Hulk vs.: Hulk vs. Thor and Hulk vs. Wolverine (Lionsgate Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B+     Sound: B+     Extras: B     Films: B+

 

 

Seemingly more than any film or television series appearing on Blu-ray today; superhero inspired releases seem to be the most abundant.  After various Avengers, Justice League, Iron Man and Wonder Woman releases on Blu-ray there seems to be no slowing down the heroic genre as the visually stunning Blu-Ray format is the perfect manner to house the magic that is superheroes.

 

New to Blu-ray is Hulk vs.; a straight to Blu-ray animated film series that pits classic comic heroes against each other in various evolving story arches.  Pitting superheroes against each other (most of the time under misguided circumstances) is nothing new to the comic genre and has been done since the very beginning; but with the evolution of animation as well as picture/sound quality on Blu-ray we as an audience get to experience that action in a whole new light.  The two films presented here surprising have a PG-13 rating as they jump right into the brutally violent action that occurs when two superheroes clash.  There is no meandering around with back-story or subplots, instead the creators of these action packed tales jump right into the muscle and smashing antics of two enraged heroes.

 

The Hulk vs. Wolverine is a basic smash and grab tale.  Wolverine is sent into the Canadian wilderness (awesome reference) to stop the Hulk who has been terrorizing the countryside.  Unfortunately for Wolverine, Hulk is not about to lay down easily and an epic battle ensues as Wolverine’s adamantium skeleton and healing abilities are pushed to their brink.  The Hulk by all means beats the junk out of Wolverine, with Wolverine only getting the occasional claw jab in that only further infuriates Hulk.  After a long battle the Weapon X program swoops in with a hail of tranquilizer darts to bring down the green beast; obviously intending to use his powers for their programs immoral and corrupt experiments.  In the Hulk vs. Thor we see Hulk take on the whole of Asgard; down to Odin’s ravens.  The tale is not as quite as violent as Hulk vs. Wolverine, but as far as gruesome superhero tales go; it ranks up there.  The creators of this particular tale throw in so much Thor legend that it is astonishing; even not being as big of a Thor fan as I am a X-Men/Wolverine I still found it captivating how the writers and animators were able to tie in such an incredible amount of mythology.  I highly recommend these features as they have to be seen to be believed, never has a straight to home video release been so detailed or captivating as this vs. series.

 

As amazing as the feature itself is the picture, sound, and extras are even better.  The picture is presented in a stunning 1080p High Definition AVC encoded 1.78 X 1 Widescreen that is bright, crisp, and clean with solid blacks and vivid colors from beginning to end.  There is a texture and glow to the image that no animated superhero release on Blu-ray has seen like this yet; a truly stunning image.  Once again on the smashing grounds of wonderful is the sound in its English 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio that uses the full speaker range as the action never lets up.  Whether it is a rock flying by or the sound of adamantium bones bending, the speaker range is fully immersive as it pans across the entire soundscape.

 

The extras are divided up by feature and are wholly amazing.  Extras include:

 

Hulk vs. Wolverine

Audio Commentary by Craig Kyle and Chris Yost

Audio Commentary by Frank Paur, Kevin Altieri, and Butch Lukic

“This is Gonna Hurt: The Making of Hulk vs. Wolverine” Featurette

“Fan Frenzy: Hulk vs. Wolverine at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con” Featurette

“First Look- Wolverine and the X-Men” Featurette

Trailer Gallery

 

Hulk vs. Thor

Audio Commentary by Craig Kyle and Kyle Yost

Audio Commentary by Frank Paur, Sam Liu, and James Peters

“Of Gods and Monsters: Making of Hulk vs. Thor” Featurette

“Jack Kirby and Thor” Featurette

“First Look- Thor: Tales of Asgard” Featurette

Trailer Gallery

 

 

In brief the commentaries hold little substance and are mainly guys (fanboys) sitting around saying “oh man that was really cool” and are a far cry from a Bruce Timm commentary.  The other featurettes are a nice thing to go through once, but I would never watch them again as they are kind of “blah” at best.

 

Overall, this is a MUST HAVE for any comic fan and you will not be disappointed.  Now I would not recommend this for a small child, but the PG-13 rating is appropriate and the feature lives up to its name. For more on this from our DVD review, try this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8308/Hulk+VS.+(Marvel+Comics/Lionsgate

 

 

-   Michael P. Dougherty II