IRON MAN ANIME & X-MEN ANIME arrives on DVD April 24th

March 5, 2012 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

Explode onto DVD April 24th

Each Set Includes 12 Episodes From Each Series and New Bonus Features!

CULVER CITY, CALIF. (March 5, 2012) Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Marvel Animation release the IRON MAN ANIME and X-MEN ANIME on DVD April 24th. With 12 episodes and bonus features in each DVD, bring home the action and adventures of Iron Man and the X-Men in the classic anime style. Guided by New York Times best-selling author Warren Ellis (Iron Man: Extremis, Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis) and produced by Madhouse for Marvel Television and Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan (SPEJ). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the distributor.

The IRON MAN ANIME stars Adrian Pasdar (Heroes, Castle, Profit) as the voice of Tony Stark. The set contains special bonus features:
·         Re-Imagining Iron Man explores the plot and themes of the anime series.
·         21st Century Hero: The Technology of Iron Man introduces fans to Tony Starks high-tech suits and gadgets.
·         Special Cross Talk round table discussion with the creators of the Iron Man and Wolverine anime series.
·         Voicing Tony Stark, an interview with Japanese actor, Keiji Fujiwara.

The X-MEN ANIME features the voice of actor Scott Porter as Cyclops (The Good Wife, Friday Night Lights, Caprica). The set includes:
·         Re-Examining The X-Men takes viewers behind-the-scenes of creating X-Mens mutant tales.
·         X-Men: A Team of Outsiders provides an in-depth exploration of Marvels most heroic and infamous mutants.
·         Special Talk Session round table discussion with the creators of Marvel anime’s X-Men and Blade.

IRON MAN ANIME: Tony Stark arrives in Japan to help implement his goal of world peace by building the Arc Reactor, a carbon-neutral power plant, that once operational will be able to provide limitless (thus free) energy to the world. Set to retire his Iron Man persona, and about to mass-produce a line of Iron Man armor known as Iron Man Dio, Starks plans are derailed by a series of high tech Mech monsters. Zodiac, a top secret organization funded by the terrorist group A.I.M. is out to disrupt the Arc Station, steal the Dio armor and put an end to Iron Man. The Armored Avengers fight is only just beginning.

X-MEN ANIME: The X-MEN are reunited following the death of a teammate and are summoned by Charles Xavier to Japan following the abduction of Hisako Ichiki. There, they confront the U-MEN, a lunatic cult that steals and transplants mutant organs to further strengthen its own army, and the battle for justice is on. Discovering a series of bizarre occurrences in the area they X-Men investigate only to be confronted with a terrible truth that will force them to confront long buried secrets.

Broadcast Year: 2011 (G4)

IRON MAN ANIME and X-MEN ANIME are rated NOT RATED. Visit Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on the Web at www.SonyPictures.com.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is a Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) company. Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPEs global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition and distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; worldwide television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 142 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com.

ABOUT MARVEL
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. For more information visit www.marvel.com.

Filed Under: Anime Related News

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Vol. 3 and 4 (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

October 25, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

An animated series that is based on the long running, popular Marvel Comics superhero team, “The Avengers”. “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Super Heroes” captures the heart and soul of the original comic book series and were written by fans of the comics who wanted to bring the characters to a modern setting. Enjoyable, action-packed and fun! Definitely recommended for the young and even the old, who grew up reading the comic books!

DVD TITLE: The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Vol. 3 and 4

DURATION: Vol 2: 135 Minutes / Vol 4: 148 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Color, Widescreen (1:78:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

COMPANY: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

RATED: Not Rated

RELEASE DATE: October 25, 2011

Directed by Vinton Heuck, Ciro Nieli, Sebastian Montes

Written by Joshua Fine, Brandon Auman, Kevin Burke, Chris Wyatt, Christopher Yost, Paul Giacoppo

Supervising Producer: Joshua Fine

Music by Guy Michelmore

Edited by Steve Ingram

Casting by Jamie Simone

Storyboard Artist: Ben Jones

Visual Effects by Thomas D. Moser

Character Design Supervisor: Thomas Perkins

Character Designs by Brianne Drouhard, Walter Gatus

Featuring the Voices of:

Eric Loomis as Iron Man

Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Janet Van Dyne

Rick D. Wasserman as Thor

Wally Wingert as Ant-Man

Fred Tatasciore as The Hulk

Brian Blossom as Captain America

Chris Cox as Clint Barton

James C. Mathis III as Black PAnther

Phil LaMarr as Jarvis

Alex Desert as Nick Fury

Robin Atkin Downes as Baron Zemo

Jim ward as Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker

Vanessa Marshall as Black Widow

Gabriel Mann as Bruce Banner

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is a television series on Disney DXD that is inspired by the Marvel Comics Super Hero team of the same name. In each episode, the Avengers defend Earth from unimaginable threats – dangerous Super Villains, time-travelling conquerors, alien invaders and mythical beasts bent on the total destruction of humanity. When the forces of evil are so overwhelming that no single hero has the power to save the world, when no hope is left… the Avengers Assemble! Join Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk, and many more of your favorite Avengers, as they discover the value of teamwork and friendship in the fight against evil!

