Incredible Hulk, The

After a dose of gamma radiation, Dr. Bruce Banner (Norton) is afflicted with a condition that when he is angered, turns him into a violent terrifying green entity referred to as The Incredible Hulk. Forced to live his life in the shadows to avoid the warmongers who wish to exploit his dangerous alter ego, Dr. Banner searches the world for an antidote to reverse the effects of the gamma rays. Bruce Banner will not be in hiding long when KGB Agent Blonsky (Roth) exposes himself to a double dose of the same gamma radiation that created The Hulk and morphs into a larger, more destructive creature, The Abomination. Based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. (Stacey Pendry)

Special features on Disc One include a commentary track by Director Louis Leterrier and Actor TIm Roth, six deleted scenes, and previews. Disc Two contains an alternate opening scene; 12 additional deleted scenes; three featurettes: The Making Of Incredible (30 minutes), Becoming The Hulk (nine minutes), and Becoming The Abomination (ten minutes); get a behind-the-scenes look at three action sequences in Anatomy Of A Hulk Out—Hulking Out In The Bottling Plant (ten minutes), Hulking Out On Campus (ten minutes), and Hulking Out In Harlem (eight minutes); and a narrated comic book sequence (seven minutes). Disc Three contains a downloadable digital copy of the movie. Special features exclusive to Blu-ray™ include four U-Control picture-in-picture features: Thunderbolt Files explore top-secret files of the characters, Scene Explorer details the individual layers that go into effects-intensive scenes, Comic Book Gallery displays the classic comic book images that inspire the scene, and Animated Comic provides a storyboard for the scenes inspired by the classic comic book; and BD-Live™ functionality allows you to chat with other network users via the Internet.

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 DVD looks impressive, with sharp details and deep black levels. Shadows are defined well, giving the picture a noticeably dimensional appearance. The color scheme is wide, with bright, bold hues that pop from the screen. Colors do appear slightly oversaturated, though, giving it a somewhat unnatural appearance. Contrast is also somewhat hot, especially noticeable in the fleshtones. Edge enhancement is subtle enough to not be a distraction, and while compression artifacts can be noticed at times, they too are not a distraction. The H.264 AVC-encoded Blu-ray Disc shows good resolution, although details are not as pristine as in better transfers. Black levels are effectively deep and the sense of dimension into the screen is enhanced. Contrast is high and colors are still oversaturated, but they both match the storytelling well. (Danny Richelieu)

The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack is mixed very well, incorporating each of the channels nicely to create an engaging experience. The LFE channel is used often, with bass reaching into the lower octaves frequently. Bass is defined well, with a tight, quick delivery that matches the on-screen effects well. Phantom imaging is incorporated often throughout the room, helping craft a natural-sounding stage. Fidelity is good, but dialogue is often shrouded by the higher-level effects, and voices are not as articulate as in the better recordings. Dynamic range is good, but subtle details are not as audible as they could be. Channel separation is also somewhat smeared as well. But, there is a good sense of dimension to the soundtrack, extending beyond the physical limitations of the room. The Blu-ray Disc's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio™ encoding improves the fidelity noticeably, with better articulation in the dialogue, but subtleties are still missing from the sound design. Bass is unquestionably the standout of this soundtrack. (Danny Richelieu)