing his job). But the show is stolen by Nick Nolte’s David Banner—a mad sci- entist in every sense of both words. It is he who justifies the film’s most outrageous moments—which in- volve a trio of dogs (one of them a French poodle) that are “hulked up” and sent to attack Betty, but end up battling their human coun- terpart instead. While HULK was not the first film to feature a mon- ster poodle (THE BONEYARD has that dubious honor), it may be the first to make the idea work: it may be a ridiculous-looking creature, but it’s exactly the sort of thing that Nolte’s disheveled, disturbed mind would concoct. As for the Hulk himself? Of course, he’s a simula- tion—so some suspension of dis- belief is required; but once it’s there, you can literally follow him to the stratosphere for an appro- priately surreal moment. And shortly afterwards, Bana and Nolte literally face off for an intense fa- ther/son showdown, highlighted by
an appallingly false “paternal” moment (“Go ahead and cry, son”) that sets the stage for an apoca- lyptic finale. This is no HULK any- one has seen before—but the elements that put many viewers off are exactly those that fans of the film appreciate the most. Universal has released HULK on DVD in both widescreen (1.85:1) and standard two-disc set versions—we reviewed the former and advise potential buy- ers to scrutinize the easily mistak- able packing carefully to ensure that they buy the right one. The image quality is excellent and free of flaws, as is the 5.1 Dolby Digi- tal soundtrack (available in English, French and Spanish), though the Danny Elfman score has not been given an isolated option. Feature commentary is provided by Ang Lee, who pauses to watch the film almost as often as he speaks. In one highlight, he addresses the never-ending question of why the Hulk’s pants never rip completely off—in deference to the issue, the “dogfight” sequence was originally planned to take place sans trou- sers, but Lee soon gave up on this idea, feeling that he was directing an AUSTIN POWERS movie in his attempt to avoid showing too much! (The pants do come off briefly at the end of the scene.) Disc One’s extras also include sev- eral minutes worth of deleted scenes (a high school flashback is not without interest, and Ferrigno actually gets some dia- logue in another bit (“A poodle?”). HULK CAM is a branching option— a logo appearing at certain times during the film can be highlighted to access behind-the-scenes glimpses. And ANATOMY OF THE HULK is an interactive feature: click on the body part of your choice to read some informational tidbits re- garding it. Cast/filmmaker bios are provided, and space is wasted with commercials for Sunny Delight and Chase Bank masquerading as
legitimate supplements (though the spots do feature mild “super- hero” themes).
The bulk of the supplemen- tal material is reserved for Disc Two. HULKIFICATION gives four noted comic book artists (Adam Kubert, Tommy Ohtsuka, Salva- dor Larroca and Katsuya Terada) the opportunity to translate a scene from the film (Talbot’s ill- fated attack on Bruce) into their medium. EVOLUTION OF THE HULK (16m 16s) traces the char- acter all the way from the comics (Stan Lee and Marvel president Avi Arad are interviewed throughout), to the Saturday morning MARVEL SUPERHEROES cartoon, through the Bixby/Ferrigno series and ulti- mately to the new movie. THE IN- CREDIBLE ANG LEE (14m 28s) consists of cast and crew mem- bers singing the director’s praises. THE DOG FIGHT SCENE (10m 9s) is especially interesting—in addi- tion to the spectacle of a trained dog wearing a motion capture suit, we see Ang Lee himself doing the honors for the activity of the Hulk (though the CGI apparition was carefully based on Bana’s fea- tures). THE UNIQUE STYLE OF ED- ITING HULK (5m 34s) speaks for itself, though editor Tim Squyers helps. And everything not covered in these departments gets the full treatment in THE MAKING OF HULK (23m 40s), which can be viewed in its entirety or in install- ments (Cast and Crew, Stunts and Physical Effects, ILM and Music). A level of the HULK Xbox game has been provided for those so equipped, and additional DVD- ROM only features can also be found here.
HULK is the topic of a Round Table Discussion on the VW website (www.
videowatchdog.com). Surf on over for more in-depth discussion from the VW Kennel!
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