Giant (The Iron Giant (DVD))

Member Name: Diaz

Product:	The Iron Giant (DVD)
Date:	05/03/02 (168 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Visually stunning

Disadvantages: Might be put off due to comparisons with a classic book

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 streaks into the boiling sea.
“I don’t know somewhere off the coast of Rockwell, wait I can see the light house….”
Marv Loach, looks up at one light through the black haze of rain and sees a light in the distance one light becomes two side by side. He drops his jaw and his radio set in one movement as lightning silhouettes a gargantuan figure in the water. The next moment his boat lurches into the figure breaking up like driftwood and Marv is tossed into the inky sea….


~~Heart surgery is a complex procedure~~

I’m not a big fan of book adaptations into movies especially when they mess around with a book which was as significant to me as the Iron Giant was, that said I can’t recall a great deal about the book itself, just the opening scenes. The filmmakers inevitably mess around with the plot, squeeze in a bit of non-existent love interest and give it and action ending. They also commit the almost unforgivable sin of uprooting it all and sticking it in heartland America, regardless of where it was originally set. Do they think Americans are too stupid to empathise with any character that isn’t American? I suppose if it were set in England they would assume the cast were exclusively villainous since it goes without saying
that movie villains have English accents.

So that said why do I like the Iron Giant?? I think because it is just so enthusiastic, it comes across in the actors, the characters, the setting and all the minute details scattered around the story. Whoever adapted this story loves it. So it comes as no surprise to find out that Pete Townshend is an executive producer, the Who legend (ask your dad) has had a long standing affair with the Iron Giant and put it on the London stage for a time. So teamed with Brad Bird who has worked on both the Simpsons and King of the Hill it isn’t surprising the end result is both affectionate and amusing.


~~Paper to Metal~~

As I’ve said I enjoyed the story as a child, the few images I remember are the Giant coming out of the sea and the Giant reassembling itself, hands and eyes wandering over the beach scaring off errant seagulls. So I’m not really in a position to comment on how well it has been adapted from the book, though as soon as the kids are old enough I’ll be reading it to them guaranteed. But what I can tell you about is the film, I wont go into too many details about the plot of course.

Warner Brothers aren’t the first name that springs to mind when it comes to feature animations, it is difficult to avoid it but the all powerful, ubiquitous “mouse” dominates the field with it’s unique brand of “wholesome” “family” entertainment. It’s a good thing that they didn’t get their hands on this as it would have just become another white bread Disney that came and went and then got labeled, quite unjustifiably a “Disney Classic”. The fact that Iron Giant wasn’t “Disneyfied” is a good thing, though if it had the Disney production machine behind it, it might have done better in both the box office and the video sell through market. Right now you can find this “ClassicR
21; (in an altogether truer sense of the word) languishing in bargain bins in most any supermarket or video store for the princely sum of £2.99. If you see it buy it.

Warner Brother might not have been able to market the film quite as successfully As Disney might have done is made up by the fact they have produced and altogether edgier, cooler film. There isn’t your standard “Kooky sidekick”™ to provide the gags when the plot slows down, there isn’t an “Aint America Great” ™ speech for mindless flag waving, in fact quite the opposite. Kent Mansly, the government official, is portrayed as a bungling jobsworth, one of the subversive streaks in the film, which compliment and contrast the wholesome American backdrop.

The story is simple, Hogarth Hughes stumbles across an Iron Giant, in a forest, a bit implausible that something so big could hide in a forest I know but….

Instead of attacking it he befriends the amnesiac Giant and teaches it the value of friendship and life. Of course things don’t go smoothly and the Giants need for scrap metal for food and the intervention of Kent Mansley, “Kent Mansley, work for the government…” lead to a catastrophic chain of events.

Now I said it wasn’t like a Disney film since it didn’t have moral grandstanding or Schmaltz. However, a plot that involves a boy teaching a robot the value of friendship and life does sound a little schmaltzy to me but the presentation of the characters and how they develop elevates it. In fact the climax of the film is very well done and is quite an emotional scene.


~~Painting the picture~~

The 1950’s setting is wonderfully observed in every aspect, the language, the fashion, and the appliances. There are notable appearances from “cool”, “Wig-out”, “Coffee-zilla” in the language. Low budget sci-fi gets a poke
with Hogarth watching a Horror movie from under a blanket tent munching Twinkies. The acting of the chisel faced lead man is wonderfully wooden and the plot paper-thin. There are “Duck and Cover” information films lending an air of nuclear paranoia to the proceedings, as if hiding under a kitchen table would protect you from a nuclear holocaust. Hogarth is also the proud owner of a first issue Superman #1 comic, of which he’s blissfully unaware (I know he’s a cartoon character but I can’t help but feel a twang of jealousy about that). Even Hogarths bike has baseball cards in the spokes and a fake petrol engine to make it look like a motorbike.

