Victor Von Doom
Fist of teh Internets.
Coming soon......the most lopsided poll in the history of ever.
Iron Man discussion (Spoilers!)
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ourchair
Well-Known Member
For you, I'd say it was the freckles.
Victor Von Doom
Fist of teh Internets.
Those did help a lot.
as far as the star rating goes, i had to give it a 4. but really, it's a 4.5.
i rate movies according to the storadian scale (storad is my latin teacher in high school).
it goes something like this:
10- changed your life. you will think about this movie for the rest of your life. held your attention all the way through. within the best movies you have ever seen. no real problems with it. (roughly a 5 star)
9- held your attention all the way through. you will think about this movie for weeks to come. among the top movies you've seen in a while. maybe one small flaw.
8- held your attention all the way through. it was a good movie experience, but it probably won't stay with you outside of the first couple days of having seen it. a couple flaws, but it didn't get at the enjoyment of the movie. a very good movie (roughly a 4 star)
7- held your attention for pretty much all the movie, but really dragged in some parts (making your mind wander). had a couple flaws
6- had a few major flaws that detracted from the movie, held attention alright. (3 stars)
5- didn't hold attention very well, very flawed movie
4- started to frustrate you; kinda stupid. (2 stars)
3- makes you angry, insults your intelligence with how stupid it is; might walk out
2- you want to walk out, probably do; might burn down theater. (1 star)
1- you burned down the theater, and hope to burn down the studio, and the director and stars too
0- you killed yourself.
there ARE NO HALVES. and you never say "i'd give it, like, at 9" cuz then he'd try to contort his body into the shape of that number. well, we'd still say it because it was darn funny to see him do that. and the point of everything getting so crazy at the end is to point out that even if it really really sucks, it's still the product of someone's art. it could be really bad art, and it could be art done just for a paycheck, but it's still art. but yeah. your rating must be solid, not a "like," and not halved.
just thought id share that rating scale with you. i think its pretty good.
anyways, iron man fits the 9 mark for me. it was just all around awesome. but it didn't change my life, and it's really not on the level of the few 10 movies i've seen.
i rate movies according to the storadian scale (storad is my latin teacher in high school).
it goes something like this:
10- changed your life. you will think about this movie for the rest of your life. held your attention all the way through. within the best movies you have ever seen. no real problems with it. (roughly a 5 star)
9- held your attention all the way through. you will think about this movie for weeks to come. among the top movies you've seen in a while. maybe one small flaw.
8- held your attention all the way through. it was a good movie experience, but it probably won't stay with you outside of the first couple days of having seen it. a couple flaws, but it didn't get at the enjoyment of the movie. a very good movie (roughly a 4 star)
7- held your attention for pretty much all the movie, but really dragged in some parts (making your mind wander). had a couple flaws
6- had a few major flaws that detracted from the movie, held attention alright. (3 stars)
5- didn't hold attention very well, very flawed movie
4- started to frustrate you; kinda stupid. (2 stars)
3- makes you angry, insults your intelligence with how stupid it is; might walk out
2- you want to walk out, probably do; might burn down theater. (1 star)
1- you burned down the theater, and hope to burn down the studio, and the director and stars too
0- you killed yourself.
there ARE NO HALVES. and you never say "i'd give it, like, at 9" cuz then he'd try to contort his body into the shape of that number. well, we'd still say it because it was darn funny to see him do that. and the point of everything getting so crazy at the end is to point out that even if it really really sucks, it's still the product of someone's art. it could be really bad art, and it could be art done just for a paycheck, but it's still art. but yeah. your rating must be solid, not a "like," and not halved.
just thought id share that rating scale with you. i think its pretty good.
anyways, iron man fits the 9 mark for me. it was just all around awesome. but it didn't change my life, and it's really not on the level of the few 10 movies i've seen.
Entropy
Well-Known Member
After seeing this three times, I have rendered and distilled my thoughts into the most eloquent description of this film I am capable of. Here it is.
DAMN.
DAMN.
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Ice
Teh Sexy Monkey Queen
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thee great one
Master of TOG-fu.
