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Iron Man, a review by KinkyCyborg

Iron Man



Title:Iron Man
Year: 2008
Director: Jon Favreau
Rating: PG-13
Length: 126 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Robert Downey, Jr. [Robert Downey Jr.]
Terrence Howard
Jeff Bridges
Gwyneth Paltrow
Leslie Bibb

Plot:
Suit up for action with ROBERT DOWNEY JR. in the ultimate adventure movie you've been waiting for, Iron Man! When jet-setting genius-industrialist Tony Stark is captured in enemy territory, he builds a high-tech suit of armor to escape. Now, he's on a mission to save the world as a hero who's built, not born, to be unlike any other. Co-starring TERRENCE HOWARD, JEFF BRIDGES and GWYNETH PALTROW, it's a fantastic, high-flying journey that is "hugely entertaining" (Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal).

Extras:
Scene Access
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Closed Captioned



Time for my pick and I decided that since I just picked up the sequel I should get around to watching the first installment.

If you are looking for a good action movie to watch you can rarely go wrong by picking any one of the Marvel comic book film adaptations and Iron Man certainly delivered. Combine all the explosions in this movie and you have another Hiroshima! I like how the birth of Iron Man unfolded, using current day conflicts as a vehicle to tell the story. Not my favorite comic growing up (I was always partial to the Fantastic Four) but I sure liked his character in the movie.

This movie marked Robert Downey Jr's complete comeback from a drug induced abyss that took many good years away from his career and in so coming back he has actually ascended into the superstar stratosphere. Great for him but it has evolved into something that is now quite a pet peeve of mine. Every interview, every awards appearance, every time he sticks his face in front of a camera he is posturing, shades on, and playing the role of THE MAN which was funny and somewhat deserving at first but c'mon... zip it already! 

Interesting role for Jeff Bridges as the sans hair villain and I think he plays a bad guy very convincingly. Gwyneth Paltrow was neither her nor there in this one for me... probably they overpaid for a star for what could have been filled by any number of young, cute actresses. Much was made of the exclusion of Terrence Howard from the sequel but I'm not disappointed. Nothing about his performance stood out and I feel that Don Cheadle, his replacement, has much more personality anyway.

What impresses me most about Iron Man was that is was a great movie coming from director Jon Favreau, who also had a bit part in this one. I've always disliked his loudmouthed, vulgar roles as an actor save for his performance in Rocky Marciano. If this movie, it's sequel and the upcoming Cowboys & Aliens is any indication, perhaps he has finally found his calling. If he can consistently put out big budget, blockbuster caliber movies than he can thankfully put his sub-par acting career to bed.


KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on November 27th, 2010)

Darkman III: Die Darkman Die, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Darkman III: Die Darkman Die
Year: 1995
Director: Bradford May
Rating: R
Length: 87 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles:  N/A

Stars:
Jeff Fahey
Arnold Vosloo
Darlanne Fluegel
Roxann Biggs-Dawson
Nigel Bennett

Plot:
Arnold Vosloo returns as Dr. Peyton Westlake, a.k.a. Darkman, the crime-fighting master of disguises. In this action-packed adventure Westlake matches wits with underworld drug-dealing villain Peter Rooker (Jeff Fahey), who will do anything to unmask the secret of Westlake's superhuman strength.

Agreeing to an experimental operation on his ravaged body, Westlake is flung into a vicious game of survival for himself, his priceless research and the lives of two innocent people. One false move and he will be locked into darkness forever.

From Executive Producers Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert, creators of the original film, Darkman III: Die Darkman Die, like its predecessors, is jam-packed with surprises, staggering special effects and never-ending thrills.

Extras:
N/A

My Thoughts:
After watching Part 2 yesterday I thought I would finish off the series.  I have had these sequels in my unwatched pile for a very long time. So I checked DVD Profiler to see just how long... and curios how much I paid. As it turns out... both sequels were birthday presents from my mother back in 2005. Makes me wish I watched them sooner. This DVD release is a little odd... as it doesn't even have a menu at all. It just automatically plays the movie when you pop it in. Like... oh what were those things called again?... oh yeah... VCRs. 

It seems to me that once you get to about part 3 the series goes downhill. But I don't think it does in this case. I found I enjoyed this one just as much as the previous. It is a fun series... I enjoyed watching them. The next time I feel like watching I plan on doing all 3.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Unwatched DVDs on January 10th, 2010)

Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews, a review by Tom

Star Trek: The Next Generation
6.04 Relics
Writer: Ronald D. Moore (Writer)
Director: Alexander Singer
Cast: Patrick Stewart (Capt. Jean-Luc Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Cmdr. William Riker), LeVar Burton (Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge), Michael Dorn (Lieutenant Worf), Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi), Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data), Lanei Chapman (Ensign Sariel Rager), Erick Weiss (Ensign Kane), James Doohan (Scotty), Stacie Foster (Bartel), Ernie Mirich (Waiter), Majel Barrett (Computer Voice (voice))

Scotty ends up in the 24th century. I always enjoyed this episode. We even get to see the bridge of the old Enterprise again (on the holodeck). It is handled well how Scotty must feel being thrown into a future where his engineering knowledge is out-of-date.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews on November 1st, 2011)