Iron Man – Blu-ray Disc Review
September 10, 2008 – 12:29 pm - Posted by: Justin SlussTags: BD-Live, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Jon Favreau, Paramount, Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard
has an average rating of 8.2 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc
Dolby TrueHD 5.1
are ALL in Hi-Def with BD-Live content!
– 
– 2008
– 126 minutes
– Paramount
– 
Disc 1 uses 31.1GB for the movie out of 44.0GB total.
Disc 2 uses 21.5GB total.
Overall Verdict – A DEFINITE MUST-OWN
Buy it for $19.99 @ Amazon.com
— Review by: Justin Sluss & Brendan Surpless —
The Movie Itself is directed by Jon Favreau (known for “Elf“). Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a the definition of a playboy billionaire. Known for his father’s Stark Industries, which like most arms dealers provides weapons to pretty much anyone who wants them, Tony lives the high life going anywhere and sleeping with anyone. Demonstrating his newest weapon in the Middle East, Tony is attacked and captured by a group of radical terrorists. The reason for his capture revolves around his intelligence in weaponry and science. These terrorists want Tony to build them a missile. It’s here that Tony decides to build a suit of armor that can withstand anything. Eventually escaping, Tony realizes just what his father’s company did — irrespectively supply weapons to the most dangerous of foes, for money. Upon his return, Tony seeks to change the ways of the company, secretly becoming a mechanically-aided vigilante, Iron Man. Without question, “Iron Man” is one of the most highly enjoyable films of the year.
What makes “Iron Man” work on the level it does is not only director Jon Favreau (which I’ll discuss later) but the highly underrated actor Robert Downey Jr.. Having always been a fan of Downey, I will say I’m extremely pleased that he’s seemingly getting the well deserved praise he should have gotten years ago. Here as Stark Downey brings a sense of style, wit, intelligence, humor and action to the role. Take one of the opening lines where a reporter says he’s been dubbed the ‘Da Vinci’ of our time to which Stark responds ‘that makes no sense as I don’t paint’. Sure this line doesn’t sound humorous on paper but Downey delivers it with such lack of caring that it comes off not only funny but badass in a manner that makes the audience immediately connect with the character a mere 5 minutes into the movie. The other actors do a fine job as well.
The supporting cast from Jeff Bridges as Stark’s business partner Obadiah Stone who doesn’t necessarily agree with Stark’s new company position and goes off to become Stark’s foe, does a serviceable job as the “villain”. Gwyneth Paltrow, as Stark’s second in command Pepper Potts, was entertaining and played a great character who was able to jab back and forth with Downey in a manner that sometimes made me wonder if their interactions were fully scripted or some was off script. Terrence Howard, as Col. James Rhodes, wasn’t as impressive as he typically is in his roles but that’s not a negative folks. Howard always brings his A game making each character his own (sort of how Pacino can turn any character into something interesting). Surely “Iron Man” wouldn’t have been as convincing without a solid director.
Another strong point is director Favreau presents an all around smart film with many, many numerous sequences of not only strong character building, impressive action shots but also a real complete film. In fact “Iron Man” is one of the most complete films to come out this year minus the highly excellent “The Dark Knight“. From frame one to the closing moments of the film (which ends on such a great note that many other comic book films would never end on) Favreau has truly directed a classic movie. He makes each shot mean something and doesn’t just throw in pointless scenes that just move the film along. Each and every scene has a purpose and when looked at from a further perspective helps us build a connection with the film. That folks is something very few comic book films do (only a few come to mind in “The Dark Knight“, “Spider-Man 2” and “Hellboy“). “Iron Man” does this with a sense of true style with Favreau delivering precisely what the audience deserves: nothing less than a top notch film.
Video Quality on this release is 1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte Blu-ray Disc). First thing worth noting is that IMDb indicates this was shot on Super 35mm on PanArri and Panavision cameras using Angenieux and Cooke Lenses. This choice by Director Jon Favreau to shoot on two different types of cameras and lenses doesn’t seem to have been as drastic of one as by Christopher Nolan on “The Dark Knight” but at the same time was one that was semi-equally as rewarding. The black level is extremely solid, delivering bright vibrancy in the color palette and fleshtones are accurate. The opening scenes of the Afghanistan setting (which was actually filmed in Lone Pine, California), start immediately with a bitrate of 37.3Mbps, giving you lots of detail as this video can definitely breathe on its BD-50 disc.
