The Iron Giant (1999)

"The Iron Giant" is simply one of the best animated movies ever made. Brad Bird, the talented man that worked in shows like "The Simpsons" and directed the great animated film "The Incredibles" is the man responsible for this masterpiece. That man is a genius who is able to turn the simplest stories into gold, having an entire career of very good films. Even his "Mission Impossible" film (A franchise which I particularly don't like)managed to be worth-watching.

Now "The Iron Giant" is one of my favorite films, and it is the best movie directed by Brad Bird, having not only a great animation style, but also a memorable story (Which shows that kid's films could have deep and complex stories)and many intesting characters, The Giant itself is a fascinating creature, which could be easily considered one of the most endearing figures from the entire animation history.

Movies like this are enough proof that making a "children's film" is not a excuse for a lack of quality. It is for movies like this that I'm a fan of animation.

Fmovies: It's nice to see an elegantly crafted piece of animation come out of America. How did they manage it? The writing is great the animation is excellent and the voice acting is superb. I don't think I've liked an English animated film this much since The Plague Dogs. The film doesn't talk down to it's audience, and instead tells a simple story very well. My only complaint would be that Hogarth is somewhat of a smart-alec at times, but I guess this is the era of Leave it To Beaver.

Many of the situations are standard movie-fare, the ex-lax in the food, the helmet on the bed, but it's nice to see them in an animated film for a change. As an anime fan, the realism of the movie didn't impress me as much as the quality of the writing, voice acting, and the music and sound effects. I particularly remember the sound of the power lines snapping and the musical score building up to the climax of the film.

The character design for the giant is excellent, it's amazing how they could draw out very subtle emotions without noticeably distorting the face. I bawled like a baby near the end.

Finally, most importantly for me, there are NO CHEAP LAUGHS in the movie. One of the best moments in the movie for me was when Hogarth is running through the woods and he slams his face into a low branch. The theater full of kids raised on recent Disney crap bursts into laughter, but wait, there's no stupid sound effect, he's not hopping back up to his feet instantly with a ridiculous lump or distorted face or little birds flying around his head, he's still on the ground ... and what's that coming out of his nose.. it CAN'T BE.. it IS, a trickle of BLOOD. The kids (and parents) quickly cease their laughter. I couldn't stop smiling because I knew then that like me, they actually cared about the character on the screen and frankly that doesn't happen very often.

Tarzan was a small step in the right direction, and near the end of the long path beginning with that step is The Iron Giant.

An ambitious take on Ted Hughes' 1968 children's book The Iron Man, director Brad Bird's The Iron Giant works well as both archetype-infused allegory and heartstring-tugging tale of friendship. Set in small town Maine in the 1950s at the height of Cold War paranoia, the film explores the relationship between a lonely, fatherless boy (a photo on a nightstand hints that the father was a combat pilot killed in WWII) and a monstrously huge, hulking metal behemoth (the origins of which are brilliantly left to the imagination). The animation marks a welcome contrast from the virtually ubiquitous Disney template, with the human characters bearing a stylized, comic book exaggeration that fits perfectly with the story material. The Iron Giant has more than enough imagination and sparkle to interest kids and adults, and nicely balances its action-adventure aspirations with a solidly-crafted sense of moral purpose.

The Iron Giant fmovies. The Iron Giant is a critically acclaimed piece of animated cinema. I wasn't expecting it to be that good, but The Iron Giant was an amazing movie, it is easily the most exquisite animated movie I have ever seen.

Hogarth Hughes (Eli Marenthal) is obsessed by the opportunites offered by science fiction, the possibility of an alien take-over or, at the very least, an attack from outer space. The original story, which the late Poet Laureate had set in England, saw the innocent Titan of the title emerge from the sea; here he is a visitor from another galaxy.

The Iron Giant is an amazing piece of animation, the voice-overs were done perfectly, the actors obviously enjoyed themselves, the animated art direction and cinematography was beautiful and the giant itself is just...breathtaking.

The Iron Giant is not just another silly little kiddies movie, it is perfection in filmmaking. Please, for the love of God, make your life better and see this brilliant film.

I rate The Iron Giant 10 out of 10.

I had heard many great things about the iron giant in the last few years but was one of those films I never got round to seeing. I picked up a copy of the special edition DVD expecting an entertaining animated film. What I actually got was not just one of the best animated films I have seen but one of the best films ever. It takes you to another world but never strays from reality and when watching it you forget it's animated. The characters are so well written it puts most live action films to shame. If you pass this off as a kids film you will be missing out on one of the most immersing and emotional experiences you can get from a film. The voice cast are perfect, the animation stunning and the fact this film flopped when released is nothing short of criminal. I urge anyone even with only a passing interest in cinema to watch this film and prepare to be amazed. Brad Bird must be one of the best directors working in animation and after seeing the incredibles the iron giant was no fluke.

Hmmm, what to say...well.... it was really good. I've seen it several times, and I've enjoyed it immensely each time for different reasons.

Analytically I find the animation incredible. The characters are extremely alive and quite realistic, not because of incredible drawing, well, actually, yes: the way the characters are drawn, and animated, is incredible. From the jerking, swaying and swooshing of body parts to the magnificent and CONSISTENT use of eyes, eyebrows and cheekbones to show real emotions, it's definite that this movie is a masterpiece in terms of animation. The backgrounds are wonderfully lush, and evoke a wonderful sense of everything that shows fall for the beautiful season it is. I love animation, and I love good looking landscapes, so the artists behind this movie are making a fan out of me very quickly.

I admire (analytically) most of all the enormous apparance of little details in the film: the season sublty changes from fall to winter; the characters are always doing something, even if they aren't directly in focus (the best ad-libbing a director could dream of); I also think in some parts of the movie the little details actually become crucial to the movie's strength and validity (the time and setting of the story help it to make more sense, also, the "duck and cover" scene)

You know, I think it's amazing when sometimes a movie can move you so much, talking about it's good qualities seems like child's play. This is the kind of movie that you can watch over and over and take a long time to get sick of. We all have movies like that, very few can do that to us, but we have them. I'm realising as I write that I like this movie very much, because I've written two or three paragraphs and have not even started talking about the iron giant yet.

The animation and expression of emotion in the giant, who is a computer graphics animated character, a hundred feet tall and with a certain old time sci fi persona to him, equals and even surpasses it's traditionally animated companions. There were scenes in the movie that the giant almost made me cry because of his expressions. The director, Brad Bird I think, should earn good credit for his work bringing the giant to life. The giant was very organic and fluid, always animated and extremely alive, without really trying to be. After a while it obvious he's not your average rigid robot.

It's hard not to give away details when you write a lot, but thankfully I haven't really given anything away. I will say this...the movie is about not prejudging things you are unfamiliar with, big or small, and it's about doing what is right and not using gray areas and politics as an excuse not to do the right thing. The movie explores the strange concept of finding friendship, love, and innocence inbetween past guilts and prejudices. It is one of the most well rounded, enriching, thought provoking movies I have seen in my lifetime, and the best part is that it wasn't the visual effects that made me say that...something other feature animation companies have used a a string to lead me on for almost a decade. I feel like I just recovered from an extended brainwashing experiment. I've learned my lesson. No longer will movies that use stunning graphics to redeem themselves be an interest to me. Rather I will watch movies for the messages they give and the depth those movies have. If anything Brad Bird must have tried to make the giant as close in simplicity to the