Iron Man (2 Disc) [Blu-ray][Region Free] [2008]

Iron Man, outside of comic-book circles, was never one of the better-known superheroes waiting to enjoy a big screen adventure, but in the aftermath of Jon Favreau’s superb movie, anticipation for 2010’s Iron Man 2 is rightly sky-high.

Fortunately, there’s the small matter of the excellent Blu-ray release of the first film to enjoy while the wait goes on, which offers reference-quality picture and audio to enjoy. And those combine to bring across one of the most downright-enjoyable superhero movies of recent times. Robert Downey Jr is an inspired casting choice as Tony Stark, whose genesis as Iron Man is covered by this first film. Generous with its humour and yet never afraid to throw a spectacular action sequence at the screen, there’s nonetheless real grown-up thinking sitting underneath Iron Man, and the film benefits enormously from it.

Most Blu-ray recommendations inevitably promote the 1080p picture quality of a movie as one of its major selling points. That’s certainly fair here. But also, the audio work on the Iron Man disc is superb. This is a full surround sound track in every sense, with the soundstage ramping up the noise and the intensity as the action takes hold, but also proving its quality in the film’s slower moments too. Backed up with extra features in high-definition too, it’s a rounded and very welcome Blu-ray release. --Jon Foster