There was a particularly fun interview in the local paper with Downey - instead of asking the same old tired questions, the interviewer asked some really offbeat ones. Mark Rahner, the journalist, knows his subject and respects the genre -- but he doesn't take himself too seriously. As a result, he gets some nonstandard answers! It's a terrific interview.

the Mark Rahner interview for Iron Man

I got to see this movie tonight. It is really great! The entire cast is fantastic, and I particularly liked Downey. Which is really saying something, because I have had a real love/hate relationship with many of his other films.

Iron Man is Redemption!

And if you go... stay to the very end of the credits. There is a bonus scene you don't want to miss!




Oh, and here's a link to a funny Onion News broadcast concerning Iron Man... which some might find amusing. I did!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBM3j7x4Lcw

Iron Man was indeed incredible! This is probably one of the few superhero movies I can think of where it seems they got most everything right! Robert Downey, Jr. just evocated Tony Stark. The origin was pretty spot-on. I really liked all the casting. There was reference made to both Iron Monger and The Mandarin- so that was pretty neat. And I thought the cameo at the end was pretty neat too. (Speaking of cameos, be sure to check out The Incredible Hulk later this summer- I hear there's an Iron Man connection there... )

And if you read the interview linked in the first post here, Downey talks about the Incredible Hulk cameo.

Saw Iron Man for the second time tonight... just had to take my friends to see it. C's a big Iron Man fan from the comics era. He was pleased with the film and said he was looking forward to seeing more.

Such a fun film!



Tony Stark: "Cheeseburgers first... "

I LOVED that movie. That's the first time I saw a movie twice in the theatre since Star Trek IV.

We're going to Hulk this weekend. I've been watching the Incredible hulk marathon on Sci-Fi Channel all week to "prepare". I can't wait.

Ordinarily, I don't get too excited about superhero movies. The last one I thought was worth watching was the Michael Keaton/Jack Nicholson Batman (which, to me will always be the best of that series of movies), but for some reason I got all excited to see Iron Man. My parents loved it, and I have real respect for Downey who, despite his setbacks with drugs, has made an honest effort to rehabilitate unlike some celebrities. He also seems like an incredibly intelligent, articulate, talented, and creative man (I loved his performance in Chaplin). I haven't seen this movie yet, but now that I have crossed the Indiana Jones movie off my must watch summer film list, I want to see this one next.

One more thing: I love that they're using Oscar-winning, seasoned actors like Ed Norton and Tim Roth for The Hulk. I think that's a smart move. Just because it's a superhero film doesn't mean the characters portraying them shouldn't act and act well.

I thought the movie was fabulous when I finally got to see it -- and I don't see all that many movies! I think you'll love it.

As much as I liked Eric Bana in the 2003 movie, I didn't think the movie was true to the comic. And Nick Nolte? Not much I can say about that casting...

Gotta give kudos to the special effects folks, though. They were excellent!

BIG Edward Norton fan... this role is a bit out of his element, but from what I've seen in the previews, the movie should be GOOD!

1 more day!

interesting that the actors last name is pronounced the same as the character he played. (in the first movie)

Eric Bana = Bruce Banner

Um, I think you have to have the right accent for that.
(As far as I know, Bana's last name is pronounced like the bana in "banal")
But it is pretty close.

But anyway- um yeah, the 2003 Hulk movie had its moments. I liked some things about it- but there were a lot of things I didn't like.
The 2008 movie- "The Incredible Hulk"- was truly incredible! This is a vast improvement from the last movie! For one thing, there were actual comic book villians like Abomination and The Leader (well, he was there as Samuel Sterns- but we got to see a hint of his transformation into The Leader)
And wow- there were so many references back to the classic live action '70s Hulk TV show- a fan of the series should truly enjoy the movie.

(I wrote a review of the movie elsewhere- I'll post it here, but I thought I should mention there may be a few SPOILERS or so.)