The pulse-pounding action continues on October 25th with six unforgettable episodes in the Volume 3 release of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! Enjoy all the thrills as Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk and the rest of the Avengers face off against Baron Zemo’s Masters of Evil and defend earth from a full-scale alien invasion led by the time-traveling Kang the Conqueror!

For any Marvel comic book fan, “The Avengers” was a comic book series that featured popular characters from the Marvel Universe, most who had their own solo titles, all together as a group to take on the powerful super villains which required these heroes to work together as a team.

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby back in Sept. 1963, “The Avengers” along with the “X-Men” and the “Fantastic-Four” are Marvel Comics flagship superhero groups that still continue on today. But the main difference is that the Avengers would have a rotating roster and to keep stories fresh, there were always characters that would be called in to battle and it was the direct competitor to DC Comics superhero group (also with a rotating roster), the Justice League of America.

Similar to both the “X-Men” and the “Fantastic Four”, the Avengers received an animated series consisting of 13-episodes and appeared to be more “West Coast Avengers”-like with the main characters being Ant-Man as the leader, the Wasp, Wonder Man, Tigra, Hawkeye, the Scarlet Witch, the Falcon and the Vision.

But with the upcoming “Avengers” live-action film (2012) being planned, what better than to create some buzz by releasing an animated series that feature the original core members of the group (Iron Man, Wasp, Ant-Man, Thor, Black Panther, Captain America, Hawkeye and The Hulk) and thus we have “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”, created by Marvel Animation and Film Roman (known for their animation for “The Simpsons”, “King of the Hill” and “Garfield”).

The animated series debuted on Disney’s XD as a 20-episode micro series episodes in September and full-length episodes in October 2010 and a total of 26-episodes for the first season have been shown on television and with the release of the first two volumes in 2010 covering the first half of the first season, the second half featuring vol. 3 and 4 have been released on DVD.

“The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” consists of the following episodes. Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode:

VOL. 3

EPISODE 14: Masters of Evil – Baron Zemo along with the Enchantress, Executioner, Wonder Man, Crimson Dynamo and the Abomination form the Masters of Evil to takedown the Avengers.
EPISODE 15: 459 – Wasp and the Avengers meet with Captain Marvel who needs them to help stop a Kree Sentry from destroying their planet. Also, featuring Carol Danvers receiving her powers.
EPISODE 16: The Man Who Stole Tomorrow – Kang the Conqueror comes to the 41st Century to destroy Captain America.
EPISODE 17: Come the Conqueror – Kang uses the Ultron robots as weapons to fight against the Avengers.
EPISODE 18: The Kang Dynasty – The continued fight against Kang.
EPISODE 19: Widow’s Sting – Hawkeye, Captain America, Black Panther and Mockingbird take on HYDRA in orders to find Black Widow.

VOL. 4

EPISODE 20: The Casket of Ancient Winters – The Avengers take on Malekith the Accursed who obtains the Casket of Ancient Winters.
EPISODE 21: Hail Hydra! – The Black Widow goes to the Avengers for their help in retrieving the Cosmic Cube.
EPISODE 22: Ultron-5 – A member quits the team while Ultron tries to bring peace to the world.
EPISODE 23: The Ultron Imperative – The team are devastated after a loss of a teammate. Iron Man and Ant-Man try to destroy Ultron.
EPISODE 24: The Hostage Earth – The Masters of Evil are back and the Avengers must try to stop them!
EPISODE 25: The Fall of Asgard – The Avengers are separated and must try to survive in the nine realms.
EPISODE 26: A Day Unlike Any Other – The Avengers vs. Loki

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” is presented in widescreen 1:78:1 – enhanced for 16×9 televisions and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Picture quality is very good and I will say that the style of animation is consistent with a lot of animated series in the U.S. as of late but noticed with these newer episodes, a much more concentrated effort to have more detail for surroundings and environments.

For the most part, I do enjoy the character designs of the superheroes and like how the series does employ a lot some shading for its characters and backgrounds. While not uber-detailed, for a TV animated series, I felt that the character designs and backgrounds looked very good (I’m still a big fan of the old ’80s “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends backgrounds) and looked quite modern. There are a good amount of colors for the series and for the most part, I feel the look and feel of the series was a major improvement compared to the look and feel of the various Marvel animated series from the ’90s.

If there is one thing that I did notice, it was the use of surround channels for the audio. Because the series employs quite a bit of action, I felt the use of the active audio track was well-done. Also, the voice acting was also very good for this series, as well as the background symphony theme music.

Subtitle are presented in English SDH and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” features the following special features on each disc:

VOLUME 3

Avengers Unmasked: Masters of Evil – (22:53) A feature that showcases facts about the characters and villains and compares the look of the Avengers animated vs. the Avengers from the original comic book series with the episode “Masters of Evil”.

VOLUME 4

Avengers Unmasked: Hail, Hydra! – (22:50) A feature that showcases facts about the characters and villains and compares the look of the Avengers animated vs. the Avengers from the original comic book series with the episode “Hail, Hydra!”.

As mentioned in my review for the first two volumes, I grew up reading “The Avengers”.

