Customer Reviews

The Invincible Iron Man

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

You can disregard the other customer reviews as they are just people rating their inability to purchase the product they wanted. If you couldn't read the product information page far enough to see that this was a Marvel animated movie and not the live action movie starring Robert Downey Jr that is your own problem. Please don't write negative reviews of something that have nothing to do with the actual product. That is dishonest and doesn't help your fellow online shoppers.

That being said if you like Marvel's other animated movies (The Avengers, The Avengers 2, Dr. Strange etc...) then you will like this movie. The animation is top notch and the voice work is decent. It is a well done Iron Man origin story and I hope to see more animated movies in Marvel's future.

I'm going to take the con side of this debate. Having not really read many comics in the past 20 years or so I really haven't followed any of the Ultimates stuff. I have had it explained to me by a co-worker that's a big comic buff. It seems to make sense to update some heros' origins. After all Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan would be in their ninties these days. I understand that they are also keeping the original origins in place which is fine. Having said that, I don't know if this is an Ultimate storyline or not but I didn't care for it at all.

Taken as a stand alone movie, if viewed by someone with no idea of who Iron Man is, this is really run of the mill. Tony Stark wasn't a very cohesive character. As far as alter-egos go this one is kind of a hypocritical milksap. He makes a big deal out of not building weapons but has an entire room full of indestructible power armor. If the suits are for research why the need for powerful lasers and missles? The writer's seem to face the same dilemma most of Hollywood finds itself in these days. It's politically incorrect to endorse violence but you still have to give the audience a good action packed fight scene. As a result you get unrealistic portrayals of altruistic millionaire industrialists and pacifists with more weapons than Dirty Harry. I may be reading a little too much into a cartoon but the level of some of the violence here (one person gets executed with a gunshot to the back of the head) suggests this is for a mature audience. If this is the case the writers should have given the actions and motivations more depth.

The biggest problem is the time it takes to actually get to Iron Man. Once there the fight scenes are few and far between. The film suffers from the same problem a lot of live action superhero movies suffer from, too much screen time for the alter-ego. The action sequences are lacking visual impact. I think that is partly due to the mediocre quality of the animation. The CG doesn't mix too badly with the hand drawn but it's all just servicable at best.

In the end the movie seemed overly long and convulted with the end being a less than satisfying resolution. Even if I weren't aware of Iron Man before this I don't think I would recommend it as anything more than a rental.

Iron Man was one of the classic Marvel Superheroes that didn't get a 1980's make over on TV, like Spiderman, Captain American, Dr Strange, Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D and of course the Hulk (with Bill Bixby)(which in Hulk TV movies had Thor and an early version of Daredevil )

Lets say this Iron Man is not the Iron Man you see on the cover of this DVD. That is for future DVD animated releases

This is classic Shell Head from the 1960's with the basic grey suit. The origin story changes from Vietnam (as it was in the 1960's comic) to China. However most of the original story line stays the same in this animated feature

This is visually one of the better comic cartoons I have seen, better than the avengers that Marvel did earlier. The voice talent is slightly lacking, but it is better the 1990's cartoon version with the voice of Robert Hayes as Stark/Iron Man

On the bonus features, animators and comic artists discuss Iron Man, the DVD is worth that alone for a true comic fanboy. Also as a bonus, the future released Dr Stange is previewed..wetting your whistle for it

I hope the powers that be at Marvel animation release an Iron Man 2 before the movie version comes out

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

THE INVINCIBLE IRON MAN retcons the Iron Man mythos to a degree. Given that Tony Stark was originally wounded in Vietnam in the 1960s and he would have been in his sixties, something had to be done. So the creators brought the story into "now" and still maintained an Asian flavoring by setting Iron Man up against the Mandarin, one of Shellhead's oldest and coolest foes.

