OK, the first thing I noticed was the lack of an audio commentary of any kind. I mean, Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. are certainly known for their affable and garrulous nature -- and they're also damn funny guys. So I was definitely looking forward to a chat track with Favreau, Downey and Jeff Bridges -- with maybe an alternate track for the producers / screenwriters / etc. -- but I can only assume those commentaries are being postponed for a later DVD. (And I checked: No commentaries on the Blu-Ray release either.)

So with that minor and very nerdly disappointment out of the way, I dug into the other stuff. And wouldn't you know it? The 2-disc Iron Man Special Edition is every bit the fantastic package that this movie deserves. Will the film warrant a big, fat THREE-discer once Iron Man 2 rolls around? Almost definitely. But that's a few years away, and for twenty bucks you can get a whole lot of Marvel-ous fun out of this set.

On disc one we have the 125-minute feature film in glorious 16x9 widescreen. Also included on this disc are about 18 minutes of deleted bits and extended scenes. Nothing too revelatory, but there are some nice exchanges and interesting takes here. Best of all, none of the excised sequences make you wanna smack someone and go "D'oh! That shoulda been in the movie!!" Plus we get a bunch of promos for Star Trek, Indiana Jones, The Incredible Hulk, and the animated series Iron Man: Armored Adventures.

Ahhh, but then we get to Disc Two!
The main feature here is the 108-minute I Am Iron Man, which covers all the bases and is broken down into the following chapters

• The Journey Begins
• The Suit That Makes The Iron Man
• Walk of Destruction
• Grounded in Reality
• Beneath the Armor
• It's All in the Details
• A Good Story, Well Told

DVD producers Eric Young and Jon Mefford have done an outstanding job on I Am Iron Man ... and they're not even finished.

As Iron Man is the very first film from Marvel's very own movie division, fans should expect some sort of supplementary features on the original character. And they get it. The 47-minute The Invincible Iron Man traces the character back to his earliest adventures. Ably supported by a bunch of great Marvel artists, this piece is broken up into the following sections:

• Origins
• Friends and Foes
• The Definitive Iron Man
• Demon in a Bottle
• Extremis and Beyond
• Ultimate Iron Man

(Not only can you choose to watch these by way of a "play all" option, but all the featurettes and documentaries come with optional subtitles. All the classy DVDs do that.)

Wired: The Visual Effects of Iron Man runs about 27 minutes and delivers precisely what's promised: The inner workings of the CGI and the practical effects. And the suit. Can't forget the suit. Also included is a 6-minute Robert Downey Jr. screen test, a 4-minute rehearsal reel between Downey and Bridges, and a 3-minute comedy bit from The Onion that illustrates the skepticism around the Iron Man trailer being made into a full-length movie. (It's actually pretty funny.) The last goodie is a big collection of galleries full of concept art, on-set photographs, posters, etc. -- but, alas, no Iron Man trailer.

The Iron Man DVD will hit the shelves on September 30. The single-discer offers the film and the extended scenes. The 2-discer has a feature-length documentary that the fans will love, plus a great little retrospective on the origins of the Marvel character. It's such a good DVD set that I've almost forgotten about the lack of an audio commentary.

Almost.

[ For a few more of our recent Iron filings, check out this piece here. And this one over here! ]