The Iron Giant [RSC Film Club 21]

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

The winning film for this month's category of animated sci-fi, nominated by @Fido_le_muet, is Brad Bird's directorial debut, The Iron Giant, as chosen by @djw180.

Based on the children's book by poet laureate Ted Hughes, but transposing the action to America, this film poses the question what if a gun had a conscience?  The film, as expected for a Bird movie, has gorgeous animation and real heart and is truly a film for all the family.  It has a great cast, including Harry Connick. Jr, Jennifer Aniston and, as the giant, Vin Diesel.  I've not seen this since close to release, so am excited to revisit what I remember to be a fantastic film.

souls...don't...die

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

The Iron Giant

dir. Brad Bird/1999/1h30m

The genre for this month's film club was sci-fi animation, and you'd be hard pressed to find a better and more revered example than Brad Bird's 1999 directorial debut, The Iron Giant.  Based on Ted Hughes's children's story The Iron Man, which he wrote for his own children after the death of his wife Sylvia Plath, Bird transplants the story from 60s England to 50s America, the America of his youth; the America of b-movie sci-fi like The Day the Earth Stood Still and It Came from Outer Space.  The film is set in a town called Rockwell, which may be a reference to Roswell, the site of a famous alleged UFO crash in the late 40s.  The story is a simple one; a giant metal man falls to Earth and befriends a young boy, Hogarth Hughes.  Soon the military gets involved and the metal man is treated like a monster before saving the town at the expense of his own life.  

The film is a fantastic mix of traditional style animation and the at-the-time quickly developing world of computer generated animation, used with spectacular results in the opening sequence of the tumultuous stormy seas.  The Giant himself is also totally computer animated, not only for technical reasons, but I think it works thematically too; it makes him stand out in the environment and really reinforces the idea that he is from another world.  The design of the other characters also fits their personalities, especially the antagonist of the piece Kent Mansley whose sharp features he brandishes like a weapon.  The world design also fits the film perfectly.  It's a classic retro 50s world of Americana: Twinkies and Wonderbread, Jack Parr on your brand new TV, the red menace, duck and cover in the classroom and b-movie sci-fi films at home while mom is working at the diner serving beatnick artists in black turtle neck sweaters.  Bird's love for this era is clear both here and in his subsequent films like The Incredibles and Tomorrowland, and that love comes across in every frame.  The film also has a gorgeous colour palette, starting off swathed in rich, warm autumnal tones bathing everything with a feeling of nostalgia, fading to a melancholic world of grays and whites with the onset of a snowstorm, mirroring the bleak situation of the third act.  

Bird's passion for animation also shines strong.  There is a clear reference to Bambi when Hogarth and The Giant come across a deer in the woods only for it to be shot dead by a hunter leading to the child having to explain what death is when he barely knows himself.  Bambi is many children's first experience of death and here Bird is presenting that to a new generation of children.  He also gave voice cameos to Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, two of Disney's legendary “9 old men”, animators who worked at Disney from the beginning right through the golden age of animation and who inspired generation after generation of animators, including Bird.  Clearly this is a passion project in all senses of the term and Bird's love for the craft is obvious to all who watch this.  

Bird's direction is incredibly confident for a first feature.  His camera tracks and cranes around the shots giving the film a great feeling of movement and energy, and he never forgets about the most important thing when making a film about a giant, scale.  Every shot that features The Giant makes sure to frame him in a way that emphasises his towering stature, he dominates the film physically.  A lot of the film is also shot from Hogarth's height, like Spielberg did with E.T, giving us a child's view of the world and making The Giant seem even more imposing, especially the first time they meet.    

The vocal performances from the entire cast are excellent.  Jennifer Aniston is warm and loving but stern when she has to be, a single mother who has to cover all of the parental responsibilities.  Harry Connick Jr. is cool as the enigmatic artist and hilarious when that cool breaks and he freaks out over stuff like a squirrel in his pants and a giant metal man in his scrapyard.  Eli Marienthal is a standout as Hogarth giving an assured performance full of life and excitement.  And of course we have Vin Diesel as The Giant.  Fifteen years before I Am Groot he gives us another monosyllabic creature form outer space who radiates compassion and love with just a few booming words and, in my opinion, is the best performance of his career.  When he says “I...am...Superman” just before sacrificing himself at the end of the film I absolutely lost it and was in floods of tears, even more than when he proclaimed “WE are Groot” at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy, again just before sacrificing himself.  