Die-hard purists are going to be disappointed in some aspects of the film, but it delivers enough action and characterization to get the job done. Strangely, though, we don't really get to know that much about Tony or his relationship with his dad, Howard Stark. We don't even get to know anything about why he created the Iron Man armor when he plainly states in the movie that he's never invented weapons. The Iron Man armor has been compared to a human-sized F16 fighter jet loaded to the gills with munitions and destructive power. Not to mention all the other cool, on-board technology.

The plot centers on Tony's efforts to help China raise a sunken city to engender goodwill that results in very profitable trade agreements. However, the Jade Dragons -- a local group -- have attacked the dig site on a number of occasions to stop the city's recovery. But Stark's technology is successful and the city returns to the surface. Unfortunately, that return also heralds of the mystical forces that will ultimately resurrect the Mandarin.

I'm not sure if pitting a technology-based hero against the supernatural was a good idea for a first Iron Man movie. For the fans like me, it wouldn't have been that much of a reach bccause we'd all be familiar with the Mandarin (though I'm pretty sure the comics alluded to the fact that the Mandarin's rings were alien tech at one point and not mystical). But newcomers might be expected to see a technology versus technology battle, and that's really lacking here.

I didn't like the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. was onstage mainly as the bad guys, or at least an opposing force, without any face time to put a more positive spin on them. Nick Fury and his agents are some of my favorite characters.

There was a lot to like about the straight-to-DVD presentation, though. The use of CGI animation throughout the film was good, and so were the action sequences. One of the other BIG pluses was that a LOT of the other Iron Man armor was shown. The specialized deep-sea armor took center stage during one battle. And many of the other suits were on display.

Some of the scenes felt rushed, and plot development was thin. The Mandarin was late in getting into the mix, though the four Elementals working on his behalf were there, and never quite came to fruition as a real threat.

But the chance to see Iron Man onscreen in your living room is just too good to pass up. Buy this one for comic geeks' night, or for the kids. Then have a seat with your friends or your children, and get down to a night of superheroing Iron Man style.

I liked it. My wife and I watched it last night (advance copies are sometimes available before the "official" release, a point for the gentleman who doubted anyone had actually seen it to consider) and we both enjoyed it quite a bit. Neither of us are fans of the comic. She's hardly read any (she is a serious comics fan but her reading of Marvel titles centers mostly on the X-Men). I was a fan back when the character first appeared but quit reading in the mid '70s. So we are not burdened with a deep knowledge of all that has happened to Iron Man in his decades-long existence. We took the story as presented and thought it was well written, well acted and well animated. Sure, it's not up to Pixar standards but the animation was as good as the best TV supehero animation (I'm a big fan of the animated Batman, Superman and Justice League series) and better than most. If you don't compare it word-for-word and scene-for-scene with the comic, I think there's a good chance you will enjoy it, too.

This is almost exactly what I hoped it wouldn't be. I could have tolerated a little tinkering with the standard origin, but what they came up with runs so contrary to what the Iron Man comic has been about that it's almost a slap in the face. For a hero and comic that's so concerned with the technological, to watch the storyline just kind of decompose into hokey mumbo jumbo while almost 44 years of history aren't just tossed to the side, but into the dirt, that's hard for me to swallow.

The fact is, the story wasn't just different, it was BAD. The pacing was awful, and honestly, the only parts really worth watching are the battle sequences (minus the awful non-event that is the "Mandarin" face-off). I was pleased with the Ultimate Avengers movies, I thought they portrayed Iron Man well, and while they didn't really portray either Ultimate Iron Man or classic Iron Man exactly right, as the character was more or less an amalgamation of the two, he was much closer than this take on him, which basically has him with this emo-angst, I have to prove something to daddy thing. Howard should have been left DEAD.

