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Just as Warner rebooted the Superman and Batman franchises, Universal decided to distance itself from the 2003 Ang Lee production of The Hulk and reimagine the Marvel Comics character with a more serious sensibility. A fine cast, experienced with more emotional dramas, was hired. The screenplay by Zak Penn is more moving and poignant. And director Louis Leterrier abandons the comic book frame style of Ang Lee to bring his dynamic style to the show. And it all works.

The premise is very fundamental. During the opening credits, Leterrier and Penn establish the accident that condemns Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) to a fearful life of suppressed rage. It was a scientific experiment gone very wrong. Working with his ex-girlfriend, Betty or, more formally, Dr. Elizabeth Ross (Liv Tyler), his physiology and blood chemistry are changed by a combination of gamma radiation and nanobots. What they don’t know is that this government sponsored university research is the pet project of her father, General Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt), who is trying to build less vulnerable and more lethal soldiers… super soldiers.

After Banner was revealed to have, shall we say, unique capabilities, the General pursues him with unrelenting tenacity. Banner is to be captured and, if necessary, dissected to establish how an army of unstoppable warriors can be created. Banner fled and we find him in Rio de Janeiro. He’s working as a day laborer in a soft drink bottling plant, occasionally helping the owner keep his old equipment running with his knowledge of electronics. In his hobble of a flat, deep within a slum-like neighborhood of densely packed humanity, he’s cleverly constructed and assembled crude tools that permit him to do the laborious research he hope will rid him of his curse.

He also has a beat up laptop and a satellite link that permits him to reach the Internet. Somehow, he’s established an email relationship with a prominent blood chemistry researcher at a New York City university. They exchange messages anonymously as Mr. Blue and Mr. Green, Banner sending what data he can gather, Blue making suggestions and responding to his data. Banner’s job will be his downfall. When he accidentally contaminates a bottle with his blood, it finds its way to a consumer’s refrigerator (a traditional Marvel cameo by Hulk creator Stan Lee). The reaction to the soda and an analysis of the soft drink point General Ross directly at Rio. Ross recruits Major Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) to head his search and capture team, and a special op is mounted to find, tranquilize, and return Banner to the States.

Once he’s found out, Banner will make a dramatic escape and make an arduous (and incredible) trek to return to the campus on which Betty still works. Their reunion will establish a team that will fight for a cure. They identify the identity of Mr. Blue and travel to New York to meet with Dr. Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson). And all the while, General Ross sends an escalating level of lethal force against Banner, each time provoking the transformation that both Ross and Banner would like to avoid.

Banner’s conflict with his father in Ang Lee’s production is gone. But Betty’s conflict with hers is front and center. She’s extremely angry by his plans to use Banner to create a race of super soldiers, and she’s furious that Banner may be destroyed in the process. What follows is a struggle to survive. The Hulk will have to face a misguided attempt to subdue him with a manufactured creature known as The Abomination. The climactic battle will cause untold havoc on the streets of Harlem.

With all due respect to Eric Bana’s Hulk in 2003, in this film we have a superior performance by Edward Norton; his Banner is desperate to avoid becoming The Hulk and he projects a welcome vulnerability. Liv Tyler is a sympathetic and feisty heroine, never believing for a moment that The Hulk will harm her. She senses Banner in the creature, and The Hulk responds to her. William Hurt is a believably obsessed officer, driven beyond good judgment. And Tim Roth is also effective as a gung ho combat veteran who takes his pummeling at The Hulk’s hands personally. I was drawn in and my interest remained throughout; the only lapse was a gratuitous “Hulk Smash!” in the middle of his fight with The Abomination.

There are a few interesting cameos in the film. I already mentioned Stan Lee. Watch for Lou Ferrigno as a security guard on Betty’s campus (he and Stan Lee were both guards in the 2003 production). Ferrigno also provides the voice of The Incredible Hulk. And in the last couple of minutes, there is another bizarre cameo that points to a possible new direction for two Marvel franchises.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in a terrific looking high definition transfer compressed with the VC-1 video CODEC. It looks better than I would expect VC-1 to be able to produce. I was impressed with the small object detail, the finely grained textures, the vivid colors, the video dynamic range… the transfer print is clean and blemish-free. I didn’t see any artifacts, including edge halos. But I’m forced to score the transfer numerically, and although the sharpness is very pleasing, it’s a tad less than the finest transfers.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The lossless DTS HD Master 5.1 is great. The surrounds are extremely active with discrete noises and pans, both among the surrounds and front to back. If you have the capability, enable EX decoding for the best possible surround experience. Deep, deep, gut pounding bass supports the explosions and gunfire. Even The Hulk’s voice seems to have been enhanced with sub-harmonic processing to impart a rumble when he speaks. Craig Armstrong provides a strong and captivating orchestral score. It’s presented with persuasive timbre across a broad soundstage that’s leaked into the surrounds. The spoken word is distortion-free throughout, and some of the dialog approaches that threshold of in-the-room presence I admire. This is a demo- quality track.

