Paramount Home Entertainment
Presents
THIS YEAR’S HOTTEST NEW SUPER HERO
~ The £17 Million UK Box Office smash comes to DVD and Blu-ray on October 27, 2008 in Ultimate Edition two-disc sets, exploding with bonus features ~
Delivering non-stop action and excitement from a Super Hero who boasts not only unique powers, but also irresistible charm, penetrating intelligence and a wry wit, Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures’ worldwide box office sensation IRON MAN soars onto DVD and Blu-ray on October 27, 2008.
Kicking off the fourth quarter with spectacular Ultimate Edition two-disc sets on both DVD and Blu-ray, as well as in a single-disc DVD, IRON MAN thrilled both critics and audiences around the world with its captivating story and stunning visual effects. Called “a true heavy metal hero” (The Sun), and “a movie to savour” (Daily Mirror), the film features an all-star cast including Academy Award® nominees Robert Downey Jr. (Zodiac, Chaplin), Jeff Bridges (The Contender) and Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow) and Oscar® winner Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare In Love) and was directed by Jon Favreau (Elf).
Earning over £17 million at the UK box office, IRON MAN lifts off with high-speed, high-flying action when jet-setting industrialist Tony Stark survives an unexpected attack in enemy territory and escapes by building a high-tech robotic suit of armour. When he uncovers a nefarious plot with global implications, he dons his powerful armour and vows to protect the world as Iron Man. Straight from the pages of the legendary comic book, IRON MAN is a hero who is built – not born – to be unlike any other!
The IRON MAN Ultimate Edition two-disc sets are super-charged with hours of explosive bonus features that take viewers inside the suit of self-made Super Hero Tony Stark and his invincible alter ego. The sets offer the ultimate IRON MAN experience with extensive explorations of the origins of the character in a six-part featurette, as well as a seven-part in-depth look at the making of the film, a revealing documentary on the stellar visual effects, Robert Downey Jr.’s original screen test, deleted and extended scenes, a photo gallery of concept art and behind-the-scenes images on the set and more. The IRON MAN single-disc DVD bonus features include the deleted and extended scenes.
As one of the most anticipated releases of the year, the IRON MAN Blu-ray presentation offers even more exclusive content for an incredible entertainment experience including a “Hall of Armour” that allows fans to enter the Stark database to zoom in on any of the three Iron Man suits – or Iron Monger. They can then activate the digital 3-D schematics to check out every weapon and the full high-definition renders let users fly around each suit to explore each of the armors in comprehensive detail. The “Iron Man IQ” is a user-friendly web application that lets users create and share new multiple choice quizzes based on clips from the film. Fans can also download other users’ challenges via BD-Live.
In addition to IRON MAN and more than three decades after they won the Academy Award® for Best Picture, director Francis Ford Coppola’s classic films The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II will once again be enjoyed by audiences as they originally were meant to be seen, thanks to a meticulous restoration by Paramount Pictures, overseen by Coppola himself. On October 27, 2008, both fully restored films will debut on Blu-ray, along with a newly re-mastered version of The Godfather Part III, to be included as part of The Godfather, The Coppola Restoration Collection. All three films will be available in a four-disc Blu-ray collection, loaded with a host of all-new special features.
Paramount Home Entertainment UK has also announced its plans to begin releasing catalogue titles on Blu-ray disc beginning in September 2008. Continuing its commitment to offer the best possible movie experiences for consumers, the studio will deliver the highest quality picture, sound and special features available with these upcoming Blu-ray releases. Transformers, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Cloverfield and No Country for Old Men will be available on Blu-ray disc from September 8, 2008.
