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DVD Review: Iron Man - The Complete 1994 Animated Series
by R.J. Carter
Published: May 4, 2010
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Rating: 
Country: USA
Release Date: May 4, 2010
Distributor: Walt Disney
Cast:
· Robert Hays
· James Avery
Related Sites:
· IMDb: Iron Man (1994)
Grade: C+
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One thing about Disney's buyout of Marvel Comics -- they do know how to time their marketing. With "Iron Man 2" busting out in theaters all over this week, the Disney machine has collected all the episodes of the 1994 animated Iron Man television series -- with all the highs and lows that this era of Saturday morning broadcast had to offer.
Of course, the immediate plus to the series was that it gave fans a chance to see some of their favorite characters in animation, some for the very first time. Iron Man (voiced by Starman Robert Hays) isn't the sole focus of the series however, but rather the leader of a group of heroes called Force Works. With him on the team are his second in command, War Machine (Family Matters' James Avery), Hawkeye, Spider-Woman (the Julia Carpenter black-outfit version), Century, and a swimsuit-clad Scarlet Witch. Unfortunately, since this wasn't designed to be a team storyline, most of the characters are there just to fill screen: Hawkeye is played for a clown, Scarlet Witch's accent is annoying, and Century tends to have displays of power which, had they been employed earlier, might have negated entire fight scenes before they occurred.
Which just leaves War Machine and Spider-Woman, who take on the meatier roles of "best friend" and "love interest" (in that order).
On the opposite side of the field, we have the ever-inappropriately named face of evil, The Mandarin. Like Iron Man, the Mandarin does not set out on his "conquer the world" plan without a team of lackeys -- in this case Dreadknight, M.O.D.O.K. (voiced by veteran Jim Cummings), Blizzard, Blacklash, Grey Gargoyle, Whirlwind, Justin Hammer, and the mesmerizing Hypnotia (played by the equally mesmerizing Linda Holdahl). In some episodes, Mandarin will even call in his heavy hitters, Titanium Man and the space dragon known as Fin Fang Foom (sans pants).
With the characters -- and their static personalities -- on the board, the series played out very much like Iron He-Man and the Force Works of the Universe. Which is to say, for a Marvel superhero series, quite badly. The "Phantom of the Opera"-esque overture used for a theme song didn't help much, either, and the only innovation -- the insertion of obviously CGI-rendered animated clips showing Tony Stark's transformation into the hero -- was so jarring each time it was used that it became rather obvious it was just done to show off a cool toy of the animators. Fortunately, the sequence was quickly scrapped, and the theme song was soon after replaced with a more rock and roll version of "I am Iron Man" (although nothing at all like the Black Sabbath song).
Search Party: With Tony Stark down and trapped,
Force Works gets to rescue Iron Man for once. |
Gone also after a time was the Force Works team, with only Julia Carpenter staying behind as Tony's romantic anchor, sometimes playing the role of the damsel in distress as Iron Man and War Machine battled the bad guys. The Mandarin also was relegated to the shadows, apparently defeated with the dispersal of the ten rings that powered him, leaving Tony free to deal with other crises, like the "Armor Wars," a story adapted from the Iron Man comic books. During this period we also get to see him bust out the Hulkbuster armor when the gamma-enhanced villain, the Leader (voiced by Matt Frewer), gets his hands on two of the Mandarin's missing rings. Naturally, wherever the Leader goes, the Hulk will inevitably appear, and does (voiced by "Hellboy" actor Ron Perlman), pitting the Green Goliath against ol' shellhead in a time-hopping slobberknocker to save a lost Julia.
Of course, the writing never really got off the ground. And while it certainly improved (but not before the series was cancelled, after a reunion of Force Works against a returned Mandarin and friends), the series is still dragged down by episodes like "The Wedding of Iron Man" which finds Tony Stark marrying Julia Carpenter to draw out the Mandarin and "prove" that he's not Iron Man when the armored Avenger comes to the rescue of the bride and groom. The reveal -- that Julia was actually stepping down the aisle with a robot stand-in -- seemed a major cheat, especially after we'd been privy to the internal dialogue of the robot Tony in earlier scenes.
For the long-time Iron Man fans, this collection is still worth picking up, for the nostalgia aspect alone. There are, alas, no bonus features to be had on this three-disc set, which is always disappointing.
Previews on this release include "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and "When in Rome."
Iron Man
The Complete 1994 Animated Series |
| Disc 1 |
Disc 2 |
Disc 2 |
01. And The Sea Shall Give Up Its Dead
02. Rejoice! I Am Ultimo, Thy Deliverer
03. Data In Chaos Out
04. Silence My Companion, Death My Destination
05. The Grim Reaper Wears a Teflon Coat
06. Enemy Without, Enemy Within
07. The Origin of The Mandarin
08. The Defection of Hawkeye |
09. Iron Man to the Second Power [Part 1]
10. Iron Man to the Second Power [Part 2]
11. The Origin of Iron Man [Part 1]
12. The Origin of Iron Man [Part 2]
13. The Wedding of Iron Man
14. The Beast Within
15. Fire and Rain
16. Cell of Iron
17. Not Far From the Tree |
18. Beauty Knows No Pain
19. Iron Man, On the Inside
20. Distant Boundaries
21. The Armor Wars [Part 1]
22. The Armor Wars [Part 2]
23. Hulk Buster
24. Empowered
25. Hands of the Mandarin [Part 1]
26. Hands of the Mandarin [Part 2] |
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