"The Invincible Iron Man" Feature Talkback (Spoilers)

[AdamYJ]

What are you talking about, Grey Gargoyle can trnasform people into stone by touching them with his right hand, it is one of his powers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Gargoyle

Fire Brand was likly going to be the fire villain used:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firebrand_(Marvel_Comics)

As for Mandrain, it is always kinda tough to use him, considering his rather unseemly "yellow pearl" origins. I always thought the best thing they did with him is give him his anti technology ideology, it him seem more like Tony's opposite and made seem less a generic Chinese sterotype/meglomanic villain.

The Mandarin in this film was disappointing, all set up and no pay off. Plus being defeat by the power of love is embrassing for a villain.

I said the Earth Elemental never turned anyone to stone. You can't say a character is based on Grey Gargoyle unless they can do that.

I don't know about Firebrand. The Fire Elemental in the Iron Man movie looked female and I would have figured she'd have been based on a female villian. However, you could be right.

Though, the Dragon was based on Fin Fang Foom. The concept art feature on the DVD proved that much.

 

[S.C.B]

I thought it was a lot of fun, although the CGI could get a bit jerky or awkward at times, particularly in the underwater fight.

Some of the brutality shocked me; I've become so accustomed to shows like JLU where they have to suggest stuff that was just shown here. The part where the Chinese terrorist shoots Tony's doctor genuinely surprised me. I thought he was just going to threaten him, Tony would cave in to his demands, that's it. Nope; bang. I had a similar moment when the doctor pulled the shrapnel out of Tony. Ouchies.

I liked Rhodey's character (it was wierd having him talk to Tony instead of old JJJ), and how he wasn't some indestructible war machine (ha ha). When those terrorists threatened him, he looked scared and backed off, not the stereotypical hardnosed 'Don't help them, Tony!' reaction.

Tony himself was pretty damned unlikeable at the beginning. It was fun seeing him learn some humility as the film went on.

Re-using the grey armour for the finale had me doubtful at first (always preferred the red and gold, myself), but it totally worked in the end.

I would have liked a few aerial shots of Iron Man to cap off the film (like the Spidey films, or the Superman movies), and the happy ending with his father seemed way too neat and tidy. After all the conflict between Tony and Howard in the film, it just seemed too 'happily ever after'. I did like it when Howard told the guy with the stopwatch to shut up though.

Overall, I enjoyed it. Way better than Ultimate Avengers 2, and about on the same level as Ultimate Avengers.

 

[BatmanFan1980]

I found the movie to be excellent overall. The story and voice casting could not have been better. I have not yet viewed the Special Features. That review will come in a future post.

 

[Anarky]

Sans the awkward CGI, I enjoyed this feature. I never gave Iron Man much consideration in the past but now I see the potential for next yrs blockbuster. Is there still an Iron Man series slated for Fall '08?

Couldn't help but notice the parallels w/ TMNT 2K3's Lost Season arc (The Ninja Tribunal eps resurrecting the true Shredder)

btw, REALLY looking forward to Doctor Strange in August.

 

[Spider-Man]

I thought the CGI was done pretty well though there were a couple times where it look really jarring. The scene where Rhodey is hanging on to Iron Man on the outside didn't seem to mesh well. Also the scene where Iron Man falls on a peice of dirt that gets seperated and goes into the lava looked really off as well. Overall I think they did a good job with it. The armor looked great in CGI and wouldn't mind that being the new way to animated his armor. I thought this was a good movie overall. What faults did everyone have with it?

 

[S.C.B]

I will say that this is the first of the Marvel DTVs where I didn't think it was too short. Not to say there weren't some missed opportunities here and there (a bit less of a happy ending between Howard and Tony, for example), but by the films end I didn't feel shortchanged at all.

 

[James Harvey]

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Lionsgate's Saw III topped both the national DVD sales and rental charts for the week ending Sunday. Another Lionsgate release, the direct-to-video The Invincible Iron Man, made a surprisingly strong debut its first week in stores, bowing at No. 3 on the charts.

Comments on this strong debut for the title? Does it perhaps reflect the content of the movie itself?