I have been such a big fan of the comic book series and for me, “The Avengers” (and yes, even its West Coast spin-off) and it was one series I collected as a child all the way through my college years. And if I have to think about why I enjoyed the series, I find it different compared to the “X-Men”, which I have saw as the mutant minorities being discriminated by humans and are always fighting for the betterment of mutankind, while “The Fantastic Four” were essentially a family unit. “The Avengers” was different from these two other superhuman groups, different from other Marvel groups such as The Defenders, The Guardians of the Galaxy, Alpha Flight, X-related groups or other superhero groups that have existed in the Marvel Universe.

Because with the Avengers, you had superheroes who had their own longstanding comic books such as Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk all in one book. And as awesome as they were, the group was quite dysfunctional, always hanging by a thread by Captain America and financially by Tony Stark. Ego’s often got in the way, characters who were in relationships beginning to have interest in other members, substance abuse and even heroes who started to stray off the path of good. “The Avengers” were not perfect.

And while “The Avengers” has had its ups and downs (especially for the quality of its writing), possibly one of the biggest mistakes made by Marvel was how it handled The Avengers first animated series, “Avengers: United They Stand”. The series tried to use a line-up of characters that seemed great for “West Coast Avengers” but for an animated series, why ignore the core membership? Even with its rival “The Justice League of America” animated series, you weren’t going to see them stray from their initial core of primary characters like Superman, Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter. But in the late ’90s, Marvel did just that.

And now here we are with “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” and fortunately, we have Chris Yost (Story Editor) and Josh Fine (Supervising Editor), two individuals who read the original comic books, who understood the popularity of those characters, their group dynamic and dysfunction and they took that original storyline that the series was known for many decades and applied it to a modern setting.

For me, “The Avengers” is all about Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, the Wasp, Ant-Man/Giant Man and throw in Hawkeye, Black Panther, Ms. Marvel, Mockingbird (and many more planned for season two) and I’m thrilled! This is how it should have been before and the fact that you have people who were passionate about the original work and utilizing them for a new generation of Marvel fans is fantastic!

But for any fan who grew up with Avengers, especially in the ’70s and ’80s will know the impact the Kree vs. Skrull War had on the series, especially HYDRA and the no matter how many times you destroy him, he keeps coming back…ULTRON. While the season does feature Kang, to me that villain is more a nemesis of the Fantastic Four than the Avengers but still, I credit the writers for including these storylines but also trying to include so many villains, especially during the Master of Evil storyline.

So, there is a lot of action in this second half of the series, many characters introduced and also the storyline towards the end of the season is much deeper. The writers really delivered towards the second half of the first season and I look forward to what they have planned for season two!

As mentioned, the animation is pretty good for the series, not uber-detailed but yet, are pretty modern and cool looking. The voice acting was great for this series and loved how the series also utilized the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, especially during those action sequences.

As mentioned, the DVD is very good in terms of picture quality (I noticed an improvement in the detail of the environments for the second half of the season) and dialogue is easy to understand and clear. As for special features, each disc does come with one feature and it would have great to have more.

The series is aired on Disney XD and some parents may wonder if the series is safe for children. For those who are 7-years-old or older, I felt the series is appropriate. But it depends if you want your children watching super heroes battling with super villains. If not, then you may want to pass on this series. Otherwise, there is no questionable language or anything majorly violent.

“The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” is an animated series featuring Marvel’s popular superhero team and it is one that captures the essence of the comic book series and focusing on what made the comic book series so entertaining and enjoyable for nearly 50-years. While not exactly faithful to the original comic book storyline, the series still manages to capture the heart and soul of the Avengers comic book series by focusing on the primary core members but showcasing the value of teamwork but also the challenges the group faces. Because despite the fact they are superheroes, each were busy as a solo hero and needless to say, ego and pride do get in the way.

Overall, “The Avengers” fans of the comic book series will definitely enjoy this animated series but also those of you who grew up with the series and are parents of children, this is a perfect series to watch with them and enjoy together.

“The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” vol. 3 and 4 are definitely recommended!

Filed Under: Children's DVD/Blu-ray, DVD Reviews

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Vol. 1 and 2 (a J!-ENT Children’s DVD Review)

April 25, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

A children’s animated series that is based on the long running, popular Marvel Comics superhero team, “The Avengers”. “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Super Heroes” captures the heart and soul of the original comic book series and were written by fans of the comics who wanted to bring the characters to a modern setting. Enjoyable, action-packed and fun! Definitely recommended!

DVD TITLE: The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Vol. 1 and 2

DURATION: Vol 1: 161 Minutes / Vol 2: 137 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Color, Widescreen (1:78:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

COMPANY: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

RATED: Not Rated

RELEASE DATE: April 26, 2011

Directed by Vinton Heuck, Ciro Nieli, Sebastian Montes

Written by Joshua Fine, Brandon Auman, Kevin Burke, Chris Wyatt, Christopher Yost, Paul Giacoppo

Supervising Producer: Joshua Fine

Music by Guy Michelmore

Edited by Steve Ingram

Casting by Jamie Simone

Storyboard Artist: Ben Jones

Visual Effects by Thomas D. Moser

Character Design Supervisor: Thomas Perkins

Character Designs by Brianne Drouhard, Walter Gatus

Featuring the Voices of:

Eric Loomis as Iron Man

Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Janet Van Dyne

Rick D. Wasserman as Thor

Wally Wingert as Ant-Man

Fred Tatasciore as The Hulk

Brian Bloom as Captain America

Chris Cox as Clint Barton

James C. Mathis III as Black PAnther

Phil LaMarr as Jarvis

Alex Desert as Nick Fury

Kari Wahlgren as Amora

Troy Baker as Clay Quartermain

Robin Atkin Downes as Baron Zemo

Jim ward as Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker

Vanessa Marshall as Black Widow

Gabriel Mann as Bruce Banner

Scott Menville as Bucky

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! Volume 1 includes episodes 1-7 plus an exclusive look at the evolving characters and storyline of Season 2, and The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! Volume 2 includes episodes 8-13 plus another exclusive sneak peek at Season 2 that reveals what makes the Marvel Super Heroes and Villains so unique.

