6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.2 |
As the heir to the billion-dollar corporation Stark International, Tony Stark lived a life of luxury, but everything went horribly wrong when a tragic accident robbed Tony of his father and nearly cost him his own life. Eager to honor the memory of his father, Tony now uses his suit of invincible armor and technical know-how to protect those who would also fall prey to tragedy, corruption and conspiracy!
Starring: Adrian Petriw, Daniel Bacon, Anna Cummer, Lisa Ann Beley, Vincent TongComic book | 100% |
Animation | 92% |
Adventure | 83% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The masterminds at Marvel Comics have long had their fingers on the pulse of the comics industry. Missteps aside -- "Heroes Reborn" anyone? The infamous Clone Saga? The "Acts of Vengeance" debacle? -- they've given their readers some of the finest characters to grace a paneled page, toy lines and collectibles that make some fanboys' basements look like tri-colored museums, and several well-conceived, wildly successful feature films. But the House of Ideas has failed to fully capitalize on animation. Oh, they've dabbled. They've produced six animated films in the last three years, but each one has drawn little more than mixed reactions. For two decades, they've delivered a variety of animated television shows, but few (if any) have earned the acclaim and praise awarded to DC Comics' best (Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League among them). Their latest, Iron Man: Armored Adventures, certainly isn't going to win any Emmys, but its alternate take of the now-popular Marvel mainstay offers enough exciting superheroics, flashy action sequences, and solid storylines to make it stand out from the pack.
Go, go gadget armor!
Iron Man: Armored Adventures is bright, colorful, and sharp; everything animation enthusiasts and fanboys of all ages would want from a Blu-ray release of Marvel's animated television series. Despite some palette variations and intentionally subdued primaries from episode to episode, blacks are deep and inky, lineart is crisp, repulsor blasts sear the screen, and the red and gold in Tony's armor pops. Unfortunately, Genius' 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer is tormented by rampant banding, obtrusive macroblocking, frequent aliasing, and other digital anomalies. The use of soft, overlay lighting effects is often the culprit, producing at-times garish stair-stepping that stretches across the entire image. However, even the simplest shots are plagued by artifacts of some sort or another. It doesn't help that fine facial lines tend to pixelate, drawing attention to the limitations of the comparatively low-budget CG production.
The Blu-ray presentation isn't quite as problematic as the HD television broadcast, but I generally had a hard time differentiating between the two. While I wasn't able to compare them shot for shot -- or for that matter, episode for episode -- both high definition presentations are undermined by the same, glaring technical issues. Suffice to say, it's a decent transfer; one that will please casual viewers but drive videophile insane.
Genius' DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is much more satisfying, imbuing Iron Man's superheroics with booming LFE support and crisp, clean dialogue. Though Tony's high school antics are chatty and altogether front-heavy, the soundscape comes alive every time he steps into a suit of armor. The series' unexpectedly bold, bombastic effects are peppered with sharp, stable wheens and sheens, granting climactic showdowns with Whiplash, Crimson Dynamo, and others all the necessary oomph they require. The rear speakers get a surprising workout as well. While simplistic by Hollywood standards, aggressive battlefield ambience and directional effects allow the sound designers to take advantage of the soundfield. Moreover, there aren't any distracting technical issues that suggest the audio could sound better. The few prioritization problems, immersion mishaps, and soundfield inconsistencies I noticed all trace back to the series' limited sound design, not Genius' lossless track. Ultimately, those who enjoy the show will be thrilled by the Blu-ray edition's involving sonics.
Genius hasn't cobbled together any supplemental features focused on the production of the show. Instead, four 30-second "Suit Profiles" introduce Tony's Iron Man suits, a three-minute "Rooney Music Video" offers an extended version of the series' theme song, and a "Super Hero Squad Show" promo gives a ragtag bunch of diminutive Marvel heroes the chance to take center stage. Fans will blow through everything on the disc in less than ten minutes (ten standard definition minutes, no less) and be left hungry for something... anything more.
Iron Man: Armored Adventures' first six episodes show legitimate promise and a thorough understanding of how to stage pulse-pounding clashes of superhero titans. But anyone who's been following its television broadcast knows that the show gets much better (particularly when the Mandarin becomes a more crucial character in the story), building on the series' strengths while minimizing its weaknesses with each passing episode. As a result, Genius' Volume 1 disc is merely an appetizer to a proper first season release. Unfortunately, the Blu-ray edition doesn't offer much more than an impressive DTS-HD Master Audio track. Its video transfer is decent but flawed, its supplemental package is nearly non-existent, and its price tag is a bit steep for the introductory arc of a much larger story. Decide accordingly.
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