YMMV / Hulk

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The Film

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Is David Banner truly remorseful of his actions? His second confrontation with Betty seems to indicate yes, but his actions during the rest of the film suggest that this admission of guilt is insincere. Fueling the latter interpretation is Peter David's novelization, which confirms that David merely attempted to elicit sympathy.
• Audience-Coloring Adaptation: The film is often blamed for the failure of The Incredible Hulk (2008), which despite being better received by fans, sold even fewer tickets than the original. The character's cinematic reputation has been somewhat restored by The Avengers (2012), but Marvel is still wary of giving the property another chance, which is why there's no Hulk sequel in the works as of 2020, despite The Incredible Hulk's Sequel Hook (it's likely that Thor: Ragnarok is as close as we'll get). It doesn't help that Disney/Marvel would have to share profits with Universal (a condition of Marvel getting the film rights to the character back is that Universal gets distribution rights to any solo Hulk film).
• Awesome Music:
  • "Set Me Free," the first song released from what would eventually become the Super Group Velvet Revolver.
  • Danny Elfman's score counts as well, especially the musical cues after the army captures Bruce.
  • To advertise its air time on the TV channel USA Network, they used a catchy cover of Fred Schneider's classic Monster that is unfortunately lost. Here’s the ad in question.
  • Another TV Spot used We Luv U by Grand Theft Audio.
• Base-Breaking Character: David Banner. Some think that he's pretty dark and scary; others see Nick Nolte being too narmy.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • The "puny human" scene where the Hulk bursts out of Bruce's mirror made for a fantastic teaser trailer and makes sense as broad symbolism of the conflict between Bruce's fears and psychoses. It was included in the movie... in the middle of a fall off a fighter plane. The Hulk was dreaming it, but it makes no sense in the context of the fighter jet attack.
  • The fighter jet attack itself. It comes out of nowhere, is never mentioned again, and contributes very little to the plot. Either it is a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment or Padding.
  • Betty tells Bruce about a nightmare she had. It begins with a memory of her as a little girl eating ice cream with her father, only for him to have to leave her there when he receives an alarm from his base. Betty panics from being left alone, and a bright green mushroom cloud booms behind her. Then an ice cream parlor worker shows up, only to be suddenly revealed to be adult Bruce, who strangles her. The end. While David's flashback later in the film has Edith seeing the green mushroom cloud, everything else is unexplained.
• Broken Base: The film did alright with critics but was ultimately a box office bust. It broke even and had a "sequel"/reboot made five years later. It was (in)famous for the backlash that accompanied its release, especially when someone leaked a full cut for download to much nerd rage. Surprisingly, despite the reboot taking the opposite track, both films did almost the same with critics and financially (though the reboot has a far higher IMDB rating), which may be a measure of how popular the character is in the mainstream.
• Can't Un-Hear It: Those who heavily admire this film over the Marvel Cinematic Universe tend to hear Eric Bana as Bruce Banner, Jennifer Connelly as Betty Ross, Nick Nolte as Brian Banner, and Sam Elliott as General Ross.
• Catharsis Factor: Talbot dying from his own stupidity is very satisfying after seeing him do nothing but antagonize Bruce and try to exploit the Hulk.
• Complete Monster: In Peter David's novelization, Dr. David Banner lacks all of his film counterpart's genuinely sympathetic or redeeming traits, replacing them with purely selfish evil. To perfect a super-soldier serum, he tested it on himself, which leads to David infecting his newborn son Bruce with a strange disease that comes out in full when the boy gets angry. Fascinated by this development, David subjects Bruce to a variety of experiments, from emotionally and physically abusing the boy to harvesting his blood for more experiments. When his wife Edith is worried about her son's condition, David lies to her that he can fix Bruce, when in reality he only wants to continue his experiments. Disgusted that he has started to care for Bruce, David eventually tries to kill the boy for "ruining his life" after he loses his job. He shrugs off his accidental murder of Edith, later using it as a sob story to manipulate others. Once exposed, David tries to blow up his entire workplace, uncaring that the explosion could go nuclear and kill countless innocents. After being released from a mental institution decades later, he murders several people while tracking down Bruce and tries to have Bruce's Love Interest Betty ripped to shreds by mutant dogs. When his mutant dogs don't return, David muses how he used them merely to test the Hulk's strength, satisfied with the result and indifferent to the dogs' fate. After gaining powers of his own, he hopes to drain Bruce of his gamma radiation and life, use his new abilities to become a god, and kill all those who slighted him.
