Product Details

• Actors: Adrian Pasdar
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English, Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Dubbed: English
• Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: April 24, 2012
• Run Time: 287 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B007549WKI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,832 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Marvel Anime: Iron Man is an appealing episodic reboot of the venerable Marvel Comics franchise, and part of a wider anime collaboration between Marvel Entertainment and the popular Japanese animation studio Madhouse. The live-action Iron Man features serve as the launching point for this 12-episode series, which finds Tony Stark (voiced by Heroes' Adrian Pasdar in the English-language dub) in Japan, constructing an Arc Reactor station that will provide limitless worldwide energy, as well as a new prototype armor, Iron Man Dio, which will allow him to gracefully exit the superhero business. Both plans turn sour with the arrival of the Zodiac terrorist organization, which commandeers both the Dio suit and the station for its world-domination plans. In his pursuit of Zodiac, Stark is pitted against the group's giant robot warriors, as well as a long-lost figure from his own past. Rendered in the bold and often striking animation by which Madhouse has earned its reputation, Marvel Anime: Iron Man is also action packed throughout its 12 episodes, and hews closely to its comic legacy thanks to writer Warren Ellis, who weaves appearances by established figures from its canon like Pepper Potts, Chika Tanaka, and even Wolverine (voiced by Pasdar's Heroes costar Milo Ventimiglia, who reprises the role for the Wolverine anime series) into the story. If there's any complaint to be had, it's the relative facelessness of the Zodiac, which pale in regard to nefariousness when compared to such veteran Iron Man villains as Ghost, Whiplash, or the Mandarin. Otherwise, Marvel Anime: Iron Man is a visually exciting, fast-paced, and welcome addition to the Iron Man universe. The two-disc set includes both the English dub and original Japanese audio track (with English subtitles), as well as a smattering of making-of featurettes, including interviews with the animation team and Japanese cast. --Paul Gaita

Product Description

In an effort to make amends for his past in weapons manufacturing, Tony Stark has dedicated himself to building the world up rather than tearing it down. Traveling to Japan to build a new arc reactor that will deliver unlimited free energy to the Japanese people, Stark is challenged by the Japanese government and the media when he attempts to import the necessary nuclear priming device. When the nuclear reactor is repeatedly attacked by the mysterious Zodiac consortium, Stark must gather his allies to take on Zodiac and its mastermind.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun and colorful appetizer before the main course. April 27, 2012

By Charles Brian Foster

Format:DVD

You should know that Iron Man is my second favorite super hero of all time. Make of that what you will, but obviously I am going to show some favoritism to Iron Man products. Let's just be honest here.

Now that that's out of the way, lets settle something. People seem to either love or hate anime. I love anime and have been watching it for a very long time. If you love Iron Man, but hate anime, don't even bother watching this.
A lot of people on various websites have trashed these Marvel anime just because they are anime. If anime isn't for you, then these aren't either.

If you do like anime, then you already know that anime is slick and visually stylized. I has a certain feel or Japanese quirkiness to it, that will be lacking elsewhere. This anime has that, but brings the fun of centering on a popular super hero that I know and love. The artwork is nice, crisp and colorful. It's very pretty to behold. Of course like a lot of animation in this cost cutting age we live in, there aren't 30 or 60 frames of animation. Now that things are done on computer instead of hand drawn, companies tend to skip as many frames as possible and often show many static scenes to cut time and expenses in production. That's just something you have to deal with now. Anime purists are aware that old school hand drawn anime had a much more fluid sense of motion to it and a lot less of the shortcut method.

None of that has proved to be a bother in the Iron Man anime. That is partly due to the fact that the episodes are fairly fast paced. Iron Man is facing dangers very soon. This is only a 12 episode show and that could be looked at as a good thing. A lot of anime will do a 26 episode season or series. Some good much longer and some go way too long. At least here, you know you're going to get the entire series with one purchase and the show has to come to an end.

So without spoiling anything, I just feel that this is a fun, beautiful, fast paced anime style tribute to a great superhero. I think studio Madhouse did a great job. These not a high level of utter silliness that can be found in some anime. You won't find singing pigs or magical cat girls, so don't worry about that.

At this price, this is totally worth buying if you are a fan of both anime and Iron Man.

For me, the enjoyment of this series has been even more pleasurable because me and about 30 of my friends will be getting together to watch all of the Marvel super hero movies and then going to see The Avengers in the theater the next day. The Iron Man anime is a fun appetizer. The rest is dessert.

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad addition to the Iron Man Collection April 14, 2012

By Media King

Format:DVD

I watched the series when it previewed on G4 and I found that it was not bad. The animation was quite good, and the females in the series are properly proportioned.... you know what I mean X-men.... There is intrigue, betrayal, and action in every episode that I watched. There was even a cameo from another character in the Marvel universe that one will not see coming. Even though I gave it 3 out of 5 stars, I will still purchase this for my Marvel collection.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Anime - the Japanese appreciate Iron Man too... January 4, 2013

By Maryann V. Arrien

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I highly recommend this Anime to any Iron Man fan. The Japanese art form applied to this character adds to the artistic realm of Iron Man. It does not detract. Sure a few small liberties are taken with the origin, but we are all used to that.

It more or less adheres to the past history set forth in the Iron Man movie that starred Robert Downey Jr. including Stark being kind of a smartass womanizer. That aspect is maybe slightly toned down for the Japanese audience, but it is definitely there for the characters to react to. Although this 12 episode series is OK for kids, this is really geared towards an adult audience with the internal conflicts of the character taking the forefront.

The CGI of the Iron Man suit is a little different "Mecha" anime style, but still very nice. Even so, to me it was still somehow reminiscent of the Adi Granov designs, and some of the flight positions that he drew.

Now about the language - fear not! It is dubbed in English, but you have to choose English from the languages menu. The default is Japanese. It also offers English subtitles, but as someone else said in these reviews, the subtitles don't exactly match the spoken English. I suspect that the subtitles were the original script which the voicing actors improvised off of. I recommend not using the English subtitles, because the spoken English is much better and elaborates a little more. I thought the performances, particularly of Tony Stark and the Captain were beautifully voiced.

There ARE some special features that come with the 2 disks. Two features on each disk. They consist "Re-Imaging Iron Man"; "21st Century Hero: The Technology of Iron Man" plus two other interviews with Japanese creators of the Anime that are subtitled in English.

If you have never seen Japanese Anime, this would be a good place to start to appreciate it. The cinematic techniques are interesting in their own right, analagous to the innovative visual techniques used in graphic novels.

Concerning the story arc, I was impressed how very gradually the characters response to Tony Stark changes over the course of the story. Despite all the rough American edges to the un-acculturated Stark, you can see how the Japanese really have an appreciation for Iron Man. They have done a beautiful job with this Anime.