Iron Man is a popular fella these days. With Iron Man 2 hitting the big screen on May 7, 2010 it’s only natural that we’d see a resurgence in the prior efforts to bring the Iron Man hero to life from the pages of Marvel Comics. So when I heard that Iron Man: The Complete 1994 Animated Television Series was coming to DVD, I had to check it out. Though I’d seen a few episodes here and there on Jetix or Disney XD, I knew I had missed many of the episodes and wanted to see the series from beginning to end.
Let me start by providing a bit of history about Iron Man. He’s been around for a while as the veritable Tin Man of comic books. Tony Stark, heir to the Stark Industries (or Stark Enterprises in the animated series) fortune, follows a similar path to Bruce Wayne from DC Comics. However, where Wayne plays the role of a playboy and uses his dour, more serious Batman persona to fight crime. Stark is actually a playboy. Well, at least until he gets kidnapped and has to build a special device to keep himself alive after a serious wound to his heart. The Iron Man armor is originally built to help Stark escape his captors, but it evolves into much more as he tries to redeem himself by saving others. Stan Lee, his creator, has been quoted as saying that Stark was based on Howard Hughes – a brilliant inventor, womanizer, and a bit of an adrenaline junkie who eventually goes a bit crazy.
The character has been around since the early 1960s and changed over time to reflect current technology and more modern villains. Recently we’ve seen Iron Man on the big screen in 2008′s Iron Man movie, which earned nearly $600 million worldwide, the sequel which is hitting theaters this month, and a new animated series in 2009 – Iron Man: Armored Adventures. Obviously Stark and Iron Man are back in the mainstream media in a big way.
Back in 1994, the series Iron Man hit television for a couple of seasons. Created by the same producers (Marvel Entertainment and Saban Entertainment) who brought us the X-Men animated series from 1992-1997, Iron Man never really gained the following of its mutant counterparts.
The first season tended towards single episode storylines and definitive good vs. evil plots. And, though it seems strange to say, the characters were very cartoonish and almost slapstick at times. Iron Man/Tony Stark worked alongside his friends James Rhodes/War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Spider Woman as they fought battles against the forces of the Mandarin – Dreadknight, Blizzard, Blacklash, Grey Gargolye, Hypnotia, Whirlwind, Living Laser, MODOK, Fin Fang Foom, and Just Hammer. Though all of the characters are from the comic books, these were very simplified stories with a clear beginning, middle, and an end. When compared with the X-Men series, the plots pale in comparison.
Add to that the horrible attempts to work in early computer generated graphics as Tony dons the armor and you start to understand that the series just never really came together.
Contrast the first season with the second season however and it’s like night and day. Without the early CGI and with a slightly different animation and story style, the series worked a bit better. By focusing on more complex storylines such as Jim Rhodes facing his fear of drowning and dying in the War Machine armor and bringing less one-dimensional foils into play such as Madame Masque, Arthur Dearborn, The Leader, and so on, the show gained much more depth.
It was also very interesting to see characters such as The Leader, a gamma ray affected villain, was worked into the Iron Man story. The Leader of course wants to rid the world of his nemesis, Dr. Bruce Banner, and his alter ego the Hulk. But as with many series, we end up being overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters thrown into a single episode. Mandarin steals the spotlight as the main Iron Man villain, but we’re far too quickly introduced to Hulk and his story before the 26 minute show wraps up.
Though the animators and writers did their best to use a huge number of recurring Iron Man characters from the source material, the first season seemed to simplify things too much and the second season, though an improvement, seemed to miss its mark as well. Now that I’ve seen all the episodes of the series, I understand why it didn’t have the power or fan support of its sister series X-Men.
The computer generated graphics weren’t the only animation errors either, especially in the first season. Many strange inconsistencies would appear, such as characters blurring if things didn’t quite line up or where a character might wear something in one scene, but when cutting to a different view they might be wearing something very different.
The voice cast for the series was an interesting mix of actors – from Robert Hays (Airplane!) as Tony Stark/Iron Man and James Avery (Philip Banks on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) as Jim Rhodes/War Machine to Jim Cummings (who seems to have done voice acting for every cartoon since the mid-80s) and Jennifer Hale (who’s been doing voice acting in games and cartoons since the early ’90s). Much of the voice work was great, but there were some places where actors would have to voice characters other than their own if actors weren’t available to do pick-ups after the fact.
