By Graceland Geek

The Invincible Iron Man
Blu-ray
Directed by Jay Oliva, Patrick Archibald
Starring John McCook, Marc Worden
Lionsgate
Release date: September 2, 2008

So this is a movie I saw when it was originally released on DVD last year, but seeing it on Blu-ray was such a better experience.

The Invincible Iron Man tells a completely new origin of the Iron Man character taking place in China. The story follows Tony Stark along with friend, James “Rhodey” Rhodes as they attempt to raise the ruins of a long-buried Chinese kingdom, but they end up digging up far more than they expected. An age-old prophecy that foretells the resurrection of the Mandarin, the emperor of China’s darkest and most violent dynasty. To confront the force of destruction, Stark creates an armored suit infused with high-tech weaponry. In order to stop the new power he helped ignite and save the world, Stark must become the techno warrior, Iron Man! The newly born hero must travel to the corners of the earth to battle the Mandarin’s henchmen, known as the Elementals, four magical warriors who harness the power of the elements — earth, water, wind, and fire — with force and terror. Iron Man/Stark must look inside himself and discover his own legacy and fulfill the Chinese prophecy of the Iron Knight.

I really liked this new take on the Iron Man mythos but more importantly I really enjoyed it in the crisp and clean visual format of Blu-Ray. Having seen both versions of the film on regular and now Blu-Ray DVD, the film has such a more three dimensional look. Like what you would expect from a film of this quality, the picture is outstanding but I assure you, animated films do not get any better than this. I was very curious as to how the picture quality of an animated film would really look different on Blu-Ray and this is a movie that surely looks and feels different.

Perhaps the best part of this experience is the multitude of special features that you get in this DVD. You get two First Look featurettes: Hulk vs. Wolverine and Hulk vs. Thor , both of which are done by the same creative team behind The Invincible Iron Man. They both give the viewer a glimpse of the new animated films as well as how they brought the characters to the screen and the stories they chose to use. I really liked this and as a fan of Marvel Animated movies, these have definitely given me something to look forward to.

Another special feature you get is an Alternate Opening Sequence that features early animation but also a narrative of the back story of the Mandarin, the Elementals, and the land that we see getting excavated in the first act. I really liked this alternate sequence and how it gave a little history up front that you don’t find out in the movie except for in dialogue, which is why they left it out. My favorite featurettes on the DVD is the Origin of Iron Man featurette. This was a really cool look at the history of the character throughout his inception in the comics to this movie. It was really neat to see all the shots of Jack Kirby’s Iron Man.

There’s also a plethora of movie trailers attached to the DVD, consisting of looks at the Marvel/Lionsgate animated film line-ups coming soon. However, this is a part of the Blu-Ray DVD that I enjoyed. Trailers for Ultimate Avengers 2, The Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, Hulk vs. Thor, Hulk vs. Wolverine, and Dr. Strange are certainly a welcomed edition to this DVD especially for fans of Marvel’s animated films.

Ultimately, this is a fantastic addition to your Blu-Ray collection, especially with Hulk vs. Thor and Hulk vs. Wolverine gracing us this upcoming year. Also, this is a great story that is a great new adaptation of the character and the mythos, its direction is an even more interesting turn than the Favreau live-action version, it’s not as good but for an animated movie this sure is at the top.