Last month, our review of the Iron Man DVD, focused heavily on the story and whether or not it deserves to reign supreme over this summer’s Hollywood film blockbusters. Bouncing off this, I’d like to take the time to take an in-depth look at the 2-disc DVD extra features.

The making-of for the feature film is nothing short of fantastic. With a 2-hour running time it keeps the viewer entertained at all times with a real following of the film from its beginnings in a small office in the Marvel building to the final day of shooting and beyond into the editing room. There are contributions from all the major players, including Robert Downey Jr., and it makes Jon Favreau look like a master filmmaker which he very much so deserves.

There are some funny stories including how when the stunt man in the Mark I suit came out using flamethrowers he set his leg on fire by accident (without injury) with actual footage of the incident. That could be the best thing about these featurettes, instead of being the usual kind where those involved look back at their work, it’s presented as they were doing it, with the tests on the Iron Man suit and everything unscripted. It doesn’t come off as the usual made-for-tv promo documentaries where there is no fact and more gloss than substance.

In addition, there is a documentary about the history of the comics. It’s an hour long video that brings in all those who created and continued the various incarnations of Iron Man and Tony Stark. The artwork that is presented is highly detailed and does a great job in making this character stand out as one of the best Marvel super heroes.

The rest of the extras are made up of extended/deleted scenes, plus the original Robert Downey Jr. screen-tests for the role of Tony Stark, and finally a rehearsal scene between Downey Jr. and Jeff Bridges. For those TV fans out there, you might be interested to see former NCIS regular Sasha Alexander as the other actor in the screen-tests.

Overall, Iron Man is indeed one of the best DVD experiences of the year. The making-of documentary is up there with the likes of Die Another Day, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars: Episode 3. The reviewed UK 2-disc DVD comes out October 27th.