There is at times an amount of film grain present as this was shot on Super 35mm film and not digitally so you have to keep that in mind when judging the video quality itself. Later on in the film once “Stark” has the “Iron Man” outfit on and you’re caught in the midst of the action you’ll really learn to appreciate how good this Hi-Def transfer really is. It’s not quite as much the type video quality to “jump off the screen” at you like “Transformers” but it is definitely enough to look extremely visually impressive and earn an excellent “4.5 Star Rating” for overall video quality on this release. The major usage of CG (computer generated graphics) actually doesn’t result in showing off any flaws here for those curious about that. Keep in mind we have to compare this to stuff like “Transformers” which I’ll mention for the last time here I assure you. Some scenes (namely those involving action, obviously) do hold a “5 Star” picture but because of the choice to use different cameras and lenses it doesn’t seem to be consistent enough to keep that amount of clarity throughout. Aside from that there’s really nothing at all to complain about here that comes to mind yet it’s just not worthy of an absolutely perfect rating.
Audio Quality on this release is in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround. To say this TrueHD mix is INTENSE would be an understatement. The film starts out with action only 2 minutes roughly in that is sure to shake your room. Great bass presence that will give your subwoofer a work-out and excellent rear channel presence here. The sound of “Iron Man” walking leaves a loud monstrous low pitch reverberation with each step and is sure to scare your pets if you have any. Dialogue is delivered very distinct throughout. Sound effects such as gunfire, explosions or missiles whizzing past you all come across very lifelike and do a great job of getting you into the vibe of the film. This is totally a “demo disc” in terms of audio and earns a perfect “5 Star Rating” for overall audio quality. Another amazing TrueHD 5.1 audio presentation from those geniuses at Paramount Home Entertainment.
Bonus Materials are ALL presented in High Definition video using the AVC MPEG-4 codec. Audio mostly is in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo but in some cases it is in Dolby Digitial 5.1 surround — we’ll note accordingly in the descriptions. This release includes two Blu-ray Discs, one with the film as well bonus materials and the other with even more bonus materials.
- “Hall of Armor“: An interactive feature allowing viewers to virtually enter the Stark database and get an up close look at any of the three Iron Man suits, or Iron Monger; you even have the option to fly around in each suit. Viewers also have the option to activate the digital 3-D schematics and get a better look at the weapons used.
- “The Invincible Iron Man” is a documentary about the details of the comic book character split up into the following chapters:
- Extended/Deleted Scenes (24 minutes) are included. Eleven scenes here total.
- “Iron Man IQ” is a BD-Live application allowing users to create and share multiple choice quizzes based on clips from the movie over the web. This is one of the most impressive trivia games I’ve seen on a release — to date. NOTE: This does require you to be on a “Profile 2.0” capable Blu-ray Disc Player to use the BD-Live features. Also keep in mind that these features will not be “live” until street date (September 30th) so be sure to check back after street date for full details.
- “I am Iron Man” is a really lengthy “making of” styled featurette split up into the following chapters:
- “Wired: The Visual Effects of Iron Man” (27 minutes) an interesting look at the special effects used in the film.
- “Robert Downey Jr. Screen Test” (6 minutes) is a definite must-see for fans of Mr. Downey. Classic!
- “The Actor’s Process” (4 minutes) a scene rehearsal with cast.
- The Onion “Wildly Popular Iron Man Trailer to be Adapted into Full Length Film” (3 minutes)
- Theatrical Trailers (8 minutes) presented with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, includes 2 theatrical trailers, and international trailer.
- Image Galleries: includes concept art, unit photography, and posters.
Disc 1 :
- “Origins” (8 minutes)
- “Friends & Foes” (3 minutes)
- “The Definitive Iron Man” (5 minutes)
- “Demon in a Bottle” (1 minute)
- “Extremis and Beyond” (26 minutes)
- “Ultimate Iron Man” (4 minutes)
Disc 2 :
- “The Journey Begins” (21 minutes)
- “The Suit that makes Iron Man” (10 minutes)
- “The Walk of Destruction” (22 minutes)
- “Grounded in Reality” (15 minutes)
- “Beneath the Armor” (16 minutes)
- “It’s All in the Details” (14 minutes)
- “A Good Story, Well Told” (12 minutes)
Overall these bonus materials are absolutely amazing and fans will enjoy every minute of them. The addition of the BD-Live features and ability to download additional content at a later point (just like on “Transformers“) is a major plus. Another excellent set of supplemental materials presented in Hi-Def from Paramount. This studio totally knows how to do their bonus materials, earning a very solid “4.5 Star Rating” overall.
