Rating: 
Summary: Classic
Review: As kid movies go, this is a winner, with an interesting, thoughtful, tear-jerking original story, hip retro style, great performances, and a non-violent theme moms can feel good about. If I'd made it or worked on it, I'd be proud. My sons love this - we've had it for a long time and it's still one of their favorites.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie, but don't buy it now!
Review: This is an excellent movie through and through. The ending makes me cry like a baby every time I see it. You may want to put off purchasing this movie right now, as there is a Special Edition w/ deleted scenes and other extras coming out sometime soon. It was supposed to be released Aug 2003, but has been pused back to 2004 for some ungodly reason. I can only hope it is to redo the case into a proper plastic case instead of the craptacular cardboard "snapper" case they currently have planned for it. Just a word of warning to keep you from getting burned by buying the original DVD release so soon before the SE (hopefully) comes out.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic Nobody Saw....but Everyone Should
Review: Truly one of the greatest animated films of all time (not Lion King)! Who would think Warner Brothers would come out with somthing that totally soared over Disney films at the time. This film has it all and more: A robot who found out there's more to him than just defense....a sensitive child who befriends the robot with true loyalty....and an ending that would even make John Wayne cry. There are pleanty of good gags in this movie to keep adults laughing with wit and insight (some that mocks our country's past with the Cold War). I HIGHLY recommend this movie to ANYONE! Anybody wanna see a movie with great humor, a touching story, and some good animation?....go to the video rental store and watch it right away!
Rating:
Summary: A real treat for young and old alike
Review: 1999's The Iron Giant is one of those truly outstanding films that never got the attention it deserved at the time of its theatrical release. While it may not have the glitzy look and feel of a Disney film, this Warner Brothers animated movie is of the highest caliber. The Iron Giant has a heart and a natural home-spun appeal that make it a great film for children as well as adults. Disney animated films always have a distinctly Disney aura to them, but The Iron Giant disavows artificiality to the extent that it almost seems too natural to be a movie. The animation is solid and impressive without any over-the-top or flashy sequences, the voice acting (featuring the voices of Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick, Jr., Christopher McDonald, Eli Marienthal, and Vin Diesel) is quite good, and the story is both entertaining and heart-warming, imparting some important lessons about life without ever becoming the least bit preachy.It is 1957, and the Soviets have just launched Sputnik, giving rise to a sense of concern to the American people and its government. Thus, when something foreign tears through the atmosphere and hits the water some few miles off the coast of Maine, the government wants to know what this mysterious object is. Before government agent Kent Mansley arrives to investigate, though, young Hogarth Hughes has made first contact with what turns out to be a huge metal robot. The giant is child-like in terms of adapting to life on earth and does not seem to remember where it originally came from, but the lad soon makes friends with him and teaches him many of the things a parent would teach his own child. The giant gets a poignant and sad bird's-eye view of death, reinforcing its seemingly innate hatred of guns, and has little trouble developing a moral philosophy of goodness, choosing to mimic Superman rather than the evil robot Atomo. As sometimes happens in this world, though, the giant's goodness is met with fright, paranoia, and panic on the part of society, and Hogarth is only able to hide his gigantic new friend from the world for so long. The initially somewhat goofy but ultimately detestable agent Mansley sees to it that the army does everything in its power to destroy the gentle giant. He fears the giant simply because it is alien and different, never making the first attempt to understand or communicate with it. As might be expected, the giant eventually has to prove himself in a way that will convince even those who fear him of his kind and generous soul. In essence, the giant becomes the most human character in the film. I have to say that there are a couple of pretty sad scenes in the film, but the hard lessons of life are presented in such a way as to be more empowering than frightening to the most sensitive of viewers. By and large, the movie is humorous on a number of levels, exuding obvious appeal to young and old alike. To sum up, The Iron Giant is nothing less than superb family entertainment in the widest sense of the term.
Rating:
Summary: Simply - The Best Traditionally Animated Movie of All Time!
Review: As the title of this review states, it's the best. Toy Story 2 and Shrek are my all time #1 CGI movies, but The Iron Giant (which I thought would suck) turned out to be the biggest emotionally affecting 'cartoon' I have ever seen, its even more of a tearjerker than the ending of Monsters Inc. Beautifully animated and expertly executed, I was in both tears and perched on the edge of my seat for the last twenty minutes. Please just buy the DVD, for a mere ... or less (or ... if you are in the US) get this movie. I can't possibly imagine anybody would not like it, it's superb. 10/10 - AN ABSOLUTE CLASSIC!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Fun... Much more than a kiddie film...
Review: I bought this for my 6-year old son, thinking it another in a long line of cute but forgettable kids movies (see Wild Thornberrys, Atlantis, etc...). Boy was I wrong... An outstanding movie, for adults as well as kids, with a heart as big as the giant himself... This movie perfectly captures the atmosphere of the 50's - if you liked "Tin Men" for the depiction of the times, you MUST see this... Great fun, and something rare these days - A "kids" movie, which adults will want to watch more than once...
