Rating: 
Summary: Magic
Review: Wow! I was totally blowen away with this animated feature. It is by far the best animated movie of 1999, dare I say one of the best of the decade, even the century. The Iron Giant has excellent voice-overs, awesome cinematography, great set decoration and a magical story.Eli Marenthal is great as Hogarth Hughes, a cute and adventurous nine year old who, one night, goes out looking for trouble and finds a huge metal machine that has fallen from the sky. There begins a magical friendship between the iron giant and Hogarth, but what does the town think? You better see this before it goes off the screen - it'll be better than watching it on video. BUT WATCH IT ANYWAY!
Rating: 
Summary: An extra star for children, 3 stars for adults
Review: Its a feature length animated film which movies pretty quickly. The animation is really wonderful to watch with the intermingling of the 3 dimensional CGI Robot with the 2 Dimensional storyboards. The film moves fast and at the expense of character development which adults will notice pretty quickly. The movie has a couple of inside jokes for parents but not like other "adult" animated films which has you watching closely for all the gags - so it works better for watching with children. It gets an extra star for the kids but for adults in my view i would probably rate it a notch down.
Rating:
Summary: I watched this because of the reviews here
Review: I was puzzled how a movie with such great reviews didn't do that well at the box office. After watching it, I think I know the reason why: animated films have to be _fantasy_ to be successful. Strictly speaking, this isn't a fantasy. (Imagine "Stars Wars," "E.T." or "The Wizard of Oz" as animated films. They wouldn't have been the classics they are.) _This_ movie should have used live actors. Not that it's a bad film; on the contrary, it's mostly wonderful. I think it will become an enduring favorite among children. Some of the scenes are enough to bring tears to even an adult's eyes: when the Iron Giant is flying in space, says, "Superman!" and closes his eyes, I can't imagine anyone not being affected. Sure, it's manipulative, but so are the many films alluded to in this one: "Bambi," "Short Circuit," "E.T.," "The Day the Earth Stood Still," and "The War of the Worlds." If your young children watch this, just be prepared for buckets of tears.
Rating: 
Summary: The best animated film Disney never made?
Review: When a young boy in 1950s America, with a penchant for befriending animals and other non-humans, discovers a mysterious giant robot literally in his backyard, he tries to keep its existence a secret for as long as he can -- from watching 1950s sci-fi films, he is aware that a suspicious Federal Government shoots first and then shoots again and, while reloading, may or may not ask questions. Take a good dose of Frankenstein, stir in an even larger dose of E. T., and sell the idea to Walt Disney and you end up with the best animated film in years where Warner Brothers tops Disney at its own game! The animation is fluidly gorgeous, the story totally engrossing and (as a bonus) it's completely bereft of the often-insipid songs that either make or break Disney animated films. It's also one of the feel-good movies of the year, in a year that is proving once again that great films can be made with ratings of PG (this film) and even G (as evidenced previously by Toy Story 2 and The Straight Story) which means it's highly recommended for the entire family.
Rating:
Summary: A rare Gem
Review: This is probably the most pushed aside movie of 1999, and one of the best animated films out there. This movie has a major thing that stuff like Pokemon doesn't, story. It has a wonderful story that will appeal to people of all ages. It's a story about friendship, when a young boy finds a giant robot a befriends him. Even though the robot is made of metal, it has a soul, and the young boy will do anything it takes to protect him from people who don't understand. It is really sad that this movie didn't do very well in the theater, it certainly deserved it. The DVD has a nice documentary showing the making of the film. A rare gem. One of the best animated films ever. Highly Reccomended.
Rating:
Summary: It's not just animation, it's a great film!
Review: It's unfortunate that Disney does not make films like this, mainly because they know how to market their movies so well and Warner Brothers was wasting a lot of money trying to get that concrete blimp called Wild Wild West off the ground. Nevertheless, The Iron Giant just shines on its own. Set in the 50s when the Red Scare had its paranoid grip on the public, The Iron Giant uses all the cultural nuances of that period to its advantage. Humorous touches like the absurd newsreel on protecting yourself against a nuclear bomb and scenes from old horror films add to the feel of paranoia during that period, and set the stage for the Iron Giant's entrance into the sleepy town where little Hogarth and his mother live. Of course, the secret friendship between the boy and the giant do not last long, and what ensues is masterful storytelling and great animation. So, sit down with your friends, your spouse, your kids, or your grandparents and watch this film. It's fun, it's touching, and it's definitely worth the price of admission.
