Iron Man [4K UHD]

Wow, what a ride! Iron Man is a blast from beginning to end. I'll give a brief plot description for anyone who is not familiar with the comic book: WARNING: SPOILERS Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is an American arms dealer who is fabulously wealthy and lives the high life. Girls, booze, parties, he does it all. Standing by his side and cleaning up his various messes is his assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). Whispering dark thoughts in his ear is his partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) who you know from the beginning is just not okay. Tony goes to Afghanistan to demonstrate Stark Industries' new weapon, the Jericho missile. His convoy is attacked, his American soldier escorts are killed, and he is seriously wounded by shrapnel from one of his very own bombs. He passes out and wakes up as a captive in a Taliban-like camp. His captors want him to make them a Jericho missile, and he is horrified to see that they have a huge stockpile of Stark weapons. How did they acquire them? With the help of surgeon & fellow captive Dr. Yinsen, Stark makes his first Iron Man suit instead of making the Jericho missile. Using the suit he escapes and creates a big scene that attracts the attention of the U.S. military. He is rescued by the Air Force and returns home. During Stark's escape, the first Iron Man suit is all but destroyed. Back in the States, Stark builds a sharp new Iron Man suit, and goes back to Afghanistan to rescue Dr. Yinsen's village from the terrorist group that had captured him. The military can't figure out what Stark is, so two F-22 Raptors are called to intercept him. He inadvertently damages one of the planes but saves the pilot. Stark then confesses to his Air Force buddy LC James Rhodes (Terence Howard) that he was the cause of the accident. In addition to playing with his new toy and messing with the military, Stark is also determined to find out why the "bad guys" have so many of his company's weapons. He unravels the mystery with the help of Pepper Potts and decides he needs to change the mission of Stark Industries. His partner, Obadiah Stane is not pleased and comes up with a suit of his own; he becomes "Iron Monger." You can guess what happens, but suffice it to say the final battle scene between them is everything it should be. My husband dragged me to see this movie, and I ended up absolutely loving it. Robert Downey Jr. is excellent as always; he is one of those actors that your eye is naturally drawn to while he's on screen. The rest of the cast is very good in support of him. The score is fantastic too (I have already downloaded both "Merchant of Death" and "Driving With the Top Down" into my iPod). Remember: Tony Stark is a grown-up superhero and this is a grown-up action movie. A good bit of it takes place in a war zone, and there is plenty of violence and some torture. Of course it is necessary to the plot, but you should be aware that this may not be the best movie for small children. Bottom line: Iron Man is a blast of a movie that manages to touch on some real issues we are facing today, but never becomes preachy about it. LOTS of fun, a rollercoaster ride, a rocking action movie with a sense of humor. Loved it, and can't wait til the DVD is released!!

