For those who aren't familiar with the story of Tony Stark / Iron Man, he is an inventive, super-genius engineer / industrialist arms dealer who, after getting nearly killed, himself, by a weapon of war, and kept alive by inventing a technological means of keeping shrapnel from migrating into his heart, builds a modern day suit of armor that allows him to lift huge amounts of mass, fly, take quite a beating and even fire beams of energy from his palms. He's not the most heroic of heroes, however, and comes with a wide variety of personality flaws, being a womanizing war-monger with a drinking problem. Still, these very flaws have somehow made him more endearing to fans, along with the fact that it's easy for readers to imagine themselves in his place - or, at least, in his suit, since he isn't an alien or a survivor of some strange chemical or radiation incident; he's just a guy wearing a really cool suit. Well, a man with a couple of friends, specifically, his secretary, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Terrance Howard), who do their best to keep Tony Stark in one piece. Stark's mentor / business partner, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) used to be partners with Tony Stark's father and has always considered Tony Stark to be a child, albeit a creative genius, and disapproves of Tony's maverick ways, disregard for the business side of things and, most of all, Tony's newfound sense of responsibility and morals.
Many have said that Robert Downey Jr. was perfectly cast as Tony Stark, not only for his acting, but also for his personal life. I had felt the same way before seeing the movie, but after watching the Ultimate 2 Disc Edition Iron Man, along with all of its special features, I think that, yes, he probably could draw on some of his life experiences, but Robert Downey Jr. had a dedication to performing this role that really helped to make it work. Actually, many of the people interviewed had a strong affinity for Iron Man and were excited at the concept of being part of this production... including the CGI special effects teams (all three of them).
The movie itself looks great on a HD widescreen, largely due to a liberal use of practical special effects, rather than an over-reliance on computer graphics. Yes, there were CG elements added in, but I was a bit surprised to find that the Iron Man suits were actually made for the movie. No, not fully functional, but full suits that are capable of being worn, and, in the case of the Mark I, spewing out jets of fire. How cool is that!? Even the computer graphic elements of the H.U.D. were given actual thought. Instead of just showing random display overlays, a themed U.I. was created for Tony's interaction with the suit, and the U.I. visuals not only follow this theme to create a unified-feeling U.I. look similar to a iPhone, but the look of the interface changes and improves over the course of the movie, as Tony Stark upgrades and tweaks his armors.
The only complaint I would have about Iron Man is that, after seeing the deleted scenes, I think there were a lot of great scenes that should have been included in the film. Specifically, there were a few scenes that helped to develop Rhodey's character as well as his relationship with Stark. I would have preferred to see a lot of the deleted scenes stay in and the extended scenes be shown in their full glory.
If nothing else, I should be able to avoid the Bat Man Begins controversy by stating that Iron Man has got to be the best Marvel movie to date. The casting is excellent, the story is entertaining and the special effects look great - especially on Blu-ray in HD. If you're an Iron Man fan, a comic-book movie fan or just like superhero flicks, Iron Man: Ultimate 2-Disc Edition on Blu-ray should be the next addition to your library. If you need extra reason to add movies to your collection, consider that Iron Man is the first movie released with Marvel as the production company... or, consider the fact that Iron Man is the second-to-last movie made by Stan Winston Studios while Stan Winston, himself, was still alive. These facts make Iron Man a key, pivotal production in the filmographies of these two companies.