If you’re an Iron Man fan and like ’90s-era cartoon styles, the 3-DVD set for Iron Man: The Complete 1994 Animated Television Series is probably a worthwhile investment for your collection. But if you’re hoping for more Jon Favreau/Robert Downey Jr. magic, you might want to skip it and check out the X-Men animated series collections instead.
This article was originally published at BlogCritics.org here.
Was I excited by the fact that Favreau and Downey Jr. were at it again with the next installment of the Iron Man movie franchise? Of course I was! It’s been two long years since we last saw old Shell Head kick some butt on the big screen. Worldwide Iron Man made about $600 million and I know I contributed to that by seeing it in the theater a couple of times and buying the DVD…
So how was Iron Man 2? Well, I’m sorry to say that it was good, but not great and definitely not as good as the first one for me. Was it still entertaining? You bet! I expect it to beat the first one in terms of ticket sales hands down.
Rating:
As most of you know (unless you were hiding in a cave a couple of years ago), Iron Man ended with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) announcing to the world that he is Iron Man and the suit isn’t simply a bodyguard. Though most of the world was pleased with this, it turns out (surprise, surprise) that not everybody is a fan. The sequel picks up about six months after the first one ended.
The gang is back – Stark/Iron Man (Downey Jr.), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), and Happy Hogan (director Jon Favreau)… And there are some new faces. Jim Rhodes (now played by Don Cheadle who picks up where Terrence Howard left off), Natalie/Natasha/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson, who surprised me in this role in a good way), Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell in a beautifully over the top performance), and Ivan Vanko/Whiplash (Mickey Rourke, who stole the show when on screen)…
It took a while for this film to get going for me. But once it gets going, there’s no turning back. The main players – Downey, Jr., Jackson, Cheadle, and Rourke dominated the screen in every scene. I was happy to see Favreau back as Hogan in a meatier role and Scarlett was stunning as the Black Widow. If there was a surprise in the film for me, it was her.
The whole Cheadle vs. Howard debate never really happened for me. I like Cheadle. He brings a solid presence to the role of Rhodey that I never really felt with Howard. But I did I think Paltrow was lacking in this one a bit. Somehow she never gained that witty exchange between Potts and Stark and whenever she was in a scene it was a bit of a buzzkill for me.
Once the action starts going – from the scenes during the race in Monaco to the explosive finale – it seriously grabs your attention and only lets up a bit here and there. At least that’s how it felt to me.
I know Iron Man 2 has had some mixed reviews. And my opinion is mixed as well, but I enjoyed it, will see it again, and will purchase the DVD when it’s released. A solid 3 out of 4 stars for me. So I think it’s definitely worth seeing. The only debate now is whether to see it in IMAX or on the regular screen the next time I want to see it!
What did you think? Leave me a comment with your review below!
Yes, more comic book movie news. Thor, another in the line of Avengers-worthy films from Marvel, is coming next year – May 6, 2011. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, known for his acting and directing talents, Thor will likely have a very different look and feel from The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man franchises.
For a while now, I’ve been wondering who they would get to play the mighty Thor and his alter-ego Dr. Donald Blake – and it’s none other than George Kirk, father of James T. Kirk from the JJ Abrams-rebooted Star Trek film – Chris Hemsworth.
Yahoo Movies somehow managed to snag the first image of the costumed Hemsworth as Thor, and I have to say it works for me. And yes, even the cape works.
This is another comic book movie that has attracted some top-shelf actors… Natalie Portman, Idris Elba (as Heimdall!), Anthony Hopkins (totally believable as Odin), Stellan Skarsgard, Ray Stevenson, Rene Russo… So this should be interesting.
Also out next year will be Captain America: The First Avenger on July 22, 2011. Director Joe Johnston will direct current hotshot actor Chris Evans as the titular Steve Rogers / Captain America character. How will Evans pull off the seriousness of Cap when all he’s done is a bunch of smartass characters? Heck if I know. But it should be interesting to see how it works out.
Then the big event – The Avengers movie, due out on May 4, 2012 – will bring together Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Nick Fury, and others under the watchful eye of director/writer extraordinaire Joss Whedon.
Marvel has the potential to knock all of these movies out of the park. And I have to say I’m extremely geeked up to see Iron Man 2 next weekend. Can this all-star cast – Favreau, Downey Jr., Don Cheadle (stepping into Terrence Howard’s shoes as James Rhodes), Scarlett Johansson (as Black Widow), Paltrow, Sam Rockwell (as anti-Stark Justin Hammer), Mickey Rourke (as Whiplash/Ivan Vanko), Sam Jackson (back as Nick Fury) – pull off another home run this season?
