Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Hulk 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Universal has released Director Ang Lee's tepidly received comic book film 'Hulk' to the UHD format. This new disc includes 2160p/HDR-enhanced video and a new DTS:X Master Audio soundtrack. No new extras are included. In short: the movie looks and sounds fabulous on the UHD format.

Hulk 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

Hulk's 2160p/HDR UHD picture looks fantastic. It's incredibly cinematic and richly detailed, featuring a perfectly balanced and complimentary grain structure that celebrates its shot-on-film origins and compliments the in-depth and greater-than-intimate detailing that abounds from shot to shot, scene to scene, sequence to sequence, beginning to end. Clarity is absolutely off the charts, particularly considering some of the stylistic close-ups, split screens, overlays, and all variety of visual cues and curiously effective techniques Lee uses to keep the movie fresh and build a comic book-style visual structure. Lee obviously wants the viewer intimately involved with the characters, and the numerous super-close facial details don't just show every pore but practically invite viewers to gaze inside them and poke around. Clothing is likewise precisely tactile, lab equipment and display readouts look marvelously clear, and locations from cozy home interiors to barren desert landscapes pop off the screen. A few shots do look a little artificial, but the movie's stylistic variances, not any transfer fault, appear to be the culprit.

The HDR color spectrum is a boon for the movie, offering intense Hulk greens and extremely full and dynamic human skin tones in every shot. Hulk does take on a somewhat cartoonish, over-the-top green tone, but the UHD's color solidification and improved intensity give him an almost radioactive coloring, which suits him just fine. It's certainly a large leap forward in color intensity and density from the Blu-ray, which appears flat and dull in comparison, though some fans may find the intensified color punch to be too much (fortunately it only really looks borderline over-processed when conducting A-B comparisons and soaking in the dramatic difference; the color looks great in general playback). The color density here and elsewhere is stellar, the nuance amazing, and the precision awe-inspiring. Even otherwise boring earthy, desert tones, such as around Banner's old abandoned neighborhood, find absolutely perfect saturation and contrast. Additional colors pop, such as green grasses and a red ambulance seen in flashback in chapter 23 and blue skies above the desert in one of the third act action set pieces. Some of the sleeker, more metallic colors around science labs fine impressive color clarity, too. Black levels are deep but sometimes teeter on crush. The color and clarity both are a little apt to push the visuals to limit where they begin to look a bit too obviously phony. These are but small blemishes on an otherwise incredible 2160p/HDR presentation.

Hulk 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Universal has muscled up Hulk for its UHD debut with a prodigious DTS:X Master Audio soundtrack. Everything, from music to action, from ambient effects to dominant support elements, shines. A blaring alarm heard at distance in chapter two sounds terrific, with a real feel for environmental spacing and depth. There is another in chapter eight, closer and more prominent, joined with some terrifically potent bass -- which is just a hint of what's to come -- that makes for the first great moment the track has to offer. Surrounds are engaged with frequency. Banner's first transformation into the Hulk comes with fluidly spaced and organically engaging music wrapping around the stage, crunching and crashing and stretching details, debris falling from and flying above the listener, and of course balanced, capable bass that deeply compliments, but doesn't overwhelm, the scene. Gunfire in chapter 15 is actually a little bit on the weak side, a surprise development about an hour into the film that is blip on the radar; action effects, including gunfire later in the film, are ridiculous (in a good way). Sounds maneuver around the stage with startling efficiency and wrap. Low end might is obvious. Detail is exact. Music is likewise the beneficiary of all of these qualities, holding firm up front but offering enough surround usage, overhead extension, and low end weight to lift each note to excellence. Dialogue is clear and natural, well prioritized from a perfectly positioned front-center home.

Hulk 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Hulk's UHD disc contains no new extras but does bring over the Ang Lee commentary track. The bundled Blu-ray, identical to that released in 2008, carries over all of the other legacy content. See below for an outline of what's included and please click here for full coverage. This release ships with a Movies Anywhere digital copy code and an embossed slipcover.

• Deleted Scenes
• The Making of Hulk
• Evolution of the Hulk
• The Incredible Ang Lee
• The Dog Fight Scene
• The Unique Style of Editing Hulk
• Audio Commentary
• U-Control

Hulk 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's amazing how the UHD format continues to push home theater limits, finding the perfect balances between image refinement and dramatic increases in color and clarity. Hulk sits right in that sweet spot where it's obviously far and away better than its 1080p counterpart both in large scale color and detail swaths and in its ability to fine-tune visual nuance down to a science. Add in a powerhouse soundtrack and, even without any new extras, and this UHD is literally a beast. Highly recommended.