Heath McKnight: Obsessive Iron Man fan
Before I start my little op-ed about Iron Man and The Dark Knight, I want you all to know that Iron Man is indeed my favorite character. I had him tattooed on my right forearm almost five years ago, and Entertainment Weekly even featured me as their “Obsessive Fan of the Week” last year! I write for Advanced Iron (the #1 Iron Man fan site on the planet), and my love for the character stretches back over 20 years.
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That said, Batman is my second favorite character (tied with Captain America), and Batman Begins was, for the longest time not only my favorite comic book movie, but one of my top 20 favorite films of all time. The Dark Knight somehow topped Batman Begins, and completely blew me away. It deserves all the money and (hopefully) awards it has (or will) earn.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, I want to spend a little time talking about why, ultimately, I love Iron Man more than The Dark Knight. Understand that while I think TDK is a magnificent movie, and the musical score is infinitely better than the pedestrian soundtrack of Iron Man – ol’ Shell Head’s film wins the race (but only by a little bit).
So why do I love Iron Man more? I recently sat down, and thought about the best movies I’ve seen this past summer, and I was hard-pressed in deciding whether Iron Man or TDK was better – or if they were a tie for me. Due to a busy work schedule this summer, I could only see each movie once, but you know I’ll wear the DVDs out when they’re released. I could also watch only a handful of films, but I hear that Indiana Jones 4 stunk anyway.
So after thinking about both, even going so far as comparing stories (both are aces) and direction (two veteran indie filmmakers doing their best work).
- Acting: Tie – you can’t get better than Robert Downey, Jr. and Heath Ledger.
- Visual FX: Iron Man.
- Music: The Dark Knight.
- Villains: Sorry, Iron Monger, but Heath’s Joker scared the crap out of me, and he deserves an Oscar.
- Cinematography: Matthew Libatique (Iron Man) and Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight) are both tops in their field, but I give the slight edge to Libatique.
- Overall fun factor for me: Iron Man wins by the narrowest of margins.
After all that, I came to the conclusion that Iron Man was the best film.
What ultimately got me to that conclusion was my good friend, comic book creator Rich Koslowski. He is the creator of The 3 Geeks, and he recently commented on his blog:
“I did love it [The Dark Knight, but] I still liked Iron Man better. And the one main reason I think is that Iron Man was more well-rounded. Iron Man had the one thing the The Dark Knight did not… joy.”
That’s exactly what I was mulling over: joy. Don’t get Rich or I wrong, we both love the dark aspects of Batman (don’t EVER lose that and don’t EVER hire Joel Shumacher EVER again!), but we went for the “light” with Iron Man.
So there you have it. Even though I am a big-time Iron Maniac, had the movie stunk, or had it been just decent-to-good, TDK would’ve won, hands down. Trust me, I love Iron Man the character, but I don’t love being let down. I learned that years ago, when I’d get excited for upcoming movies, much like sports fans would get pumped up for the big game, only to be disappointed when the film opened (Jurassic Park being the exception). And believe me, I was obsessing about both of these films.
For me, ultimately, I just loved watching Iron Man fly around, dispatching bad guys. But don’t forget that I absolutely loved The Dark Knight. It and Iron Man are the top two best comic book movies I’ve ever seen and I can’t wait to watch both films at least two dozen times on DVD before the year ends.
And one more thing: I think it’s great that TDK made over $520 million, and Iron Man, a minor, not-as-well-known Marvel superhero made more money than Indy 4. No one expected Iron Man to do as well as it did, but it certainly did.
I can’t wait for the next Iron Man and Batman films.
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201 Comments
@Ken
What?!
That theory/observation/experience of mine INDEED IS in some Psychology book by some Pyscho… OOPS… Psychologist?!!
CAN’T BELIEVE IT !!
Oh may be then I have do have some cerebrums (a learning one at that) on my shoulders !!!
Thanks for telling me that. I did not know it. I just stated it as I learnt it from Life.
And that is one of the most basic lessons of the psyche that I observed/learnt from Life. I think it must be true. Isn’t it? I mean I don’t know. I never learned psychology during academic years. If any of you have learnt it, I would like to learn some basics from you. Ofcourse I can access it from the net anytime. But a discussion is better. The basic psychology. Knowledge of it could be advantageous in real practical life.
