Marvel Entertainment continues its tradition of “early” releases of its blockbuster DVDs during the crucial fall sales season with the September 28th debut of Iron Man 2 on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital download.  The single-disc DVD ($29.99) edition includes commentary from director Jon Favreau, while the limited edition 2-DVD set ($39.99) features a bonus disc along with a digital copy of the film.  The bonus disc contains an alternate opening, 3 deleted scenes, the AC/DC music video, “Shoot to Thrill,” and the featurettes “Creating Stark Expo,” and “Practical Meets Digital.”

 

The 3-disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (also $39.99) is clearly the best deal.  The studios are finally starting to make use of the greater capacity of the Blu-ray discs to create extra value for consumers in the form of an encyclopedic range of extras.  The Iron Man 2 BD Combo Pack includes a DVD copy and a digital copy as well as all the extras included on the other versions, but there are also plenty of features that are exclusive to the Blu-ray including additional deleted scenes, the making-of documentary, “Ultimate Iron Man: The Making of Iron Man 2,” plus Illustrated Origin featurettes for Nick Fury, Black Widow, and War Machine, as well as the “S.H.I.E.L.D Data Vault,” which allows viewers to expand their knowledge of the Marvel universe with select scenes from the movies, new layers of graphics, case files, dossiers, S.H.I.E.L.D. training films and technical details.

 

Fox’s Blu-ray Alien Anthology ($139.99), which is due out for Halloween on October 26th, is another example of the expansiveness of the Blu-ray format.  The 6-disc set features two versions of all four Alien films along with all the original bonus materials for each of the films from every previous home video release (including laserdiscs)—more than 60 hours of bonus material. 

 

The first four discs in the set are devoted to the four Alien films and include commentary tracks, deleted and extended scenes.  Disc five of the set features the making-of films for the anthology, which includes a dozen hours of in-depth documentaries and an additional five hours of “Enhancement Pods” created for the Blu-ray set. The pods offer behind-the-scenes footage and interview outtakes from all four films.  The final disc features archives from the series, including screenplay drafts, pre-production notes, storyboards, conceptual art, screen tests, cast portraits, commentaries, set designs, deleted scenes and more.

 

A special limited version of the Alien Anthology ($149.99) can be preordered by fans attending the San Diego Comic-Con.  It comes with “The Guardian,” an illuminated sculpture from Sideshow Collectibles that protects the precious disc cargo housed within.