DVD Review of Iron Man: Ultimate 2-Disc Edition

Why did you review the movie again instead of the DVD?

I would've liked more on the numerous deleted and extended scenes instead of just saying there were many. What are these scenes?
You could've written about the documentary, if it was worthwhile and also on the history of the character they have on the dvd.
Basically any of the special features would've been better to write about instead of just the movie again.
You don't even mention if there is commentary or not. A article got posted on this site saying no commentary would be on the DVD yet you fail to confirm or deny this.

Not a very good DVD review.

I devoted nearly 1/4 of my review to the extras. If there would have been a commentary track I would have noted it. Do you want to expeirence the DVD for your self or do you want me to play spoiler and narrate every bit of information on the DVD?

Als, don't you think there are people who have not seen the movie as of yet?

Here is an example of somethings I'm referring to when it's a DVD review.

Video:
The Paramount video engineers present the 2.35:1 ratio picture in anamorphic widescreen. Upscaled, as I watched it, the video quality is quite good. Indeed, it's so good that when I casually compared it side-by-side with its Blu-ray equivalent, I sometimes had a hard time telling the difference. However, upon closer examination, I found the SD edition slightly softer and fuzzier than the BD, especially noticeable in license plates, signs, titles, and facial close-ups. Nevertheless, the best part about the picture is the realism of the colors, which are quite rich and true to life, yet never too bright and never too glossy. A natural film grain provides texture, and the transfer's standard-definition imagery remains fairly sharp in most scenes. I found the picture a tad dark and murky in some dimly lit scenes, but it's a minor quibble.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is just as good as the video. It displays a wide front-channel stereo separation and plenty of surround activity. Voices are anchored out in the center channel as with most modern movies, an unfortunate but necessary evil. Midrange clarity is fine, if a touch bright and forward. And there is a strong bass presence, with a strong dynamic impact.

Extras:
Disc one of this Ultimate 2-Disc Edition contains the feature film and several extras. Things begin with a series of trailers at start-up and in the main menu. Then we find eleven deleted or extended scenes, about twenty-four minutes' worth, followed by a preview of an "Iron Man" animated series. Disc one concludes with fifteen scene selections and English, French, and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles.

Disc two begins with the huge documentary, "I Am Iron Man," about 109 minutes long and divided into the following sections: "The Journey Begins," "The Suit That Makes the Iron Man," "The Walk of Destruction," "Grounded in Reality," "Beneath the Armor," "It's All in the Details," and "A Good Story, Well Told." These segments take you through the Stan Winston Company's special effects, through the sound stages and sets, through the film's tech, to the final editing and post production at Skywalker Ranch, and then the film's première.

After that, you'll find a forty-seven-minute collection of featurettes titled "The Invincible Iron Man." It includes sections on "Origins," "Friends & Foes," "The Definitive Iron Man," "Demon in a Bottle," "Extremis and Beyond," and "Ultimate Iron Man." Then, there are "Wired: The Visual Effects of Iron Man," twenty-seven minutes on the CGI work in the film; a six-minute Robert Downey, Jr. screen test; "The Actor's Process," four minutes of rehearsal with Downey and Bridges; and "The Onion: Wildly Popular Iron Man Trailer to be Adapted into Full Length Film," two minutes and very cute. Things finish up with several image galleries of concept art, tech, unit photography, and posters.

The two discs come housed in a double slim-line keep case, further enclosed in a fancy, embossed slipcover. But here's the thing: Paramount pretty much force you to use the slipcover whether you want to or not. That's because there is nothing written on the front or back of the keep-case cover, just pictures of Robert Downey Jr. and Iron Man. If you want to know what's on the discs or you want a title on the front, you'll have to go with the slipcover.

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That's not a perfect review, but it's an example of looking into the DVD extras a bit more, which is what I referring to. The author also reviewed the film, I just copied the DVD stuff review so you can see that there is room for both. Maybe next time you can up your % to 35-40 towards the features and 60% to the movie. Just a thought.

And you really missed it with the commentary. That's a pretty big deal to some Maniacs. You can check that thread I was referring about where some state they won't buy it without commentary. Yet you fail to mention if there is one or not and apparently it's for the reader to assume that since you didn't bring it up the film doesn't have one. A quick sentence stating if there was one wouldn't have taken much time and it would clear doubts instead of leaving it to the reader.