@ de ron Assis
I said : Because I have that degree, I am in a ‘BETTER’ position (than most of you) and NOT in the ‘BEST EVER’ position to judge SCI-FI movies. Got the difference?
…And if any one is more qualified/experienced than me in that field, I say nothing is better than that! We could discuss Sci-Fi movies (of course not out jobs. They are confidential.)
@ No Name Face
By Atheist, I don’t exactly mean a non-believer, (I don’t know what religion you belong to but ) just like Lord Jesus Christ is a God for Christians (I think most of you are Christians on this forum), we have Lord Krishna, Lord Ram and many others as Gods in Hinduism.
You and me, we all have known and learned for centuries about all the miracles and good deeds that they did for human beings.
But I think that the stories of these Gods that traveled for centuries from one generation to the next were exaggerated by the time they reached us.
I don’t want to offend anybody but I think All these Gods: Jesus, Krishna, Ram were just courageous intelligent humans who toiled hard for other fellow beings and were not some supreme miracle-doers from out of this world.
And when I look at it that way (that they were mere humans who did good deeds) it’s OK for me. That somebody from our own earth, somebody made of our own Flesh and blood has done so much for their fellow beings.
I shun the supernatural.
I believe only in logic. (both in life as well as programming. HA HA HA!).
Btw, The real life people, I look up to, are my parents, Newton, Hawkins, Einstein, Jagdishchandra Bose, CV Raman, Bill Gates, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks and Bruce Lee.
Pretty much anybody who is admirable and intelligent and done some good works in life. After all, anybody can be a Teacher for anybody.
We just have to have positive approach towards Life and our feet firmly on the ground.
I hope I am not Preaching.
Btw, This all is “MY PERSONAL” opinion. (I am tired of declaring this. Can I stop now? ) =)
BTW, I just recalled, Do any of you by any chance, have Good Batman comics in PDF format? We could exchange some.
@Amol
I’m not going to read your two massive posts, but will just say that all you have to do is look at soldiers in battle sacrificing their lives for those of their comrades and that blows a huge hole in anyone’s “no one is altruistic” theory.
I’m done.
Vic
Amol, psychology is just a class you take in college because it’s an easy A and it is full of hot girls…
Vic can you shut down the comments on this thread.
I can take it anymore,,,,,,,,,
Amol,,, your trolling bigtime.
Ken,,, your just enabling him.
What? I just respond whenever he directs something at me the like any other person has been responding when a comment is directed at them, lol. But ok, anyway, I second your “motion” anyhow, it’s WAY off topic. Especially once I start talking about hot girls you really don’t want it to continue down that road…
Sorry 790 just so you know you can always just stop looking at them. Also Ken isn’t the only one responding to him so why are you only labeling him with the enabling title?
Ofcourse, I am NIL in psychology. How should I know ? I just put forward what I thought I GENUINELY experienced.
BTW, Do any of you by any chance, have Good Batman comics in PDF format? We could exchange some on the net.
Geez louise papa cheese….you have no idea how scary it is to log into your email account and find all these posts from this topic! I’m so glad they weren’t about my post lol.
You all are entertaining me…I want you to know that… :p
and vic’s the man!
* Vic
@Vic
(”all you have to do is look at soldiers in battle sacrificing their lives for those of their comrades and that blows a huge hole in anyone’s “no one is altruistic” theory.
“)
I think its just MASS HYSTERIA.
HYSTERIA: wild uncontrollable emotion or excitement.
(source: The Oxford Dictionary)
Once inside the Battle, it’s important to overcome fear and the only brain knows to overcome it in EXTREME conditions is Mass Hysteria.
@Amol,,,
Sigh ,,,,,
Both Iron Man & Batman were altruistic.
Iron Man had Yinsen, and Batman has Alfred.
Case closed
Next ,,,,
@Amol
Someone sacrificing their life for another is MASS HYSTERIA?
I’m not even going to respond to that. I’m done talking to you about this.
Man oh man…
Vic
Yah Vic, I agree with that one. Amol, you basically just made a personal attack on most of my friends and myself…
I dunno about ‘mass hysteria’, but I don’t think that soldiers are entirely altruistic either. No offense intended, but there is a rush on the field as I understand it, holding a man’s life in your own hands. I’m not saying soldiers are only in it for the killing, I just feel that it’s naive to think that the soldiers on the field are ‘doing it for the team’ only, purely at their own expense. Next you’ll tell me the boys in blue are our best friends and politicians have our best interests at heart.
