DVD Zone: October 2008
Iron Man
Marvel
As a kid spending a healthy portion of my misspent youth with a face full of comic books, I never pledged allegiance to either of the big two, Marvel or DC. Though others will argue to the death one is clearly better than the other (and God help you if you get in the middle of that one), when it comes to their characters on the big screen, Marvel wins hands down, if only through sheer volume.
While many of their entries range from average to unwatchable (The Punisher, The Fantastic Four), they have occasionally knocked one out of the park (Spiderman 2). Now, Marvel has set up their own film branch in a way to control their product away from the major studios. Iron Man, the studio’s debut entry, may have caused the new division a huge problem: They may have set the bar too high.
Director Jon Favreau takes one of Marvel’s not-quite-top-tier characters and crafts perhaps the best of the Marvel-related films.
It’s a simple tale of genius arms manufacturer Tony Stark, who, after getting captured in Afghanistan, uses his knowledge to craft a suit to help him escape. Once out, he puts his brains and considerable fortune to work for the common good. Of course, that affects the business’ bottom line, which cannot go unpunished.
If ever a film was perfectly cast, it’s Iron Man. With Robert Downey Jr. (and his history of excess) in the title role, Stark’s playboy image and hard-drinking ways are rendered with a sharpness than an actor with less history would have brought to the table. Jeff Bridges as Stark’s business partner, and Terrance Howard as his military contact are both equally strong, with only Gwyneth Paltrow suffering from a serious case of under-writing.
The two-disc set comes packed with special features, including exhaustive behind-the-scenes features, a complete history of Iron Man, and Downey Jr.’s screen tests.
Film: ***1/2 Features: ****
The Godfather:
The Coppola Restoration
Paramount
With new technologies come new opportunities. For every new advance, every next-big-thing, studios find themselves salivating over the prospect of repackaging and reselling beloved films to the masses all over again. Now, take the above situation and add to the mix a series of films so ingrained in the popular consciousness that their most hardcore fans can religiously quote any scene at any time. It’s a perfect storm that guarantees repackages and reissues of the Corleone family until the end of time, because for a great number of the masses, The Godfather is quite simply the Bible of all things film.
And so it came to pass that Blu-Ray won the hi-def video war, which meant it was only a matter of time before we would see the latest incarnation of The Godfather trilogy.
Paramount’s newest five-disc set of course contains the three original films remastered, plus two discs of Special Features. The tweaking of Godfathers one through three is pristine, with the colors and highlights being sharpened to really pop. However, it raises an interesting question: How many times can a film be restored and reworked before it moves too far away from the original vision of the director and director of photography? In the name of bringing a product up to date, does the original product lose any of the impact it originally had?
Having not seen the original two films in the theater (only Godfather 3, the good-but-not-great entry into the fray), it doesn’t appear to be that big of a deal. Purists, however, might disagree.
All that aside, The Coppola Restoration is stunning, and even if you don’t have Blu-Ray yet, the standard DVD set should have no problem pushing the other editions to the side, should you decide to pony up the cash. The first disc of extras contains features that were previously on other versions, while the second is all new. Segments on production problems and how the actual film was saved for restoration head the list.
Sure, it’s another reissue designed to separate you from some hard-earned cash for something you probably already have, but The Coppola Restoration could be the best release of the year.
Set and Features: ****
— Timothy Hiatt