Rating:
Summary: This Is What Children's Entertainment Should Be
Review: Despite glowing praise from the critics and enthusiastic responses from audiences, "The Iron Giant" crept in and out of theatres with barely a whisper. And what a terrible shame it was. It seems to me that so often the very best of children's programming (other movies that come to mind are "The Secret Garden", "A Little Princess" and "Fairytale: A True Story") that can be just as easily enjoyed by their parents are unfairly shadowed by the empty and junky movies put in the spotlight by huge advertising and wide range of merchandising. It is the Cold War, and young Hogarth living in the Maine woods is, like everyone else, on edge about what other countries are getting up to behind America's back. Of course, as a kid, such worries are easily prepared for with sauce-pan helmets and plastic guns. When the antennae from his roof is mysterious torn off, young Hogarth comes to the obvious conclusion ("Invaders from Mars!") and makes his way into the woods to find the culprit. Which is, believe it or not, a huge iron robot that has no idea how it got there. Delighted at his find, Hogarth instantly adopts him, and coaxes him homeward to hide in the barn, away from the eyes (and inevitable screams) of his single mother Annie, and introducing him to the concept of good and evil, souls, death, fear of the unknown and Superman. But other forces are on the move - the paranoid governent is on the lookout for any odd disturbances which could mean spying foreign countries, and one agent in particular is determined to track down the Giant. Helped by his beatnik friend Dean who creates art at the local junkyard, Hogarth pits his skills against this agent, who wonderfully captures every shade of prejudice humankind can show - from subterfuge to threats to madness. Everyone loves watching "helpless" kids being pitted up against "older, wiser" adults, and in this case the conflict doesn't disappoint - I defy anyone not to burst out laughing at the results of a certain powder Hogarth pours into the agent's milkshake. The final message "You are what you choose to be" is beautifully worked up to when the Giant realises that he reacts defensively to any attack upon him, and when the military is called in, he is devastated at the thought of being merely a gun. The climax is something I can't give away, but it is a beautiful ending to a powerful story. Animation is not in any way stylised or overly cartoonish, and the humans look, move and sound like natural humans. Voice acting is good on all fronts, from the adequate Jennifer Aniston and Harry Connick Jr as Annie and Dean, to the then-unknown Vin Diesiel as the Giant, before his fame took hold after "Pitch Black" and "The Fast and the Furious". But special mention must be made of Christopher McDonald as the high-strung agent, and the voice actor (sorry, I don't know exactly who it is) of Hogarth, who brings his character to life with all its energy, egoism, sincerity and innocence that all ten year old boys have - look out especially for the scene in which he drinks a little too much coffee! With no broadway-style musical numbers or corny endings, "The Iron Giant" is serious, poignant and sweet, without being too sentimental. In the course of this movie young Hogarth tells the Iron Giant: "You think about important things. And you care about things. That must mean you have a soul." The same thing could be said of this movie, and indeed compared with some of the other rubbish that is catapulted rapidly into children's minds these days, the rare movie/book that touches on such real issues as "The Iron Giant" does *do* seem to have souls.
Rating:
Summary: Vin Diesel is 'The Iron Giant'
Review: This story explores the fear we have of the unknown. Set in the 50's, a brave, young boy, Hogarth, saves the life of and befriends an injured giant robot. He enlists the help of a beatnik artist to hide and feed the giant. The Giant's childlike demeanor enables him to communicate with the boy. He learns about humans and their ways from him. Because the Giant is damaged, it doesn't realize that it is a war machine. Its defensive reflexes are triggered when confronted with aggression. Hogarth narrowly escapes death when he points a toy gun at it. A federal agent was sent to investigate strange occurrences of major damage to the power station, farms, buildings, etc. He discovers that the Giant was the perpetrator of the damage and that Hogarth knew where he was. The agent uses underhanded means to extract information from Hogarth to locate the Giant. Military troops are brought in to destroy the Giant as Hogarth and the beatnik try to persuade the general that the robot's destructiveness was in self defense. Fueled by fear, the agent grabs the communication device from the general and gives the order for a nuclear bomb to be fired at the Giant. Unfortunately, the bomb was aimed at the location of the town. There was no escape. As the townspeople wait to die, the Giant flies off to destroy the bomb. He succeeds but is blown to pieces when he stops the bomb. I love this story. It is funny, serious and adventurous. I can relate to how the artist felt when his 'art' was being eaten by the Giant. (I am an artist and if that robot destroyed my work, it would be a heap of metal in that junkyard). It is unfortunate how people react to the fear of the unknown. Sometimes it is hard to determine the correct course of action when faced with such a destructive force triggered by an 'innocent' defense mechanism. The actors did a great job of bringing these characters to life. I love the music and how the film was animated. When I first saw this movie, I had no idea that Vin Diesel was the Iron Giant. His presentation for the WB TV show is 'cute.' Although I have seen this movie 100 times, Vin Diesel is the reason I bought this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: The best animated movie ever
Review: Actually, this movie offers a lot more than most live-action movies. I first saw Iron Giant when it came out on VHS and I've loved it ever since. Ask anyone who's seen the movie about the "Suuuuperman" scene, and you'll know why it's one of the greatest moments in cinema. Due to AWFUL marketing, it had a short run at the box office. In 20 years, this movie will be considered a classic along the lines of It's a Wonderful Life.
Rating:
Summary: A Giant Classic
Review: The first time I saw this movie I thought it was good but then I saw it more and more I fell in love with the movie.Brad Bird does a great job with the writting and directing.In my opinion this is the most underated animation movie I have ever seen in my life.A classic to always remember in movies.Buy it and see it over and over again.
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