Featuring your favorite animated Super Heroes – Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and The Hulk – The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! sees planet Earth threatened by Super Villains, time traveling conquerors, alien invaders, mythical beasts and rampaging robots — all bent on the total destruction of humanity. Unfortunately against these impossible odds, no individual hero has the power to save the world and just when all appears to be hopeless, the most skilled champions in the Marvel universe join forces to form the mightiest Super Hero team in history. The Avengers come to the rescue when the fate of the world rests on their shoulders.

The animated series debuted on Disney’s XD as a 20-episode micro series episodes in September and full-length episodes in October 2010 and a total of 52-episodes have been planned thus far to air on television. Meanwhile, the first 13 episodes of the first season have been released on DVD in two separate volumes (vol 1 features episodes 1-7 and vol. 2 features episodes 8-13).

“The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” consists of the following episodes. Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode:

VOL. 1

EPISODE 1: Iron Man is Born! – Iron Man takes on Hydra to find out that Stark technology has been stolen by HYDRA and possibly modified from the technology he sold to S.H.I.E.L.D.
EPISODE 2: Thor the Mighty – Thor vs. the Wrecking Crew
EPISODE 3: Hulk Versus the World – The military wants to put a stop to the Hulk and Hawkeye and Black Widow are sent to stop him.
EPISODE 4: Meet Captain America – A classic story about Captain America and Bucky vs. the Red Skull and Baron von Strucker.
EPISODE 5: The Man in the Ant Hill – A story about the superhero couple, Ant-Man and the Wasp.
EPISODE 6: Breakout, Part 1 – Villains have escaped from the four supervillain prisons and the only way they can be stopped is if Earth’s mightiest super heroes work together but will they?
EPISODE 7: Breakout, Part 2 – Part two as the super heroes of Earth must band together to stop the evil super villains, especially the evil Graviton.

VOL. 2

EPISODE 8: Some Assembly Required – With the success of the super heroes working together, will they take Iron Man’s suggestion that they form a group?
EPISODE 9: Living Legend – The living legend from the past, Captain America, has been discovered.
EPISODE 10: Everything Is Wonderful – Simon Williams (Wonder Man) is not so appreciative that Tony Stark has bought his company and now he wants revenge.
EPISODE 11: Panther’s Quest – The Black Panther goes to the Avengers for help to defeat the Man-Ape.
EPISODE 12: Gamma World, Part 1 – Leader tries to create a new Gamma monster, meanwhile Hawkeye confronts Black Widow.
EPISODE 13: Gamma World, Part 2 – The Leader turns the Avengers into Gamma Monsters.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

Subtitle are presented in English SDH and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” features the following special features on each disc:

VOLUME 1

New Looks, New Heroes – (7:33) Featuring the Chris Yost (Story Editor) and Josh Fine (Supervising Editor) discussing the previous and new characters and new look for the series.

VOLUME 2

Season 2 Sneaks: New Stories, New Threats – (5:59) Featuring the Chris Yost (Story Editor) and Josh Fine (Supervising Editor) discussing what is in store for season 2 of “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”.

Recently, I made a big decision to part from my collection of “Avengers”.

For me, “The Avengers” is all about Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, the Wasp, Ant-Man/Giant Man and throw in Hawkeye, Black Panther, Ms. Marvel, Mockingbird, The Vision and the Scarlett Witch (many of these characters are confirmed for season 2) and I’m thrilled! This is how it should have been before and the fact that you have people who were passionate about the original work and utilizing them for a new generation of Marvel fans is fantastic!

I loved how vol. 1 focused on each character as a solo superhero and then gradually brought them together as a group and then to see how these individuals now having to function as a team versus than being alone was pretty fun to watch. Once again, capturing the essence of the original comic book series in animated format. Sure, the storyline may be a bit different but the soul of “The Avengers” is captured in “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”.

And while I felt that the release of volume 1 and 2 were entertaining, if there was one negative that some fans may have a problem with, is that some people may wonder why “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” were released as two volumes as opposed to one season one volume featuring two DVD’s. But considering both volumes are under $15 each, you can’t complain as you do get seven episodes in vol. 1 and six episodes in vol. 2.

As for special features, each disc does come with one feature and it would have great to have more but considering that previous Marvel releases never came with special features, I suppose we are fortunate that we get one per disc.

But so far, I am enjoying the series, also to see how many superheroes and villains they are bringing from the Marvel universe to this animated series for the first 13 episodes alone and both Chris Yost (Story Editor) and Josh Fine (Supervising Editor) plan on introducing more members to the roster and also bringing in more characters and super villains as well.

“The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” vol. 1 and 2 are definitely recommended!