Best Marvel Comics Film ever. It has beat Blade and Spider-Man 2, by a longshot.
Every actor was brilliant. Downey Jr was perfect. PERFECT!
All the little nods were great. Ten Rings, War Machine, Yup.
You don't get much better than this. Until Dark Knight comes out.
NICK MOTHER****IN FURY!
I thought I was the only one. She was so uber-cute.
Every actor was brilliant. Downey Jr was perfect. PERFECT!
All the little nods were great. Ten Rings, War Machine, Yup.
You don't get much better than this. Until Dark Knight comes out.
NICK MOTHER****IN FURY!
ProjectX2 said:
I thought I was the only one. She was so uber-cute.
a fan
Well-Known Member
This movie was awsome. just a couple of questions. How are they able to use Nick Fury in this movie? if that was the case than how come in say for example the x-men movies the fantastic four aren't out and about doing stuff in the movie? Also does this mean that all the movies (except the ang lee one, possibly electra and daredevil) cannon?
Gemini
Well-Known Member
DARKKNIGHT
Well-Known Member
Gemini
Well-Known Member
yeah Gwenyth was pretty far up on the strokability scale.
Planet-man
Well-Known Member
Thanks for adding the poll, I kept forgetting to ask.
Gwyneth Paltrow has ALWAYS been hot. REALLY hot. Sky Captain, Shallow Hal, even Tennenbaums.
And nice job on the 1-10 scale description Marvelman, but still.... there are always half-stars.
I voted for the face-melted option, but really, it's a 5 out of 5 from me. I've only seen one move which gets more than a perfect score in the past year or so, and that's Donnie Darko. MAYBE Vanilla Sky too.
Gwyneth Paltrow has ALWAYS been hot. REALLY hot. Sky Captain, Shallow Hal, even Tennenbaums.
And nice job on the 1-10 scale description Marvelman, but still.... there are always half-stars.
I voted for the face-melted option, but really, it's a 5 out of 5 from me. I've only seen one move which gets more than a perfect score in the past year or so, and that's Donnie Darko. MAYBE Vanilla Sky too.
My favorite review so far.
So, went to see it again with the comic geek father of mine. Once again I had to explain to the whole audience who Nick Fury was. I cant wait to see it again.
So, went to see it again with the comic geek father of mine. Once again I had to explain to the whole audience who Nick Fury was. I cant wait to see it again.
Planet-man
Well-Known Member
What a great review. I disagree with what he says about Batman, of course,(also, :lol
but he's so passionate and so funny and in terms of this movie, right on the money.My favourite pull-quote so far is still Devin Faraci's "Robert Downey Jr is the film's best special effect. "
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Foolsfolly
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2006
- Messages
- 1,137
Mark Millar, Brain Bendis, Joey Q, Tom Brevoort, Axel Alonso and Ultimates editor Ralph Macchio all had a part in the Iron Man script. Bendis wrote the Ultimate Fury scene at the end.
...
I'm willing to believe most of this, but some things (like Millar personally cutting Mandarin out of the movie and telling them to make Iron Monger the baddie when he was planned to be movie 2's villain) I'm just not buying because this is Mark Millar talking and he loves to overhype and out right lie (see the whole Orson Wells Batman movie rumor he started a few years back as an example).
So...I'm going to say Marvel was invited over and those guys did get to hang out and rap with the writers and Fav. I can even believe Bendis writing Ultimate Fury. But....Millar completely changing the plot of a movie in production? That's....a little unbelievable.
Edit:
Ah, never mind Bendis clarifies that their involvement wasn't in production but preproduction. The changes make more sense now.
Edit 2:
Also, how awesome was that for Fav to do? The man must have no ego at all to invite Marvel over to change his movie, even just a little. And not just suits but people he actually picked because he respected their work on the character. That's upstanding.
...
I'm willing to believe most of this, but some things (like Millar personally cutting Mandarin out of the movie and telling them to make Iron Monger the baddie when he was planned to be movie 2's villain) I'm just not buying because this is Mark Millar talking and he loves to overhype and out right lie (see the whole Orson Wells Batman movie rumor he started a few years back as an example).
