Description: The larger-than-life
Marvel Superhero The Hulk explodes onto the big screen! After
a freak lab accident unleashes a genetically enhanced,
impossibly strong creature, a terrified world must marshal its
forces to stop a being with abilities beyond
imagination.
Amazon.com: When the Hulk gets
angry, his movie gets good, so you wish he'd get angry more
often. Accepting this challenge after the triumphant
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, director Ang Lee has
created an ambitious film, based on the Marvel comic created
by
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, that succeeds as a cautionary tale
about mad science and traumatized children coping with
legacies of pain. That's the Hulk's problem: After accidental
exposure to gamma radiation, scientist Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) turns into the huge, green, and indestructible Hulk when
provoked, and repressed childhood memories fuel his fury.
Hobbled by the obligatory "origin story" (to acquaint
neophytes with the character's Jekyll-and-Hyde-ish fate),
there's room for little else in a sluggish film that struggles
to reconcile Lee's stylistic flair (evident in his visual
interpretation of comic-book technique) with the razzle-dazzle
of a megabudget franchise. What's good is good (Jennifer
Connelly essentially echoes her role from A Beautiful
Mind, and Nick Nolte is righteously tormented as Banner's
father), but the movie's schizoid intentions remain largely
unclear. --Jeff Shannon
Incredible Hulk 2003 Movie Wallpapers
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Hulk
2003 Movie Facts
Hulk (also known as The Hulk) is a 2003 American superhero film
based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name. Ang
Lee directed the film, which stars Eric Bana as Dr. Bruce Banner, as
well as Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, Josh Lucas, and Nick Nolte.
The film explores the origins of the Hulk, which is partially
attributed to Banner's father's experiments on himself, and on his
son.
Development for the film started as far back as 1990. The film was
at one point to be directed by Joe Johnston and then Jonathan
Hensleigh. More scripts had been written by Hensleigh, John Turman,
Michael France, Zak Penn, J. J. Abrams, Scott Alexander and Larry
Karaszewski, Michael Tolkin, and David Hayter before Ang Lee and
James Schamus' involvement. Hulk was shot mostly in California,
primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area. The film was released with
mixed reviews and grossed over $245 million worldwide. Marvel
Studios rebooted it in 2008 with
The Incredible Hulk.
Cast
Eric Bana as Dr. Bruce Banner: Bana was cast in October 2001,
signing for an additional two sequels. Ang Lee felt obliged to cast
Bana upon seeing Chopper, and first approached the actor in July
2001.The role was heavily pursued by other actors. Bana was also in
heavy contention for Ghost Rider, but lost out to Nicolas Cage. Bana
explained, "I was obsessed with the TV show. I was never a huge
comic book reader when I was a kid, but was completely obsessed with
the television show." It was widely reported Billy Crudup turned
down the role. Johnny Depp and Steve Buscemi were reported to be in
under consideration for the lead. Edward Norton, who went on to play
the part in The Incredible Hulk, expressed interest in the role.
Norton eventually turned down the part as he was disappointed with
the script.
Jennifer Connelly as Betty Ross: Bruce's
ex-girlfriend/co-researcher, as well as estranged daughter of
General Ross. Betty is possibly the only way for the Hulk to lead
back into his transformation of Bruce. Connelly was attracted to the
role by way of director Ang Lee. "He's not talking about a guy
running around in green tights and a glossy fun-filled movie for
kids. He's talking along the lines of tragedy and psychodrama. I
find it interesting, the green monster of rage and greed, jealousy
and fear in all of us."
Sam Elliott as General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross: A four star
general and estranged father of Betty. Ross was responsible of
prohibiting David Banner from his lab work after learning of his
dangerous experiments. Elliot felt his performance was similar to
his portrayal of Basil L. Plumley in We Were Soldiers. Elliott
accepted the role without reading the script, being simply too
excited to work with Ang Lee. In addition Elliot also researched
Hulk comic books for the part.
Josh Lucas as Major Glenn Talbot: A ruthless former soldier who
offers Banner and Betty Ross an opportunity to work for him in an
attempt to start an experiment on self-healing soldiers. He is the
secondary antagonist of the film.
Nick Nolte as David Banner / The Absorbing Man: The mentally
unstable biological father of Bruce Banner who was also a genetics
research scientist and had been locked away for several years for
causing an explosion in the gamma reactor and accidentally killing
his wife Edith. He is the principal antagonist of the film. Paul
Kersey portrays the young David Banner in flashbacks.
Cara Buono as Edith Banner: Bruce's biological mother of whom he
cannot remember. She is heard, but mostly appears in Bruce's
nightmares.
Celia Weston as Mrs. Krenzler: Bruce's adoptive mother who cared for
him after the death of Edith and David's incarceration.
Hulk co-creator/executive producer Stan Lee and Lou Ferrigno cameo
as security guards. Johnny Kastl and Daniel Dae Kim have small roles
as soldiers.
