Technical Specs

• Blu-ray
• BD-25 Single-Layer Disc

Video Resolution/Codec

• 1080/AVC MPEG-4

Aspect Ratio(s)

• 1.78:1

Audio Formats

• English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
• Spanish: Dobly Digital 5.1

Subtitles/Captions

• English SDH
• English
• Spanish

Supplements

• Writer/Producer Commentary (on both)
• Technical Commentary (on both)
• Of Gods and Monsters: Making 'Hulk vs. Thor'
• Jack Kirby & Thor
• First Look at 'Thor: Tales of Asgard'
• This is Gonna Hurt: The Making of 'Hulk vs. Wolverine'
• Fan Frenzy: 'Hulk vs. Wolverine' at 2008 Comic Con
• First Look - 'Wolverine and the X-Men'

Hulk Vs. (Blu-ray)

Lionsgate Home Entertainment / 2009 / Rated PG-13
Street Date: January 27, 2009
List Price: $29.99 (Buy it at Amazon and save)

Reviewed by Drew Taylor
Thursday, November 19, 2009

The Movie Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

An interesting rivalry of sorts has developed with the direct-to-video animated superhero movie market. DC has been releasing properties with a deal through parent company Warner Bros. (and their Warner Premiere shingle), over the past couple of years. These movies have been smart, sophisticated little movies, with distinct thematic and stylistic bents - 'Batman: Gotham Knight' was Batman filtered through the distinct visions of Japan's most cutting edge anime directors; 'Justice League: The New Frontier' faithfully retold Darwyn Cooke's miniseries of the same name with vivid colors and post-war imagery; and 'Superman: Doomsday' scaled down the epic struggle between Superman and Lex Luthor to a sort of same-sex romantic tryst. (Trust me on this.) They've scaled down and modernized the mythology in new and refreshing ways and there's been only one true dog (the recently released 'Batman/Superman: Public Enemies') among the bunch.

Marvel, on the other hand, has released nothing BUT dogs. In trying to transpose some of its biggest franchises (like the 'Ultimates' line of Avengers comics in 'Ultimate Avengers' and 'Ultimate Avengers 2'), it has settled on second- rate animation and clunky narrative. These things are barely watchable, and for all their attempts at hip, gritty realism, they seem about as cutting edge as Saturday morning cartoons.

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Still, with a title like 'Hulk vs.' you've got to hold out at least a little bit of hope. While the not-so-jolly green giant has been brought to life memorably in a television series and, more recently, in two underrated big screen adaptations (Ang Lee's 'Hulk' will one day be appreciated for the masterpiece it is - mark my words). But with the seemingly limitless possibilities of an animated Hulk smashing up all kinds of stuff, well, that's worth getting excited about. And he'll be fighting two of Marvel's brightest heroes - Thor and Wolverine! Could it get any better?

Well, actually, yes, because 'Hulk vs.' is quite lousy, in fact. It's a "movie" that's divided into two halves - the 'Hulk vs. Thor' half and the 'Hulk vs. Wolverine' half. Neither one are particularly exciting or all that stylish, and both feature lots and lots of fighting.

'Hulk vs. Thor' is the lousier of the two, and the first one on the disc. It's also straddled with the clunky expository stuff about the mythical land of Asgard, the different feuding gods, and everything else. Seems that Loki, the God of Mischief and Thor's brother, has kidnapped Bruce Banner (the Hulk's human form), because he knows that the Hulk has come the closest to defeating Thor on numerous occasions. From then on it’s a long slog to the end of this 45-minute mini-movie, complete with Loki taking over the Hulk (in a weird possession type thing) and people getting thrown through mountains. The animation is minimal and stiff, like some bad Japanese cartoon from the mid-1970's, and the entire thing is completely dull. You can skip this one and go right for the second mini-movie, for sure.