If you're concerned for people who haven't seen the movie as of yet, what's with all the movie spoilers? How about some reviews on the extra documentaries? Are they worth watching? And yeah, Hanso's dead right, you should confirm the absence of a commentary. I'd be picking this up right now if RDJ or Favreau had a commentary track. You need to work on your articles, Janson. This isn't the high school newspaper.

Sorry, Mr. Janson, but I agree with Hanso and Amish. Your article was a review of the movie (and a very POOR review at that), rather than the DVD. Are you sure that you're working for the right web-zine? Iron Man is an origin story, one that builds the character of the hero himself, not his superpowered persona. Downey's performance was INCREDIBLY accurate to the character in the comics, particularly as he started out, and was also just a great performance on its own merit (as has been discussed ad nauseam elsewhere on this site). You're really late to the party giving the movie a B+ and/or downtalking one of the Top 3 movies of the summer.

As for the DVD itself, I'm usually the person to just buy the regular, non-special edition version of the DVD release (I'm loathe to waste the extra $5-$10), unless the movie itself has more content in the special edition. But if there are more deleted or extended scenes, than I might also buy it. You could have included mention, therefore, for people like me, of the differences in content between the 2-disc special edition and the standard 1-disc release.

I'm not declaring "Ridicule Tim Janson Day," but you could have given us readers a lot more to work with.

Celt...that's cool. It's America...every one has an opinion. I'm not going to give a film an A just because it was one of the top films of the year. The film was very good but not without its flaws, namely a weak villain and a short amount of screen time for the film's hero. Believe me, I wanted to love this movie. I still have the copy of Iron Man #1 I bought back at the first comic convention I ever attended back in 1975..for the princely sum of $10! That was two weeks worth of allowance. I have been a huge iron man fan for over thirty years. The film was very good, bordering on great, but could have been better. There's nothing wrong with that. It gives them something to shoot for in the sequel.

Hanso...Good points, especially as to the extras. As far as the audio/video portions...ehhh...Bob and I generally choose not to get too much into the technical aspects of a DVD as it's not what most people are interested in. People don't want to read a 2000 word review online.

I appreciate both of your comments, especially in that you presented them as constructive criticism and suggestions as opposed to Amish's condescending tone. Anyhoo...I knew people would be pissed because the films didn't get an A+ so I was prepared for the onslaught of negativity.

Janson no worries. It had all the points that happened to really matter. This is not a DVD review site. Let your little fingers search for that on your own. Aspect and sound are usually always the same. No one is stupid enough to not know the difference between BR and SD quality and you guys had it been up there would have skipped that stuff anyways. He only reviewed it because its in the fantasy/sci-fi realm that this site is for. If you guys want a technical or more substantial review of a DVD how about going to a site that gives that. Again this is not a DVD review site. Find something worthy to gripe about guys come on. The spoiler thing is and has always been dumb don't click a link if you don't want to know. It may be the nice thing to do but as internet users everyone knows better.

Booo... DAt review was kinda booty, my ninja. Hanso'z 8 yourz4 breakfast, this fine mornin. Bein 1o dem movie type geek catz, I already seen tha movie more than 2wice. So, yes indeed, i'm tryna know as much about tha special freakturez az possible. And tellin tha 13 suckaz dat ain't seen it yet bout my man Sam @ tha end?..not cool, dog NuTZ...not cool. Dat'z not what's poppin in streetz4 my geekz. I guess datz it...

Tim Janson, let me ask this question. Were you smelling the crack of your own ass when you posted this? Were your balls being fondled by a mongolian mongoose in the heat of night?? What does the title say up top?? DVD REVIEW. Wait....lets go over this again Tim......D comes after C, V comes after U then we go back to D again. REEEEEEEEEEE......VIEWWWWWWW. Did we ask for a movie review that us Maniacs pretty much already were aware of?? Noooooo. You have proven that you need to be put on the Hall of Shame list along with Jessica Simpson's "CHICKEN OF THE SEA " debacle.

So until you can tell the difference Tim, I got a hat for you to wear. It says dumbass in bold italics. Next time.....get it right.

Raith...why don't you get some new parts for your head...that's the problem with idiot fan boys like you. If a reviewer doesn't agree with your man-love opinions you flame him. Also, if I was as ugly a s you I would not be so quick as yo puy my pic online. As far was what you asked for...you didn't ask for anything. In case that pea brain of yours has not figured it out, this is a FREE website. Until you start coughing up some jack for the content just keep your mouth shut.