Iron Man [Blu-ray] [2008] - DVD (Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard, Shaun Toub, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Downey Jr - Dir: Jon Favreau)

You know you're going to get a different kind of superhero when you cast Robert Downey Jr. in the lead role. And Iron Man is different, in welcome ways. Cleverly updated from Marvel Comics' longstanding series, Iron Man puts billionaire industrialist Tony Stark (that's Downey) in the path of some Middle Eastern terrorists; in a brilliantly paced section, Stark invents an indestructible suit that allows him to escape. If the rest of the movie never quite hits that precise rhythm again, it nevertheless offers plenty of pleasure, as the renewed Stark swears off his past as a weapons manufacturer, develops his new Iron Man suit, and puzzles both his business partner (Jeff Bridges in great form) and executive assistant (Gwyneth Paltrow). Director Jon Favreau geeks out in fun ways with the hardware, but never lets it overpower the movie, and there's always a goofy one-liner or a slapstick pratfall around to break the tension. As for Downey, he doesn't get to jitterbug around too much in his improv way, but he brings enough of his unpredictable personality to keep the thing fresh. And listen up, hardcore Marvel mavens: even if you know the Stan Lee cameo is coming, you won't be able to guess it until it's on the screen. It all builds to a splendid final scene, with a concluding line delivery by Downey that just feels absolutely right. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews of Iron Man [Blu-ray] [2008]

Marty From SF
San Francisco, CA.
6th January 2009

2-Disc Set Does 'Iron Man' Justice
There is a lot to `give away' in describing "Iron Man', but suffice it to say that the film makers have created the real Tony Stark. He is the rowdy billionaire responsible for building weapons of mass destruction and selling them to the enemy who then turns into a reluctant and then powerful `Iron Man'. The cinematography is stunning in Blu-ray and the scenes starting from Afghanistan to Los Angeles's skies are over-whelming. The action is intense, funny, witty and true to the character of the comic book character. Plus, it is all believable. Robert Downing, Jr. playing around with his Iron Man invention is nothing short of hilarious and thrilling. Gwyneth Paltrow is a bit underused as his assistant, but she supplies some killer one-liners. Jeff Bridges plays a role that truly threatens Iron Man, but that's all I'll say. The effects are fantastic, the storyline is fast and clever and it is no small wonder it broke box office records. On Blu-ray disc, it is just as good as being in a movie theater - the details, color and sound are that amazing! Tony Stark IS `Iron Man'.

All Blu-ray discs are set up differently according to their theme, but for Iron Man, I'll describe the imagery. The initial PLAY/SCENES board is a colorful statue of Iron Man with colorful, comic book scientific looking diagrams. Audio is available in English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. Subtitles are in English, English SDH. French, Spanish and Portuguese. There are some great extras like the `Hall of Armor' showing all four Iron Man designs, `the Invincible Iron man' and deleted scenes. These deletions are great, inclusion "I Am Iron Man', `Visuals Effects of Iron Man', `a fantastic `Robert Downey Jr. Screen Test'. "The Actors Process' (Downing and Bridges get down with some real improvisations), a semi-spoof trailer from `The Onion' on Iron man,' Theatrical Trailers, Galleries, Credits and Subtitles. Not to leave anything out, more extras include six mini features such as `friends and Foes' and "Demon in a Bottle". If you're really into Blu-ray, try connecting to the Internet for BD-Live capability. This is one of the Blu-ray features that put it so far and above regular DVD.

Ross Clark
Perth, Scotland.
3rd January 2009

AMAZING
What a great film made spectacular with amazing visual on blu ray and the sound through my 5.1 sony... incredible.

A. J. Kirkham

29th December 2008

Amazing!!!!
The film is fantastic and will be a memorable super hero film for decades and as for the blu-ray...it is amazing. The explosions and special FX are brilliant and the 7.1 surround sound is crystal clear. It overall provides an undescribeable cinema experience and will remain my favourite film for a long time to come!

Pedro Mendes

20th December 2008

Can someone answer me this?
does this blu ray edition comes with portuguese subtitles??

IMPORTANT NOTE : PORTUGUESE FROM PORTUGAL NOT PORTUGUESE BRASILIAN

thanks to anyone who can help me

Adam

3rd December 2008

Iron clad disc: a must for Bluray owners
The superhero movies are really varying in quality. Some truly are excellent (Xmen 1 and 2, Transformers), others have barely anything to tell us (Fantastic 4, Daredevil, etc.).
In my view Iron man clearly falls in the first category. Firstly because Robert Downey Jr doesn't take the role too seriously and has the charisma. Of course the story is not perfect, but it hold together and we all wish there were more action scenes such as the fighter jet battle.
But at the end of the day, the image quality is stunning (a bit too noisy as mentioned in a earlier review) but really demonstrates what bluray is about. I've seen it on a Pioneer 50" plasma and it is nothing short of amazing. The disc interactivity is also nice with HD extras. Clearly it is must have for any Bluray owner, along with Pixar's Cars, Enchanted or Casino Royale in terms of image and sound quality. Buy it, if you are keen for superior image/sound quality, there's no way you'll regret it!