Planet Hulk – Blu-ray Review
The Film:
Hulk Smash! If there ever was a two word sentence describing something as exciting than that, I don’t know what it is, because seeing the Hulk smash things is as basic as fun can get, yet it’s so incredibly enjoyable seeing him do just that. Dating back to his first appearance in the early 1960’s, writers have been exploring this Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde duality of the Hulk, and the Frankenstein aspect of his nature. That’s fine, but it wears thin and limits his character from growing, but alas, the Hulk has survived near 50 years of popularity in the public’s eye, but Greg Pak came up with a wicked cool story arc in 2006 called Planet Hulk, essentially exploring aspects of the character really untapped.
For purposes of streamlining a story, Marvel sent the Hulk away so the writers could concentrate on the huge Civil War arc, without worrying about that big green ball of raging inertia. Greg Pak’s arc in Planet Hulk gives us a Hulk rarely seen. While he is a walking time bomb, as seen with so much fun in the film Hulk Vs., Pak gives Hulk the chance to use his brain. It’s a simple concept, yet we forget that while the Hulk could annihilate everything and anything, he still has Bruce Banner’s brain in that green melon of his. For this film, Greg Johnson, a long time Marvel Animated film and television writer, takes the gigantic series and strips away a lot of things, for a completely enjoyable adventure. I felt he rushed the opening, giving us too much exposition, but soon the film slowly unwinds giving us a great concept that is well executed.
The gladiator aspect of the story is essentially Gladiator, but who cares. We get an intelligent Hulk character finally, voiced brilliantly by Rick Wasserman, and wonderful animation, easily making this the slickest, and perhaps best Marvel Animation Features film yet. Marvel fans will smile at the first appearance of Beta Ray Bill, a character inserted for the purposes of this film, yet his inclusion works naturally and organically. It’s taken a few films, but this collaboration between Marvel and Lionsgate is steam rolling into a series of awesome, fun, animated superhero flicks than will soon rival DC/Warners. While the Hulk has been used in a lot of their animated fare, Planet Hulk shows that you can still spin a character in smart, interesting directions. Comic book fans should enjoy this as well, especially with the tease-if you know the source material-of the Civil War.
So, can we pretty please have an animated Civil War and World War Hulk films?
The Blu-ray:
Audio/Video: While the film is visually slick, the video presentation is rather standard looking. Bold, bright colors, with solid details, but there’s something just ho-hum about it all in HD. It’s probably just nit-picking but there was something a tad bit off here, but for the average movie watcher, everything looks decent. Now, the audio is bombastic! Deep bass, highly active surround elements, and clear dialogue, making for a solid DTV DTS track.
Commentaries: The first track has producer Joshua Fine and screenwriter Greg Johnson. It’s a great track full of insights on the little tidbits that makes it perfect for us comic book nerds to enjoy. The second track has the director and some of the animators, but is a little boring at times. Together, these tracks offer up a fine behind-the-scenes look at making an animated film.
A Whole World of Hurt: In HD, this 20 minute making of features plenty of the crew and has little overlap from the commentaries. From what needed to be in the film from the comic, to the voice casting, this is a nice look at the film’s creation.
Let the Smashing Commence: Greg Pak and Aaron Lopresti, the creators of the Planet Hulk miniseries, talk about the series. This is a great little feature for the comic fans.
Thor: Tales of Asgard Preview: This is the opening sequence for the next Marvel animated film, in HD, and is here strictly as a tease. From what is shown, it looks okay, but I’m not the biggest Thor fan around.
Wolverine and the X-Men: Wolverine vs. Hulk episode: Written by Greg Pak, we get this episode from the new X-Men series. I have yet to warm up to this show, but this is taking out of context. It’s a nice inclusion, but the Hulk Vs. film is far, far better.
Motion Comics: Both motion comics, one for Spider-Woman, and one for the Astonishing X-Men, are eh, in terms of story and execution. Is anyone a fan of motion comics?
Music Videos: Again eh. What do these do with the Hulk character?
Trailers, Video Game Trailer, Bookmarks, and a bonus disc that is a Digital Copy finish the extras out.
Conclusion: A good film gets a decent high-def disc release. Marvel fans should snatch this up ASAP.
The Film: Rating: 
The Blu-ray: Rating: 
