WHile ignoring the behavior may work for some things, it probably won't work for a tantrum. Instead, I would try to be as undestanding as possible to his frustration....while it may not seem warrented or reasonable to us as adults, not being able to do or get something, feeling controlled and often not understood are things that can be very upsetting to a child. Try to be procative and anticipate things/times that can spark a fuse and avoid them or redirect if possible. Usually when mine start to melt down I immediately change the tune and get all upbeat and invitre them to join me, help me, come with me, etc to partake in something else to get their mind off of what is stressing them.
I saw a couple people mentioned watching his diet and avoiding processed foods with lots of chemicals, dyes, too much sugar etc. It's est to stick with things that are REAL FOOD rather than packaged, processed, pressed and shaped 'stuff' that we eat and we now feed our kids! There is real evidence and research that these chemicals and non-foods that we consume DO play a part in our childrens behavior and health. Dr. Sears has a new book called NDD - Nutrition Deficit Disorder and it is all about how it affects our childrens learning, behavior and health.
Eiher way, your little one sounds very normal. Try to be understanding to his situation and know that this is part of his development and growing processes as he tries to work through this difficult stage of feeling controlled and still trying to effectively communicate. Hang in there, for yourself and for him :-)