• Critical Dissonance: It's fascinating to view this compared to The Incredible Hulk in how people received it. Regular moviegoers generally considered this film long and tedious but, the critics liked its focus on character pieces and big ideas over CGI and violence. The '08 film had many fans agreeing with the critics, but some lamented how the new movie took away the big concepts to put in more action and typical comics stuff. Besides all of that information, both films did about the same at the box office.
• Cult Classic: While many people still pan the film, it does have its fair share of defenders who praise its dark, psychological approach to Bruce Banner's character and consider it superior to The Incredible Hulk.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Nick Nolte's David Banner looks like and behaves similarly to Charles Manson, especially considering his ruthlessness and goal to fight the government and world order.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Edith Banner seems to be the only adult Bruce looked up to before her tragic death.
• Fandom Rivalry: With the MCU's depiction of Bruce Banner.
• Fan Nickname: "Absorbing Dad" for Bruce's father, due to the character having the powers of Absorbing Man from the comics (who as a side note is not a relative of Bruce Banner, and gained his powers from magic).
• Faux Symbolism: The movie frequently cuts to closeups of moss. That's right, moss. The only hint we get about it on the DVD Commentary is that moss is green like the Hulk.
• Friendly Fandoms: There's some overlap between fans of this film and fans of the DC Extended Universe who like this film for its unconventional take on the superhero genre and its ambition, earnest treatment of its title character, and more artistic directing style. A few DCEU fans have even said that if Ben Affleck ever leaves, they'd love to see Eric Bana have a go at playing Batman.
• Ham and Cheese: Nick Nolte, particularly during his Humans Are Bastards speech.
  STOP...WHAT?! STOP!! WHAT?!! THINK about all those...MEN out there in their UNIFORMS! BARKING and SWALLOWING ORDERS, inflicting their petty rule of the entire globe! THINK ABOUT ALL THE HARM THEY'VE DONE!! TO YOU! TO ME! TO HUMANITY! And know this, that we can make THEM, and their FLAGS and ANTHEMS and GOVERNMENTS - DISAPPEAR!!! IN A FLASH! You - in me! [...] Then, indeed you shall die...and be REBORN...a hero! OF THE KIND THAT WALKED EARTH, LONG BEFORE THE PALE RELIGIONS OF CIVILIZATION, INFECTED HUMANITY'S SOUL!!!
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: David Banner gains Absorbing Man-esque powers and nearly kills his son in the climax. In the comics, the actual Absorbing Man(Carl Creel) eventually met Bruce's father Brian...and admitted he was repulsed by what a monster Bruce's dad was, going so far as to express sympathy for his green-skinned nemesis.
• I Knew It!: Some fans knew that David Banner would have absorbing powers by the end.
• It Was His Sled: David gaining Elemental Shapeshifter powers was a surprise twist for many who first saw the film, especially those familiar with the comics. Now, it's one of the things this film is perhaps best remembered for.
• Jerkass Woobie: The film portrays David Banner as one. He sincerely appears to regret murdering his wife and wants his work to be appreciated, but is also severely mentally disturbed and uncaring about the many lives his plans to achieve godhood would put at risk (including that of his own son).
• Love to Hate: David Banner, who doesn't care about experimenting on himself and his dogs, is also an almighty elemental.
• Misaimed Merchandising: The movie had TONS of kid-friendly tie-ins such as pudding, ice cream, board games, and Hulk Hands to a very angsty and depressing adaptation. Fifteen years later, a fan averted this.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "You wouldn't like me when I'm Ang Lee." A pun on the director.
  • David Banner biting into the cable]] is quite a popular meme.
• Moral Event Horizon: David Banner crossed it when he tried to murder a young Bruce, accidentally killed his wife instead, then triggered a nuclear explosion in revenge for Ross firing him from the super-soldier project. It's strongly implied that many were killed in the explosion and that the town was abandoned entirely as a result. All of this took place in front of Bruce, severely traumatizing him and causing him to deeply repress the memories of his childhood.
