Iron Man (Single-Disc Edition)

For both comic book fans and those who can't tell the Green Lantern from the Green Arrow, IRON MAN is the type of summer blockbuster whose appeal lasts far beyond the season. Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark, a billionaire playboy and genius who puts as much effort into chasing skirts as he puts into chasing his next big idea. A trip to Afghanistan to sell weapons quickly devolves into chaos, and Stark finds himself at the mercy of a warlord who wants him to build a missile.

Instead, Stark creates a powerful suit of armor, turning him into Iron Man and allowing him to escape. When he returns to America, his assistant Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow), friend Rhodey (Terrence Howard), and right-hand man Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) all marvel at the change in the man they knew.

IRON MAN is the first film to be self-financed by Marvel Studios, and they should be proud of their freshman effort. They didn't take any obvious routes with choosing the cast or crew, and it pays off. Director Jon Favreau, who also has a small role in the film, is best known for directing ELF, but his first action-driven effort is nearly flawless. Casting Downey was gutsy but inspired: this is his first big action picture as well, but the wit he displays in films such as the cult hit KISS KISS, BANG BANG works perfectly for the character of Stark.

IRON MAN features nods to its beloved source material, as well as to the classic animated series of the 1960s. But even for the uninitiated, this film provides an interesting entry into the Marvel superhero's universe. Audiences who keep watching after the credits have rolled will be rewarded with a bonus scene.

Iron Man 2 (Single-Disc Edition)

As Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) owns up to being Iron Man before the world press, Anton Vanko lies dying in Russia. Years ago, Anton worked with Tony's father to create a new source of energy. But greed got the best of Anton, and now as he slips away, his son, Ivan (Mickey Rourke), vows to make Tony pay for the sins of his father. Meanwhile, Tony fends off efforts from smarmy Senator Stern} (Garry Shandling) and military weapons expert Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) to divulge the secrets of his powerful Iron Man suit.

The powers that be are concerned that Tony's technology may fall into the wrong hands -- fears that are soon confirmed when the cocky billionaire entrepreneur is confronted in front of the entire world by Ivan, who has built his own weapon using stolen Stark blueprints. Later, as Lt. Rhodes (Don Cheadle) wrestles with the decision to personally deliver Tony's suit to the military, Ivan finds an unlikely ally in the quest to destroy Iron Man; Stark Industries legal consultant Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson) reveals her connection to Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson); and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) takes on some new responsibilities.

Robert Downey Jr: ‘Iron Man 2 was a screaming, wild-eyed bar fight to make'

Geoff Boucher of the LA Times asked Robert Downey Jr. what was the thing he needed to avoid to make this project a success. Downey's response:

“I needed to remember not to forget,” he said, reminding me of an old Elvis Presley record. To not forget what? “I didn’t want to forget the way we made it happen last time, which was very seat-of-our-pants, very synergistic and open to finding the big ‘ah-ha’ moments….

We said last time that we couldn’t imagine that we’d get so lucky to get a shot at doing it [a second time in the same fashion]. It was tantamount sometimes to making a crazy, cosmic double entendre. Our thing is order out of chaos. The hours are weird but it pays pretty good.”

“We realized pretty early on with this second one that there was not going to be much of anything elegant about the way we did this movie. It was essentially going to be a screaming, wild-eyed bar fight just to get that naturalism that we got in the first one…there’s all these thing you’re juggling and some of them are on fire. It all goes back to Jon and I. That first screen test and me bringing everything I had to bear on it and getting the opportunity for this role.” . . . . . complete article

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Kevin Feige on the Iron Man 2 DVD/Blu-ray

Iron Man 2 arrives on DVD and Blu-ray next week and, to help promote the set's elaborate special features, Marvel Studios hosted a Q and A with studio head Kevin Feige, currently hard at work on Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger.

Chief among the highlighted features were clips from "Ultimate Iron Man: The Making of 'Iron Man 2'", an hour-length behind the scenes documentary that charts the film's production from beginning to end. Also showcased, the film's original opening scene, starting with Tony Stark in the armor poised next to a toilet and ready to vomit, setting what would have been a very different tone for the first frame.

Q: As you were filming "Iron Man 2", did you think about certain extras you wanted to see on the Blu-ray?
Kevin Feige: The S.H.I.E.L.D. Data Vault goes back to a discussion we had during "Iron Man 1" and was something we knew we wanted to include on "Iron Man 2". The documentary was something else we planned from the beginning. As you can tell, Jon was very open to having cameras on set and sharing the process with the fans. We had the great Sean Ricigliano following him with a camera at every turn.

Q: Is the S.H.I.E.L.D. Vault intended to be an evolving feature on "Iron Man 2" via BD-Live or will more robust versions of the Vault appear on "Thor" and "Captain America" next fall?
Feige: One of the great things about Blu-ray technology is the ability to expand and update the content via BD-Live and that's certainly part of our discussion. We've had fun discussions about how to expand this experience on future releases, but clearly we need to wait and see how it is received on this release.

Q: What limits have you stretched of what the Iron Man 2 blu-ray experience of the film can be?
Feige: With more disc space we were able to offer the long form documentary, and superb video and audio quality, as well as the multiple viewing modes, allowing viewers the choice of how deep they want to delve into the extra content. . . . . . complete interview

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Joe Quesada on Iron Man 2