So...I'm going to say Marvel was invited over and those guys did get to hang out and rap with the writers and Fav. I can even believe Bendis writing Ultimate Fury. But....Millar completely changing the plot of a movie in production? That's....a little unbelievable.
Edit:
Ah, never mind Bendis clarifies that their involvement wasn't in production but preproduction. The changes make more sense now.
Edit 2:
Also, how awesome was that for Fav to do? The man must have no ego at all to invite Marvel over to change his movie, even just a little. And not just suits but people he actually picked because he respected their work on the character. That's upstanding.
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Ice
Teh Sexy Monkey Queen
Already a date for the sequel:
April 30th, 2010. Save the date!
April 30th, 2010. Save the date!
Bass
Nexus of the World
Saw it yesterday.
It's the best superhero movie of the current generation. (Which, coming from ME, is not that high a praise...)
I really liked it. It was a LOT of fun. It was one of those times where I wish I could erase all knowledge of Downey Jr from my head so he'd be an 'unknown'. Downey Jr is a terrific Stark, but at times I went, "It's Downey Jr" instead of "It's Stark". This isn't actually a bad thing, just a weird observation of my mental state in the filming.
Jon Favreau is also, I think, the most ubiquitous guy in Marvel movies next to Stan Lee, isn't he? He was Foggy in DAREDEVIL putting him in TWO franchises! Ooo! He's taking over!
There were tons of nice nods throughout, especially the name for SHIELD.
The terrorists were good. Really good. FINALLY we get COOL terrorists that don't ***** that America is bad and that they've become terrorists because America is bad. No. We have a terrorist going, "I want to be Genghis Khan". **** yes. That's a terrorist. No, "You bombed my house, yankee" crap. No. "I want the world" is more like it. (Though it's funny - one of the credits is for a character named Ahmed - and the actor is called... Ahmed Ahmed. I'm not making this up. What's funnier for me is that my brother is called Ahmed.) When I saw the head terrorist clutching the ring, I thought, "Well, if they don't know what to do with the Mandarin, bring this guy back in no.2 as the Mandarin" - then they call the gang "The 10 Rings" and I realise he is obviously one of nine generals, all with a ring, and no doubt in no.2 they'll be led by someone called the Mandarin.
Obidiah Stane (a great name) is crap. He's a very dull, easily predictable villain. But somehow, someone realised that if you have Jeff "The Dude" Bridges as the villain, you don't need to actually have a good villain because Jeff Bridges is ****ing incredible. I adored him in this. Hands down, one of the best villains for a superhero movie. He so brilliantly goes from father figure to murderous maniac that it's hard to even spot the transition.
And the climactic fight was well set up: I was wondering how Stane's suit could rival Stark's because Stark is the genius who got it working. They make a point that Stark's the only one who can power it. Sure, Stane can say, "I made it bigger with more weapons" but we know that Stark's got a power source and can beat the piss out of it. So having Stane STEAL Stark's 'heart', forcing Stark to use the crappier one he built out of garbage and thus having to fight Stane's suit with no power may be a common trope, but it was needed and extremely well executed.
The CGI fight in the streets was also really good. I was a bit disappointed though: I think Iron Man defeating Iron Monger with the icing trick was much better than the cliched "big explosion" nonsense. It plays into what I said before: they have to make the villain more powerful than the hero (otherwise, what's the point?) and they do just that - and having Iron Man BEAT Stane by using his brain and experience as the suit's creator (harkening back to the idea that the pilot matters, not the plane), is a great way for him to defeat the villain. Better than "a big explosion".
After the icing trick I kinda lost interest. But it's okay - it picked itself back up.
First, we had Pepper Potts (who as soon as she said, "I help take out the trash" won me over for the film) who, you think she and Stark are gonna kiss with the whole, "That night we went dancing" until... "You left me alone. For hours". Best superhero romance. It was very slight, very small, and very unintrusive. Potts also wasn't a damsel in distress. Very different and very well done.
Secondly - the press conference (I had to have a cheesburger today) where he admits to being Iron Man was terrific.
Rhodes was great ("next time, baby") and I'd be surprised if Jarvis will ever be a human again. Yinseng (or whatever) was a superb character, and very well done.