For a children's film this presents us with many serious themes.  Post traumatic stress disorder is briefly and sensitvley touched on with a short flashback to The Giant's war-ravaged homeworld where he was built for destruction.  He is triggered several times throughout the film and is clearly affected by violence, going into a trance when this happens, even coming close to hurting those closest to him.  There is the idea that even the most broken person can put themselves back together again, shown in the fantastic ending shot where the scattered pieces of The Giant start to gather in the Arctic tundra, something that Hughes put into his original story to comfort his children.  And finally there is the idea that “you are who you choose to be”.  Here we have a machine that was built to destroy but ends up saving countless people in a small town.  A gun with a soul that chooses not to kill but to love.  And that is a beautiful thing.  9.5/10

[Smurf 947]

I must of watched 3 show/ tv series for the last 11 months this being the 3rd , I'm not really into watching tv so I don't normally contribute to this side of the forums. But I watched this as soon as it chosen for the month hopefully I remember it right, this is my take.

So putting multiple scenes together The Iron Giant started when I saw a fleet of robots flying through space as if they were in rest mode with auto piloting mode on, as if their programmed to travel to a certain destination for a specific purpose, but I'll get back to that in a moment.

The Commies in a bid to show the world, their power & strength of their technology sucessfully launched a satellite into space, further letting you know what era the film's 🎥 theme will actually represent besides just showing the year. The satellite Sputnik launched on the 4th of Oct 1957.

The beginning scene where you see the satellite orbiting the earth you could see that there was a huge thunder storm brewing below down on earth, my appreciation to the attention to detail to a lot of these older animated film will not go unabated. It seem that the satellite becon  caused the Iron 🤖 to break out of its catatonic state, broke rank to follow the signal of the satellite, but once it got to the earth's gravitational pull, the brewing storm attracted the 🤖 as it turned into a ball of fire tumbling🔥towards earth at rapid speed, and crashed into the rough sea as the billows rolled in the very storm.

The 1st eye witness the captain of a ship that was taking on water S.O.S saw something crash into the sea, but was preoccupied with saving his life & keeping contact through the radio to steer his way back to the shoreline. As he communicated  that he saw the light house, that was no light house as this colossal alien s*x robot (I kid I kid) emerged out of the sea with big bulbous, glowing beaming eyes in the nights storm, stood up with great force knocking the onlooker over board and unto some jagged rocks along the shores, the captain looked up again but this time he actually saw the light house, I found that funny lol.

Stick a pin because he is the reason why big government came to town to investigate The Iron Giant in the 1st place, from the FBI, CIA & all the gov alphabet boys down to a 1hr rent a cop if they have a itching👂 to listen. What a snitch. Never the less no one believed his wild story, save Hogarth a young boy that love to seek adventure and clearly loved bringing home new pet to torment him mom & any residing tenants. I guess the Gov thought it fit that there was enough evidence to give Captain Snitch story a look so they did.

I noticed after Hogarth met this metal chewing robot, the robot seems to stop moving around and behaving in a mechanical way as they bonded over time, & the way the robot played with this kid would surely give his mom a heart attack.

After the Government spo*k started investigating he had no choice but to believe after half his car got eaten lol. He eventually zeroed in on the location by the all you can eat junk yard where the robot threw the meal shouldn't shut up lol and got embarrassed after bring a general to a storage unit there😹 where the robot pretended to be lifeless and they all left. It was cool when the kid found out it could fly. "I am Superman."

You can only hide a robot of that magnetude for so long before the secret being exposed, so it blew it's cover to rescue it's destroyer and had to pay a heavy price because of the fear of the unknown. The fighter jet scene was the best part for me outside of the military ground troops, I'm upset it didn't go on for like 5 minutes or so, the visuals were amazing for the short span of time it showed.