'Hulk vs. Wolverine' is marginally better because there seems to been at least a cursory consideration to style (there's a cool scene where Wolverine is hacking up baddies, completely in shadow) and to upping the level of violence in an organic way (blood flies aplenty). The story of 'Hulk vs. Wolverine' takes place before Logan has joined the X-Men, and is just some rogue military operative (but still, for some reason, rocking his distinctive X-Men uniform) brought to help combat the monstrous foe. Sooner or later the Weapon X crew shows up, with Lady Deathstrike and Deadpool amongst the additional baddies. So, yes, there are lots of things for Wolverine to slice up in this section of the disc. So much so that you'll think that this section should have been called 'Wolverine vs. Lots of Dudes' instead of 'Hulk vs. Wolverine.' Not only is 'Hulk vs. Wolverine' better - it's also shorter! If you want to watch some mindless fun, you could do worse than 'Hulk vs. Wolverine.' Then again, you could do a lot better by just hunting around for a different disc.

As a whole, 'Hulk vs.' is a supreme disappointment. It just seems amateurish and crude, especially in comparison to the rather elegant product that the DC/Warner Premiere folks have been churning out. If you're a Marvelholic like me and absolutely must see it, you might be even more disappointed. Because, really, there could be a whole lot more to these movies than just, simply, Hulk smash.

The Video: Sizing Up the Picture

Technically the MPEG-4 AVC transfer (1.78:1 aspect ratio) on this 25GB disc is nearly flawless. Still, something can be technically flawless and still have some things left to be desired.

True, everything about these traditionally animated films looks great - colors are bright and vivid, there aren't any pops, blots, or smears on the film. There is no grain, detail is nice, shadows are dark and appropriately inky, and everything is polished and clean.

But the level of animation here just leaves something to be desired, and no matter how good it looks, you'll still wish you were looking at something more proficient, something livelier. Time and time again on this disc, the creators talk about how they wanted to distance themselves from the relative safety of Saturday morning cartoons, but the difference, especially when you can see the image this clearly, is negligible at best.

There are some issues with banding, but these moments are few and far between, and if you're looking for a solid, but unspectacular transfer, you can do far worse than 'Hulk vs.'

The Audio: Rating the Sound

Better by my estimation is the disc's audio track, with the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 offer plenty of bang for your buck.

As I've said before, both films basically boil down to huge brawls, so the surround channels get a clear workout. Every thud, thump, crashing boulder, and crack of lightening are rendered with bold clarity and couch-vibrating power. Is it full of delicate nuance? No. Will it wake up your cat if you have the volume turned up too high? Undoubtedly.

But while the atmospherics are the most obviously impressive bits of the mix, dialogue sounds just as great - clean, crisp, and well prioritized. Similarly, the music in both segments sounds more robust than it ought to. I wasn't particularly impressed with the score, but I must admit that hearing it boom brilliantly from this mix did sway my opinion.

Additionally, there are no nagging technical issues - no hisses or pops or elements jumbled on top of each other. The mix represents a nice, clean presentation all around.

This is an appropriately muscular mix for this kind of movie, and will give any home theater set-up a nice workout. If you're a big time audiophile who lives for the finely-tuned-but-still-deafening cacophony of cartoon characters pummeling each other, this is for you.

There's also a Spanish Dobly Digital 5.1 mix on here, as well as subtitles in English SDH, English, and Spanish.

The Supplements: Digging Into the Good Stuff

I'm going to break down the extras per segment. It should be noted this disc is Region "free."

Hulk vs. Thor

• Writer/Producer Commentary Track On both segments of the disc, there are two commentary. Commentary one is with co-writers/co-producers Craig Kyle and Chris Yost, who many comic book fans will know from their published work. They're both second stringers, more fan boys than creative geniuses, but their unbridled enthusiasm for the 'Hulk vs. Thor' project and their seemingly encyclopedic knowledge do go a long way. There's another commentary track on the disc, but it's a Blu-ray exclusive. Still, casual fans of the film will want to stick with this track anyway.
  