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Uuuhhhhh, I’m sorry, but did you just put politicians in the same arena as law enforcement and the military??
Ok, I will try to maintain composure here…
If someone breaks into your house with a gun and threatens to kill you and your family, do the “boys in blue” a favor and just don’t call them, because apparently you don’t need them, and they don’t need you putting their lives on the line to try to save yours, just handle it yourself.
What is this, the start of the “let’s insult all of our service men” trend??
Oh, so the politicians who fight for your rights every day on capital hill, desperately trying to pass laws that benefit you and your family deserve scorn then, is that it? Because they are the only ones who take questionable paths to achieve their goals?
Sacrificing your life is a big deal, I’m not trying to dismiss this. But to think they get nothing out of it, that the gun doesn’t give a power surge, that the authority doesn’t go to the head, that’s just… Silly. I think it’s also asinine to dismiss politicians, so I assume your just saying we shouldn’t compare them to military and law enforcement because they don’t get shot at. And even if that’s the case, I contend they are fighting every single day.
Wow, someone who respects politicians more than our service men… And I thought I’ve seen it all…
I’m sure getting yourself into a cushy job where you never have to exert yourself, or risk anything, and possibly get rich from it, is such a self sacrificing way to live…
Exactly how many poor politicians do you know? Those are probably the only honest ones, and there aren’t too many of them. How is what they do honorable at all? I support certain politicians because they vote in a way that I agree with, not because of them as a person. They probably go the way they do because it benefits them in some way.
Do you get rich being a cop? Do you get rich enlisting in the military? So while I agree it’s not completely altruistic, the military and law enforcement jobs give you plenty of benefits, but there are plenty of other work where you get paid more AND you don’t have to risk your life. The fact that these people chose that route show that they have some desire to do some good. Politicians, they KNOW they have a good chance to make it rich as long as they are successful in being a politician. Special interest groups donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to individual politicians if they know there’s a bill to be voted on that might affect their business.
To say that they are “fighting for our rights” is kind of ridiculous. SOME of them actually care, but most of them are just fighting along party lines. People who step out of those lines are kicked out like Joe Liebermann.
The only people “fighting for our rights” are our troops and our law enforcement officers. I don’t care what you say, comparing them to politicians is a downright insult. Why don’t you compare them to lawyers while you’re at it?
Sure. Soldiers are like lawyers, politicians, fire fighters, doctors, actors, murderers, peace keepers, police officers and drug dealers. Sometimes a soldier risks his life because he wants to serve a cause greater than themselves. Sometimes she just doesn’t care about her life enough to not enlist in a dangerous career. There is much honor to be found in serving but there is also greatness in thinking for yourself, and knowing what’s worth following. When our Marines were given orders to let the Iraqis riot and all but allow insurgents to take over, wouldn’t it have been nice if they could act for themselves instead of just doing what corrupt generals told them to do?
Corruption is endemic and runs through every job every office and I want to say every home. I don’t think it’s black and white because there are degrees of compromise we take in life. I find it interesting you’re quick to point out that politicians make choices because it benefits them in some way, when that’s been what I’ve been saying about EVERYONE. Ultimately, you seem to take the stance that a person’s, uhm, value? is how much blood they leave or are willing to leave on the floor. I say the best a thing we can do is learn how to sew up another’s wound.
One thing I will never do is salute blindly. I don’t believe it serves to ignore faults and focus on positive, I think it makes those negatives worse. You take it all, the good the bad and you try to keep it good. The image gets scuffed but the heart is stronger for it.
“Oh, so the politicians who fight for your rights every day on capital hill, desperately trying to pass laws that benefit you and your family deserve scorn then, is that it?”
If you really believe this you are incredibly naive about what goes on in Washington.
Based on comments from a few people here it’s becoming blatantly obvious to me that an entire generation having been raised without having to sacrifice much due to the plenty in the U.S. has created a skewed vision of the world and people in general.
I think I’ve seen enough in this thread – it’s way jumped the tracks and it’s just starting to aggravate me.
Vic