The Iron Man Movie (no spoilers)

Cafe Society
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[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
Yeh . . . So you’ve got your “arc reactor” as a black-box power source, but where are you getting your reaction mass?! I don’t see no rocket-fuel tanks on that suit!
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I’m not a comic book geek, but I thought all Iron Man’s flight was achieved with “repulsor rays”. Nice bit of imaginary science; too bad they’re not real. But if you had them, I guess all you’d need is a source of power to keep flying as long as you like.

Comic book stories take place in a different universe with entertainingly different physics; not much point in nitpicking them.

ETA: Isn’t that Hoppy, not Happy?

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[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
And on what planet is Paltrow supposed to be anything but average looking? The early scene when she’s onscreen with Downey Jr’s conquest, some average hot chick, she looks like a troll in comparison. Not hot, not even if she were just some chick working as a receptionist, but Downey Jr is awesome and I’m glad to see him bounce back in a big way- he’s a real talent.
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I’ve looked into it, and apparently there are factors other than looks that influence attraction between people.

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[QUOTE=Baldwin]
I’ve looked into it, and apparently there are factors other than looks that influence attraction between people.
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Thank Jebus, or I’d never get laid.

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[QUOTE=Baldwin]
I’ve looked into it, and apparently there are factors other than looks that influence attraction between people.
[/QUOTE]

I’m not talking about looks as far as the actual world of Tony Stark, I’m talking about you have a blockbuster summer action movie, its tradition to get someone attractive to play the female lead. Those roles generally don’t get cast for acting ability, which is why you don’t see Helen Mirren as a Bond girl. Plus Paltrow is not a great actress anyway, contrary to popular opinion- her wooden acting nearly ruined Sky Captain, among others.

But she’d be ideal if they ever remake Sarah Plain and Tall. What’s that old English rhyme- Gwyneth Platrow is so refined, she has no bosom and no behind?

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[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
While I wish the ending battle scene would have gone on longer, probably the best superhero flick I’ve seen. And on what planet is Paltrow supposed to be anything but average looking? The early scene when she’s onscreen with Downey Jr’s conquest, some average hot chick, she looks like a troll in comparison.
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My boyfriend would very, very, very much disagree with you.

[Quote=squeegee]
That’s funny – I thought Leslie Bibb was not very attractive in the movie – she looked like a dress dummy in a store window – artificial, not sexy. Paltrow looked like ‘real’ by comparison
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Yes, this. When Bibb showed up on screen, I thought “who is this unspeakeably botoxed-implanted horror?” I was glad to see little of her in the film, she squicked me out.

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[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
I’m not talking about looks as far as the actual world of Tony Stark, I’m talking about you have a blockbuster summer action movie, its tradition to get someone attractive to play the female lead.
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Besides the fact that I think Paltrow IS attractive, she has more than that going for her. She’s a smart, sweet, genuinely nice and likable person, and that shines through in this role. She has a subtle charisma that works well with Downey’s more blatant charisma. Like Downey, she’s older than the typical superhero-movie female lead, which lends more experience to her role as a super high-level Executive Assistant. Tradition be damned. Iron Man already broke with tradition by casting Downey. They did well in their choice of Pepper too.

[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
Those roles generally don’t get cast for acting ability, which is why you don’t see Helen Mirren as a Bond girl. Plus Paltrow is not a great actress anyway, contrary to popular opinion-
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Uh, Mirren could well have played a Bond Girl in her beautious youth, had the filmmakers had an ounce of sense. She was (and still is) a knockout. And though Paltrow has had trouble getting the roles she deserves, she also has a not-undeserved Best Actress Oscar for Shakespeare In Love. Btw, I say that (“not-undeserved”) as someone who was NOT rooting for her to win and was disappointed by her win. I still think Cate Blanchett or Fernanda Montenegro should have gotten that Oscar (or even Emily or maybe even Meryl though I haven’t seen that movie), but what I’m saying is that even though I personally believe that others deserved the Oscar more, Paltrow didn’t not deserve it. She was luminous, beautiful and wonderful in SiL.) No, she’s not a “great” actress. Paltrow is no Emily Watson or Cate Blanchett, but few are, few are.

[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
her wooden acting nearly ruined Sky Captain, among others.

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I can’t defend that role, but I think there were other factors that came into play. That movie should have been brilliant, but something went wrong, and it, IMO, just turned out interesting and beautiful-looking, but not brilliant. Blame the script perhaps, and/or the newbie writer/director, but it’s not all Paltrow’s fault.

In any case, I was delighted to see her in Iron Man and I’m glad that, for the most part, she’s getting compliments. I’ll look forward to seeing her in the sequels.

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[QUOTE=Jophiel]
If we’re into asking silly nitpicky stuff, doesn’t Stark’s house have an alarm or anything? Even if I give allowance to people using the front door (maybe he just didn’t set the alarm)…
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Jarvis is far too sophisticated to need a siren. :wink:

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Paul Bettany provided the AI’s voice, BTW. Didn’t realize that until I checked IMDb.com.