Blu-ray Disc packaging:
Screenshots:
NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.
41 Responses to “Iron Man – Blu-ray Disc Review”
Here’s your proof people…
Feel free to steal the image. LOL
By Justin Sluss on Sep 10, 2008
I’ll be posting more information on the BD-Live features later and even more when they become “live” (likely not until street date).
By Justin Sluss on Sep 10, 2008
I know for a fact that you got this disc TODAY…it’s impossible for someone to have viewed ALL of the special features in a matter of hours.
By Gary Limen on Sep 10, 2008
Gary: you’re right. We just have put the runtimes up for now and I’ve watched through some of them while Brendan worked on the Synopsis as well as Video / Audio with me. I focused on bonus materials.
By Justin Sluss on Sep 10, 2008
P.S. the bonus materials total in at like what… 3 hours total? I don’t have to watch every minute of them to judge what I think of the bonus materials overall.
By Justin Sluss on Sep 10, 2008
Actually this is a joined effort from three of us, all of us contributing different parts, thus it is posted quicker. Thanks.
By Danielle Byington on Sep 10, 2008
Yep, Danielle wrote out all my notes (runtimes and such) on bonus materials while I watched the film taking my notes on Video and Audio.
By Justin Sluss on Sep 10, 2008
That’s fine. It just seemed like a cheap move, hoping to gain attention to your site instead of providing readers with a truly in-depth review of the disc. I’m sure the review will be in-depth at some point, but I can’t stand it when sites have reviews up early that aren’t very in-depth.
By Gary Limen on Sep 10, 2008
I don’t review movies Justin, stop being so defensive.
By Gary Limen on Sep 10, 2008
Gary: The end of my last comment is for you then I guess? I’m sorry but this is by far not our first review we’ve beat people to… namely “Transformers” and some other big titles. I don’t need to “gain attention” in any way. We already have attention, you’re here aren’t you? We get tons of hits daily from past reviews, a new one is just another source. We do NOT look at our reviews as sources of traffic that we have to rush up to beat people to.
By Justin Sluss on Sep 10, 2008
You’re the one that technically questioned me and seemed to deal out a personal attack at both myself and Brendan. Also I ended my sentence with a question mark which means that I was asking you, not telling you. Sorry to be defensive if I seem that way but we get our fair share of other sites coming over here starting to insult us because they’re mad we beat them to the punch (so-to-speak).
By Justin Sluss on Sep 10, 2008
5 stars for the audio? I watched it in a really nice theater and the mix wasn’t all that(except the opening). But I’ll have to wait to find out.
The extras look awesome. Thanks for getting this one up so quickly guys. Now where’s the Godfather review?
BTW – I can’t believe Paramount didn’t make an “Iron” case for this one.
By charle on Sep 10, 2008
charle: I agree on the iron case but not so much the audio
By Justin Sluss on Sep 10, 2008
And that’s fine…I’m sorry. I don’t review movies. I work for the company that shipped those discs, so I know when they went out. I don’t care that the film didn’t get a “5 star” rating either. Whatever. The review just felt rushed and incomplete and I felt like that was because you guys posted it too quickly. That’s all. You guys do great work and I felt this review was reflective of your typically in-depth reviews.
By Gary Limen on Sep 10, 2008
There actually is an Iron Case…it’s going to be sold at FYE stores.
By Gary Limen on Sep 10, 2008
Gary: I totally understand where you’re coming from. I apologize for sounding rude to you as I said earlier in the last message. The iron case, is that just on DVD??
By Justin Sluss on Sep 10, 2008
It’s OK. Sorry to come out swinging too. You know, I think it just is the DVD, but I’m sure the hardest of hardcore fans will buy both disc and use the steel DVD case for the Blu-ray case
I don’t know why Paramount didn’t offer a case one could order via the Iron Man website, or something like that.
By Gary Limen on Sep 10, 2008
Great review Justin.
By Loys Johnson on Sep 10, 2008
Thanks Loys!
Always rocks to hear you say that as a fellow reviewer especially
By Justin Sluss on Sep 10, 2008
There actually is a steel book version of Iron Man coming to Blu-ray. But it is being sold at http://www.futureshop.com Sadly they do not ship to America so you need a connection from canada being that is were they are located.. But it is a futureshop exclusive.