The animation is superb throughout, with each character being believable. For instance Hogarth has a chipped front tooth, Dean McCoppin (the beatnik junk man) has Cuban heels. The animation is also wonderfully fluid, this is something Disney always scores on, they might make schmaltzy films but the animation is always faultless, WB seem to have cracked this. There is also a great deal of computer animation in the film but this is seamlessly mixed into the film, items such as cars and tanks, even the Iron Giant himself all look like working, moving objects. The use of computers in animation is often hit and miss because the objects created by the computers look too generated and stand apart lacking the “blackline” used in traditional animation. Though they look like real objects the rest of the film is clearly a cartoon, this can be seen in films like Titan AE, very nice space ships but it’s a cartoon!! The Iron Giant looks like a cartoon throughout.

Music is another thing which adds texture to the film, not only in the excellent score provided by Michael Kamen, which is subtle enough to stay in the background but add tension and emotion where necessary but also in the choice of music from the 50’s. Tracks like Searchin' by The Coasters and C
ha-Hua-Hua by Eddie Platt give a real feel for the time, then the sci-fi feel is supplied by tracks like Blast Off by The Tyrones and Rockin' In The Orbit by Jimmie Haskell. All in all it makes you feel like a very Hep cat Daddy-o….


~~Iron men; the characters~~

It is difficult to assess the acting prowess of a voice I know but the “acting” of an animated character particularly in comic or dramatic scenes is very important.

Hogarth Hughes--Eli Marienthal (Jack Frost, American Pie)
“Welcome to downtown Coolsville! Population: us.”

Hogarth is the central character of the story and basically he’s what every boy wants to be, smart, brave, funny and just plain likeable. Granted he’s not a looker, with jug ears and a chipped tooth but there’s a charisma to him. Marienthal’s performance is great it brims with boyish enthusiasm and makes Hogarth and his antics that much more believable.


Dean McCoppin--Harry Connick Jr.(Memphis Belle, Little man Tate)
“There are two kinds of metal in this yard: scrap and art. If you gotta eat one of them, eat the scrap. What you currently have -- IN YOUR MOUTH!! -- is ART.”

Dean is a very, very Hep Cat indeed, a beatnik junk dealer who makes sculptures out of the junk in his yard. It is of course the junk in his yard that is the main interest of the metal eating Iron Giant. Cool black shades, a black leather jacket all rounded off with Cuban heels he is the epitome of fifties cool, a rebel without a cause. Connick’s voice adds a real laconic depth to the character, nice and smooth and quite roguish. Though at times he has enough range to make himself commanding. I’d say the fact that Connick is also known for his retro big band music will stick in enough peoples heads to add another layer of retro to the performance. A bit of a casting coup really.


The Iron Giant--Vi
n Diesel (The Fast and the Furious, Pitch Black)
“No Atomo... I Superman!”

The Iron Giant has a real retro look about it, looking more like a cross between a car hood ornament and the “Rocketeer” than a Transformer. There is real attention to detail in the way he moves, reassembles and even transforms (very scary transformation). There is also some very clever use of viewing perspective that adds animation to an otherwise static face. As for Vin Diesel’s performance, well the Giant is pretty monosyllabic so there isn’t a great deal to say for this, he’s very gravelly but I suspect it’s been put through a digitiser. The actual animation of the Giant is very empathic and leaves you feeling very sympathetic towards him as he makes his way, almost childlike, from an empty robot, to a caring “person”.


Kent Mansley--Christopher McDonald (Flubber, Quiz Show)
“I’m talking about your Gosh-darn security. While you’re asleep in your little jammies we’re wide awake and worried in Washington…… All I know is we didn’t build it which is reason enough to blow it from here to kingdom come.”

Kent is the comic relief and the villain of the piece. A typical grey man in a suit but with a good line in blind, over zealous patriotism that ultimately fails him. Of course being the villain he gets most of the best lines in the film, but I’ll leave them for you to watch. A very nice character very ably played McDonald, his timbre gives him a very retro “Mom I’m home” kind of feel which is very appropriate since Kent actually thinks he is the Government and American as apple pie.


Annie Hughes--Jennifer Aniston (Friends, Rock Star)
“Do you remember the Raccoon Hogarth (shudders) I remember the Raccoon”

Hogarth’s Mum, not a particularly large role but a large actress in it
. Aniston displays a good grasp of comic timing which is hardly surprising considering her history in Friends. She lends Annie quite a sassy almost sexy air, or do I just like the sound of her voice??


General Rogard--John Mahoney (Frasier, Atlantis: The Lost Empire)
“You'll be Chief Inspector of Subway Toilets by the time I'm through with you!”

Another cameo role but a damn fine one, Mahoney gravelly voice gives the General an irascible air of authority and a wonderful tone of sarcasm when he’s tearing strips off Mansley. His character is the voice of reason in the American government, leveling out Mansleys blind patriotism.


~~And Finally~~

The Iron Giant is a gem of a film that has been sorely overlooked in just about every way. If you have kids this film should be in your collection, if you don’t then buy it anyway and enjoy it.

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