MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

From Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures comes Iron Man, an action-packed take on the tale of wealthy philanthropist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who develops an invulnerable robotic suit to fight the throes of evil. In addition to being filthy rich, billionaire industrialist Tony Stark is also a genius inventor. When Stark is kidnapped and forced to build a diabolical weapon, he instead uses his intelligence and ingenuity to construct an indestructible suit of armor and escape his captors. Once free, Stark discovers a deadly conspiracy that could destabilize the entire globe, and dons his powerful new suit on a mission to stop the villains and save the world. Gwyneth Paltrow co-stars as his secretary, Virginia "Pepper" Potts, while Terrence Howard fills the role of Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes, one of Stark's colleagues, whose military background leads him to help in the formation of the suit. Jon Favreau directs, with Marvel movie veterans Avi Arad and Kevin Feige producing. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 2
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Screen: Color
• Subtitle: Spanish, French, English
• Features:
  • Disc 1
  • Blu-ray exclusives
  • Hall Of Armor
  • BD-Live Iron Man IQ
  • The Invincible Iron Man HD
  • Deleted and Extended Scenes HD
  • Disc 2
  • I Am Iron Man: 7 Part "Making Of" Documentary HD
  • Wired: The Visual Effects of Iron Man HD
  • Robert Downey, Jr. Screen Test HD
  • The Actor's Process HD
  • Still Galleries

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Sound Editing - 2008 (Christopher Boyes, Frank Eulner)
•     Nominated Best Visual Effects - 2008 (Shane Mahan, John Nelson, Ben Snow, Daniel Sudick)

• American Film Institute

•     Won Best Picture - 2008

• Art Directors Guild

•     Nominated Best Art Direction in a Fantasy Film - 2008 (J. Michael Riva)

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts

•     Nominated Best Visual Effects - 2008 (Shane Mahan, John Nelson, Ben Snow)

• Broadcast Film Critics Association

•     Nominated Best Action Movie - 2008

• Costume Guild Awards

•     Nominated Best Art Direction in a Contemporary Film - 2008 (Rebecca Bentjen, Laura Jean Shannon)

• Las Vegas Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Visual Effects - 2008

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Jon Favreau

• Producer:

  Avi Arad, Kevin Feige

• Screenwriter:

  Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway

• Cinematographer:

  Matthew J. Libatique

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Dave Jordan

• Composer (Music Score):

  Ramin Djawadi

• Editor:

  Dan Lebental

• Production Designer:

  J. Michael Riva

• Supervising Art Director:

  David F. Klassen

• Art Director:

  Richard Mays, Suzan Wexler

• Co-producer:

  Victoria Alonso

• Associate Producer:

  Eric Heffron

• Executive Producer:

  Peter Billingsley, Jon Favreau, Stan Lee, Louis D'Esposito, Michael A. Helfant, Avi Arad, David Maisel

• Set Designer:

  Noelle King, Ernie Avila

• Set Decorator:

  Lauri Gaffin

• Costume Designer:

  Laura Jean Shannon

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Mark Ulano, Christopher Boyes

• Special Effects:

  Stan Winston

• First Assistant Director:

  Eric Heffron

• Animator:

  Industrial Light & Magic

• Casting:

  Randi Hiller, Sarah Halley Finn

• Visual Effects:

  Industrial Light & Magic

• Visual Effects Supervisor:

  John Nelson

• Second Unit Director:

  Phil Nelson

• Re-Recording Mixer:

  Christopher Boyes

• Special Effects Coordinator:

  Daniel Sudick

• Supervising Sound Editor:

  Frank Eulner

• Visual Effects Supervisor:

  Ben Snow

• Re-Recording Mixer:

  Lora Hirschberg

• Visual Effects:

  The Orphanage, Pixel Liberation Front

• Stunts Coordinator:

  Thomas Robinson Harper

• Second Unit Camera:

  Jonathan Taylor

REVIEW:

• The curtain rises on Marvel Comics' first in-house production to rousing results as their metal man of iron introduces himself to enthralled moviegoers everywhere. Just as billionaire playboy Tony Stark utilizes his technological know-how to fight evildoers, so does director Jon Favreau use his bag of cinematic tricks to lay the groundwork for yet another top-caliber franchise starring one of the biggest icons of the printed page. Delivering laughs as well as leaps of wonder, this comic-book fantasy gets it right across the board, with its buoyant tone never diluting the grounded dramatics of the story. For the flick to work, though, one needs an exceptional cast -- something this production has in spades. Sure, it's an origin story, but to the cast's credit, none of it ever seems tedious. Even if they basically follow the same superhero mold of yesteryear, the tight ensemble of Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, and Jeff Bridges sells the action romp every step of the way -- so much so that one can't help but want more. It's quite evident that the best is yet to come, not only with this series, but also with big-screen Marvel outings as a whole. With clever shout-outs to the imprint's expansive universe (including a post-credit cameo that'll send the geek Richter scale off the charts), Iron Man sets the stage for as yet unrealized crossover possibilities, a dream barely hinted at in previous book-to-screen adaptations. If future productions can deliver on the story while juggling both the technology and the talent as well as this one did, then it is possible that this is the true start of comicdom's cinematic rebirth, built by the best that Hollywood has to offer. All in all, a fine introduction to a hero that finally dares to tackle weight-of-the-world issues. It's about time. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi