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Hulk Vs. 2-Disc Special Edition
R1 - America - Lions Gate Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (14th March 2009). |
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The Film
 In "Hulk vs. Wolverine" The Hulk (Fred Tatasciore) is on a rampage in Canada and the U.S. military have sent Wolverine/Logan (Steve Blum) in to neutralize him by any means necessary. After engaging in a brutal fight, the team of Weapon X arrives to take down both combatants. Wolverine is held captive by The Professor (Tom Kane), along with the Weapon X team consisting of Sabretooth (Mark Acheson), Deadpool (Nolan North), Lady Deathstrike (Janyse Jaud) and Omega Red (Colin Murdock). It seems that they want to wipe the Hulk’s memory clean, much like they did with Logan long ago, so that they can use him as a weapon against society. Wolverine is forced into a tenuous alliance with Bruce Banner in order to escape the facility where they are being held before Banner’s mind is erased. In "Hulk vs. Thor" the realm of Asgard, Odin (French Tickner) slumbers while his best men, led by the mighty Thor (Matthew Wolf), protect the city from its enemies. Sensing this is the perfect time to attack, Thor’s half-brother, Loki (Graham McTavish), decides to transport Bruce Banner to Asgard. Once he has arrived Loki’s enchantress, Amora (Kari Wahlgren), puts a spell on Hulk that allows him to be controlled, and she also uses magic to extract Bruce Banner from within the Hulk. Now, with no Banner inside of him to contain the rage, Hulk goes on a rampage, destroying the warriors of Asgard. Only Thor, Asgard’s most powerful warrior, can hope to stop the beast before he destroys the entire planet and everyone on it. I’m not too up-to-date on comics or animation as I once was, but this title sounded like an interesting watch. I’m a fan of all of the lead characters involved, plus the security of a 'PG-13' rating told me that this wasn’t going to be a rehashed Saturday morning cartoon special, and it certainly wasn’t. Each story is quick and concise; focusing on the action they know we want to see. There is a lot of great, bloody brawling here that lends the films a little more intensity. Wolverine is in full-on berserker mode for more than half the film. Limbs are hacked off, torn off, blown up and slashed to pieces. At approximately 40 minutes each little time is spent going over the character origins they assume we already know. A brief amount of time is spent of Wolverine’s origin, which did feel a little out of place, but the animation is so cool that it hardly matters. I can only hope that they plan to make this a continuing series if this DVD sells well.
Video
The anamorphic widescreen image is presented in 1.85:1 (though the packaging states 1.78:1 it looked more like 1.85:1 on my system.) and looks very good for standard definition. The image is clean and free of any noise or grain, as to be expected from most new animated titles. Colors look vibrant, black levels are consistently dark and the clarity is very good. Overall, it’s a great example of how good standard definition can still look.
Audio
The main track is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, also provided is a Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 track. It’s powerful in many spots, free of any hissing or clicks and pops. There isn’t much surround use, but the fights sequences, of which there are many, do give your subwoofer a minor workout. There are also English subtitles.
Extras
"Hulk Vs." is a 2-disc set with the extras for each feature housed on its respective disc. DISC ONE: "Hulk vs. Wolverine," contains 2 audio commentaries, 3 behind-the-scenes featurettes, and a bonus trailer gallery. Audio commentary #1 features writers Craig Kyle and Chris Yost. Being that these two guys are huge fanboys, most of this track is dedicated to them just being excited at how cool making a film like this really was for them. It’s not a very technical track, but it doesn’t really need to be since we have a 2nd commentary to take up those reigns. Audio commentary #2 features director Frank Paur and storyboard artists Kevin Altieri and Butch Lukie. This is a more technical track which covers aspects of the story that they weren’t able to include in the film and some interesting production notes. “This is Gonna Hurt: The Making of Hulk vs. Wolverine” is a featurette which runs for 20 minutes and 9 seconds. It features interviews with the principle cast and crew of the film discussing how the project came about and how much of a dream it was to be able to bring all of these characters together on-screen. It shows how much effort the actors put into their roles, even though they are only lending their voices. It’s very clear that everyone involved is a huge fan of both comic series, so they have treated the project with the utmost respect. “Fan Frenzy: Hulk vs. Wolverine at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con” is a featurette which runs for 8 minutes and 2 seconds. Writer Craig Kyle introduces the film to the crowd at Comic-Con to a huge round of applause. After the film, Kyle is joined by some of the cast/crew to discuss the making of the film and some of the decisions behind the project such as design choices and character lilmitations. “First Look – Wolverine and the X-Men” is a featurette which runs for 5 minutes and 45 seconds. It provides a first look at the latest animated film that Craig Kyle has been working on, this being a film focusing on Wolverine and his fellow mutants at the academy. They discuss how they approached this project and what fans can expect to see from the characters. The bonus trailer gallery features 7 trailers for current/forthcoming release. They are: - "Wolverine and the X-Men" runs for 2 minutes and 11 seconds. - "Iron Man" video game trailer runs for 52 seconds. - "The Incredible Hulk" video game trailer runs for 32 seconds. - "Ultimate Avengers" runs for 1 minute and 54 seconds. - "Doctor Strange" runs for 1 minute and 54 seconds. - "Speed Racer" (animated series) DVD collection runs for 1 minute and 32 seconds. - "Shaun the Sheep" runs for 48 seconds. DISC TWO: "Hulk vs. Thor," also contains 2 audio commentaries, 3 featurettes and a bonus trailer gallery. Audio commentary #1 features writers Craig Kyle and Chris Yost. Again, this is similar to their track on "Hulk vs. Wolverine," so both participants are very excited discussing how they fit this story in with the universe as a whole, pointing out little nods to fans and talking about the style of animation they were going for. Audio commentary #2 features directors Frank Paur and Sam Liu and animator James Peters. Similar to Paur first track, this one is also more on the technical side. The trio focus on the elements of the production, achieving the proper balance within the film and the influence famous comic artists had on the production. “Of Gods and Monsters: The Making of Hulk vs. Thor” is a featurette which runs for 18 minutes and 24 seconds. Very similar to the production featurette on the 1st disc, this gives us a glimpse into how the project came together and how the cast/crew felt about the finished product. “Jack Kirby and Thor” is a featurette which runs for 4 minutes and 46 seconds. This is a quick look at the famous artist, Jack Kirby, and his influences on the universe of all things Thor. “First Look – Thor: Tales of Asgard” is a featurette which runs for 4 minutes and 40 seconds. This is a first look at an upcoming Thor animated film, though it provides far less footage than the promo for the upcoming Wolverine release. The bonus trailer gallery features all of the same trailers found on Disc one.
Overall
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