Filed Under: Children's DVD/Blu-ray, DVD Reviews

Iron Man – The Complete 1994 Animated Television Series (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

April 30, 2010 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

For those nostalgic for the old school 1994-1996 “Iron Man” animated series, you’ll be happy with this release! Featuring many of characters from the Marvel Universe and all two seasons (26-episodes) are included in this DVD set.

Images courtesy of © MARVEL, X-MEN and all related characters and their distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc. and are used with permission.© Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: Iron Man – The Complete 1994 Animated Television Series (Marvel DVD Comic Book Collection)

DURATION: 26 Episodes – 572 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: English, Dolby 2.0 Stereo, Fullscreen (1:33:1), French and Spanish Language Tracks, French and Spanish Subtitles

COMPANY: Marvel Entertainment Group/Buena Vista Home Entertainment

RATED: TV Y7 FV

RELEASE DATE: May 4, 2010

Starring:

Robert Hays as Iron Man

John Reilly as Hawkeye

Jennifer Hale/Casie Defranco as Julia Carpenter

Ed Gilbert as the The Mandarin

Katherine Moffat as Scarlet Witch

Jim Cummings as M.O.D.O.L

Dorian Harewood/James Avery as War Machine

James Warwick as Century

tony Steedman as Justin Hammer

Neil Dicson as Dreadknight

Chuck McCann as Blizzard

Neil Ross as Fin Fang Foom

From Stan Lee comes Marvel’s complete 1994 animated television series, Iron Man. Experience every thrilling moment – from the very first episode, to the final climactic battle – in this 3-disc collector’s edition. Witness the action-packed adventure from the very beginning as billionaire inventor Tony Stark dons his invincible suit of iron to battle the villainous Mandarin and the power of his ten deadly rings.

With fellow super heroes Nick Fury, War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Spider Woman and Hawkeye at his side, Iron Man faces off against a band of evil foes, including Whiplash…and confronts his own demons, as well. Go behind the armor and get to know the man under the powered suit. This complete Iron Man collection is a must-have for fans of all ages !

Search Party

The End of Iron Man?

Ultimo!

Iron Man to the Rescue!

The “Iron Man” comic book series has been a strong part of the Marvel Universe. Originally created by Stan Lee and debuting in Tales of Suspense #39 back in 1963,the series revolved around the playboy and industrial millionaire Tony Stark who suffered a severe heart injury during a kidnapping. Keeping him alive was a device connected to his heart and being the master inventor that he is, creates a suit of armor to help keep him alive but also to become the super hero known as Iron Man.

The character continues to be a popular and within the last four decades since his character debut, Iron Man has gone through various uniforms with one given to his best friend James Rhodes who would go on to become War Machine. And with the resurgence of comic book collecting in the early ’90s, Marvel capitalized the opportunity by releasing new animated series.

And in 1994, the Marvel Action Hour was born. “Iron Man” aired from 1994-1996 in syndication along with “The Fantastic Four” and also had a popular toy line to go along with the animated series. Although the episodes have been shown on television, the complete 1994 animated television series (featuring both seasons) for “Iron Man” will now be released on DVD via a 3-disc DVD set.

The first season of the “Iron Man” animated series was quite different from the comic book series as it featured Iron Man taking on the Mandarin and his group of villains which include Dreadknight, Blizzard, Blacklash, Grey Gargoyle, Hypnotia, Whirlwind, Living Laser, MODOK, Fin Fang Foom and Justin Hammer. Joining Iron Man in the battle are his fellow Force Works team (ala remnants of the West Coast Avengers) featuring Century, War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and Spider Woman. By the second season, there was a connection to the comic book series with the inclusion of “The Armor Wars” storyline.

Here is a brief summary of the episodes included in “Iron Man – The Complete 1994 Animated Television Series”:

DISC: 1

EPISODE 1 – And the Sea Shall Give Up It’s Dead – The Mandarin creates an army of zombies to conquer the world. Can Iron Man and friends defeat Mandarin and his group of enemies?
EPISODE 2 – Rejoice! I Am Ultimo, Thy Deliverer – The Mandarin and MODOK resurrects Ultimo.
EPISODE 3 – Data In, Chaos Out – What happens when the Mandarin steals and reprograms Tony Stark’s military and communication satellites.
EPISODE 4 – Silence My Companion, Death My Destination – Elastika kidnaps Julia Carpenter’s daughter Rachel.
EPISODE 5 – The Grim Reaper Wears a Teflon Coat – Mandarin’s group steals the super fighter bomber jet, the Grim Reaper.
EPISODE 6 – Enemy Without, Enemy Within – Mandarin’s group of enemies kidnaps a model and Iron Man and friends must rescue her.
EPISODE 7 – Origin of the Mandarin – A video is found featuring the origin of the Mandarin.
EPISODE 8 – The Defection of Hawkeye – Is Hawkeye helping the Mandarin?