So to sum it up. What I thought was WRONG about Iron Man:

1) Hokey, mumbo-jumbo filled story that ignores Tony Starks genius and reduces him to merely a reactionary shell of the comic character.
2) Howard Stark...alive.
3) Rhodey...a wimp (Army medic? COME ON!!!).
4) Pepper Potts...BRITISH?!? Was that to add a touch of class?
5) Mandarin...a GHOST?!? An emperor from some obscure Chinese Dynasty? Bleh...
6) A dragon that ISN'T Fin Fang Foom...
7) Iron Man using a sword (BTW, the 'prophecy' angle is tired and lame)!
8) A final 'battle' that is a non-event. Tony's whining throughout was particularly grating...
9) Too much time in the clunky origin armor (with all those other armors supposedly already made, including the Ultimate armor, and we get the Shellhead?).
10) Ignoring Tony's character. Now everyone thinks if you do a few cheesy pickup lines and have him drink some booze, you've nailed him. Where is the intelligence? Where is the wit? Where are the one-liners and critical thinking from the past? He's a genius (except when it comes to women)...treat him as one.

I'm stopping at 10...

This movie is poor. I'll give it an extra star for the battle sequences, which are at least entertaining, but the rest is boring, almost painful in some places. Hopefully the 2008 live-action film will fare much better.

I watched this movie in hopes that it would somehow stand above the lackluster and manic Ultimates animated films but instead found something far worse. I'm not going to go into much detail, but suffice it to say Iron Man is a terrible movie wrought with cliches and unnecessary amounts of exposition.

The Chinese characters are all stereotypes who talk in obnoxiously cryptic manners and inherently know martial arts. The worst of which being the update of Professor Yinsen from Iron Man's origin, originally a brilliant physicist who assists in the construction of the original armor, now reduced to a yellowface, monk cliche who practices calligraphy whilst describing ancient Chinese legends to Stark.

The blend of CG and cel animation is ugly and reminded me of the nineties Silver Surfer cartoon when the techniques were first being practiced. Movements for CG characters are stiff and awkward and the graphics themselves look dated and videogame-y. The CG characters also appear to be always hovering over the cel animation, looking as if they're skating when they're supposed to be running.

Also, this really isn't a film about Tony Stark. This is a movie about the legend of The Mandarin and how the world is suppose to stop it - Tony just 'happens' to be there when it takes place. Except for the original armor; updated as an absurdly over-designed, weapon strapped tool for escape, all of his armors are already built, their existence treated with the simple explanation of, "These are exo-suits I've been building in secret!" They're also displayed with the utmost fan-service in mind (The audience is treated to glimpses of the Hulk-Buster and Ultimates suit to name a few) and seem to only fail, having absolutely no impact on the events of the film.

Beyond that, Tony's character is the victim of a seen-it-a-million-times father/son relationship and the over-arching theme of Tony learning to conquer his ego-centric personality goes nowhere. At one point he does actually announces that he's aware he needs to be a better person, blah blah blah, but the film ends with him more self-involved than before.

Anyhow, this movie sucks. Hopefully the live-action film will take what is certainly a rich character and do it justice.

Once again, the folks at Marvel Comics have unleashed a big screen drama in the form of a cartoon. Don't let the cover fool you. This is not kid's stuff. This movie was made for the hard-line, mature audiance, Tony Stark/Iron Man lover. Not some saturday morning, hoaky, watered down version to amuse the kids. Iron Man has always been a comic about romance, power, science, and the resolve of one man to live in-spite of himself. With this brings meaning to one's life. This version of the beginnings of the Iron Man charictor was great. A must see. Looking forward to more movies of this nature from my friends at Marvel Comics.

So yeah, this is a good animated marvel movie. And for you folks that couldn't tell it was animated by looking at the box...WOW, Its amazing to me you people actually make it out of your driveway. Try using your eyes next time, you might be surprised...p

First off to all the stupid people, it says it is animated right on the cover, and then again says it is animated in the product description.

The movie is a good retelling of the Iron Man origin. Not every origin story needs to be exactly like the comics; otherwise it would be stale, repetitive and boring. Props to the creators for trying to update Iron Man and having the courage to tell their own story instead of regurgitating what has already been told numbers times in the comic book.

The movie is excellent quality and Blu-ray really makes it shine. Overall it is a good movie; do not be put off by the dummies who thought this was the live action that came out in 2008, when this movie came out in 2007.