Let’s hope so. The next couple of years will definitely be interesting whether they do or not…
Starting this Friday, April 24, a new Nicktoons Network/Marvel Animation series starts to follow the teenage years of Marvel’s armored super hero. Yes, a teenage Tony Stark struts his stuff in Iron Man: Armored Adventures.
After the insane success of last year’s Iron Man movie with Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, it’s only natural that Marvel would want to capitalize on the phenomenon. But when I heard about this series, I was worried. A teenage Iron Man? How would they pull that off?
Well, honestly they don’t pull it off. The best way I can put it is that you have to take Iron Man: Armored Adventures and assume it’s in a parallel universe where things are different than the main Iron Man timeline (which 2008′s Iron Man movie and next year’s Iron Man 2 movie do recognize). So if you take the new animated series out of the main Iron Man context, the rest of it works fine.
In this alternate universe, Tony Stark is a teenager who’s best friend is Rhodey (James Rhodes). Tony just happens to be an inventive genius, just like his father, Howard Stark, the head of Stark Industries. Except for the teenager part, this is pretty much the same background as Iron Man.
In the first episode, “Iron Forged in Fire, Part 1″ we see Tony finish creating the Iron Man armor and try to show it to his father. But before he can do so, he and his father are in a plane crash. His father is killed and Tony is mortally wounded. The Iron Man suit saves him and gives a new electronic heart in the process. Obadiah Stane, one of Howard Stark’s right-hand men, steps in to take control of Stark Industries, effectively shutting Tony out of the corporation and his former home until Tony is 18.
Tony goes to live with the Rhodes family and starts attending the same high school as his friend Rhodey. He meets a new friend, Patricia “Pepper” Pots who is a sharp, energetic, and curious daughter of an FBI agent. She knows Tony & Rhodey are up to something and starts hanging around to find out what…
In “Iron Forged in Fire, Part 2,” we see Tony start figuring out that Stane is turning his and his father’s inventions into weapons. He also suspects that Stane might have been behind the plane crash that took his father’s life. And if that’s not bad enough, he meets the strange armored figure known only as “The Mandarin” – a figure who controlled two rings that Tony’s father thought might have been ancient and quite powerful technologies.
Though the animation has been done on the computer, it’s not as obvious or distracting as previous CGI-animated cartoons have been. The transitions between the portions where you see animated human characters and the Iron Man suit are actually pretty smooth.
I was apprehensive at first that I’d enjoy this new series, but after watching the first two episodes, I see myself setting Iron Man: Armored Adventures to regularly record on my DVR starting this Friday. There are 26 total episodes in the season, so we’ll see what happens. If you liked the Iron Man movie or are a Iron Man fan from the comic books, this is another interesting interpretation of the mythos behind the armored suit. Just keep in mind that this Tony Stark operates in a different Marvel universe than the Robert Downey Jr. version.
–Fitz
p.s. If you still don’t have a copy of Iron Man, be sure to pick one up!
Iron Man was just released on DVD on September 30, 2008, just 6 months after it was in the theater (May 2, 2008)
Wall-E will be available on DVD on November 18, 2008, just 5 months after it was in the theater (June 27, 2008)
Prince Caspian will be out on DVD on December 2, 2008, about 7 months after it was released (May 16, 2008)
Clone Wars hit theaters in August 2008, but will be on DVD on November 11, 2008, barely 3 months after it was released
And then you have Horton Hears a Who, which hit theaters back in March 2008, not coming to DVD until December 9, 2008… 9 months later
What’s the deal? I understand it’s a big game, especially with the big build up to the holidays, but isn’t it strange that we’re seeing such a wide difference? 3 months to 9 months is quite a wide margin!
I saw this article on TechCrunch this week and it made me pause and scratch my head. Why would Dell pre-load their computers with movies?
Your typical high definition digital movie file takes up a large amount of space, somewhere between 1 Gigabyte and 4 Gigabytes (assuming some degree of compression) of storage would be required on a hard drive. If you have a 300 gig drive, which is about average these days, that would be a maximum of less than 1.5 percent of your hard drive.
Apparently Paramount and Dell inked a deal for Dell to sell Iron Man on new machines for $20. This includes the digital movie, plus the DVD extras, right on the hard drive. And you can burn it to DVD. But only once.
