THE INCREDIBLE HULK
HEADLINE: ** Goliath Video Game Violence **
TITLE: THE INCREDIBLE HULK
Quality: * * * Acceptability: -1
SUBTITLES: -- Some subtitles when scenes are in Brazil --
WARNING CODES:
Language: LL
Violence: VVV
Sex: S
Nudity: N
RATING: PG-13
RELEASE: June 13, 2008
TIME: 114 minutes
STARRING: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, Tim Blake Nelson, Ty Burrell, William Hurt, Christina Cabot, Peter Mensah, and Lou Ferrigno
DIRECTOR: Louis Leterrier
PRODUCERS: Avi Arad, Kevin Feige and Gale Anne Hurd
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Ari Arad, Stan Lee, David Maisel, and Jim Van Wyck
WRITERS: Zak Penn and Edward Harrison
BASED ON THE COMIC BOOK SERIES CREATED BY: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures/General Electric
CONTENT: (B, C, Pa, FR, AP, LL, VVV, S, N, A, D, M) Light, slightly mixed moral, allegorical worldview about a man battling the monster within, with love seen as redemptive and a moment of sacrifice where hero risks his life for others, but some pagan, false Eastern religion elements where hero uses martial arts training plus Eastern meditation in one scene, and a rogue American general and a rogue soldier from England are the bad guys; about 12 obscenities, one strong profanity and six light profanities, plus bad guy taunts the Hulk with phrases like "Is that all you've got?" and sounds of man getting sick in bathroom; massive amounts of video-game style violence, especially in climactic fight scenes, with troops trying to kill the Hulk and the "good" Hulk fighting the bad Hulk, soldiers die in assorted crashes, "bad" Hulk is very destructive in a city, tosses cars and other items, bad soldier thrown against tree, intense punching between enlarged men monsters; sex between unmarried adults stopped only because of danger that blood pressure is rising to "make-a-Hulk" levels; male nudity in shower, plus muscular animated figures lose some clothing and they expand and shot of woman in bra; brief drinking in a bar; cigar smoking; and, deceit, dishonesty, anger, genetic tampering in quest for super-soldiers.
GENRE: Science Fiction
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Teenagers and adults
Please address your comments to:
Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman/CEO, General Electric
Jeff Zucker, President/CEO, NBC Universal Entertainment
Ron Meyer, President/COO, Universal Studios
Marc Shmuger, Chairman & David Linde, Co-Chairman, Universal Pictures
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608-1085
Phone: (818) 777-1000
Web Page: www.universalstudios.com
SUMMARY: THE INCREDIBLE HULK is another effort by Marvel Comics and Hollywood to cash in on Marvel's comic book characters. The story is somewhat predictable, and the movie seems to switch back and forth between live action and ultra-violent video game action.
IN BRIEF:
THE INCREDIBLE HULK is another effort by Marvel Comics and Hollywood to profit from Marvel's comic book characters. Scientist Bruce Banner turns into a huge green monster when an experiment goes horribly wrong. The mild-mannered scientist turns into the Hulk when he is angered or threatened and his blood pressure rises. He changes back as he calms down. The military general behind the experiment considers Banner to be government property, so Banner travels the world hiding from him. One zealous soldier is so taken by the strength that he sees the Hulk demonstrate that he seeks this power for himself. So, like SPIDER-MAN and IRON MAN, you wind up with a battle between the good superhero and his evil counterpart.
The story in THE INCREDIBLE HULK is somewhat predictable, but entertaining. The movie switches back and forth between live action and ultra-violent video game action. Sadly, the filmmakers attempt a shot at humor during an interrupted sex scene. Parents will want to exercise caution in allowing their children to see THE INCREDIBLE HULK. The movie contains intense violence, some foul language, and a rogue American general is seen as one of the bad guys.
NOTE from Dr. Ted Baehr, publisher of Movieguide Magazine. For more information from a Christian perspective, order the latest Movieguide Magazine by calling 1-800-899-6684(MOVI) or visit our website at www.movieguide.org. Movieguide is dedicated to redeeming the values of Hollywood by informing parents about today's movies and entertainment and by showing media executives and artists that family-friendly and even Christian-friendly movies do best at the box office year in and year out. Movieguide now offers an online subscription to its magazine version, atwww.movieguide.org. The magazine, which comes out 25 times a year, contains many informative articles and reviews that help parents train their children to be media-wise consumers.
