"Iron Man" (Blu-ray)

Synopsis

Stark Industries, a weapons manufacturer, has been inherited by a playboy son, Tony Stark (Downey).

On a trip to Afghanistan, his truck is attacked, and he is captured by insurgents. He wakes up to find that a scientist has installed a magnetic device next to his heart to keep shrapnel from killing him. The insurgents demand that Tony construct a missile, but he instead makes an iron suit that he uses to escape.

Once home, he renounces weaponry and promises to focus on peaceful endeavors. He builds another iron suit, this time much more sophisticated than the one he built to escape his captors. He discovers Stark weapons in the hands of war lords who are taking over an Afghan town, and he demands answers from his business advisor, Obadiah Stane (Bridges).

With the help of his assistant Pepper Potts (Paltrow), he uncovers a sinister plot, and unfortunately, his enemy has now built an iron suit bigger and more powerful than his own, so in order to save the world from greater evil than it has ever known before, he must confront his iron opponent and destroy him.

Commentary

Although with much more exciting computer graphics, Iron Man is really just a twist on RoboCop. This one, however, is much more of a political statement about US involvement in the Middle East.

Technical

The movie is full of dark interior shots, but unlike The Godfather, where it was done masterfully, Iron Man just seems too dimly lit for seeing what is going on a lot of the time. There are lots of explosive action scenes, which are well handled by the Dolby TrueHD sound.

Extras

There is an entire disc with the extras for this film, including a discussion of the iron suit by director Favreau.