And now we get to Sam Jackson. I told my friends Sam Jackson was Fury, but one of them, who'd seen the film, said he wasn't in it. And Sam Jackson doesn't appear. I wait till the end of the credits in the vain hope, and my friend is calling me a ****. And there is Sam Jackson as Nick Fury.
When the scene ended, I yelled "Geek-gasm!" for I had the nerd bends and was properly all jumping around in anticipation for THE ULTIMATES: THE MOVIE. Sam Jackson as Nick Fury was just scary - it was just like the comic was real.
But - it's not perfect. As much as I liked IRON MAN... hell, there's only three superhero films I really liked in this modern bunch: HULK (which was pensive and introspective and genuinely exhilarating - for the middle hour); DAREDEVIL (which had two terrific villains, but was very poorly structured); SPIDER-MAN (which was fun and witty, but far too long and far too slow and lacking in a good villain), and SUPERMAN RETURNS (which charming, evokative, but far too slow and sappy). All the rest, X-Men, Batman Begins... I didn't enjoy.
But IRON MAN I liked the best. It's not the best superhero film ever (I still stand by BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM) and I don't think it's the best live-action superhero film ever (for me: BATMAN and SUPERMAN trump it) but it is definitely a great romp.
Here's the reason why I don't think it's the best ever: It's not a film. It's a 2-hour tv pilot. A terrific 2-hour tv pilot. A better pilot than FIREFLY's. Than BABYLON 5's or DEEP SPACE NINE's. But it's a tv-movie. It lacks the quintessential depth or scope a movie must have. It's too small and has too many set ups and not enough pay offs.
To me, it's not a FILM.
This year, I've seen four movies at the cinema; NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, VANTAGE POINT, and IRON MAN. I'm glad to say that if I had not seen VANTAGE POINT I could safely say, "I know my own taste. I've seen three films this year, and I enjoyed the hell out of all three." IRON MAN might not be nearly as good as NCFOM or TWBB, but it was a very, VERY, entertaining 2 hours.
My prediction was "This'll be good until Stark gets hurt, then he gets a conscience, will become dull, and have a crappy CGI fight with a lame villain."
I was completely and utterly wrong. Thank you Mr Favreau and everyone else for just knocking it out of the park.
It's the best superhero movie of the current generation. (Which, coming from ME, is not that high a praise...)
I really liked it. It was a LOT of fun. It was one of those times where I wish I could erase all knowledge of Downey Jr from my head so he'd be an 'unknown'. Downey Jr is a terrific Stark, but at times I went, "It's Downey Jr" instead of "It's Stark". This isn't actually a bad thing, just a weird observation of my mental state in the filming.
Jon Favreau is also, I think, the most ubiquitous guy in Marvel movies next to Stan Lee, isn't he? He was Foggy in DAREDEVIL putting him in TWO franchises! Ooo! He's taking over!
There were tons of nice nods throughout, especially the name for SHIELD.
The terrorists were good. Really good. FINALLY we get COOL terrorists that don't ***** that America is bad and that they've become terrorists because America is bad. No. We have a terrorist going, "I want to be Genghis Khan". **** yes. That's a terrorist. No, "You bombed my house, yankee" crap. No. "I want the world" is more like it. (Though it's funny - one of the credits is for a character named Ahmed - and the actor is called... Ahmed Ahmed. I'm not making this up. What's funnier for me is that my brother is called Ahmed.) When I saw the head terrorist clutching the ring, I thought, "Well, if they don't know what to do with the Mandarin, bring this guy back in no.2 as the Mandarin" - then they call the gang "The 10 Rings" and I realise he is obviously one of nine generals, all with a ring, and no doubt in no.2 they'll be led by someone called the Mandarin.
Obidiah Stane (a great name) is crap. He's a very dull, easily predictable villain. But somehow, someone realised that if you have Jeff "The Dude" Bridges as the villain, you don't need to actually have a good villain because Jeff Bridges is ****ing incredible. I adored him in this. Hands down, one of the best villains for a superhero movie. He so brilliantly goes from father figure to murderous maniac that it's hard to even spot the transition.