DISC 2:

EPISODE 9 – Iron Man to the Second Power, Part 1 - MODOK creates an Iron Man double.
EPISODE 10 – Iron Man to the Second Power, Part 2 – Iron Man vs. his double.
EPISODE 11 – The Origin of Iron Man, Part 1 – Iron Man is trapped in the arctic, while alone and freezing, Tony Stark remembers how he became Iron Man.
EPISODE 12 – The Origin of Iron Man, Part 2 – Tony Stark continues to reminisce of his past, meanwhile Force Works tries to find him before the Mandarin and Fin Fang Foom gets to him.
EPISODE 13 – The Wedding of Iron Man – The Mandarin and Justin Hammer think that Tony Stark may be Iron Man.
EPISODE 14 - The Beast Within – The Mandarin tries to steal Tony Stark’s armor.
EPISODE 15 – Fire and Rain – Iron Man takes on Firebrand.
EPISODE 16 – Cell of Iron – A.I.M. has gone forward with terrorist attacks and now Iron Man must stop them.
EPISODE 17 – Not Far From the Tree – Tony Stark intercepts a plea of help from his father but Tony thought his father is dead.

DISC 3:

EPISODE 18 – Beauty Knows No Pain – Workers in Egypt have been kidnapped by Madame Masque and Maggia.
EPISODE 19 – Iron Man, On the Inside – ULTIMO and H.O.M.E.R. are back!
EPISODE 20 – Distant Boundaries – Iron Man and War Machine embark towards the planet Elysian.
EPISODE 21 – The Armor Wars, Part 1 – Iron Man tries to stop a coup in Russia started by Crimson Dynamo but Iron Man is blamed when people are injured.
EPISODE 22 – The Armor Wars, Part 2 – Iron Man takes on his former teammate Hawkeye.
EPISODE 23 – Hulk Buster – The Leader has found two of the Mandarin’s rings and Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk get pulled into a time rift.
EPISODE 24 – Empowered – MODOK locates one of Mandarin’s power rings.
EPISODE 25 – Hands of the Mandarin, Part 1 – The Mandarin has reunited with all ten of his rings and now wants to take over the world.
EPISODE 26 – Hands of the Mandarin, Part 2 – Iron Man and the Force Works try to stop the Mandarin.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Iron Man – The Complete 1994 Animated Television Series” is presented in full screen (1:33:1). It’s important to note that a lot of animation created in the ’90s don’t hold up as well in terms of picture quality. I’ve always felt that the Marvel animated series from the early ’80s had more detail when it came to artistic backgrounds and even the characters themselves. But for the most part, the animation is fine but for those with larger television sets, the edge enhancement is quite apparent as well as interlacing. Although, I was watching this on a 51″, I switched to a smaller screen and on smaller screens, things looked better but the interlacing is still noticeable.

But it’s important to remind people that this is an animated series that is over 15-years-old and it was the first Marvel animated series to also sport CG. Although, the CG is quite dated by today’s standards.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. The sound effects are fine and the dialogue is clear. I preferred to have my receiver settings set at stereo on all channels for a more immersive soundscape but for the most part, there are no issues with audio.

Subtitles are in English SDH.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

There are no special features included.

EXTRAS:

“Iron Man – The Complete 1994 Animated Television Series” comes with a slip cover.

It’s great to see “Iron Man” the animated series finally being released on DVD. As a big fan of Iron Man especially enjoying and collecting the comic books for many years, it’s great to see the character receiving some love by fans especially since the first live action film had done so well.

When the “Iron Man” animated series was released in 1994, I have to admit that although I enjoyed the character and the comic book series, I didn’t like the enemies presented in the animated series at all. To have Mandarin being this leader of evil (like Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants) just didn’t seem right. Also, to see A.I.M. leader MODOK working for Mandarin also seemed a bit out of place.

But when the series was on television, one of the major reasons I was staying tuned to the series was that the characters of the West Coast Avengers (Force Works) were in the series. When the X-Men animated series was released two years earlier, I was wanting an Avengers series (which would eventually happen but several years later), so this “Iron Man” animated series was the best thing at that time.

I felt that the first season of “Iron Man” was a bit hokey but by the second season things started to get better. Especially with the inclusion of the Armor Wars and also showcasing the Hulk Buster armor (it’s important to note that the “Hulk Buster” episode was connected to the Incredible Hulk animated series in 1996 but the animated series has not yet been released on DVD).

As for the DVD itself, it’s great to see all episodes from both seasons on DVD. I guess it has been so long since I have seen the episodes that I was a bit shocked by the edge enhancement and interlacing but I suppose considering the age of the series, this is probably the best we will see of these older animated series.

Overall, “Iron Man – The Complete 1994 Animated Television Series” was great for nostalgic sake and for hardcore Iron Man fans, if you enjoyed the animated series between 1994-1996, then definitely give this DVD a chance!

Filed Under: Children's DVD/Blu-ray, DVD Reviews

IRON MAN (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

November 6, 2008 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“For comic book fans who have been waiting for a film on the Invincible Iron Man, this film definitely delivers with a lot of action, cool special effects and also a very awesome performance by Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark.”

BUY THIS DVD | Netflix Delivers DVDs to your home. NO LATE FEES. Try for FREE!

