Reviewed by Johnny McNair 

Paramount Home Entertainment – 125 mins – 2008 – Rated PG-13 – 1080p Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40: 1 – Dolby TrueHD 5.1

 

Comic book movies are like a flip of the coin; sometimes the get it so right (Spider-man, X-men), and sometimes they really screw them up, (Daredevil, The Punisher). But when they’re done correctly, it’s a thing of beauty. This summer’s hit film Iron Man could have easily been a disaster, but instead it not only turned out to be a good comic book adaptation, but just a damn good movie in general, holding it’s own against the force of The Dark Night, taking in over $500 million worldwide. Iron Man is now ready to take flight in glorious high-definition Blu-ray, courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment, and it is one sweet ride. 

THE MOVIE

Robert Downy, Jr. plays Tony Stark, a billionaire playboy who runs Stark Industries, a company that creates weapons of war, and a business that allows him to live a lifestyle coated with hot girls, fast cars, and access to pretty much anything he wants. Tony Stark is arrogant, conceited, and puts only one thing first…Tony Stark. When Stark gets caught in an ambush behind enemy lines, he becomes the target of his own weapon, leaving him left for dead with a chest full of shrapnel. His life is saved by an Afghanistan engineer, (Shaun Toub), who is also being held captive. Together they plan an escape by secretly building a suit of armor; Stark makes it out of the death camp, because the engineer sacrifices his own life to help him, thus changing Stark’s outlook on the weapons his company builds.

Stark returns to America a new man, and creates a super magnet to insert into his chest to keep the shrapnel from entering his heart and killing him. Reuniting with his team that includes his trusted assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), ace pilot and close friend Rhodey (Terrence Howard), and his business partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), Stark decides that his company will discontinue making weapons of mass destruction. He also has another secret agenda, which leads him to build a new armor suit, this time with a hint of ‘hot rod red,’ to become Iron Man, a hi-tech superhero. And like all superheroes there, must be some badass villain to smack him around a little, in this case it turns out to be his partner who has betrayed him and has had an armor battle suit for himself to become Iron Monger.

There are two reasons why this film works so well, the first is the director Jon Favreau, who even though he has never handled anything on this scale, was obviously so passionate about the character that he put 100% of himself into it to deliver a stellar movie. The second reason this film rock is defined in three words Robert – Downy – Jr.; who becomes everything you envisioned Tony Stark would be. Downey has been in the movie industry for several decades and has played various characters, and anyone looking at his performance in this movie can see that he is having a ball with it. He is so good that when the CGI Iron Man takes the spotlight, you really miss Tony Stark’s charm.

Iron Man is a film made for people who just love to escape the world for two hours and have fun. There’s no underlying message or statement, it’s just a good popcorn film that will stand the test of time, especially in terms of superhero movies. Just like The Dark Knight, Iron Man was able to win the praise of both audiences and critics, which is rare with this genre. Iron Man’s script keeps the source as pure as possible without diving into the simplistic plot pacing that last year’s Transformers did. You never feel like you’re watching a kiddie film, and even if you never thought much of Robert Downy, Jr. you will after this, because I can’t imagine anyone else who would have been this likeable in the role. If you’ve seen this movie in theaters, you’ve already got this on your list of Blu-rays to buy. If you’ve held off on seeing it, or feel that this is just not your thing, I suggest that you give it a look and I’m confident many of you will be won over. “Yeah, I can fly.”

VIDEO

Iron Man is presented in full 1080p with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio and to say that the film looks incredible is an understatement. The benefit of new films is that the source material used is so pure that if you have top of the line TV, it looks even more crisps than the way you saw it in the movie theater. Unlike The Dark Knight, Iron Man actually likes being out under the bright sun, so scenes like the opening desert ambush, or Iron Man’s first test flight look spectacular. When Tony Stark slips on the Mach II body armor, the red and gold stand out to the fullest, and even though some of Iron Man’s GGI looks to ‘computer generated’ at times giving him a high cartoon-ish gloss, it works in this case giving Iron Man a 3-D effect that makes it seem like he’s floated off the screen. Skin tones are also very well balanced, and night scenes are filtered to give everything a blue-ish tint that looks perfect for the setting. This one is definite show off and brag material to all those suckers who only have a DVD and a standard definition TV.

AUDIO

Crank up those speakers, because Iron Man’s TrueHD 5.1 surround audio mix delivers the goods. This is the epitome of what a summer popcorn movie should sound like, with explosions, gunshots, machinery, and high-powered repulsor rays, the sound design is top notch. Just listen to how you can hear Iron Man soars from your left and right speakers as he races to avoid being hit by lock-on missiles in the fighter jet sequence; or how the use of sound is implemented when Tony Stark attempts to escape from his captors in the prototype suit as he fights to get out of the cave. When this year’s Oscar nominations are announced, Iron Man should be on the list for sound design. Nothing at all to complain about here, so turn it up to level ten.

EXTRAS

Iron Man has so many HD goodies that a second disc had to be added to include them all. The only thing missing is a director’s audio commentary, which is a let down because it would have been cool to hear Jon Favreau’s take on making the movie.

On disc one, besides the feature film you’ll also get a documentary, ‘The Invincible Iron Man’ a fifty-minute piece divided into six chapters, ‘Origins,’ ‘Friends and Foes,’ ‘Definitive Iron Man,’ ‘Demon in a Bottle,’ ‘Extremis and Beyond,’ and ‘Ultimate Iron Man.’ This one is for the comic geeks, going into the entire history of Iron Man, featuring interviews from comic book writers who know the character inside and out, and of course Stan Lee himself.

There are eleven deleted scenes that are mainly extended dialogue clips. It’s good that it’s been thrown in, but realistically it’s obvious why these scenes were removed.

‘Hail of Armor’ is a pretty cool feature that allows you to see three-dimensional views of Iron Man and Iron Monger’s body armor, allowing you to zoom in and out to see every detail of them. Geeks unite!

Disc two has one of the best features, “I am Iron Man’ a nearly two-hour long documentary that goes deep into the making of the film. Divided into seven parts, “The Journey Begins,’ ‘The Suit that makes Iron Man,’ ‘The Walk of Destruction,’ ‘Grounded in Reality,’ Beneath the Armor,’ It’s All in the Details,’ and ‘A Good Story, Well Told,’ has interviews with the cast, filmmakers, and the team over at Marvel. This doc is worth the price of the Blu-ray alone, because everything you need to know about the making of Iron Man has been compiled in a entertaining manner that is worth repeat viewing.

‘Wired: The Visual Effects of Iron Man,’ is a half hour look at the visual effects of the movie, and includes shots of Downey’s practical costume used to match the shots. For special effects junkies, this is some cool stuff.

‘Rehearsal Footage’ is an interesting piece that actually includes Robert Downey, Jr’s screen test, and after seeing it you’ll understand why he’s the only man worthy of wearing the armor.

A nice still gallery as well as three trailers for Iron Man is also included.

Iron Man is BD-Live enabled, so PS3 and Blu-ray player owners that have the 2.0 profile can access the trivia feature, ‘Iron Man IQ,’ that allows you to answer questions based on your knowledge of the man in armor. 

 

BOTTOM LINE

Iron Man was a good movie and this two-disc edition Blu-ray only compliments it more. Featuring excellent picture and sound quality, as well as a nice list of bonus features, I cannot recommend this disc enough, and it’s sure to be a huge seller for Paramount. Iron Man 2 is set for release for the summer of 2010, so until then there’s plenty here to keep you juiced up. Buy it now!

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie:          4.5

Video:                    4.0

Sound:                   4.5

Extras:                   4.5

Bottom Line:        4.5