Iron Man 4K UHD [Blu-Ray] [Region Free] (English audio)

I grew up surrounded by stacks of Marvel Comics and the recent spate of movies based on them has been a real treat and despite Iron Man's character being re-invented several times over the years he still remains a man tortured by past deeds. Moving his origin tale to Afghanistan gives it a solid modern base but in every aspect it stays true to Stan Lee's original storyline.Robert Downey Jr. and Jeff Bridges are excellent choices for the main protagonists. They are both great character actors and give gravitas to what could have been just another action movie, instead we have a film with real heart as one man, Tony Stark, battles against his past deeds and the other, Obadiah Stane, fights for their company to continue as a major arms dealer.There are some excellent set-pieces including the first appearance of Iron Man, in armour based on the original comic book, Downey learning how to walk whilst wearing boots with repulsor rays before taking his initial flight, Iron Man's first battle in a village under attack by bandits and the final fight between Iron Man and Iron Monger. There's good support from 2 other Iron Man favourites Terrence Howard as James "Rhodey" Rhodes and Gwyneth Paltrow as "Pepper" Potts.The movie itself is stunning and will be watched time and time again. The second disc moves this package up another notch, there's an impressive "making of" documentary covering almost every aspect of the movie. The special effects section features an appearance by the late, great FX master Stan Winston; it also features mention of the Crimson Dynamo, albeit in error.There's a 40 minute history of Iron Man's comic appearances with several Marvel greats including his creator Stan Lee, who has a cameo in the movie as a Hugh Hefner style figure, it also features Gerry Conway, Gene Colan, John Romita Jr. and the wonderfully eccentric Warren Ellis amongst others.Once again Marvelites will pick up on tributes to Iron Man's rich history, from the theme tune to the 1966 cartoon series which is played several times during the movie and the more famous "I am Iron Man" theme kicking in as the end credits roll. Stark's bodyguard/driver "Happy" Hogan appears played by director Jon Favreau himself, it features a more prominent role for the new S.H.I.E.L.D. organisation and the final scene featuring Samuel L. Jackson is a precursor for the proposed Avengers movie due in 2011. The terrorist organisation here is called the Ten Rings, a nod towards Iron Man's nemesis the Mandarin who was mooted as a main villain but, wisely, by-passed. There is also a very brief view of what appears to be a circular red, white and blue shield in Stark's workshop and Stark's computer JARVIS is a name familiar to Avengers fans.

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.