Iron Man (1995)
Directed By:
Quentin Tarantino
Starring:
Tony Stark - Brad Pitt
James Rhodes - Samuel L. Jackson
Obadiah Stane - David Carradine
Harold Hogan - Harvey Keitel
Phil Coulson - Michael Keaton
Ho Yinsen - Tony Shalhoub
Raza - Ghassan Massoud
J.A.R.V.I.S - Tim Roth
Pepper Potts - Gwyneth Paltrow
Christine Everhart - Sandra Bullock
Synopsis:
(Stark, during his speech to the press announcing his ceasing of manufacturing weapons)
The movie follows the journey of womanizer and defense contractor Tony Stark, played by Brad Pitt, and his transformation into the eponymous superhero.
The film opens with Stark (a loudmouth who uses less-than-professional language to sell his products) in the middle of the Gulf War demonstrating his new 'Jericho' missile, when his convoy is ambushed and he is critically wounded by one of his very own missiles. He is captured and held in a cave by a warlord only known as 'Raza', and dubiously promised freedom if he creates for them more weapons.
He develops a friendship with a fellow captive named Yinsen, and the two secretly work to create a suit of powered armour to aid their escape. What follows is a stereotypically Tarantino-esque fight scene as Stark battles his way out of the camp and flies away to freedom. Yinsen is killed in the skirmish, something that weighs on Stark throughout the rest of the film.
Stark is rescued after wandering the desert, during which he begins to go a little stir crazy and ramble to himself comedically, even likening himself to Jesus. Once returning home he announces his company will cease manufacturing weapons, much to the chagrin of the company's manager, Obadiah Stane. The two bicker like infants, despite Stane being a peer of Tony's late father. In his workshop, Stark begins to build a more refined version of his suit with the aid of his foul-mouthed British artificial intelligence, J.A.R.V.I.S.
Raza secretly meets with Stane, who is revealed to have been smuggling him weapons, and the two draw up a plan to coup Tony and install Obadiah as the sole leader of the company. Stane begins reverse engineering Tony's suit.
Stark completes his new armour after many, many complications, and during this time he grows closer to his personal assistant, Pepper. He uses the suit to aid freedom fighters in a number of warzones, during which he learns of Stane's involvement with their enemies. He returns home to confront Stane, just as his suit becomes operational.
The climactic battle of the film shows the two mechanised men fight across Los Angeles while berating each other, leading to Stark's eventual victory due to Stane's suit being rushed and shoddily put together. His death is widely described as gruesome, yet cathartic.
The film ends as a bruised and bloodied Stark sits in his chair, smiling childishly to himself as the camera slowly pulls back to reveal his suit destroyed on the ground and a seductive Pepper entering the room.
(The film includes numerous gratuitous shots of the female characters feet, which Tarantino insists were totally necessary to the plot, he promises...)