IRON MAN is available to buy on DVD and Blu-ray from October 27 2008
from Paramount Home Entertainment
DVD TECHNICAL DETAILS
SINGLE DISC EDITION
TITLE IRON MAN SINGLE DISC EDITION – DVD
RELEASE DATE OCTOBER 27 2008
DISCS 1 DISC SET
RRP £19.99
CERT 12
SOUND DOLBY DIGITAL ENGLISH 5.1 SURROUND
RUNNING TIME APPROX. 121 MINUTES
SPECIAL FEATURES • DELETED/EXTENDED SCENES
ULTIMATE 2 DISC EDITION
TITLE IRON MAN ULTIMATE EDITION – DVD
RELEASE DATE OCTOBER 27 2008
DISCS 2 DISC SET
RRP £24.99
CERT 12
SOUND DOLBY DIGITAL ENGLISH 5.1 SURROUND
RUNNING TIME APPROX. 121 MINUTES
SPECIAL FEATURES 3 HOURS, 50 MINUTES OF EXTRAS
DISC 1:
• FEATURE FILM
• DELETED/EXTENDED SCENES
DISC 2:
• I AM IRON MAN
O THE JOURNEY BEGINS
O THE SUIT THAT MAKES THE IRON MAN
O THE WALK OF DESTRUCTION
O GROUNDED IN REALITY
O BENEATH THE ARMOR
O IT’S ALL IN THE DETAILS
O A GOOD STORY, WELL TOLD
• THE INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
O ORIGINS
O FRIENDS & FOES
O THE DEFINITIVE IRON MAN
O DEMON IN A BOTTLE
O EXTREMIS AND BEYOND
O ULTIMATE IRON MAN
• WIRED: THE VISUAL EFFECTS OF IRON MAN
• ROBERT DOWNEY JR. SCREEN TEST
• THE ACTOR’S PROCESS (SCENE REHEARSAL WITH CAST)
• THE ONION “WILDLY POPULAR IRON MAN TRAILER TO BE ADAPTED INTO FULL LENGTH FILM”
• IMAGE GALLERIES
BLU-RAY TECHNICAL DETAILS
TITLE IRON MAN ULTIMATE EDITION – BLU-RAY
RELEASE DATE OCTOBER 27 2008
DISCS 2 DISC SET
RRP £29.99
CERT 12
SOUND DOLBY DIGITAL ENGLISH 5.1 SURROUND
RUNNING TIME APPROX. 121 MINUTES
SPECIAL FEATURES DISC 1:
• HALL OF ARMOUR
• THE INVINCIBLE IRON MAN (HD)
O ORIGINS
O FRIENDS & FOES
O THE DEFINITIVE IRON MAN
O DEMON IN A BOTTLE
O EXTREMIS AND BEYOND
O ULTIMATE IRON MAN
• DELETED/EXTENDED SCENES (HD)
• BD LIVE:
O IRON MAN IQ
DISC 2:
• I AM IRON MAN (HD)
O THE JOURNEY BEGINS
O THE SUIT THAT MAKES THE IRON MAN
O THE WALK OF DESTRUCTION
O GROUNDED IN REALITY
O BENEATH THE ARMOR
O IT’S ALL IN THE DETAILS
O A GOOD STORY, WELL TOLD
• WIRED: THE VISUAL EFFECTS OF IRON MAN (HD)
• ROBERT DOWNEY JR. SCREEN TEST (HD)
• THE ACTOR’S PROCESS (SCENE REHEARSAL WITH CAST) (HD)
• THE ONION “WILDLY POPULAR IRON MAN TRAILER TO BE ADAPTED INTO FULL LENGTH FILM” (HD)
• THEATRICAL TRAILERS (HD)
• IMAGE GALLERIES
DVD GENERIC INTERVIEW
ROBERT DOWNEY JR
IRON MAN
Q: Hi Robert. Congratulations on the success of Iron Man. Now there's talk of an Iron Man 2 and 3. What can Iron Man fans expect from the sequels?
A: There are so many different ways you can go. I really don't know. That's the cool thing. I feel like
with this character we can do so many clever things with him.
Q: Should we expect the unexpected?
A: Sure. That's how I see it. You know, if this is the expectation at the end of the first movie, well, let's turn it another way. If these films usually seem very two dimensional, let's make it more naturalistic. I still love what Danny Glover and Mel Gibson did with the Lethal Weapon movies because of the way their interacted with each other. You bought into their friendship and their journey.
Q: You looked physically pumped up in Iron Man. How much training in the gym did they give you?
A: They said I'd be fine to start shooting the way I looked, but I took it upon myself to get into really good shape.
Q: So you hit they gym?
A: Yeah weights, martial arts, yoga.
Q: Why did you decide to take part in this big action adventure film. A movie based on a comic book seems so out of the ordinary for you.
A: Right. Well, I've never been offered a role like this. I had a feeling that I was supposed to do it. Then I thought 'Am I wrong? Am I just convincing myself? Am I just trying to set myself up for disappointment?' Then I thought, 'No I think I am supposed to do this movie'.
Q: Were you offered the role or did you have to go after it?
A: I guess that's the interesting part. I wasn’t offered it and I had to kind of go for it. It just
reminded me of the only other time in my career when I felt the same way and it was when Richard Attenborough was casting Chaplin. I went in to meet him and I said 'Dude, I really feel like I could do this' and Attenborough was like (puts on a very proper English voice) 'Right. Nice to meet you. Good day'. Then it came to just after screen test and he said 'Robert you have been offered the role of Charles Spencer Chaplin' and then I had this amazing journey with him. It's funny that my next Attenborough would be (Iron Man director) Jon Favreau. It was kind of a big homecoming for me.
Q: How is this role as Tony Stark in Iron Man close to you?
A: Well I'm a billionaire weapons manufacturer and I have superhuman powers (laughs)
Q: Yes, I guess there's a similarity there.
A: Definitely.
Q: Can you relate to him?