The alternate audio tracks are in English Dolby Surround 2.0, Spanish and French DTS 5.1. The optional subtitles are in English SDH, English, and French.

The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

The very generous supplements begin with the simplest. My Scenes is the Universal bookmarking feature that allows random access to your favorite sequences.

The Alternate Opening (2:34, 2.35:1, 1080p) puts a desperate Bruce Banner on a glacier feeling a bit suicidal. I’m not at all sure how this sequence would dovetail into the rest of the film. It seems remarkably out of place.

There are twenty-three deletes scenes (42:45, 2.45:1, very soft SD). Some are extensions of existing scenes; some are new and not previously seen. As with many such scenes, small holes in the storyline are filled in, but since the theatrical cut is fully comprehensible, I can fully understand how they ended up on the cutting room floor. Regardless, many enhance the plotline and I’d love to see some of them restored to an extended director’s cut.

The Making of Incredible featurette (29:54, 1.78:1, 1080p) traces the involvement of director Louis Leterrier. That the franchise is intended to be rebooted is made clear. Casting and bringing Edward Norton in particular to the show is described. The filmmakers wisely chose someone who was capable of drama, not just action. It’s interesting that both the director and the actor were very reluctant to become involved in a film that turned out to be so entertaining and successful. Liv Tyler’s casting is next; she seemed less reluctant. As were Tim Roth and William Hurt. The short then takes us on location for the surrogate for the Rio De Janeiro bottling plant. And amazingly, the same dilapidated building was used to create more modern sets. We learn about the cooperation between the Canadian armed forces and the film production. We discover that Toronto was the surrogate for New York City. And Rio was the location for Rio. Interesting stuff. Expect many behind-the-scenes sequences

The Becoming The Hulk featurette (9:22, 1.78:1, 1080p) is a description of the development of the new CGI Hulk. The plan was to humanize The Hulk, making the comic character come to life as a more believable, more organic, more reasonable sized character. A nine-foot Hulk was the final design decision, one that is more credible that the fifteen-foot Hulk created for Ang Lee. There is some fascinating technology that was brought to bear to create a more organic creature, highly sophisticated motion capture.

The Becoming the Abomination featurette (10:14, 1.78:1, 1080p) establishes the need for a villain that can actually do Hulk harm. The design is discussed. And we see how motion capture was used to make this creature as organic as possible. Quite a bit of effort was invested in differentiating the two creatures with regard to behavior and movement. Tim Roth in a motion capture suit contributes by imparting the personality of his character into the creature’s movement. He, like Norton, was digitized using the most sophisticated facial motion capture created to date.

The Anatomy of a Hulk-Out featurette (27:50 aggregate, 1.78:1, 1080p) describes the creation of the sequences at the bottling plant, the campus, and in Harlem. The chapters dissect the three sequences and explain the artistic decisions that were chosen to draw the audience into the action. You’ll find lots of revealing behind-the-scenes sequences that demonstrate the director’s interactions with his cast and stunt people. Practical effects, some of them quite dangerous, are described and revealed.

The From Comic Book to Screen featurette (6:33, 1.78:1, 1080p) is a rough animated sequence of Betty and Hulk under the overhang in pouring rain. That sequence was based on a section of a Hulk comic book, and the artwork is based on those illustrations.

And that brings us to the feature-length commentary by director Louis Leterrier and Tim Roth. This is a pleasant, informative, anecdote-rich commentary. They reminisce, sharing stories from the shoot. Both offer details that aren’t at all apparent from the featurettes. I was surprised to learn that Edward Norton directed himself in some sequences while the director was busy shooting more demanding scenes. I was pleased to find that almost no time was spent on character motivations and explanations of the plot. The making of the film, details concerning the challenges of the shoot, and artistic intentions dominate. The director makes a few interesting and cryptic comments concerning the cameo just before the closing credits that I cannot share; suffice it to say that I am intrigued.

U-Control offers five options to explore trivia (three of the options are compatible with Profile 1.0 players) or to view PiP material that requires a Profile 1.1 player. Similarly, the disc offer BD Live Web-based supplements that require a Profile 2.0 player. I’m looking forward to taking delivery of my new player so I can start to report on such supplements.

The 112- minute film is organized into twenty chapters.

Final Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed this revisit to The Hulk. More dramatic, no giant flea hops, better performances, better plotline, more involving, this is a film I can easily recommend. Add to that a superior presentation and a very generous array of supplements that inform and entertain and the Blu- ray Disc becomes highly recommended.