The Iron Giant (DVD)

Looking at my back catalogue of film reviews, you might be surprised to find that I rate the Iron Giant so highly. After all, the two animated films I've reviewed (Cars and Ratatouille) haven't fared that well. The Iron Giant, though, is something a little different and a little special. Loosely based on the Ted Hughes short story of the same name, it sees a young boy befriend a giant robot and then seek to protect it from bigoted adults who want to destroy it. It's that simplicity which makes The Iron Giant so appealing. It's a simple story, simply told. There are no attempts to complicate matters with a silly backstory about where the robot has ...  Read the complete review

note: also appears in part on Flixster and The Student Room Disney and Pixar are frequently heralded as the modern Kings of animation, but Warner Bros. delivered a brilliant little film in 1998 that is without a doubt one of the best ever made. It is stunningly animated, and more heartfelt than even the best Disney classics, and therefore one of my favourite animated films. The film takes place on October 4 1957 in Maine, when a giant metal robot (Vin Diesel) crash lands in the city. The next day, the robot traverses through the city, stopping at the house of a 9-year old boy named Hogarth Hughes. It becomes stuck on the power lines, but he saves it ...  Read the complete review

The year is 1957 a lone satellite, Sputnik, drifts in orbit around Earth, its monotone pips the only sound to violate the silent void. Far off past the moon an object appears, at first a dot, then rapidly growing in size. It throw plumes of steam into the velvet black as it hurtles towards earth right into the eye of a storm, in more ways than one. Off the coast of Maine… A tiny boat is tossed around on a mountainous sea like a matchbox…. “This is the Trawler Annabel, last known location 44 degrees North 68 degrees…..” In the distance a flash of light stands out against the dark and sullen storm clouds as an object ...  Read the complete review

I watched this film on TV the other day and almost instantly decided to write an opinion on it, it's only on here now though since I got carried away with a Dr Dolittle opinion instead! Anyway onto The Iron Giant itself, the film was originated from a poem written by famous poet, Ted Hughes. The poem was supposedly written for his children but the idea of the Iron Giant was used to create the film by DISNEY and as expected it met all its expectations. The film tells the story about a young boy called Hogarth Hughes who one night comes across a 50 ft tall iron giant. Hogarth Hughes being himself saves the giant and manages to make friends with the ...  Read the complete review

It was with more than a little reluctance that I found myself entering my local Odeon cinema clutching a ticket to see The Iron Giant. I had not been greatly impressed by most of the recent Disney offerings(A Bugs Life aside) and the thought of seeing a non-Disney movie with a voice-over cast list of B-movie standard actors didn’t do much to whet the appetitie. However, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised to find that The Iron Giant was not another Disney-wannabe but rather a thought provoking morality tale packed with social commentary and humour and with enough of both to entertain both adults and children. The hokey comedy element is not the main ...  Read the complete review