• First Look - 'Thor: Tals of Asgard' (SD, 4:40) This is just a super-long trailer for a forthcoming Marvel home video title. It doesn't look too great, and you can easily skip this overlong promo.

Hulk vs. Wolverine

• Writer/Producer Commentary Track Again, this is Craig Kyle and Chris Yost, talking about the development and execution of 'Hulk vs. Wolverine.' Again, this won't light up your life, but the obvious enthusiasm they have for the characters and the project definitely makes you lighten up about the actual film. They clearly drew on a number of iconic sources for this little movie, and happily explain the process.
  
• First Look - 'Wolverine and the X-Men' (SD, 5:46) This is yet another overlong commercial, except instead of a movie, it's for a new television series starring 'Wolverine and the X-Men.' I think that this has already started airing, but looks rather dull (even duller than 'Hulk vs. Thor!') You can easily skip this.

HD Bonus Content: Any Exclusive Goodies in There?

Hulk vs. Thor

• Technical Commentary Track The other commentary present for 'Hulk vs. Thor' is with Frank Paur, Sam Liu, and James Peters, who are all producers and animators and whatnot. This is obviously the more technical of the two tracks, with the commentary focusing primarily on animation hurdles, what shots were hard to accomplish, etc. If you're an animation nerd like I am, this was still an engaging track, but the more casual listeners interested in the project are better off just sticking with the Kyle/Yost track. (This goes for both segments.)
  
• Of Gods and Monsters: Making 'Hulk vs. Thor' (SD, 18:26) This is a fairly in-depth look behind the scenes at the creation and execution of 'Hulk vs. Thor,' with interviews of much of the creative team. This is pretty redundant if you listen to the commentary tracks, but also serves as a fine substitute. If you don’t want to sit through the movie again, then you can watch this little doc and be all set. There's nothing terribly illuminating here, but if you want to know more, this is a good little feature.
  
• Jack Kirby and Thor (SD, 4:47) This is a wonderful, but all-too-brief look at Hulk co-creator and Marvel comics artist extraordinaire Jack Kirby. This is a highly recommended feature, for casual fans of the character and hardcore geeks like me.

Hulk vs. Wolverine

• Technical Commentary Track This commentary track, with Frank Paur, Sam Liu, and James Peters, follows the formula of the similar track for 'Hulk vs. Thor.' Lots of technical business, what shots were tough to tackle, etc. Everyone sounds a little bit too self congratulatory on this track, sometimes all three just stop to marvel at their work. Although to be fair, this is the better half of the package. This is only recommended if you're a hardcore animation nerd, otherwise you're best just sticking with the Kyle/Yost track.
  
• This is Gonna Hurt: The Making of 'Hulk vs. Wolverine' (SD, 20:11) This is actually a fairly engaging look behind the scenes at 'Hulk vs. Wolverine.' I was surprised by how much fun it was to watch, to be honest with you. It traces the contentious relationship between the two Marvel characters, and where the filmmakers chose to draw inspiration for their little animated movie. Everyone seems really excited to be involved in the project.
  
• Fan Frenzy: 'Hulk vs. Wolverine' at 2008 Comic Con (SD, 8:02) Aaaaaaaand the nerds go wild! This is a brief Q & A from geek nirvana, San Diego Comic Con. This is very easily skippable.

Easter Eggs

No easter eggs reported for 'Hulk Vs.' yet. Found an egg? Please use our tips form to let us know, and we'll credit you with the find.

Final Thoughts

Overall, 'Hulk vs.' is a decidedly mixed bag. Content-wise, this disc kind of sucks. 'Hulk vs. Wolverine' is fairly good, but 'Hulk vs. Thor' is almost a complete waste of time. Far removed from the stylish work of the DC/Warner Premiere folks, this Marvel/Lionsgate joint project does have admittedly wonderful audio and video, and a whole host of extras that most nerds and casual fans will enjoy. So, I will cautiously recommend a rent for this, but only by a squeak, for people who want to give their home theater a workout and who enjoy the characters. Otherwise, give this baby a pass.

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