 

[Hero Supreme]

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Lionsgate's Saw III topped both the national DVD sales and rental charts for the week ending Sunday. Another Lionsgate release, the direct-to-video The Invincible Iron Man, made a surprisingly strong debut its first week in stores, bowing at No. 3 on the charts.

Comments on this strong debut for the title? Does it perhaps reflect the content of the movie itself?

I don't think that the good sales were a result of the movie quality. Most of the reviews I read before the movie came out were negative or at best marginal, but I went ahead and picked up the movie anyways because I had enjoyed the Avengers films, and enjoyed Iron Man in those films. I enjoyed Iron Man much more than I expected from the reviews, but I don't think good word of mouth would affect the first week sales as much as long term sales.

Anyhow, I am also impressed at how well Iron Man sold when if you look at this week's Teen Titans and Hellboy DTVs, both are currently ranked in the hundreds on Amazon. That speaks to the popularity of the Iron Man character.

 

[Spider-Man]

I'm surprised at how little feedback there has been for the movie so far. You'd think that given the high sales and excitement over the movie alot more people would be giving their two cents. I thought this was a great movie. It's not the best animated Marvel movie but they sure are doing a splendid job with the characters to date. Makes me eager for a The Invincible Iron Man 2.

 

[Hanshotfirst1138]

Some of the digital work was pretty sleek looking, but it seem clunkier in motion.

 

[Spider-Man]

I guess I'm just disappointed in the lack of feedback. Interest in these Marvel movies must be dwindling because less and less people talk about them. I was hoping to have some great discussions on the many aspects that did and did not work in this movie. I see people have already said some but I was hoping for something more indepth.

 

[Stu]

A lot of the reviews I've read on various forums seem to be harsh towards the fact that Tony created the armour before he was captured. What's everyone's attitude towards this? Does it make more sense than the original origin or is it just a dumb move?

 

[Chris Wood]

A lot of the reviews I've read on various forums seem to be harsh towards the fact that Tony created the armour before he was captured. What's everyone's attitude towards this? Does it make more sense than the original origin or is it just a dumb move?

I didn't like this move, not because it's different from the comics, but because it undercuts the dramatic impact of the previous scene. We think we are witnessing Marvel history in the making as Tony crafts the rough suit, only to soon discover it's old hat for him. It's much less exciting for him to bang together a suit out of spare parts if he's already an expert.

 

[Comic Book Boy]

I thought the film was terrible.

MARVEL Animation needs better writers.

 

[Bones Justice]

Despite some problems, I really liked this movie. The movie started off way too slow but once Iron Man hit the screen, the action almost never stopped! I loved the film’s take on the “original” armor, all grey and sort-of medieval looking. I didn’t care for the look of the deep-sea armor, though. I did like the updated “classic” red & gold armor but I was a little disappointed that the grey armor had been abandoned. So I was surprised and pleased when Tony was forced to go back to the grey suit he had built earlier in the movie.

After watching the special features, I understood why they changed the origin. I’m not sure it was really necessary to have the speed of the armor’s creation to make sense. Superhero origins are always fantastic so why would it be so hard to just believe that Tony was a super-genius? They certainly never explained how he was able to quickly re-invent the iron-lung style pacemaker into a compact design or recovered from the operation so quickly, as well. (On the other hand, in real life, there is an emergency CPR-vest that does rapid chest compressions that has revived patients from cardiac arrest.) If they had not also included the device that molded steel, I wouldn’t think Tony and Rhodey could have built the armor even with the designs. I’m not even sure why they included any of the heart injury story, though, since it had no effect on Tony at all. What happened to the tragic part of his story with him “trapped” in the armor chestplate to survive? That's what is supposed to give the character his humility; it's what changed him from a playboy to someone deeper.

My other problem with the re-imagined origin was the Hall of Armor. If Tony had already built all of those suits, why hadn’t Iron Man been seen before? Had he just built them and stored them away, unused? Though I could see him being able to build the whole thing by himself, at least once he had built one suit.

I didn’t care too much for the whole “magic” villain. I could have lived with it if the Mandarin had actually shown up before the movie was over! If they couldn’t make the film longer, they should have cut some of the first half-hour to allow the Mandarin at least ten minutes of screen time.