Even as recent as 2006, the super hero sub genre of film had been losing steam. X-men 3 ended up being a joke. Superman Returns was 40 minutes too long and ended up making him a confused and ineffectual moron with a school boy crush that has an illegitimate son. The Fantastic Four movies were too juvenile to be taken seriously and the lord of the new superhero generation, Spiderman, became a jazzy, emotional clown in Spiderman 3. Longtime and loyal fans were very upset and the uninitiated millions who did not keep up with comics were simply unimpressed. The start of 2008 brought uncertainty for future of these films. The first bastion of hope came in the form of a film adaptation of a rather unknown superhero. Ironman was the story of weapons developer Tony Stark who after receiving a near fatal wound in his chest, creates a super powered suit of armor that allows him to fly and shoot lasers. The teaser trailer to Ironman created a tremendous amount of buzz. Longtime fans were more than excited. They seemed to be almost transformed by the divine touch. Casual movie goers seemed also excited and wanted to finally learn of this strange unpopular character. But as is the usual order of the industry, a good trailer does not ensure a good movie. Some people were skeptical, others hopeful of the movies success and impact. By May of that year everyone got their answer. Ironman opened to world wide acclaim and critical praise. The movie was a qualified success and gave fans a new hero to rally behind. Unlike earlier efforts by film makers, Ironman delivered its origin story with a healthy sense of character logic and maturity. Gone was the eye winking kitsch and glitz of the past superhero fair. Teenage angst was replaced with middle aged angst and Robert Downey delivered a very confident and nuanced character even before he strapped on the armor. This incredibly kinetic and impossibly agile character was getting down and dirty in warzones that seemed straight out of CNN. This was a different superhero that was facing challenges of our modern world. Considering the current geo-political climate of our time, Ironman was a living breathing sensationalized pop hero critique for our times. The character was a faceless power fantasy vehicle that allowed the viewer to become Ironman and sort of work out their own resolute in a world that doesn't seem to pay attention to the common man. "What would I do with a super powered suit of armor?" Blow up terrorists apparently seemed to be the answer given and audiences loved it. Unfortunately, the movie degrades from its originally laid out premise of a socially conscious superhero and reverts back to a formulaic climatic battle between Ironman and a "bigger Ironman" as Stark's armor becomes reverse engineered by his closest business ally. This is sort of where Ironman becomes less perfect as it goes for the cheap thrill ending of a battle between two titans which is how most of these movies seem to end anyway. The movie shies away from Ironman really solving this problem as he was so set on bringing an end to terrorism in the first place. Of course it is only the first movie and it ain't comics without a big ol' robot rumble. Luckily this movie was a great primer for casual fans and had some of the biggest fan service of any of the superhero movies. This movie had tremendous respect for the source material and any changes made in the movie really helped the story along without putting off the fans. If anything, it improved the Ironman premise for this era. The DVD package is impressive too with a really good amount of behind the scenes extras to keep geeks enamored for hours. A truly special film and DVD that deserves a place in any library.

I find myself vacillating between loving Robert Downey, Jr. and his too-cool-for-school screen persona -- especially as Tony Stark in the MCU -- and hating it. But I have to say here, in the original UR-MCU film (well, quasi-UR) it works. I say this because either the older films involve more character development, or the "first" film in each Hero's "cycle" does, Tony is really main event here. We know Downey, Jr, can act, but can he fly? Heck, yes he can, with an improbable assemblage of impossible tech that will never be invented. But, as Coleridge would say, so long as we have the "willing suspension of disbelief" who cares. Ironman is just good, clean fun. Basic plot is, Herr Stark gets captured by vaguely Middle Eastern baddies in a hubristic ride-along with troops and has to build said improbable tech (Beta Version) to, literally, kick butt and fly away to safety. That is really the main plot element, the rest is the classic Superhero origin story, struggling to learn the wonders, and challenges of his newly-acquired superpower(s) while fending off a jealous Bad Guy. In this case, Bad Guy number one in the Iron Man cycle is played by one of our best actors, Jeff Bridges. Although, I would say he is almost, but not entirely wasted here, as he doesn't get hardly any opportunity to emote the way Downey does. But, this leads me to another of Ironman's virtues, casting. There is an A-list of great actors here, including the wonderful Gwynneth Paltrow who nearly steals the show defining her MCU-constant role as Pepper Potts, and the great Terence Howard as Tony's vague defense department liaison (what?). On and off through the many films, and billions in revenue that the MCU has generated, casting has many times been a strong suit, and perhaps that was established here. Great SFX and a breezy story line -- Ironman clocks in at just over two hours, which is a real accomplishment in the MCU -- aside, Downey's excellent portrayal is really Ironman's guilty pleasure. He manages cocky arrogance in the First Reel, somewhat humbled pathos in the second, and growing confidence combined with true struggle in the third, as he tries, fails and tries again to develop the tech that is his "superpower". Great stuff, and a milestone that the MCU should return if and when it inevitably looses its way. Oops, too late.

Good movie with amazing cgi special effects like all Marvel earlier films. Like that Marvel keeps a good sense of humor throughout their films.