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Woohoo! Just saw The Incredible Hulk (2008 movie) today- and wow, it really rocks! It was just as good if not better than Iron Man.
I will say that I didn't totally hate the 2003 Hulk movie, as some comic fans tend to. There were some good points of that movie that I enjoyed- but there were a lot of other things plotwise that didn't seem to make much sense and I didn't like it quite as well.
But this movie was a great improvement. Edward Norton was great as Bruce Banner/The Hulk and I liked Liv Tyler as Betty Ross. (Though for that matter, I liked Jennifer Connelly as Betty Ross previously, so that wasn't a real big deal for me.)
And this movie brought back General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, of course- and there were so many great nods to things throughout- it was cool. Towards the start, you can get a glimpse of Nick Fury's name on a document and S.H.I.E.L.D. is mentioned directly a couple times in the movie. And hey- Doc Samson was in there as Betty's new boyfriend- until she discovered Bruce was back, that is. (No, no green hair for Doc Samson- yet!)
And there was an actual villian in this movie- besides General Ross, who's kind of expected to be on the scene (sort of like Lex Luthor in the Superman movies- he may not always be the main villian that Superman physically fights against- but generally he's got a hand in things somewhere)
But there was a superpowered villian for the Hulk to fight- more than just mutated dogs or some rip-off version of Absorbing Man (see 2003 Hulk film- the whole deal with his dad- just didn't quite get that. I would have rather seen Carl "Crusher" Creel there as the actual Absorbing Man for Hulk to fight- even though technically he's originally a Thor villian.)
Anyway- Emil Blonsky was there in the movie and we saw how he becomes Abomination (and his name was at least referred to, even if they didn't directly call him that. I liked that he spoke as he's supposed to be able to do- and even went after Ross and called the Hulk "Hulk".)
And even if we only got a hint of it, it was cool to see Samuel Sterns begin his transformation into The Leader. He'd make a great villian for a third Hulk movie!
And the Hulk himself looked great and threw stuff around and jumped and ran and lifted cars and such and did everything he's supposed to be able to do. And it was great seeing him smash into the ground to cause tremors and actually speak a classic comic book line- "Hulk Smash!"
And there were so many cool tie-ins to the classic '70s Incredible Hulk TV series, starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. And don't forget the classic Stan Lee cameo.
And it was incredibly great to hear The Lonely Man theme- which was the ending theme song from the show (which is actually probably much more recognizable than the actual opening theme song for the show)- but both the opening and closing themes were used and credited. And it was cool seeing Grover singing his classic "Around, Over, Under and Through" song from Sesame Street- in Portuguese! (I'm also a huge Muppets fan!)
And they actually used a clip of "The Courtship of Eddie's Father"- a late '60s sitcom that Bill Bixby starred in- so it was a very nice tribute to briefly see Bill Bixby- the original "David" Bruce Banner in there. And of course, the original Hulk- bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno- was in there as a security guard in a great cameo with Edward Norton. And he actually voices the Hulk in the movie too!
And I loved the joke with the classic line from the show- "Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." (Bruce is trying to say it in Portuguese and he messes up and interposes "hungry" for "angry". ) And they also make a joke about the classic purple pants that Hulk is traditionally seen with in the comics- since they're trying to find the stretchiest pants they can.
And on a letter that he writes at the end of the movie, we can see that Bruce Banner has actually adopted "David B." as his alias! Great reference back to the series!
And even the flashbacks to the origin- the chair that Bruce is in and the laser aimed at his forehead in the crosshairs shape- and the red "DANGER" sign- WOW- that's pretty much directly from the Pilot episode of the TV show- that was really cool.
Oh yeah- and at one point there's some kids who take pictures of the Hulk with their cell phone camera at their college- and one of them is later on identified on the news as- Jack McGee! And they even mention that he's a reporter for his school paper! Wow- that's so cool that they even used a character from the TV show too! (And a nice tribute to Jack Colvin, who died a few years ago.)
And there's also mention of the "Super Soldier" formula- the formula that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America! (One of my favorite superheroes of all!)
And of course, Robert Downey, Jr.'s cameo as Tony Stark was just great- and again, mention of the team they're putting together!
Wow- the Incredible Hulk was just that- incredible!
I can't wait for a sequel- and of course, for a Thor and Captain America movie to roll along (and that Ant-Man movie I've heard about) to get things in place for a movie for The Avengers!
So anyway- yeah, be sure to go see the new movie. Don't make Mr. Green angry- you wouldn't like him when he's angry!

Great review! You said it all.

Loved all the references to the comic books and the TV series. And the homage to Bill Bixby was just terrific, as was the reference to Jack McGee; and as you mentioned, Lou Ferrigno's cameo as the security guard (He looked really good!) ...and Stan Lee of course; everything!

I loved it! There were cheers and clapping in the theater (which is very rare these days) and when "HULK SMASH!" was said, the people just exploded! (I guess the folks in Florida are great fans of the Hulk! )

All I could think of was "...hungry". I didn't think they'd go for much humor in this movie. But they pulled it off well.

I'll see it again... And though the theater was much more crowded for Iron Man, that crowd was a bit more subdued. Either way, I'm looking forward to more.