Iron Man (4K Ultra HD) (+ Blu-ray) [2007]

Man is bad. Man sell guns. Man get kidnapped. Build suit. Escape. Iron man. Fighty. Flying. Gwyneth. Humour.It all started here. (well it didn't but, whatever).You've seen this. It was on the telly. Shush. I'm recording it even though I have it on bluray. Well it IS Christmas.

Marvel had produced many films before Iron Man with varying degrees of success. Just like doing a bit of DIY, sometimes they managed to bend the nail, but with Iron Man they hit it squarely on the head.Kicking off the film with a incredible opening sequence, viewers get to see action from the start and let the story unfold from there. The billionaire playboy, Tony Stark gets a rude awakening when he is attacked by the very weapons he created. Using his genious however, he comes to understand that he has the power to begin to fight those whom attacked him.By the end of this action packed, story driven masterpiece, you are left wanting to see more, not just of Robert Downey Junior but also of what Marvel can do. Iron Man is the beginning of the much larger story that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)

After watching the more recent Marvel movies, and really enjoying them, we decided to go back and watch this one. It is entertaining, although very 'americanised', ie very simple, flat dialogue. But also was surprised at the portrayal of the women characters in the movie. Not too pleased about that, and its even from 2008. Shocking. Does fill in some Marvel history for the later films. So, ok to watch, even if cringeworthy in some bits.

This is how it all began. Iron Man was the first movie based on a Marvel superhero actually produced by Marvel, and as such was the first instalment of the rapidly expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. Iron Man was perhaps a strange choice as outside comic book geekdom he probably wasn’t the best known superhero – certainly not universally known like Superman, Batman and Spider-Man – but that didn’t stop director Jon Favreau forging a brilliant movie that catapulted the character to international fame and set Marvel’s ball well and truly rolling.Iron Man is by no means a perfect film (I would have preferred to see more set pieces with the Mark III armour, and it does end with a fairly predictable mano-a-mano bash-up between Stark and his nemesis), but the flaws are outweighed by all the good stuff. The decision to cast Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark was inspired; his charismatic, witty performance is a joy to watch and he really makes you believe that he could invent all this implausible technology. The scenes showing Stark developing the suits are brilliant and often hilarious. The supporting cast is also superb; the banter between Downey and Gwyneth Paltrow is marvellous, and Jeff Bridges is a seriously imposing presence as Stark’s father figure-cum-opponent. Terrence Howard is also fine as James Rhodes though I prefer the Don Cheadle interpretation of the character in later movies.However the real stars of the show are the brilliantly realised suits. Stan Winston’s team did a truly remarkable job creating beautiful, practical suits, which are supplemented by almost flawless visual effects work. A few more scenes with Iron Man in action and a more inventive finale would have made this a five-star classic, but it’s still damn good fun.Technically the blu ray release is superb: picture quality is almost flawless, though as often seems to be the case with Paramount releases I found myself having to turn the volume up more than usual.If you’re going to get this movie on BD you have to seek out the 2-disc Ultimate Edition. Sadly this is no longer being made so you’ll have to look on eBay or find a private seller on Amazon, but the difference between it and the 1-disc version currently available is like night and day. On disc 1 you get a 40-minute history of Iron Man, deleted scenes and the rather pointless interactive ‘Hall of Armour’, while disc 2 features a brilliant in-depth ‘making of’, a VFX documentary, Downey’s screentests, storyboards and galleries. Although I’d give the movie itself 4 stars, the extent and quality of the bonus features easily bump this set up to the full five.

First and best film of the saga, this Iron Man is truly a refreshing new piece in the world of marvel films.Maybe due to the background of the director as a comedian and to the presence itself of Robert Downey, this film has a certain brilliant side that reminds a lot of screwball comedies, that surprisingly naturally cohabits with the action side.The result is a curious and smart mix of genres and an interesting visual look, that switches from classic 50ies style to almost live action and documentarian moments (the first scene when the Iron man reveals coming out of the cave in the desert) to videogame-hitech scenes.The duet between Downey and Paltrow is brilliantly conducted and focuses on a constant romantic and sexual unresolved tension (as in the best Wilder and Hawks old comedies), while Jeff Bridges is quite believable in the role of the villain.The blu ray is definitely good.Surely one of the best comis heroes based films

With fabulous actors doing this movie and the story is marvellous with that, How the world can you go wrong. I found this to be very interesting and different and something that makes you wonder can this really happen. When my earlier years I could buy the comic books of superman, Phantom and all the others but never had the interest until just the last few years that has had me sit up and take notice. The impossible is still impossible but you never know what's around the corner do we. Captured and using his only talent as a genius to escape, he builds a suit of armour and becomes our hero. I have missed out on a few things but I'm taking a short cut as I have more reviews to do, I rated this an A grade plus for full on action and adventure that has you marvelling at what he can do and we can't. Hurry now as you wont want to miss out on this as it will have you glued to the chair, relaxing with your popcorn in one hand and a drink in the other don't forget to put your feet up. Enjoy!