Iron Man 3 3D Blu-ray Review

I loved Iron Man 3 when I saw it back in May. The film isn’t perfect by any means with lots of little inconsistencies that take you out of the film, but the movie didn’t deserve some of the poor reception it got from comic book fans. Now, four months later, everybody has calmed down and it’s time to revisit this film on Blu-ray. Not only did I enjoy the film more the second time but this Blu-ray has great bonus content which makes the Iron Man 3 Blu-ray one of the better Blu-rays of the year.

Many found Iron Man 3 disappointing in theaters, but I loved the film and found it to be an improvement the second time around. The inconsistencies are still there but I just found myself enjoying the movie more than I did in theaters. Maybe it’s the great performances, story, action, and dialogue but I just fell in love with this movie even more than I did in theaters which is a rarity for me. Iron Man 3 is just an all-around great sequel and a pretty good followup to The Avengers.

The film looks great on Blu-ray. The picture quality is crisp and clean with no real problems except the unfortunate large amount of letterbox. The sound is also bombastic and fills the room with that “pew” sound the Iron Man armor makes. The 3D presentation, on the other hand, is terrible. I had semi-high expectations for the 3D on the Blu-ray as The Avengers 3D Blu-ray had improved 3D over the theater experience but Iron Man 3’s Blu-ray 3D is just as forgettable and un-immersive as its IMAX 3D. Honestly, it’s like the film isn’t in 3D at all.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1Y3P9D0Bc[/youtube]

The special features on the Blu-ray are:

“Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter” (15 minutes) is one of the best Marvel One-Shots there is. Hayley Atwell returns to the role of Agent Carter from Captain America: The First Avenger in this One-Shot which takes place a year after Steve plunged into the water and involves Agent Carter going on a little mission. Not only is Atwell once again great in the role but this was just a really satisfying short and makes me wish there was more of 1940’s SHIELD. I highly recommend checking out this feature.

In the “Featurettes” section we have “Iron Man 3 Unmasked” (11 minutes) which is a lot of great behind the scenes footage of the film with solid interviews from the cast and crew. “Deconstructing the Scene: Attack on Air Force One” (9 minutes) is a cool behind the scenes look at the creation of the great Air Force One sky diving scene in the film. I would’ve liked some footage of the scenes inside Air Force One and not just the sky diving section, but this is still an interesting piece and you really get a sense of the hard work that goes into a minute long scene of this film. Finally, we get an “Exclusive Behind the Scenes Look – Thor: The Dark World” (2 minutes). Thor: The Dark World is one of my most anticipated movies of the year and we get two minutes worth of interviews and even some behind the scenes footage of the film. It’s a pretty cool feature and very nice to have on the Iron Man 3 Blu-ray. All around great features in the “Featurettes” section.

In the “Deleted & Extended Scenes” section we get 16 minutes of new footage from the film. These scenes are awesome. Not only is it just more Iron Man 3 but they are great scenes from Iron Man 3. One of them kind of clears up one of the inconsistencies in the film while the others range from satisfying to funny. Definitely check these out.

The “Gag Reel” (5 minutes), while fun to watch, isn’t anything too great mainly because the “Deleted & Extended Scenes” were just so awesome. Still worth watching.

Finally, the commentary by co-writer Drew Pearce and co-writer/director Shane Black is pretty entertaining. These guys were pretty funny and overall entertaining to listen to. They give off lots of interesting facts and make fun of the fact that they comment on how great everybody is (which happens in EVERY commentary).

Overall, the bonus features for Iron Man 3 are fantastic. The One-Shot and deleted scenes were awesome and the featurettes and the commentary gave off lots of great info. These features are well worth checking out if you’re a fan of the film.

THE VERDICT

If it wasn’t for the pathetic 3D presentation and a few nitpicks, Iron Man 3 would be a near perfect Blu-ray. The bonus features were fantastic and the picture quality was great (except for that god-awful 3D). Fans of the film will be definitely pleased with the Blu-ray and shouldn’t hesitate to pick up a copy.

For reviews and more from me, Petey Oneto, you can check out my blog but be sure to check back to Resident Entertainment for more of my posts in the future.