This last year has been a major disappointment for science fiction but there seems to be a veritable glut on superheroes going on now, so I waited to buy Iron Man after I bought The Dark Knight and Hancock, and I can't wait to see Watchmen when that comes to DVD. Iron Man turned out to be much better than I expected given Marvel's past failures like Daredevil, The Punisher (that's the 2nd one; I really liked the first one with John Travolta and Thomas Jane), and as far as I'm concerned, The Hulk. For an origin story, it is well written save for a plot hole or two and very well acted & directed. From beginning to the end credits (and you really have got to wait til the end of the credits or you miss the zinger) this is a really good movie. Not great, but really good. As for the DVD, that's another matter. I was hoping this movie would come in fullscreen like The Dark Knight, The fantastic Four, and other movies where you either bought it fullscreen or as in some cases, you got a disc with widescreen on one side and fullscreen on the other. Too much of the good stuff gets cut out with widescreen, And I don't know why these companies assume that everyone can afford-- or will even buy a wide screen TV if they could afford it-- and so make movies in only one limited format. Iron Man is already in Blu Ray, so why not fullscreen as well? Then you would have a five star DVD to watch!

Anchored by a top rate performance by Robert Downey Jr., this exciting, well directed take on Iron Man will go down as one of the best comic book movies out this generation. The respect and love of the filmmakers for the material is evident throughout the film. Marvel studios could not have chosen a better film to be their first independently financed and produced movie. The movie set the bar high for all the Marvel films that came after (and it is debatable whether or not any film, including the sequel to Iron Man, ever reached that bar again). The 2 Disc Blu-Ray Ultimate Edition is fantastic. On the first disc you get a 47 minute documentary that explores the Iron Man comic book, from its origins to the current story lines he is involved in (at least at the time of the film's original release). The writers and artists who have worked on Iron Man over the years take part in the documentary, discussing what changes they made to the character and why. As someone who didn't really follow the Iron Man comic book, I found the documentary to be fascinating. Also on the first disc is a collection of deleted/extended scenes, running for a total of 24 minutes. Most of these are superfluous additions, bits of dialogue or action scenes that don't add anything to the story and were almost certainly taken out for pacing reasons. There is a feature that focuses on the 4 different suits in the movie. You can view each suit from any angle, checking out the function/feature of each piece. I like the concept, but it takes to long to load each section. What we're missing on this disc is something I really wanted...a director's commentary and/or a cast commentary. The 2nd disc is devoted to the making of the movie itself. The highlight is a 7 part documentary that runs almost 2 hours. It covers all aspects of the production, from initial designs, through shooting, and into the editing and special effects. It was filmed concurrently with the production, so you get a mixture of "on the set" interviews and interviews done later looking back at the production. As a whole, it is a well done documentary. It isn't a classic like Heart of Darkness (which covers the filming of Apocalypse Now) or The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys (which covers 12 Monkeys), but it isn't a pure fluff piece. I highly recommend watching this. The 2nd disc also contains a 27 minute featurette on the special effects and Robert Downey Jr.'s screen test, In the end, the movie is the star here, but this is a very well done special edition. If/when they re-release the blu-ray (probably around the release of Iron Man 3), I don't know what else they could add to make it a better edition, except for a commentary track or two.

Okay, so I'm following the whole super hero thing primarily because they are great action films that allow me to use the full functionality of my 3D TV along with my 7.1 surround sound system. I almost never go to a movie any more. After taking my grandson to the movies to see super 8, I may never go to a movie again unless it's an IMAX movie. Super 8 was way better on blu ray in my living room. I kid you not. By the way, that is also a very good movie that is full of nuance.I just wait for the Blu Ray release, make some popcorn and sit back and enjoy. It's way cheaper. That being said, this movie well made the grade for such an endeavor. The storyline is tight, well told, well paced and well acted. About the only complaint that I can make has to do with the sound. I found myself using close-caption since some parts of the movie was inaudible. This tragedy...yes I said tragedy is found in alot of movies now-a-days. What the heck are the producers thinking when they know that great technology is at their fingertips. What's all of the mumbling about? I'm sure that I'm not the only one screaming about this. Why mumble when you can speak. Clearly. Decisively. With intent. So that you can be heard. Through one or eight speakers. Nonetheless, this cannot be blamed on the actors. Weight must fall on the directors and producers. If the mike can pick up the slightest sound, then have the actor stand back a little to match the mike. How hard is this? Fortunately, movies made since the time of the release of this one seem to be made better and with more attention paid regarding spoken voice audibility. If you are going to see the avengers this year then you must see this movie since it is an integral part of that storyline. Not withstanding the crappy audio, I still highly recomment this movie because it is a great storyline with stellar action.