Development
Jonathan
Hensleigh
Producers Avi Arad and Gale Anne Hurd started the development for
Hulk in 1990. Hurd explained the Hulk became her favorite superhero
as a child because "When girls are growing up, they're the ones who
are picked on. I had an older brother, and there's no way that you
could ever really fight back. So, to me, the Hulk was wish
fulfillment." By December 1992 Marvel Studios was in discussions
with Universal Pictures.Michael France and Stan Lee were invited
into Universal's offices in 1994, with France writing the script.
Universal's concept was to have the Hulk battle terrorists, an idea
France disliked. John Turman, a Hulk comic book fan, was brought to
write the script in 1995, getting approval from Lee. Turman wrote
ten drafts, being heavily influenced by the Tales to Astonish
issues, which pitted the Hulk against General Ross and the military,
the Leader, Rick Jones, and the atomic explosion origin from the
comics,and Brian Banner as the explanation for Bruce's inner anger.
Universal had mixed feelings over Turman's script, but nonetheless
future screenwriters used many elements brought by Turman.
By late 1996 Hurd's husband Jonathan Hensleigh signed on as
producer. Industrial Light & Magic was hired to use
computer-generated imagery to create the Hulk. For the second time,
France was invited to write the script. By April 1997 Joe Johnston
was directing with the film's title as The Incredible Hulk.
Universal wanted Hensleigh to write the script since he worked with
Johnston on the financially successful Jumanji. France was fired
before he wrote a single page, but received money from Universal.
However, France still wanted to write the script. Johnston dropped
out of directing in July 1997 in favor of October Sky, paving the
way for Hensleigh to have his directing debut. Turman was brought
back a second time to write two more drafts. Zak Penn then rewrote
it. His script featured a fight between the Hulk and a school of
sharks, as well as two scenes he eventually used for the 2008 film;
Banner realizing he is unable to have sex, and triggering a
transformation by falling out of a helicopter.Hensleigh rewrote from
scratch, coming up with a brand new storyline.In August 1997
Hensleigh completed his script, featuring Bruce Banner, who prior to
the accident which will turn him into The Hulk, performs experiments
with gamma-irradiated insect DNA on three convicts. This transforms
the convicts into "insect men" that cause havoc.
Filming was set to start in December 1997 in Arizona for a
mid-1999 release date, but was pushed back to April 1998. Hensleigh
subsequently rewrote the script with J. J. Abrams. Scott Alexander
and Larry Karaszewski were also brought on board to rewrite with
Hensleigh still attached as director. In October 1997, Hulk had
entered pre-production with the creation of prosthetic makeup and
computer animation already under way. Gregory Sporleder was cast as
"Novak", Banner's archenemy. Lynn "Red" Williams was cast as a
convict who transforms into a combination of human, ant and beetle.
In March 1998 Universal put Hulk on hiatus due to its escalating
$100 million budget and worries of Hensleigh directing his first
film. $20 million was already spent on script development, computer
animation, and prosthetics work. Hensleigh immediately went to
rewrite the script in order to lower the budget.
Michael France
Hensleigh found the rewriting process to be too difficult and
dropped out, and felt he "wasted nine months in pre-production". It
took another eight months for France to convince Universal and the
producers to let him try to write a script for a third time. France
claimed "Someone within the Universal hierarchy wasn't sure if this
was a science fiction adventure, or a comedy, and I kept getting
directions to write both. I think that at some point when I wasn't
in the room, there may have been discussions about turning it into a
Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler movie."France was writing the script on
fast track from July—September 1999. Filming for Hulk was to start
in April 2000.
France stated his vision of the film was different from the other
drafts, which based Bruce Banner on his "amiable, nerdy genius"
incarnation in the 1960s. France cited inspiration from the 1980s
Hulk stories which introduced Brian Banner, Bruce's abusive father
who killed his mother. His script had Banner trying to create cells
with regenerative capabilities in order to prove to himself that he
is not like his father. However, he has anger management issues
before the Hulk is even created, which makes everything worse. The
"Don't make me angry..." line from the TV series was made into
dialogue that Banner's father would say before beating his son.
Elements such as the "Gammasphere", Banner's tragic romance with
Ross, and the black ops made it to the final film. France turned in
his final drafts in late 1999-January 2000.
Ang Lee
Michael Tolkin and David Hayter rewrote the script afterwards,
despite positive response from the producers over France's script.
Tolkin was brought in January 2000, while Hayter was brought in
September of that year. Hayter's draft featured The Leader, Zzzax,
and the Absorbing Man as the villains, who are depicted as
colleagues of Banner and get caught in the same accident that
creates the Hulk. Director Ang Lee and his producing partner James
Schamus became involved with the film in January 2001. Lee was
dissatisfied with Hayter's script, and commissioned Schamus for a
rewrite, merging Banner's father with the Absorbing Man to create a
physical antagonist. Lee cited influences from King Kong,
Frankenstein, Jekyll and Hyde, Beauty and the Beast, Faust, and
Greek mythology for his interpretation of the story. Schamus said he
had found the storyline that introduced Brian Banner, incorrectly
attributing it to thus allowing Lee to write a drama that again
explored father-son themes.