And the climactic fight was well set up: I was wondering how Stane's suit could rival Stark's because Stark is the genius who got it working. They make a point that Stark's the only one who can power it. Sure, Stane can say, "I made it bigger with more weapons" but we know that Stark's got a power source and can beat the piss out of it. So having Stane STEAL Stark's 'heart', forcing Stark to use the crappier one he built out of garbage and thus having to fight Stane's suit with no power may be a common trope, but it was needed and extremely well executed.
The CGI fight in the streets was also really good. I was a bit disappointed though: I think Iron Man defeating Iron Monger with the icing trick was much better than the cliched "big explosion" nonsense. It plays into what I said before: they have to make the villain more powerful than the hero (otherwise, what's the point?) and they do just that - and having Iron Man BEAT Stane by using his brain and experience as the suit's creator (harkening back to the idea that the pilot matters, not the plane), is a great way for him to defeat the villain. Better than "a big explosion".
After the icing trick I kinda lost interest. But it's okay - it picked itself back up.
First, we had Pepper Potts (who as soon as she said, "I help take out the trash" won me over for the film) who, you think she and Stark are gonna kiss with the whole, "That night we went dancing" until... "You left me alone. For hours". Best superhero romance. It was very slight, very small, and very unintrusive. Potts also wasn't a damsel in distress. Very different and very well done.
Secondly - the press conference (I had to have a cheesburger today) where he admits to being Iron Man was terrific.
Rhodes was great ("next time, baby") and I'd be surprised if Jarvis will ever be a human again. Yinseng (or whatever) was a superb character, and very well done.
And now we get to Sam Jackson. I told my friends Sam Jackson was Fury, but one of them, who'd seen the film, said he wasn't in it. And Sam Jackson doesn't appear. I wait till the end of the credits in the vain hope, and my friend is calling me a ****. And there is Sam Jackson as Nick Fury.
When the scene ended, I yelled "Geek-gasm!" for I had the nerd bends and was properly all jumping around in anticipation for THE ULTIMATES: THE MOVIE. Sam Jackson as Nick Fury was just scary - it was just like the comic was real.
But - it's not perfect. As much as I liked IRON MAN... hell, there's only three superhero films I really liked in this modern bunch: HULK (which was pensive and introspective and genuinely exhilarating - for the middle hour); DAREDEVIL (which had two terrific villains, but was very poorly structured); SPIDER-MAN (which was fun and witty, but far too long and far too slow and lacking in a good villain), and SUPERMAN RETURNS (which charming, evokative, but far too slow and sappy). All the rest, X-Men, Batman Begins... I didn't enjoy.
But IRON MAN I liked the best. It's not the best superhero film ever (I still stand by BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM) and I don't think it's the best live-action superhero film ever (for me: BATMAN and SUPERMAN trump it) but it is definitely a great romp.
Here's the reason why I don't think it's the best ever: It's not a film. It's a 2-hour tv pilot. A terrific 2-hour tv pilot. A better pilot than FIREFLY's. Than BABYLON 5's or DEEP SPACE NINE's. But it's a tv-movie. It lacks the quintessential depth or scope a movie must have. It's too small and has too many set ups and not enough pay offs.
To me, it's not a FILM.
This year, I've seen four movies at the cinema; NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, VANTAGE POINT, and IRON MAN. I'm glad to say that if I had not seen VANTAGE POINT I could safely say, "I know my own taste. I've seen three films this year, and I enjoyed the hell out of all three." IRON MAN might not be nearly as good as NCFOM or TWBB, but it was a very, VERY, entertaining 2 hours.
My prediction was "This'll be good until Stark gets hurt, then he gets a conscience, will become dull, and have a crappy CGI fight with a lame villain."
I was completely and utterly wrong. Thank you Mr Favreau and everyone else for just knocking it out of the park.
McCheese
Well-Known Member
I agree.
J. Agamemnon
Well-Known Member
same same. ANd what Bass said for Favreau can also be said for sam elliot. Pale rider, Thunderbolt Ross. But they don't compare to Lee. The heff baby and then he's in every Marvel movie to date except the Punisher.