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Some spoilers ahead, if anyone is still worried about that:

[QUOTE=bubastis]
I’d buy it, well, as much as I bought anything else. the arc would be as powerful as a heartbeat, it would just be kept, eh, ticking by the heart.
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Yeah, but a heartbeat is pretty plainly not that powerful. It produces enough energy to pump blood through a body. It clearly does not produce enough energy to allow someone to tear apart a tank with their hands, as evidenced by the fact that we cannot tear apart a tank with our hands.

No kidding. :wink:

In the movie, it’s explained that the shrapnel is barbed, and so can’t be removed without damaging his heart. Kind of a BS explanation, but they do address it.

I don’t see that as a problem. Quite the opposite: it’s not the suit that makes Tony Stark a superhero. It’s what he does with the suit.

But that just exacerbates the “anyone can be Iron Man” problem. If there’s an alternative power source to the Iron Man suit, then why bother with the arc reactor in the first place? By making the power source to the suit this bit of technology that only Tony Stark knows how to make, it makes it impossible for anyone else to start mass producing power armor. If Stane had figured out a different way to power his suit, then anyone else can figure out how to do it, as well, and anyone who’s got enough money can build themselves an Iron Man suit.

And even if you do somehow tie the reactor to the biology of the person wearing the suit, that still doesn’t remove the proliferation problem, it just means that someone who wants to steal the Iron Man technology needs to have cybernetic surgery before hand. More difficult than simply popping it into a slot on the armor, but hardly insurmountable.

150

[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer]
I was torn. In one scene I’d think, “Yes, I will take her into my harem once I am god-king of Earth.” In the next I’d think, “Well, not so much.”

Mrs. Rhymer would like to add that she enjoyed the stretch of naked, strategically draped Bibb the morning after.
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I think she actually looked sexiest when she was being a dutiful journalist, angrily pressing Tony with inconvenient questions.

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I liked also the way that Stark wasn’t ridiculously muscled or toned. Sure, Downey looked in good shape… Millionaire playboy shape, the kind of body condition you get into when you excercise as much as you’re FORCED to by your gorgeous-but-pushy personal trainer, who you then bone.

My version of the arc-reactor/ heartbeat combo works so well in my head, but I’m just going to stop talking about it now.

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I liked also the way that Stark wasn’t ridiculously muscled or toned. Sure, Downey looked in good shape… Millionaire playboy shape, the kind of body condition you get into when you excercise as much as you’re FORCED to by your gorgeous-but-pushy personal trainer, who you then bone.

My version of the arc-reactor/ heartbeat combo works so well in my head, but I’m just going to stop talking about it now.
Oh, and yeah!

One thing that bugged the hell out of me!
Starks goatee beard! At times he looked less like Tony Stark and more like Tony Wonder.

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[QUOTE=bubastis]

Starks goatee beard! At times he looked less like Tony Stark and more like Tony Wonder.
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Wow, you just appeared in that cloud of smoke and the door over there mysteriously opened!

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SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

After seeing it again, my nitpick is that I would’ve preferred IM winning the ending battle on skill, instead of a deus ex machina (kinda sorta) type ending, albeit one where the device was there form the outset. Its the first time I can recall a film where the superhero is totally outmatched as well, although I’m sure I’ve read many comics where that’s the case. It could be argued that this was IM’s first time battling a superfoe, but still, I would’ve rather he won by using superpowers.

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I felt about the same. I figured, following the usual “Hero fights Villian, Hero loses/fights to a draw, Hero refights Villian & wins” scenario that we’d see Ironman pull a strategic retreat with his 20% battery-thingie and then come back with it replaced and fight at 100% or something. No such luck – only one fight with the real bad guy.

156

I liked the ending with Tony’s smarts, in learning from his problem in flight, winning over Iron Monger’s brute strength. Iron Man’s big advantage is that Tony is smarter than any of his foes. I fully agree that I wanted the final battle to be longer, but I enjoyed what was there, especially Iron Monger climbing thru the ground to tell Pepper “your services are no longer required”.

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Can anyone tell me the line that Scary Arab Dude Who Kidnapped Tony Stark (hereafter refered to as SADWKTS) said to Iron Monger when they met in SADWKT’s camp? It was when Iron Monger and SADWKTS were talking before they went into the tent to look at the armor. It was something about a prince.

Thanks in advance.

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[QUOTE=Reepicheep]
Can anyone tell me the line that Scary Arab Dude Who Kidnapped Tony Stark (hereafter refered to as SADWKTS) said to Iron Monger when they met in SADWKT’s camp? It was when Iron Monger and SADWKTS were talking before they went into the tent to look at the armor. It was something about a prince.

Thanks in advance.
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Something like “You offered us a tithing to kill a prince”, basically complaining that Iron Monger didn’t tell them the importance (and value) of the person they were being sent to kill, causing them to accept a lowball bid, if you will.

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Thank you Raguleader. That makes sense.

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[QUOTE=Raguleader]
Something like “You offered us a tithing to kill a prince”
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I heard it as “You offered us trinkets…”