The Iron Giant (1999)

My 6 yr old cried (it brought his parents to tears too)!
This movie came out when my oldest son was not yet 4. He enjoyed it alot, as did his parents. Flash forward 8 1/2 yrs later, and now my bearly 6 yr old son watched it for the first time today on TV. He normally talks through movies asking all kinds of questions to understand what is going on in the story. He silently watched The Iron Giant, and toward the end when the IG sacrificed himself for Hogarth and the town, my son cried big huge silent tears. This caught us off guard, as he has never done that before. It made us both tearful that it affected him so. This is a really good powerful movie in its seeming simplicity. This is by far the best Non Disney movie I've seen. I don't have the DVD, but I am going to buy it today along with the original book so my sons and I can read it too.

Friendship. Love. Respect.
***CONTAINS SPOILERS***

Friendship. Love. Respect. Growing up. These are the themes that run throughout THE IRON GIANT, an Oscar Award winning animated film from 1999. Kids films without substance are very familiar to most parents, but The Iron Giant harkens back to a time when family and friendship meant everything.

Although unusual in the sense that a boy named Hogarth (voiced by Eli Marienthal) befriends an alien robot simply called The Iron Giant (voiced by Vin Diesel, [[ASIN:B000FFJ826 Find Me Guilty]]), this animated feature still teaches kids the responsibilities of friendship and how devastating it can be to lose one.

The set-up is common in that we see the military and government agents as bumbling morons who misunderstand the intentions of something as large and as powerful as a nearly indestructible robot. But understanding eventually reaches them, too, through the actions of Hogarth and his new alien buddy.

More interesting than previous animation films for kids, this one shows not just the upside of this friendship, but the dangers ...as well as a fatal ending (sort of). Parents should be prepared to comfort their kids when The Iron Robot launches himself into space in preparation to save his best friend (Hogarth). The words "Superman" are uttered as The Iron Giant makes contact with the powerful and deadly rocket, and I'd be willing to bet that there's not an adult out there with any heart that won't swallow hard at those words.

But there are plenty of fun and funny scenes to counter the more stark ones. Watching fellow humans complain to the local constabulary about suddenly absent mouthfuls of trucks, towers, and other metal munchables is pretty comical, as is a great scene where The Iron Giant does a cannonball jump into a favorite swimming hole of Hogarth's.

A fun and serious film with themes that most parents will find a positive influence on the pliable minds of their young ones.

iron giant = win
I remember seeing this movie when it came out in the theatres almost ten years ago, and was amazed that it didnt receive more acclaim and recognition. It is a heartfelt story about a boy and his robot, and it touched my heart as well as my kids'.

The animation is amazing......the CG parts were well blended with the 2D (you can check the extra disc for extras...it even has a segment on Vin Diesel, who was the voice of the iron giant). They used the same coloring for both CG and 2D which helped them look uniform.

Nowadays I see Iron Giant Marathons on tv around thanksgiving time, and each time i sit down to watch it, im still completely amazed. Great movie for the young and old.