I’m guessing that we’ll see more movie studios go this route with hard disk space as cheap as it is (and getting cheaper every day), but I have to wonder why. What’s the benefit of having it on the hard drive? I only see one — no DVD to haul around and lose. But that’s the only benefit I can see.
I don’t know if I’m late to the party or not, but I stumbled on this great hilarious site with abridged scripts to some of your recent faves (or least faves).
It’s called the Editing Room, written by Rod Hilton, who writes for Total Film magazine and does the abridged scripts for them. And his dry wit just leaps off the page and slaps you (or maybe just me) upside the head. Gotta love it when you find something like that.
His latest script is for The Dark Knight, but one of the gems I found was from Iron Man. And I’ll just quote one particular passage and let you read the rest (it’s worth it)…
“… Eventually he gets back to AMERICA, which instantly makes everything BETTER.
JEFF BRIDGES
Robert! Welcome back. As your partner and obvious eventual bad guy, I was extremely worried about you. Tell me what you used to escape and if we can sell it.
ROBERT DOWNEY JR
Later. First, I need a delicious, juicy, American hamburger! Failing that, one of Burger King’s tasteless, squashed heaps of grade D meat and soggy bread will do fine.
So if you’re feeling like a chuckle… Check it out. If you like movies or just ripping on them, this sites for you! (I’ll be adding it to my list of links now… )
Yes, I’m already looking to this weekend’s Speed Racer release. It looks like one heck of an acid trip from all the trailers and promos I’ve seen. It has a mix of early good and bad reviews. Will it hold up? Probably not. I predict that Iron Man trounces it during its second week. (You can see my review of Iron Man here.)
Do the Wachowski’s have what it takes to take the throne from Iron Man? We shall see!
Ok… Yes, I saw Iron Man on Friday. Yes, I loved the movie. Yes, I loved Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. Yes, I loved Gwenneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. And yes, this was the kind of comic book movie you only dream about. And Mr. Favreau, you’ve got my attention as a director now (though I didn’t really like the part he played in the movie itself, but oh well).
Rating:
I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention Terrence Howard as Rhodie. I thought he did a great job in the role. And I hope the brief glance at the Mark II armor means War Machine is going to be in one of the next couple of films!
That said… If you’ve been under a rock for the last several months, Iron Man is a comic book movie from Marvel Films about the origin story of the Marvel Comics hero Iron Man. (I know, hard to believe that a movie called “Iron Man” would be about a superhero named “Iron Man.” Go figure.) Tony Stark is kind of like Bruce Wayne of Batman fame. He’s a billionaire playboy. And he’s a tinkerer. That’s about where the similarity ends I guess…
Tony Stark is a drunk, brilliant man with attachment issues on a Jimmy Dean-like road to self destruction. It doesn’t hurt that he runs Stark Enterprises, which manufactures some of the most advanced weaponry on the planet. He cavorts around with supermodels and movie stars in fancy cars at all the best events, drink in hand, and enjoys his fame and fortune far too much for any mortal man.
And as in all good hero journeys… the honeymoon must end at some point, right? (more…)
I went to the first showing I could today at my local theater to see Iron Man. If I had to sum it up in a word — AWESOME! But for die hard Iron Man fans, you should stay to the bitter end of the credits for a surprise.
I’ll post my review of the movie sometime in the next couple of days, but it was amazing and I hope there will be many more Iron Man movies to come.
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Let me start by providing a bit of history about Iron Man. He’s been around for a while as the veritable Tin Man of comic books. Tony Stark, heir to the Stark Industries (or Stark Enterprises in the animated series) fortune, follows a similar path to Bruce Wayne from DC Comics. However, where Wayne plays the role of a playboy and uses his dour, more serious Batman persona to fight crime. Stark is actually a playboy. Well, at least until he gets kidnapped and has to build a special device to keep himself alive after a serious wound to his heart. The Iron Man armor is originally built to help Stark escape his captors, but it evolves into much more as he tries to redeem himself by saving others. Stan Lee, his creator, has been quoted as saying that Stark was based on Howard Hughes – a brilliant inventor, womanizer, and a bit of an adrenaline junkie who eventually goes a bit crazy.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=4ed62363-e73e-4420-bea7-5fd6cf5abce8)
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Well, honestly they don’t pull it off. The best way I can put it is that you have to take Iron Man: Armored Adventures and assume it’s in a 
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