FILM: IRON MAN

COMPANY: Paramount

DVD INFORMATION: Color, Subtitled, NTSC, Widescreen

RATED: PG-13

DURATION: 125 minutes

Screenplay by Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcom, Matt Holloway

Directed by Jon Favreau

Executive Producers: Louis Desposito, Peter Billingsley, Jon Favreau, Ari Aradm Stan Lee David Maisel

Producer: Avi Arad, Kevin Fege

Editor: Asim Nuraney

Music: Ramin Djawadi

Director of Photography: Matthew Libatique

STARRING:

Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow

Suit up for Action with Robert Downey Jr. in the ultimate adventure movie you’ve been waiting for, Iron Man! When jet-setting genius-industrialist Tony Stark is captured in enemy territory, he builds a high-tech suit of armor to escape. Now, he’s on a mission to save the world as a hero who’s built, not born, to be unlike any other. Co-starring Gwynneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges, it’s a fantastic, high-flying journey that is “hugely entertaining” (Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal).

I’ve been a big fan of the Iron Man comic book series for such a long time and from the “Tales of Suspense” comic books, as a young child, I would always be into the “Avengers” and even be this happy child with his “Secret Wars” Iron Man toy.

Years before “IRON MAN” became a movie, I’ve always pictured Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. He had the look and even back then with Downey Jr.’s personal life, there is some instances that mirror Tony Stark’s challenges in the comic books. So, suffice to say that I was quite happy with him being cast for the film.

As for the the film, I had no doubt in my mind that “IRON MAN” would be a blockbuster hit in the Summer but I purposely waited for it to come out on DVD, so I can watch it on my own personal home theater and watch it with no distractions.

This film focuses on Tony Stark, the millionaire who runs Stark Industries which creates weapons for the military but while on a meeting to the Middle East, Stark’s military escort are gun down and eventually the suave millionaire gets caught in a blast (from weapons created by his company), next thing you know, Stark is being operated on and being held by prisoner by terrorists.

While under captivity, Stark creates his first Iron Man uniform and uses it to escape his captors. Upon returning back to America, Stark’s perspective of the world and his company has changed. Also, his goal to develop a more technologically advanced mobile suit armor becomes his obsession and leads him to take on the terrorist who have been using his companies weapons for evil but most of all prepare for the lies and deceptions that await him.

AUDIO & VIDEO:

The version that I am reviewing is the regular widescreen DVD, not the awesome Blu-ray version packed with a lot of extras. But the audio for this version is Dolby Digital 5.1 and video is widescreen enhanced for 16:9 TV’s.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

This “IRON MAN” DVD version features deleted and extended scenes. Deleted scenes that I’m glad the director chose to eliminate from the final cut of the film.

There are three versions of this release on DVD/Blu-Ray. This version is the single disc version, the double disc version features many featurettes including a 108-minute documentary, a six part documentary and more. The Blu-ray version has received almost perfect stars for its amount of content and BD-Live. So, if you have a Blu-ray player, the Blu-ray version of “IRON MAN” is what is recommended.

After watching it, I definitely enjoyed the film but like any superhero film, as the first film always focuses on the origin, this series will be judged on its continuing storylines. Similar to like the “X-Men”, “Spider-Man” and the “Fantastic Four” films, there is always the “origin” that not many people are too enthusiastic about and want to see more battles.

Fortunately, “Iron Man”did offer quite a bit of kick as battles but I loved the scene where Iron Man just rescues a village being terrorized by the enemies.

Again, Robert Downey Jr. did a great job as Tony Star, Jeff Bridges as Obidiah Stane was pretty good. As for Terrence Howard’s James Rhodes… it was OK but I was expecting more of a no-nonsense Rhodes. But with Don Cheadle replacing Howard for the next film, I hope that Cheadle can bring the attitude especially if he’s going to be War Machine.

But definitely enjoyed this film. With “IRON MAN”, unlike any other top tier Marvel superheroes, Robert Downey Jr. has a lot of inner demons to contend with and is such a complex character. For the comic series, the alcoholism consumed him and I’m curious to see if it happens in the films. It will definitely be interesting to see how his character is explored and what new Iron Man outfit we will see him sporting next Silver Centurion Iron Man? Maybe even see some Hulkbuster or Thorbuster? Who knows. And of course, there is James Rhodes as War Machine and I look forward in seeing that character come to play in the films.

But all in all, “IRON MAN” was an enjoyable film for the first version. A lot of action, special effects but definitely would like to see where they go with the characters in the next upcoming film.

All in all, a very cool movie and enjoyed it so much, now I’m going to have to pick up the Blu-ray ultimate edition next!

BUY THIS DVD | Netflix Delivers DVDs to your home. NO LATE FEES. Try for FREE!

Filed Under: DVD Reviews

MARVEL COLLECTOR’S EDITION VOL. 1 – COMIC BOOK LIBRARY (a J!-ENT Digital Comics Review)

August 31, 2008 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“With GIT Corp. no longer releasing the Marvel comic collections on DVD and Marvel now creating their own digital comics portal online, all the GIT Corp. Marvel DVD collections are becoming highly sought after and prices are going through the roof. But this certain collection, you can find online under $10 and it’s totally worth it!”

BOOK: MARVEL COLLECTOR’S EDITION VOL. 1 – COMIC BOOK LIBRARY

COMPANY: MARVEL COMICS/GIT CORP

Stan Lee Presents X-Men, Spider-Man, Daredevil, The Hulk.

Before they were movies, they were Marvel. And now with the Marvel Comic Book Library, you can relive the first 10 adventures of 10 classic Marvel characters on one super-powered CD-Rom. 100 complete comic books with character bios and 3 bonus comics highlight the debut and subsequent storylines of the most famous band of heroes. Also including The Fantastic Four, Captain America, Avengers, The Sub-Mariner, Iron Man and Silver Surfer.