Schamus was still rewriting the script in October 2001. In early
2002, as filming was underway, Michael France read all the scripts
for the Writers Guild of America, to determine who would get final
credit. France criticized Schamus and Hayter for claiming they were
aiming to make Banner a deeper character, and was saddened they had
denigrated his and Turman's work in interviews. Schamus elected to
get solo credit. France felt, "James Schamus did a significant
amount of work on the screenplay. For example, he brought in the
Hulk dogs from the comics and he made the decision to use Banner's
father as a real character in the present. But he used quite a lot
of elements from John Turman's scripts and quite a lot from mine,
and that's why we were credited." France, Turman and Schamus
received final credit. A theatrical release date for June 20, 2003
was announced in December 2002, with the film's title as The Hulk.
Filming
Filming began on March 18, 2002 in Arizona, and moved on April 19 to
the San Francisco Bay Area. This included Advanced Light Source,
Lawrence Berkeley labs, Oakland, Treasure Island military base, and
the sequoia forests of Porterville, before several weeks in the Utah
and Californian deserts. Filming then moved to the Universal backlot
in Los Angeles, using Stage 12 for the water tank scene, before
finishing in the first week of August. Filming of Hulk constituted
hiring 3,000 local workers, generating over $10 million into the
local economy.[34][35][36][37] Mychael Danna, who previously
collaborated with Lee on Ride with the Devil and The Ice Storm, was
set to compose the film score before dropping out. Danny Elfman was
then hired.
Eric Bana commented that the shoot was, "Ridiculously serious... a
silent set, morbid in a lot of ways." Lee told him that he was
shooting a Greek tragedy: he would be making a "whole other movie"
about the Hulk at Industrial Light & Magic. An example of Lee's art
house approach to the film was taking Bana to watch a bare-knuckle
boxing match. Visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren was on the set
every day. One of the many visual images in the film that presented
an acting challenge for Bana was a split screen technique employed
by Lee to cinematically mimic the panels of a comic book page. This
required many more takes of individual scenes than normal. Sound
design was completed at Skywalker Sound. Muren and other ILM
animators used previous technology from Harry Potter and the Chamber
of Secrets (for the Dobby character) to create the Hulk with
computer-generated imagery. Other software used included
PowerAnimator, Softimage XSI, and RenderMan Interface Specification.
ILM started computer animation work in 2001, and completed in May
2003, just one month before the film's release. Lee provided some
motion capture work in post-production.
Marketing
Universal Pictures spent $2.1 million to market the film in a
30-second television spot during Super Bowl XXXVII on January 26,
2003. Just weeks before the film's release, a number of workprints
were leaked on the Internet. The visual and special effects were
already being criticized, despite the fact that it was not the final
editing cut of the film.
Box office
Hulk was released on June 20, 2003, earning $62.1 million in its
opening weekend, which made it the 16th highest ever opener at the
time. With a second weekend drop of 70%, it was the first opener
above $20 million to drop over 65%. The film went on to gross
$132,177,234 in North America, and $113,183,246 in foreign
countries, coming to a worldwide total of $245,360,480. With a final
North American gross of $132.2 million it became the largest opener
not to earn $150 million.
Critical response
Hulk received mixed to positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes calculated
a 62% approval rating out of 224 reviews, and 55% from their "Top
Critics" category. By comparison Metacritic collected an average
score of 54 based on 41 reviews.Roger Ebert gave a largely positive
review, explaining, "Ang Lee is trying to actually deal with the
issues in the story of the Hulk, instead of simply cutting to
brainless visual effects." Ebert also liked how the Hulk's movements
resembled King Kong. Although Peter Travers of Rolling Stone felt
Hulk should have been shorter, he heavily praised the action
sequences, especially the climax and cliffhanger. Paul Clinton of
CNN believed the cast gave strong performances, but in an otherwise
positive review, heavily criticized the computer-generated imagery,
calling the Hulk "a ticked-off version of Shrek".
Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle considered "the film is
more thoughtful and pleasing to the eye than any blockbuster in
recent memory, but its epic length comes without an epic reward." Ty
Burr of The Boston Globe felt "Jennifer Connelly reprises her
stand-by-your-messed-up-scientist turn from A Beautiful Mind." Lisa
Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly stated, "a big-budget comic-book
adaptation has rarely felt so humorless and intellectually defensive
about its own pulpy roots."
Hulk Video Game
The merchandising of the movie made it a success. One such
product was the
Hulk video game loosely based on the movie. It was
developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Vivendi Games. A
signature feature has Eric Bana reprises his role of Bruce Banner.
The plot does not follow the same story of the 2003 movie, but is
instead more related to the comics.
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