A: I mean, I know people who have a lot of stuff, but I still think Tony's house is very cool. If I were in that position, and by the time I've done three of these I just might be (laughs), but if I were really in that super crazy rich powerful position, I would feel very much like the way Tony ends up feeling, which is 'What are you really doing with your life? How can you contribute something greater?"
Q: How much time did you spend in the Iron Man suit? It looked quite uncomfortable.
A: A fair amount. The guys who designed and built the suit will tell you it's not user friendly, but I think it comes up great on the film. Initially we thought there is no way you could shoot any of this stuff practically, that it would all have to be animated or CGI at the end of the day, but as it turns out, there's been a far larger percentage of being able to do it practically.
Q: How much mobility did you have in the Iron Man suit?
A: Well that's the funny thing. One of the challenges is that the design of it is not shaped to me. I have to fit into it. The answer is not very. I try to stay in good shape and I do pretty complex martial arts and I'm very co-ordinated, but you could take the most co-ordinated person, put them in the suit and they’d look like an idiot. It’s a tall order.
Q: How do you have a toilet break in the suit?
A: That was probably the greatest stunt done in the entire movie (laughs).
Q: What was it like performing the flying scenes?
A: The flying sequence, where he's testing out the boots, that was a huge deal for us. I'd been prepping for that and training for that moment. It winds up being maybe a minute and a half in the movie. We really felt like that was the thing, that's where Iron Man achieves something no-one has ever done before. And he does it alone and we felt that was really important. I felt like we delivered something that was more than what was just expected on the call sheet.
Q: The Iron Man sets must have been amazing. What was it like when you saw them for the first time?
A: I guess I was a bit like how Ben Kingsley felt during the cool parts of Gandhi ¬ that everywhere you go from the sets, to what's around you, is incredible.
Q: What did you know about Iron Man before you started to shoot the film?
A: I knew he didn't get bit by a bug and he doesn’t get all trippy around bats (laughs). He's a real guy in the real world of the military industrial complex. When I went to meet Stan Lee for lunch at The Grill in Beverly Hills, he said 'Thank you because maybe now I can get a table here every day'. I said 'Thank you because if you hadn't written this character I wouldn't have this great job to do'.
Q: Did Stan tell you why he created the character?
A: He said he did it on a dare because back in the mid to late 60s there was a very strong anti-military industrial complex movement, it was a time of not trusting anyone over 30. There were so many different revolutions going on. Stan also wanted a character that showed vulnerability. Stan said they got more female fan mail for Iron Man than any of their other characters.
Q: Did you do a lot of research on the comic?
A: Yeah. I said 'Can you guys send me everything you have? And they were like 'Oh, you don't want that'. Then one day everything arrived and there were volumes of stuff. When I've worked a 12 or 14 hour day, half of the nights I go home I'll leaf through to get some more information. Jon is a great director, we have a great cast and it's definitely a big undertaking. We were not doing the Batman Begins, dark, barely OK to bring your kids to version. It's a lot more, I believe, accessible than that without being insulting to a wide range of filmgoers. I actually believe a lot of these superhero films are a very high art form and many times, the writing is well above par and the art is really evocative. I really like it.
Q: What parts did you tweak about your character?
A: I just wanted to attempt to make him real and conflicted. Even after he has this big transition, he's not all of a sudden like this awakened spirit. It's a career change for him.
Q: How was it working with Gwyneth Paltrow.
A: Gwyneth is fantastic. She's my favorite.
Q: And Jon Favreau?
A: It's been wildly collaborative between he and I. Sometimes, he'd let me co-direct how the scenes are going to go.
Q: Many of the your Iron Man co-stars said the came on board because they wanted to work with you. How do you feel about that?
A: I felt like, boy, I really better make sure we make all these parts and all these scenes good because if they came into the movie and it sucks they’re going to blame me (laughs).
Q: Are you a comic book fan?
A: I guess so. I mean, now I am. But not of all of them, just Iron Man because I feel like it's mine. Actually it's not mine, I'm just a gun for hire.
Q: Were you impressed with your action figure for Iron Man? Do you think it looks like you?
A: I've been told it looks like Scott Baio (laughs).
Q: What was the biggest challenge for you in Iron Man?
A: Staying balanced and focused for the entirety of the shoot. I wanted to push the
envelope and I wanted to feel good at the end of every day if possible.
Q: Did you manage to do that?
A: Yes I did. I feel it was my greatest accomplishment.
Q: Some people say this movie marks your extraordinary comeback. How do you feel about that?
A: I try not to get involved in those kinds of things because where there's a comeback there's a setup where there's a setup, there's a fall, where there's a fall there's goodwill and where there's goodwill there's a comeback. I've just been around too long. But to give your question some credit and value, it feels really good. It feels like it's been a long time coming for me to do something of this scale and have it turn out pretty well.