Rating:
Summary: More than just a Cartoon
Review: I think the best fantasy films have a firm grasp on reality before they introduce the fantasmical. ET, for example, establishes Elliot and his family long before ET's arrival. Then when ET does arrive, we can see him more "realistically" than if Elliot had lived in a floating house with a robot for a mom. See what I mean? Well, maybe not, but regardless, I rented The Iron Giant because I had heard terrific things about it. And much like ET, the film begins with Hogarth (yeah, that's the kids name in this movie) and his mom (voiced by Jennifer Aniston) going through their day to day. Actually, the movie begins with a vignette involving a boat lost at sea and the Iron Giant's arrival, but it's really brief. The movie was strangely effective. I think my generation can't really appreciate animation because we grew up with it. We tend to forget how impressive it truly is to animate pictures...for people to draw things and bring them to life. And the interesting thing about this movie is that the animation feels so real. I mean, you never forget that the people are cartoons, but the visuals seem so life-like. The Giants head is sort of spherical, and you can see the roundness of it...and that's one thing I'm always impressed by; drawing roundness. I never could do it... The message of the movie is more complex than your normal cartoon. The Giant is actually a big weapon but he only becomes a weapon when being attacked and so the army comes and attacks him and he turns into a huge machine....but that's later on. This movie did so many things I didn't expect. I really do recommend it....you'll enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: AT LAST!
Review: This is an animated movie which doesn't try to be. By that I mean it doesn't conform to what has become the standard for American animation. For too long there has been a culture to imitate Disney's style. Fox and Dreamworks, but to name a few, have done this; to be fair, sometimes with great success (Anastasia, Prince of Egypt) and sometimes not. I admit that I love these movies but would still like to see something slightly more original. It seems that there has been a fear amongst film makers, that the public won't accept anything else...wake up call! Iron Giant has broken this mould and given us one of the best animated films ever. There's no singing or dancing; no cute little animals prancing around and the animation even steps away from the genre's typified tradition of square jaw, pouty lips and doughy eyes. So what does this movie have then? The answer to that is simply "everything!" It is best not to look at it in terms of it being an animated picture because this instantly clouds the judgment on what it is capable of. This film really is different to your normal animated movies. The story is far more intelligent and involving than most others; yet it still retains a sense of fun and innocence, qualities which have helped to make the genre so charming. The films characters are also great and the interaction between them provides many great moments. It is somehow always easier to attatch yourself to an animated character than a human acting the part, this is definately the case with this movie. This story, about a boy who discovers a huge robot and befriends it, had more of an emotional effect on me than any other film. Films rarely make me cry but this one definately brought a tear or two to my eyes. The dvd itself doesn't let the side down either. It offers amazing 5.1 digital sound which picks up the tiniest of detail in the movies stunning soundtrack, giving an enjoyable assault on your ears. The picture quality is equally adept, dealing admirably with the films gorgeous colours. This is an all round great film, perfect for those "family evenings". So well done Warner Bros; I wonder how long it will be until the following pack are unleashing their own offerings onto the market? Goodluck to them.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Underated Gem.
Review: This is probably the most underated movie of 1999, and one of the best animated films out there. This movie has a major thing that stuff like Pokemon doesn't, story. It has a wonderful story that will appeal to people of all ages. It's a story about friendship, when a young boy finds a giant robot a befriends him. Even though the robot is made of metal, it has a soul, and the young boy will do anything it takes to protect him from people who don't understand. It is really sad that this movie didn't do very well in the theater, it certainly deserved it. The DVD has a nice documentary showing the making of the film. A rare gem. One of the best animated films ever. Highly Reccomended.
Rating:
Summary: ANIMATION STORYTELLING AT ITS BEST!
Review: I am so very glad that I decided to watch this delightfully entertaining movie, I had read Ted Hughes story (which the Iron Giant is based on) when I was a child (one of my favourites! ), so I sat in the theatre curiously eager!, I had no real expectations, so the full impact of the movie was wonderfully unexpected! . Hogarth a young boy, discovers a Giant Iron man in the forest while hunting, it is our first introduction of a friendship that will lead them to many adventures both hilarious and sad. There is a misguided government agent sent out to investigate the small rural community and its unusual sightings of a Giant Iron man, it is his obsession with finding this Iron Giant that leads the boy and his Iron friend to a climactic and explosive end. There is an inocence in both Hogarth and the Iron Giant that will transport you to a time when you were less jaded less cynical, and much less responsible, a time when anything seemed possible. I left the movie appreciating its simple message, and glad to have seen this hand drawn masterpiece, I highly recommend this movie to both Adults and children, you will laugh you will cry (like I did!) and you will most definately enjoy this lovely movie. GO SEE IT NOW!
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