User Reviews

Lionsgate has released Hulk VS on disc in three flavors: single disc DVD, 2-disc Special Edition DVD, and single disc Blu-ray. For the 2-disc edition, Lionsgate has devoted disc one to Hulk Vs. Wolverine and its special features, with disc two containing Hulk Vs. Thor and its special features.

Movie: Hulk Vs. Wolverine (37 minutes) out of
Wolverine is dispatched to a remote area in the Canadian wilderness after the Hulk allegedly wreaks havoc on a small town. Things are not exactly as they seem, however.

Although the Hulk is at the center of this story, he and his alter-ego Bruce Banner only appear in a third of the movie’s running time. The majority of the film’s running time is spent with Wolverine battling Weapon-X, along with flashbacks to Wolverine’s origins.

The action and dialogue in this Marvel Animation produced short are a bit on the cheesy side; Wolverine often growls his lines, while Hulk often sounds like Frankenstein’s monster (“Hulk crush little man!”). The animation style is a blend of comic book and anime, but on a television budget; backgrounds are often static and characters move only when necessary. The animation is good, and a major step above 1970’s style television animation, but don’t expect to see theatrical hand-drawn animation.

Movie: Hulk Vs. Thor (45 minutes) out of
Loki and Amora have somehow kidnapped Bruce Banner so they can set the Hulk loose on Asgard during Odinsleep (a time when evil can descend and attempt to overthrow Asgard). This sets up several sequences where the Hulk goes on a rampage under Loki and Amora’s spell, and leading to Loki killing Bruce Banner in a fit of rage, leaving the Hulk separated as full-rage forever.

I found Hulk Vs. Thor to be a confusing mess of a story that overstays its welcome by 30 minutes.


Video: out of
The 1.78:1 anamorphic video is virtually free of compression artifacts and noise with solid colors and black levels. However, both programs exhibit combing issues, especially during fast action of small objects. Changing the BD/DVD Cinema Conversion setting on my Playstation 3 from Automatic to Video made the combing less noticeable.


Audio: Hulk Vs. Wolverine out of
This is a very active mix. The LFE thunders with every punch, crunch, jab, and thud. The surrounds get a good workout, too, while also providing a nice enveloping atmosphere.

Audio: Hulk Vs. Thor out of
For all the crashing and punching, I expected the LFE to get more of a workout. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when my room rumbled, but they were few and far between for all the action on the screen. This is also a very front-centric mix, with some occasional rear to front panning as characters appear on screen. This soundtrack was a bit of a letdown after Hulk Vs. Wolverine.


Special Features: out of

Hulk Vs. Wolverine includes the following bonus materials:

Audio Commentary with Craig Kyle and Chris Yost The two are obviously big fans of the classic Hulk Vs. Wolverine comic books, as they often point out shots from the movie that were inspired by the comic books, as well as discussing the backstory of the characters. Their dialogue is very engaging and fun to listen to.

Audio Commentary with Frank Paur (supervising director), Kevin Altieri (storyboard), and Butch Lukic (storyboard) The three discuss how this is the first time they have worked together since Batman: The Animated Series. This is a more technical commentary, as they also discuss how sequences changed from storyboard to finished scene, the designs of the characters, voice acting, etc.

This Is Gonna Hurt: The Making of Hulk Vs. Wolverine features interviews with the artists, animators, writers, and voice actors.

Fan Frenzy: Hulk Vs. Wolverine at the 2008 San Diego Comic-con is a Q&A session between fans and Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, Frank Paur, and Fred Tatasciore (voice of the Hulk) after a preview screening.

First Look - Wolverine and the X-Men Craig Kyle and Greg Johnson discuss some of the concepts behind the television series.

Trailers
Wolverine and the X-men
Iron Man: The Video Game
Incredible Hulk: The Video Game
Ultimate Avengers: The Movie
Doctor Strange
Speed Racer: The Original Series
Shaun The Sheep: Off the Baa

Hulk Vs. Thor includes the following bonus materials:

Audio Commentary with Craig Kyle and Chris Yost Similar to their commentary track on Hulk Vs. Wolverine, they discuss some of the Marvel history of the characters, development of the story, and character design.

Audio Commentary with Frank Paur (supervising director), Sam Liu (director), and James Peters (colorist) Again, Frank Paur leads the more technical commentary as the three discuss drawing and coloring styles used in the movie, character designs, backgrounds, etc.

Of Gods and Monsters: The Making of Hulk Vs. Thor features interviews with the artists, animators, writers, and voice actors.

Jack Kirby + Thor is a look back at one of the influential creators of the Thor comic books.

First Look - Thor: Tales of Asgard Craig Kyle, Greg Johnson, and Gary Hartle discuss some of the concepts and show some early storyboards from the upcoming animated feature film.

Trailers
Wolverine and the X-men
Iron Man: The Video Game
Incredible Hulk: The Video Game
Ultimate Avengers: The Movie
Doctor Strange
Speed Racer: The Original Series
Shaun The Sheep: Off the Baa


Overall out of
These two animated shorts based on the classic comic books are definitely not for the little kiddies due to their violent content (hence the PG-13 rating), but are sure to please the more mature fan. Hulk Vs. Wolverine is the stronger film on this set, and a nice complement of bonus materials make this a worthwhile disc.