Their first 10 stories including their debut issue!

Spider-Man (1962), The Incredible Hulk (1962), Daredevil (1964), X-Men (1975), Fantastic Four (1961), Captain America (1964), Avengers (1963), Namor the Sub-Mariner (1962), Iron Man (1963) and Silver Surfer (1966).

When it was announced that Marvel would create their own digital comics online site (pay a monthly fee), that was the nail in the coffin for GIT Corp’s popular Marvel Complete Collection.

These collections featured the complete collection from issue 1 up to their issues in 2006, including annuals digitally via Lizardtech Software’s DJVU software and Acrobat Reader (in later versions).

And now, these collector’s DVD-Rom’s have skyrocketed in price because GIT Corp. are unable to sell them anymore and with a lot of these films being released in theaters, people have interest in the classics.

Fortunately, “MARVEL COLLECTOR’S EDITION VOL. 1 – COMIC BOOK LIBRARY” is the cheaper of the Marvel releases which people can find online for under $10.

But as a fan of the classic comic book series (and having quite a large collection of comic books that I’ve had since I was a kid up to my college years), to obtain the classics, you would either read them via tradepaperback, re-release issues or what you read from your library when you were much younger.

And if you want to read a lot of these, you would have to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars if you were hardcore. Sure, now you can read them online from Marvel’s website which cost a monthly fee and you read them online.

But with GIT Corp. CD’s, you can read them without having to go online. Everything was on one DVD and it was so convenient. I literally just lay back on my bed, grab by laptop and just read these issues.

Around 2003, GIT Corp. released this collection featuring the first 10 issues of major comic book titles from Marvel.

Avengers Issues – #1-10
Captain America/Tales of Suspense – Issues #59-68
Daredevil – Issues #1-10
Fantastic Four – Issues #1-10
The Incredible Hulk – Issues #1-6 and Tales to Astonish – Issues 60-63
The Invincible Iron Man – Tales of Suspense – Issues #39-48
Silver Surfer – Issues #1-10
The Amazing Spider-Man – Issues #1-9 and Amazing Fantasy – Issue #15
Sub Mariner/Tales to Astonish – Issues #70-79
X-Men Issues #94-102 and Giant-Size X-Men Issue 1

You get a lot of issues, 100 comics and again, you can find this collection for under $10. That’s awesome!

To access the DVD on your PC or Mac, you need to install the viewing software included on the DVD. Then you will need to have Internet Explorer (sorry, this DVD is older and doesn’t not utilize Safari or Firefox and other browsers). You will see an HTML of all characters (as shown above) and when you click on the character, you will see the comic book covers.

By clicking on the comic covers, you will then access the software which displays the comic page. On the left hand side, you can click on the page you want to read or use the arrows above. Interesting thing is you can read the comics in black or white, see how it looks without the color and then of course, normally.

There are no ads or letter to the editor, Stan’s Soap Box or anything like that in this collection (many people requested for those to be included and they were in later comic collection versions).

The pages do have a Marvel Comics watermark in the bottom corner and if you want to print the pages out, you have that ability.

Now, I had no problems installing and viewing everything on an XP machine. It worked on my PC Laptop just fine. But as for my newer Mac, this is where things got a little problematic.

There is no Internet Explorer for newer Mac’s. Microsoft stopped making a browser for it years ago and you can’t use Firefox, Safari, Opera, Camino, etc. And the software included is dated. So, I had to go to Lizard Tech’s Website and download the latest viewing software (note: version 4.0 is included on the DVD but the latest version for the Mac is 6.3).

Then I would have to open up the disc via the finder and go to each comic book file folder and right click to open the comic via the software. So, in other words, I had to open things up manually.

Granted, it’s not difficult but if you are not computer savvy, I can see this being problematic.

But outside of that, everything worked very well.

You really can’t beat this collection. 10 comic books of each major character. And the fact that “Daredevil” and “Sub-Mariner” will no longer be released as a collection, I highly recommend this collection.

Now granted, fans of the Mighty Thor or Ghost Rider will be wondering what about their characters and why they are not featured. I felt the same way but still for the price and for what is featured, it’s still worth the money.

My gosh, you can find this collection for $6-$10 online. The price is just so low these days for it while the other collections are going up in price (Iron Man which was $39.99 is sold for $139.99 these days).

Mac owners (especially with newer systems) may have some problems but again, if you are computer savvy, you shouldn’t have problems but if you’re not, then yeah, it will get frustrating. PC owners, should have no problems.

As for the free 3 free bonus comics, this is via subscription and I think this deal is way over. So, no need to even worry about that.

The bios for each character were quite cool to read and glad they included it on this collection.

To conclude the review, if you are a fan of the classic stories or interested in the original stories of these super heroes, this collection is worth it! Also, for the price, it’s good to check it out and see if it’s for you and if you are willing to shell out and get the other collections available.

100 classic digital comics of the top Marvel heroes for under $10. Can’t beat that! Definitely… highly recommended!

BUY THIS DIGITAL COMIC BOOK COLLECTION ON DVD TODAY!

Filed Under: Book Reviews