Movie - 4.5 I first saw the movie in theaters with zero expectations. I never followed the comics, let alone pay any attention to the fact that Robert Downey Jr. was starring in the lead role. Thank goodness that happened, because I was blown away by the end. The whole guilt and redemption angle on the character of Tony Stark struck a very deep resonance with me, as I'm a big fan of "comeback" stories where the protagonist falls so far off his high horse, only to realize his mistakes, then use those events as a learning tool and lead himself to do greater good. Nowadays, it's hard to see the good in most people because of how lost we are in the desires and routine ineptitudes of society. More often than not, our lives revolve around either money, sex, or some other kind of self-indulgence. Granted, it's not a bad thing to wanna' be happy, but I thought this particular story put a certain kind of perspective on the corporate and war profiteering elements that exist in today's world. And what better an example of how to explore the truth and consequences of this by having a billionaire weapons manufacturer have a a change in character and try to make a difference from the heart instead of the wallet? I really enjoyed the movie's plot and characters from beginning to end. Downey Jr. plays Stark down to a T, and the supporting cast is fun to watch from Pepper to Rhodie (too bad Howard won't be back, though), even to Jarvis. If anything, my only problem is the lack in depth of a true supervillain. While Jeff Bridges does a great job as Obidiah Stane, the movie iss missing that extra sense of ambition that really separates the ideals of most bad guys. As a setup movie, however (for the supposed trilogy), I rank this in the upper echelon along Batman Begins as one of my favorites. And if history has dictated anything, it's that the 2nd act of a trilogy has always greatly outdone its predecessor. Can't wait till the next one comes out. Video - 5.0 Colors are very vibrant from skin tones to backgrounds to all the shiny versions of the Iron Man suits. Paramount has done a spectacular job on the transfer, making this instant demo material for friends, family, or business alike. In particular, the cave break and liberation of Gulmira (including the jet chase) scenes are worth watching over and over again just for the flashy lights and sleek cinematography. Black levels handle extremely well during cave, night, and other dimly-lit scenes keeping most, if not all, kinds of object detail looking crisp and sharp. Contrast is equally suiting and really helps the overall photography adding a complimentary sense of depth and dimensionality between people, objects, and backgrounds. The only slight problem one might have is with the darker cave scene. They used a different camera for those shots resulting in a slightly noisier presentation, which is what happens on a normal basis with darker shots anyway, but that's about the only possible imperfection and may not even effect your own personal score if you're not being picky. But other than that, show off your Blu-ray setup with this movie. Audio - 5.0 Accompanying the flawless video transfer is an equally flawless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. Ramin Djwadi's score, while a tad underwhelming composition-wise, is displaced well-enough to help create just the right amount of immersion for each scene, and dialogue is clear through the center channel. Directionality and separation are especially notable during scenes of gunfire or jet-propelled flight. Again, refer to the cave break and liberation of Gulmira with the jet chase to hear what I'm talking about. Maybe even thrown in the Mk. II's test flight for good measure. LFEs are astounding in terms of bass depth and other low frequency presence. I personally like to use Stark's takeoff to Gulmira and jump into supersonic speed during his run from the F-22s as go-to showcase material. So make sure your theater system has all the right settings, then crank that baby up to wow your guests. Extras - 5.0 Thanks in big part to the hours of extras on both the feature and additional 25GB disc, I actually learned quite a bit of informative things about the Iron Man franchise as a whole and the respectable hard work that went into producing this summer blockbuster. Ironically enough, I now see Iron Man as a sort of Marvel parallel to DC's Batman, only with less of the dark psychology and grimness involved with Bruce Wayne's tragic childhood. On top of being presented completely in HD, the special features are loads of fun to watch in themselves, and I don't think I've ever been as thoroughly entertained by just the making of portion. If you like the movie, you'll really like these extras. Overall - 5.0 For a setup of an eventual trilogy, I rank this as the top tier with Batman Begins as the other best of its kind. The characters and script are highly entertaining, and the story has just the right amount of depth to bring about my empathy. Throw in the demo quality video and audio and a largely informative array of special features, and you've got yourself one of the years best Blu-ray packages. A must own for comic book fans.

