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Synopsis: Billionaire Tony Stark, in his Iron Man armor, prevents an attack from a mysterious new foe, but innocent bystanders are killed, including his best friend War Machine, Lt. Colonel James Rhodes. Detained for questioning by S.H.I.E.L.D., Iron Man escapes, determined to find the mastermind behind the attack. Pursued by Black Widow and Hawkeye, Iron Man enlists the help of the ruthless vigilante The Punisher. But can the Armored Avenger handle what he finds when he catches the person responsible and is forced to face his deadliest weapon, a biotechnology called Technovore that could wipe out all life on the planet?

Languages: English (US) 5.1, French (Parisian) 5.1, Spanish (Latin Am) 5.1, Portuguese (Brazil) 5.1, Japanese 5.1, Thai 5.1
Subtitles: Chinese (Mandarin Traditional), English (US), French (Parisian), Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Latin Am), Thai
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 88 minutes

Blu-ray Special Features:
-Conceptual Art Gallery
-Tale of Technovore
-S.H.I.E.L.D: Protecting the World

DVD Special Features:
-Conceptual Art Gallery
-Tale of Technovore

Iron Man: Rise of Technovore Blu-ray Review
By James Harvey

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings Iron Man: Rise of Technovore to Blu-ray and DVD, giving fans a solid presentation and a small (but entertaining) batch of extras to go along with the main feature.

In terms of the audio and video presentation, Sony has given the film a stellar presentation. The audio quality is strong across the board, even across all three DTS-HA MA lossless tracks for the Japanese, English and French options. Dialogue is clean and clear, regardless of situation. Be it a heavy action sequence or a quieter moment, everything sounds clear with nothing distorted or muffled. In terms of video, the film looks pretty darn flawless with no noticeable color banding, ghosting, or any other type. The film’s intention washed out does result in the drop of details, and occasionally softness, but it all seems to be the result of the actual animation and not the film’s transfer. Everything just looks and sounds clean and clear.

In terms of bonus content, there’s a nice small helping of extras but nothing too major. A couple featurettes and a concept art gallery round out the extras packaged, along with the standard trailers of course. The first featurette gives a quick glimpse at the production behind the film, while the second brings the emphasis behind the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization, and how S.H.I.E.L.D. has become the cohesive glue which holds the Marvel Universe together. Both featurettes include a host of production artwork and brief interviews with assorted crew members behind both the film and Marvel Comics itself. Brandon Auman and Joe Quesada are just two of five or six creative folks interviews for these featurettes. The featurettes are pretty interesting and do offer some insight into the film’s production. Not really in-depth, a pale shade compared to the great featurettes on the Marvel Anime: Iron Man DVD set, for example, but there are some great nuggets to take away from them.

The packaging and menu breakdown is pretty standard for a Blu-ray release. The standard Blu-ray case is housed in a cardboard slipcover with a shiny, embossed finish. The menu is simply and laid out with an easy navigation strip along the bottom of the screen. Clips of the film run for its menu screen. All pretty simple and standard, but by no means cheap looking. It looks sleek, but not complicated.

The DVD release for Iron Man: Rise of Technovore is a good release in its own right. The standard definition transfer is good, save for some slight colorbanding. Nothing really noticeable, but it’ll pop up on occasion. The 5.1 Dolby Digital audio tracks are loud and boisterous, giving the film a fair shake through the speaker system. Extras are identical to the Blu-ray save for one exception – no concept art gallery. If for some reason you’re unable to pick up the Blu-ray, the DVD alternative is fine.

Overall, Iron Man: Rise of Technovore is a fine animated film with a respectable Blu-ray home video release (ditto for the DVD). Great audio, great video, a nice little helping of extras, it all comes together in a nice high-definition package. I still recommend this movie. It’s different and I guarantee it won’t be what anyone expects, but if you accept that going it, you might be pleasantly surprised.