The Dark Knight may have dominated the summer box office, but there was another superhero who captured summer moviegoers’ hearts, and this week, fans can get their excited little hands on the Iron Man Ultimate 2-Disc Edition DVD (Paramount Home Entertainment; MSRP: $39.99).

Iron Man introduced big screens to Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), military-industrial weapons developer/war profiteer. He’s a womanizing, arrogant drunk who is an engineering genius. At the age of 21, he inherited his late father’s weapons company, and has run it with his mentor, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), ever since. Audiences meet him just before he’s kidnapped by a terrorist force in Afghanistan who he discovers is using his own American-made weaponry to wreak havoc on the innocent people of the region. They want him to build a super weapon for them, but he has different ideas, and thus begins Tony’s foray into building big metal suits providing near invincibility and heavy artillery.

After his escape, he resigns his life of weapons development, and begins work on his life’s purpose: to create Iron Man.

The rest of the film is minutia: the assistant who adores him from afar, the partner who he doesn’t see eye to eye with, the wacky high jinks of the hero learning how his new technology works and, of course, lots and lots of product placement.

I may sound a bit cynical, but don’t misunderstand: Iron Man is a good time. The movie is fun, but I mentioned The Dark Knight first for a reason. Knight raised the bar on comic book films, and after its wake, Iron Man, as enjoyable as it is, pales as simply another popcorn blockbuster. The story is good, the settings and happenings are believable (mostly), but the stakes are never high enough for the audience to truly be affected, for that lump of delicious tension to ever be incited.

Thankfully, an ensemble cast of talented actors help the film stand out beyond other superhero fare, specifically Downey Jr. This man was born to be Tony Stark; he is perfect, though I can think of few roles RDJ would not be able to master (insert joke about him not being able to portray a character of other-than-Caucasian ethnic persuasion, but after Tropic Thunder, even that cannot be said). Plus, viewers get Jeff Bridges delightfully playing a bad guy! The supporting cast is equally strong, but on to the DVD itself.

The good stuff: the picture and sound are amazing transfers. On any decent sound system, your head will reel from all of the love the crew put into it. The effects are gorgeous, and it all translates remarkably well to the small screen, if only a little less impactful for the change in size.

Buyers will notice that on the slipcase there’s a sticker proclaiming nearly four hours of exciting, new special features. This is true, but there could’ve been a better way to spend those four hours.

On the movie disc itself, there are 24 minutes of extended and deleted scenes, most of which deserve to be trimmed or deleted. However, there were a couple of interesting Obadiah scenes that, if left in, could’ve made his arc more interesting, and it’s a shame that they were trimmed.

There’s also a one-minute preview of the animated series “Iron Man: Armored Adventures” that is premiering sometime soon somewhere. It looks good enough, but it’s just a teaser and lacks any substance.

On to the second disc, where the bulk of the extra features lie. Continuing with the “good stuff,” there is a hilarious “news” bit from the satirical newspaper The Onion (2:39) titled “Wildly Popular Iron Man Trailer to be Adapted into Full-Length Film.” Nothing more needs to be said except that it is very funny.

“Wired: The Visual Effects of Iron Man” (27:02) is a compact, fact-filled journey through the three major production houses that worked on the film and the extent of the work they did for the project. Viewers get extensive looks into the design of the suits, the HUD inside the helmet and the big effects sequences--it’s an impressive chunk of blockbuster documentary.

There’s an astounding gallery of stills (175 images) which are well organized, and two acting-specific bonus features: “The Actor’s Process” (4:11), where audiences are treated to Bridges and Downey Jr. rehearsing a scene with director Jon Favreau, and “Robert Downey Jr. Screen Test” (6:02), which is great for Downey-philes, but perhaps a little long.

Speaking of a little long, the two major featurettes are guilty of being just that, and now we enter into the not-so-good territory. It’s been said that less is more, and for the 1-hour-48-minute documentary “I Am Iron Man,” it would have been treasured advice indeed. This piece is extensive, if painfully so. It takes the viewer from the beginning of Iron Man’s process all the way through production, postproduction and to its premiere in Hollywood. There are fascinating moments (the interview with the late Stan Winston stands out), but the overall featurette is far too long, and for non-hard-core fans, there is the constant threat of taking an accidental nap while viewing.

Its partner piece, “The Invincible Iron Man” (47:03), while not as long, suffers from a similar case of burnout halfway through. This featurette chronicles the history of the comic book “Iron Man” through interviews with multiple artists, inkers and writers throughout the ages. Again, some good parts, but by the end, you may very well be rubbing your eyes, wondering what time it is.

The puzzling and disappointing thing about all of this is instead of investing in such lengthy and dry featurettes, why don’t audiences have a Favreau/Downey Jr./Bridges commentary? Why isn’t there any commentary at all? Tony Stark was injected with stunning charisma by Downey Jr., and the DVD could’ve used a similar injection.

Overall, the Iron Man Ultimate 2-Disc Edition DVD is a good buy for hard-core fans of the film and the comic, but for those who just loved the movie, get the cheaper single disc edition (MSRP: $34.99) and borrow the second disc from a friend.

Iron Man is now available on DVD.