Iron Man

Released by: Paramount Studios
Released on: September 30, 2008.
Director: Jon Favreau
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Terence Howard
Year: 2008
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The Movie:

For every decent comic book to film adaptation there's got to be at least three to five genuine stinkers. Thankfully, 2008's Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr. and directed by Jon Favreau, is one of those rare comic movies that succeeds in bringing the source material to life on the big screen. Does it change things? Yeah, a little bit, it does. But the script by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby stays close enough to Iron Man's comic book roots that it doesn't matter too much. The fact that it was an in-house Marvel Comics Production probably didn't hurt in that department.

When the film begins, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), the young man in charge of a massive weapons company, is showing off Stark Industries latest development - a series of missle/cluster bomb things that, during his demonstration, pretty much obliterate a mountain range. One the way back from the demonstration, Stark is kidnapped by a gang of Afghani terrorists and held captive in a cave. If he wants his freedom, he's going to have to build some of those fancy new missiles for his captors. Stark's a smart cookie, however, and rather than build those missiles, he instead builds a suit of armor loaded with plenty of nifty gadgets and weapons, and decides to fight his way out of the cave to freedom - surprisingly enough, it works.

Back in America, Stark holds a press conference and tells the world that his company will no longer be developing and selling weapons. He's seen what his technology has done to the world first hand and wants to take things in a more positive direction. His personal assistant, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) thinks Tony is a changed man and appreciates him for it while his business partner, Obadiah Stone (Jeff Bridges), isn't sure that Tony hasn't lost it completely. Stark's military liaison, Colonel James Rhodes (Terence Howard) isn't quite sure what to think. Stark, staying out of the public eye for a while, decides to rebuild that suit of armor he designed in Afghanistan, and use it to help the world. After a few test runs, he more or less gets it down pat while Stone decides to build a bigger and better suit of armor fully intended for military use. Obviously, Stark and Stone don't see eye to eye on things…

Iron Man is a great looking film that moves at a quick pace and Robert Downey Jr. really is the perfect choice to play Tony Stark as the suave, smart ass playboy that he really is. Bridges makes for a good foil and Paltrow provides some sympathetic eye candy but this really is Robert Downey Jr.'s show - no one else could have played the role so perfectly. A few interesting nods to the comics that inspired the film are a welcome touch - S.H.I.E.L.D., in its infancy, plays a small part in the film (do stick through the end credits for a goofy surprise) and hints at Stark's battle with alcohol serve as a precursor of things to come . It's also nice to see Stark play with different variations of the Iron Man armor, had he got it right the first time the middle part of the film would be sorely lacking.

Favreau's direction ensures that we never have to go too long without an action scene but that the characters are fleshed out enough and the story is interesting enough that there's more to the film than just a bunch of explosion and guys in suits blowing each other up. While that's obviously a big part of the film and those scenes are what will stand out for most viewers, at its core the film is really as much about Stark's change in character than it is about mechanized combat. This is still a big summer movie blockbuster film so don't worry that it'll get too deep - it doesn't; but it's smart enough and layered enough that it's more than just a superficial piece of style over substance.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Paramount's 1081p AVC 2.40.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer looks excellent across the board. Color reproduction is nice and bright while black levels stay strong and deep throughout. There aren't any problems with mpeg compression artifacts or print damage and skin tones look nice and lifelike throughout. Detail levels are excellent in both the foreground and the background of the picture at pretty much any point in the film, and there's very little to complain about here. The scenes that take place in the desert look appropriately gritty and at times a little on the hot side (obviously a stylistic choice) while the later half looks slick, clean and cool. As such, the first half of the film looks great while the second half of the film looks pretty much perfect. Want to show off your HD TV? This is one of those discs that will do the trick.


The English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround Sound mix on this release is completely boner inducing - it sounds fangoddamntastic. The surrounds are used perfectly to really enhance the action scenes - listen to the scene where Stark shows off the missiles at the beginning of the film or the scene where Stark uses the prototype armor to bust his way out of the cave - with bullets and effects and explosions flying past you from all directions. Bass response is very strong without ever feeling too cooked while dialogue stays clean and clear from start to finish. The levels are all balanced perfectly and there are no problems with hiss, distortion or audible defects of any kind. The score gets a little bit lost in the mix in a couple of times but that's the only complain you can really levy against this release. This is demo material here, it sounds great. Standard definition Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mixes are supplied in French and Spanish while removable subtitles are included in English, English SDH, Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian and French.


As one of the biggest blockbusters of the year, it only makes sense that Paramount would go all out with this disc and this two disc set really does offer a lot of extra content (pretty much all of which is presented in full 1080p high definition) that is both interesting and entertaining. The first disc features the Blu-ray exclusive Hall Of Armor interactive gizmo that lets you examine in quite a bit of detail all of the different suits of armor used in the film by way of your remote control. You can take a bird's eye view and get a general feel for a particular suit or you can drill down and check out more detailed aspects of it and geek out over tech specs if you want. More interesting than that is the forty-nine minute documentary, The Invincible Iron Man, which starts off with some input from Iron Man co-creator Stan Lee before moving on to other writers and artists who have worked on the comic book that inspired the film over the years since he was first introduced decades ago in the pages of Tales To Astonish. Look for input from classic Iron Man creators like Gerry Conway and Gene Colan as well as newer creators like Warren Ellis and John Romita Jr. (who cut his teeth on the title). This is much more a look at the history of the comic than the film but it's great to see the Marvel Bullpen get the kind of attention they deserve here. Rounding out the first disc is a selection of Deleted Scenes. The eleven scenes here total roughly twenty-four minutes in length and while the dialogue extensions don't add much there are a couple of fun action scenes in here that make this stuff worth checking out. A couple of scenes feature unfinished effects and time code but it's still neat to see them here.

Disc two starts off with the feature length one hundred and ten minute documentary, I Am Iron Man, that is broken up into seven parts. While this borders on EPK material in a few spots, it's incredibly in-depth and features interviews with pretty much everyone you'd want to hear from who had anything to do with this film. The cast members, including Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, and Terence Howard are all here as is director Jon Favreau, the two screenwriters, and a bunch of the effects guys who worked on the picture. Wired: The Visual Effects Of Iron Man is obviously a look at how the CGI effects used in the film brought Iron Man to life. At twenty-seven minutes in length it's a pretty in-depth segment that gets down into the technical nitty-gritty and explores how computerized footage was meshed with real world footage to create the effects that we see in the feature. It's fairly technical stuff but it's definitely worth a look if you enjoy learning how special effects are created in this day and age. The Robert Downey Jr. Screen Test is a six minute look at Downey's audition for the lead role while The Actor's Process is a brief four minute chunk of the other cast members going through some of their material together. Downey's footage is interesting to watch and it really shows you how bad he wanted this part - he worked for it, and obviously it paid off. Rounding out the second disc is a pretty massive still gallery, two North American theatrical trailers, one international theatrical trailer, and an Iron Man IQ interactive quiz. Animated menus and chapter selection are included and the first disc is Blu-ray live enabled, meaning you can go online and get some bonus content and interact with other movie fans if that's your bag.

The Final Word:

Iron Man looks great, sounds even better, and features a massive array of kick ass extra features. The movie itself is a great popcorn film with plenty of action and adventure that, for once, feels pretty close to the comic book that inspired it. The script and Favreau's direction treat the source material with respect while Downey's performance really just flat out works. Bring on Part II!