• Narm:
  • Nick Nolte Chewing the Scenery and the Goofy-esque sounds he makes while being electrocuted.
  • Talbot's freeze-frame death! The Agony Booth dubbed it The Single Most Gloriously Stupid Image Ever Captured on Film, while The Nostalgia Critic dubbed it "Guy Flying Over Fireball Looking Like A Twat."
  • While some of the editing that mimics comic book pages with caption boxes, multiple panels and some Odd-Shaped Panel undeniably give the film a unique visual style, at times it gets distractingly excessive and downright awkward, raging from making a serious moment unintentionally funny, to just feeling like Ang Lee was mindlessly testing out all the After Effects tricks he could use no matter how misplaced it is. One of the worst offenders being the aforementioned Talbot freeze-frame death.
  • Ross suddenly letting out a random yell during one scene. It isn't poorly acted, but it does just come out of nowhere.
    Ross: But I don't set policy...and I still take orders. ...GR'YAAAAHHH!!! I can't believe Talbot would go around me like this!
  • The Hulk Dogs would be a tiny bit more threatening if one of their ranks wasn't a French poodle (though for some, seeing a French poodle look the way it does in the movie is creepy enough to make it scary all over again).
• Nausea Fuel:
  • The unconventional editing can make some people cringe, especially when multiple panels move all over the place showing characters doing different things in each instead of making the action flow in a clear manner. It's clear the movie is trying to "be like comic book panels", but usually the panels of a comic book page aren't a jumbled mess.
  • Hope you got some bleach nearby after seeing a frog explode.
• Older Than They Think:
  • Many people believed that dark superhero films began with The Dark Knight Trilogy, but this film and the Blade Trilogy actually started it years before.
  • Some people think that this movie came up with the idea that Bruce's transformation was partially the result of altered genetics inherited from his father, but that has been around since at least the '80s (the main difference being that in the comics, it was an unwanted side effect of his father's work with radiation rather than deliberately experimenting on himself)
• One-Scene Wonder: As always, Stan Lee.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Daniel Dae Kim as a military member.
  • In the Japanese dub, it was this for Hiroki Takahashi as the young Bruce Banner, before his Star-Making Role as both Kenji Harima and Ryu.
• Shocking Moments: David Banner's transformation by the end of the film.
• Signature Scene:
  • The Hulk grabbing Bruce from the mirror as he says to him, "puny human." It shows a loss of self-control.
  • David Banner biting into the cable and becoming a giant being of electricity.
  • The desert battle.
• Slow-Paced Beginning: It takes 40 minutes for the Hulk to even show up.
• Special Effect Failure:
  • Despite all the effort and detail put into the character, many fans feel that the Hulk's appearance in this film is very lackluster, with some saying he looks like a PlayStation 2 character. Most of the derision is aimed towards the shade of green used for Hulk's skin and Ang Lee's motion capture looking floaty during some of the more massive set pieces. Luckily, Industrial Light & Magic would get another chance with the character almost a decade later.
  • On the other hand, the Hulk Dogs never stood a shot with the early 2000s CGI used for the film.
  • Talbot's aforementioned freeze-frame death.
• Spiritual Adaptation: Many people think of this as a God of War film due to the profound Greek tragedy and Freudian atmosphere. It helps that the director of the fourth game even made comparisons of Kratos to the Hulk, describing the first three stories detailing Kratos's fall from grace and murderous bloody crusade of revenge against the Olympian pantheon over the death of his family as the Hulk's story, whereas the fourth game where he's finally won, now remorseful and attempting to redeem himself and to be a father to Atreus as Bruce Banner's story.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Talbot was seen as more appealing compared to his comic book version but died by the film's second half.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: The dark tone can be unsettling for people who are more accustomed to the standard superhero films that became popular in the late 2000s.
• Too Cool to Live: Again, Talbot.
• Took the Bad Film Seriously:
  • Sam Elliott's performance as General Ross has been praised even by those who didn't care for the film.
  • Eric Bana has also received wide praise for his performance in the title role.