Look up the reviews at Forums. The German / CONCORDE version of Ironman UHD is just plain horrible! HDR is badly done and the sound is horrendous. There's also a US Disney release, do yourself a favor and go for that one!

A near-perfect origin story and a fantastic start to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Robert Downey Jr. is perfectly cast as Tony Stark, bringing charisma, wit, and emotional depth to the character. The story is tight, balancing action, humor, and character development, while the visual effects are impressive without overshadowing the narrative. Some minor plot points are predictable, but the film remains highly entertaining and influential, and it set the tone for the MCU’s future.

La película llegó a tiempo y en buen estado. Muy buena película sobre el origen de iron Man, la recomiendo mucha ya que es la única del universo Marvel que me gusta.

Funcionou bem, imagem e som excelentes

Comic-Adaption stehen dieser Tage hoch im Kurs. Nahezu jedes bekannte Comic wurde mitlerweile abgeklappert: Batman, Spiderman, Der unglaubliche Hulk, Superman und auch etwas weniger bekannte Comics wie Sin City oder The Spirit sind mehr oder weniger erfolgreich verfilmt worden. Nur wenige davon können filmisch auf so viel Substanz zurückgreifen wie "Iron Man". Comic-Adaptionen haben oft den Ruf von reinen Special-Effect-Shows ohne schauspielerische Anstrengung und filmische Kunst. Reines Popcorn-Kino eben. "Iron Man" ist da erfrischend anders. Der Film zeigt auf sehr gute Art und Weise die angsteinflößende Entwicklung der Kriegsmaschinerie dieser Tage. Besonders die Waffendemonstration am Anfang vom Titelhelden Tony Stark lässt einen schon erstmal zusammenzucken und auch der Iron Man selbst ist natürlich eine unaufhaltsame Waffe des Todes. "Iron Man" zeigt auf beeindruckende Art und Weise die Entstehung neuer Waffensysteme, die "effizienteres Töten" garantieren, was rein logisch betrachtet vollkommen verrückt klingt, aber die Realität in der Waffenindustrie wohl wiederspiegelt. Die Iron Man-Comics hatten ihrer Zeit zumeist einen kommunistischen Gegenspieler als Feind, was natürlich nicht mehr zeitgemäß ist. Dementsprechend verlagert man das ganze in den Nahen Osten, wo ja heutzutage bekannterweise die ganzen Superschurken in ihren Löchern sitzen ;-) Tony Stark wird bei einer seiner Demonstrationen von Waffen angegriffen und schwer verletzt als Geiselgenommen. Nur ein mechanisches Herz hält ihn noch am Leben. Stark plant seinen Ausbruch mithilfe eines Kampfanzugs, was ihm letztlich auch gelingt. Einen Großteil des Films verbringt er hiernach damit, dieses System zu perfektionieren, was auf sehr humorvolle Weise geschieht, was auch der tollen Leistung von Robert Downey Jr. schuldig ist. Für mich persönlich hat der Film ehrlichgesagt überraschend wenig Action-Sequenzen beinhaltet, sondern es wurde mehr auf Charakterentwicklung und Message gesetzt, was den Film aus dem grauen Einheitsbrei der Comic-Verfilmungen ganz klar heraushebt, wenn auch nie das ganz große Niveau von "The Dark Knight" erreicht wird. "Iron Man" überzeugt als Comicverfilmung nahezu auf allen ebenen: Visuell, substanziell, schauspielerisch, storytechnisch, es passt irgendwie einfach. Dass dann noch während den Credits und im Hauptmenü der legendäre gleichnamige Song von "Black Sabbath" gespielt wird, setzt dem ganzen irgendwie die Krone auf. So lass ich mir Popcorn-Kino gefallen! Für Fans von standartisierten Comicverfilmungen könnte der Film eventuell sich als etwas zäh darstellen, wer jedoch neben Explosionen auch noch gerne etwas mehr im Film hätte, der dürfte hier wohl richtig liegen. Ich hoffe auf eine ebenso tolle Fortsetzung!