By dane bouck on Sep 10, 2008
dane: awesome news!
By Justin Sluss on Sep 10, 2008
Great review, I’m so glad there are tons of extras and they are all in HD. I wish the video was enough for you to give it a 5/5 but alas… I’m still looking for this to be demo material
By ryan on Sep 10, 2008
I love those Steel Case enclosures, we got a few ‘spec’ ones to try out at the EMA show, the one I got was for I am Legend and it is awesome. I may have to pay retail and buy a copy at FYE if they have it.
Justin, can you guys start adding the street date to your reviews (or in the comments) when you review something early? I have no idea when this actually ships but I wasnt expecting to see it for a while yet.
By Sam Posten on Sep 10, 2008
Sam: I was totally thinking about doing that anyway. It’s crazy you asked. I’ll try to add it in temporarily for now in this review below the Region coding. It streets September 30th by the way. Looking forward to seeing you and all the HTF crew again next month man!
By Justin Sluss on Sep 10, 2008
Bonus Materials have been updated with some detail and fixes… hope this pleases you guys
By Justin Sluss on Sep 10, 2008
Justin:
Can you guys include the aspect ratio on your reviews or did I just miss that?
I sure wish Favreau would have done a commentary (he’s done one for all his other films) and no PIP is a disappointment as well..
I smell a double dip down the road..
By Greg Mariotti on Sep 10, 2008
Greg: That seems like a cool idea, IMDB has pretty in depth information on that stuff as well.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371746/technical
Awesome review guys, this seems like definite demo material to me.
By Mehar Gill on Sep 10, 2008
I just want to commend you guys for knowing what film does, and what film grain is. Someone just sent me a link to the review at IGN. They have the most uninformative reviews ever, they docked the transfer because they don’t know what film grain is. Frakking big media site.
So keep up the good work guys. Now go get the Speed Racer review up(should be the best looking disc yet).
By charle on Sep 11, 2008
I got the US version ordered and a friend in Canada is going to pick me a steelbook of it up. Also getting a ‘Indiana Jones KotKS’ Steelbook
By Randell on Sep 11, 2008
Man I cant wait to own this Blue Ray!!
By Reinaldo on Sep 11, 2008
I’ll be honest with you… I’m surprised some of you can honestly even read… I figured all you could do was interpret STAR RATINGS visually and then have a friend go type up criticism on a forum… You’ve amazed me… but nowhere as much as this film did in it’s Blu-ray Disc presentation.
By Justin Sluss on Sep 11, 2008
charle: IGN did the exact same for “Cloverfield” which we beat them to… why isn’t anyone accusing them of rushing?? They just happened to publish theirs hours after ours? I don’t think so… LOL
By Justin Sluss on Sep 11, 2008
Thanks for the review Justin, you guys did a great job, really looking forward to this one!
Don’t listen to all these haters man, I don’t understand the jealousy (or whatever it is) with you getting this one out first.
By Israel on Sep 11, 2008
Israel: Thank you very much and you’re totally right bout the “haters”
By Justin Sluss on Sep 11, 2008
More shots of the packaging…
By Justin Sluss on Sep 11, 2008
Ok. now your just teasing us. I just now notice that every blu ray disc from paramount has the same art. It’s always a blank gray background. Or am I going crazy?
By charle on Sep 11, 2008
Yeah all the discs pre-HD-DVD have individual art. And everything post HD-DVD is blank(or close to it). Cloverfield has tears though, that’s about it.
By charle on Sep 11, 2008
Click above for more information on a collectible “Mark III” case shaped like the “Iron Man” helmet available ONLY over at Target.
By Justin Sluss on Sep 30, 2008
I just got a panasonic BD 35 Blue Ray player. The first disc I played was Iron Man. The question I have was that I thought that the picture would fill my high def plasma screen but it appeared in letterbox form. Is this normal or do I need to make some sort of adjustment. Thanks
By charlie wolf on Dec 25, 2008
charlie wolf: that’s normal. This film is in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio that contains black bars at the top and bottom. Aspect ratios will be that way for some releases. Aspect ratios like 1.85:1 will fill your Widescreen screen entirely (or almost entirely).
By Justin Sluss on Dec 25, 2008
Thank you Justin for the info. I’m happy to know that everthing is fine with my player.
By charlie wolf on Dec 25, 2008