• Uncertain Audience: Ultimately, the film's downfall. It was a movie that was too artsy and somber for your typical superhero audience. Yet, the fact that it was about a superhero in the first place alienated serious viewers who might have otherwise been interested in the film's more cerebral and artistic merits. Summed up thusly by Roger Ebert, who gave the movie a positive review but wondered if its ambitious and ponderous take would satisfy summer crowds:
  This is a comic book movie for people who wouldn't be caught dead at a comic book movie.
• Unexpected Character: In this case, unexpected transformation for David.
• Vindicated by History: A unique example. The film still got a lousy IMDB rating (usually only around 6), but many hardcore comic book fans and amateur movie critics have started to praise the film's good qualities aside from the score. Some positives include the movie's analogy on Hulk's virtually unlimited strength in the last action scene, where Bruce defeated his father by releasing a massive amount of gamma energy, turning him into a giant bubble). The movement has been there since at least 2006. If anything, the success of similarly dark and solemn superhero films like The Dark Knight, Logan, and Joker have led some commentators to view Hulk as ahead of its time.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: While some of the CGI hasn't aged well, in other instances it looks fairly good for 2003 even by the standards of modern superhero films.
• Wangst: One of the film's criticisms was that there was too much of this and not enough smashing.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: Given the film's subject matter and dark themes, it is pretty surprising that it got a mere PG-13 and is equally intense as Logan.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not Symbolic?:
  • Among other things, the nuclear explosion associated with the classic Hulk origin is alluded to by the nuclear self-destruct going off when David kills Bruce's mother in front of him — the moment the Hulk was truly born.
  • The toy dog in the prologue represents happy memories while the gamma dogs represent the intense revelations of what truly happened.
  • The ending also involves the four classical elements: Earth, air, fire, and water. David transforms into an electrical being and fights the Hulk in the form of a thunderstorm (air), then melds with a mountain (earth), and then turns into a watery being in the nearby lake (water). The Hulk, as a source of energy and heat in that scene, with a fiery green aura at one point, would identify with fire.
• The Woobie: Bruce Banner has been through so much suffering for 30 years and wonders when it will finally end, even when Betty Ross is around.

The Game

• Author's Saving Throw: There are plenty.
  • It explained why Bruce stayed in South America: Better research.
  • You finally get to hear Eric Bana's Bruce say "You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry!" in English, outside promotions.
  • The fact that this all takes place after the movie makes it feel like Radical Entertainment's attempt to detach itself far from the film's plot to bring in elements from the comics to deliver us a Hulk movie proposal that never was. Considering how some view the game as one of the rare cases where a licensed title far surpasses the movie it supposedly ties into, this seems to have worked.
• Awesome Music: "A Different Breed," "Savior," "One and All," and "The Final Battle" are all awesome battle themes that one shouldn't overlook when smashing up the bad guys.
• Demonic Spiders:
  • The Gamma Soldiers and androids you face will be your most hated enemies in the game thanks to their tanky defense, hard-knocking punches, and gamma blasters that can make short work of you.
  • The Gamma dogs were quite a bitch to fight as the Hulk, but when playing as Bruce, it's a necessity to avoid confrontation with them at all costs, lest you want them to rip you to shreds in an instant.
• Game-Breaker: A cheat code makes the Hulk kill his enemies and the bosses in one blow.
• Good Bad Bugs: There is a glitch during "Chemical Effect" that causes enemies to disappear from rooms, making the level easier to complete.
• The Problem with Licensed Games/No Problem with Licensed Games: Whichever category the tie-in game falls into depends on who you ask:
  • Points towards the former include weak segments as Banner, mostly corridor-based level design, and a somewhat disjointed storyline.
  • Points toward the latter include the comic book-esque look, challenging levels, simple-but-fun gameplay, and the Stress-Relieving Gameplay.
• Nightmare Fuel: The Title Screen for the game can be pretty unnerving. You hear heavy breathing from the Hulk whose eye within the main title is just glaring at you.
• Scrappy Mechanic: While the Banner stages are considered the weaker parts of the game, the hacking minigame is easily the most hated part. You have 20 seconds to match up the bottom code string with the one on top, and it only gets more challenging in the later stages.
• Vindicated by History: The game was later regarded as an influence to an even more iconic Hulk game made by the same developers two years later.

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