Iron Man

Iron Man is a superhero in both the mythic mode and the modern world, the hero felled by his own arrogance and revived with an Achilles' heel. Behind the mask of the heavy-metal superhero is a playboy gazillionaire and armaments mogul with a bad heart and a high-tech pacemaker that powers not just his bum ticker but an entire jet-propelled exoskeleton crammed with weapons. Robert Downey Jr. plays the glib playboy on the road to maturity, dancing through the role of magnate Tony Stark with the deftness of a maverick character actor who adds eccentric flourishes and cocky charm to the classically choreographed steps of the leading-man hero. And the special effects are as energetic as they are impressive, which almost masks the otherwise obligatory turns of the plot into a smack-down between Iron Man and a bigger, meaner robo-suit. Jeff Bridges plays his corporate partner turned nemesis, Terrence Howard his military baby sitter, and Gwyneth Paltrow his adoring girl Friday.

The single-disc edition comes with deleted and extended scenes (including an alternate ending to the climactic big-suit battle), but the "Ultimate 2-Disc Edition" and Blu-ray release are both packed with extras. "I Am Iron Man" is a 110-minute chronicle of the film from preproduction through rehearsal and shooting to digital effects and postproduction, filled with great footage of suit tests and rehearsals and Downey learning to be an action hero. There are separate featurettes on the character history in the comic book background and on the visual effects, plus Downey's screen test (priceless), more rehearsal footage (Downey and Bridges working out a scene – master class stuff), galleries of art and production photos, and the Onion video news parody "Wildly Popular Iron Man Trailer to Be Adapted Into Full Length Film." Exclusive to the Blu-ray disc is the interactive "Hall of Armor" gallery with 360-degree tours of the various armor designs of the film. There's no commentary, but given all the information overload available that's hardly a complaint.