Speaking of which, I was a little disappointed in the whole “fifth element” plot. Iron Man fights the four elements then overcomes the villain with “heart / love”. I would have been more impressed if they would have forgone the cliché ending and had the girl fail to overcome. Instead, have her turn into the Mandarin and have Iron Man fight it out with him! Or, since Iron Man’s grey armor was nearly destroyed, have Rhodey show up (as War Machine) with the red & gold armor. After Mandarin takes down War Machine (due to Rhodey’s inexperience), Iron Man in red & gold fights Mandarin to the finish!

Still, I loved all of the battles leading up to the finale. Each of the elemental battles was impressive with perhaps the exception of the undersea battle. The battle with the dragon as amazing! I loved it, especially the part with the sword.

The story between Tony and his father made little sense until it was revealed that the girl was the one that had betrayed Tony and not his father. Still, I don’t think there was enough time to really get into their relationship enough for me to care. I think they should have cut the time spent on this in favor of having a battle between Iron Man and Mandarin (for real).

I know it’s been stated that this movie is in a separate continuity from Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2 but I didn’t see anything that would necessarily conflict, as long as Iron Man was a prequel to the other two movies. On the other hand, there was nothing shared between the films to prove continuity, either, except the voice actor. Personally, I see Iron Man as a prequel just because I prefer to do so.

The Doctor Strange preview as interesting but I'm not really that much into magic-based fantasy. I'll probably still look it up when it comes out, though.

 

[Cortez2301]

I have a question.Is this a prequel for Iron man's appearance in "Ultimate avengers"?

 

[Spider-Man]

I have a question.Is this a prequel for Iron man's appearance in "Ultimate avengers"?

If I recall correctly this movie is based in it's own universe outside of the first two movies. Although they do nod to those movies when we see his "ultimate" armor in his armory. It doesn't conflict the first two movies in anyway though so I suppose it could fit as well if someone wanted it to. I was wondering but did Steve Gordon handle any of the designs for this movie?

 

[Stu]

Whilst they've been said they aren't in continuity, there's really very little here to suggest The Invincible Iron Man couldn't fit in with The Ultimate Avengers movies. There's apprantly a nod in the film to The Ultimate Avengers but I can't seem to think of what it is, besides the odvious stuff like the casting.

 

[Zebi]

I enjoyed this movie. I haven't seen either of the Ultimate Avengers movies yet, and I'm not familiar with Iron Man's origins, outside of what I've read on Marvel Animation Age. Being a newcomer to Iron Man's story, I found that the movie was a nice summary of the character, and had a lot of good action to boot. The animation and the CGI looked great.

 

[Bones Justice]

Whilst they've been said they aren't in continuity, there's really very little here to suggest The Invincible Iron Man couldn't fit in with The Ultimate Avengers movies. There's apprantly a nod in the film to The Ultimate Avengers but I can't seem to think of what it is, besides the odvious stuff like the casting.

I'll have to go back and watch it again but didn't they show the armor that he used in Ultimate Avengers during the first scene in the Hall of Armor?

Personally, I can't see why they even said the films are not in continuity. Fans eat that stuff up and I didn't see anything that made them contradict one another. I can only guess they were concerned that continuity might scare off anybody that hadn't seen the first two films.

I enjoyed this movie. I haven't seen either of the Ultimate Avengers movies yet, and I'm not familiar with Iron Man's origins, outside of what I've read on Marvel Animation Age. Being a newcomer to Iron Man's story, I found that the movie was a nice summary of the character, and had a lot of good action to boot. The animation and the CGI looked great.

So as a newcomer, Doc, did you find the damaged heart scenes made sense? I understood why they were in there since I have read the origin and early comics (reprints, I ain't that old) but if I hadn't, I would have thought they were kind of...unnecessary. Well, I kind of felt that way anyways since it was never mentioned again for the rest of the movie.

And yeah, I liked it a lot, too, despite issues with some of the subplots. I really hope they will make another Iron Man film. Better yet, I'd love to see them spin this off into a series.