Though the robot probably have the weaponry and skills to take them out it self sacrificed and blew to pieces, you know it's famous last words.

There was a next scene with Sputnik still orbiting the earth further gave a timeline, you see Sputnik fell back into orbit 4 Jan 1958 & burnt up on reentry which is most likely deliverable if you scroll back up, and view the 1st date I mentioned about it. So Superman used the satellite to gather itself back together again. 'Long live Superman.'

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

Nice write up @Smurf, love the points you made about Sputnik, something I didn’t really know about, especially it falling back into orbit.  

[djw180 6,836]

The Iron Giant.

 

When I chose this as my nomination for this month I had no idea what this film was. I just picked it from a list because it was one of the few I had heard of. When I then found out it was based on a children's story I had a few regrets, as I'm not, and never really have been, a fan of children's films. But I need not have worried.

 

This is an very good film that, to me, definitely appeals to adults. The animation is really good and deliberately done in an old style but also clearly using some modern techniques to add to the film, as in the great sea-scapes of the early scenes. I like the way the characters are drawn in true cartoon style, deliberately not trying to be too realistic. They very much remind me of the sort of cartoon TV programmes I enjoyed when I was growing up. The main character, Hogarth, a young boy is not the sort of annoying kid I often hate when children are in films and as he befriends and teaches the Iron Giant he comes across as the more mature one.  I did have fears about Vin Diesel as the giant because I really only know him as an action film actor in the sort of films that don't really rely on the actual acting. But again I need not have worried, he is very good, as are the other main actors.

 

The basic story of a robotic weapon that has forgotten it's original purpose, is hunted by people who automatically see it as a threat, but makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the town it has settled in is very good and very moving. I didn't like the fact that the Iron Giant actually survives and starts to re-build itself, and I suspected that was an added Holywood ending, but as I now know that is in keeping with the original story, that's fine by me

 

8/10

 

 

 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

26 minutes ago, djw180 said:

but as I now know that is in keeping with the original story

In the original story he also fights a dragon from space!

[Smurf 947]

2 hours ago, djw180 said:

I didn't like the fact that the Iron Giant actually survives and starts to re-build itself

Same here as it hint to a sequel and possible hollowed out movie franchise. Mostly It kind of belittled the sacrifice down to just taking heavy damages.

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

39 minutes ago, Smurf said:

Same here as it hint to a sequel and possible hollowed out movie franchise. Mostly It kind of belittled the sacrifice down to just taking heavy damages.

This was actually something from the book to show how a broken person can still put themselves back together again after the authors wife committed suicide and he wanted to comfort their children and let them know that they’ll be ok again one day.  I don’t think anyone had any intentions of a sequel, but I could be wrong about that.  

[Smurf 947]

@LimeGreenLegendWell in that case I guess they did their best in conveying the image of the  story, while giving life's lessens of perseverance though hardship as the goal.

[Smurf 947]

@LimeGreenLegendWell in that case I guess they did their best in conveying the image of the  story, while giving life's lessens of perseverance though hardship as the goal.

[Con 5,703]

The Iron Giant (2000)

The Awesome: The art-style looked great and every scene was illustrated beautifully. The colors fill the scenes with so much character. The animation is fantastic and while not anime jaw-dropping, they still go a long way in cementing the wonderful themes the story dives into. The strong themes of loss, friendship, family, paranoia, and sacrifice were all handled superbly. When the Iron Giant goes ballistic, those were certainly my favorite scenes as we finally see just how deadly he can truly be and it is terrifying to see his arsenal in action. I appreciated that while it is a cartoon it didn't always feel like one thanks to the themes and tense subplots. I liked most of the characters and only felt that Kent Mansley (Christopher McDonald) was written the most exaggerated and really came across as silly for some of his decisions, but everyone else felt like real people. The Iron Giant we know comes from outer space but that is all we get and I like that he remains a mystery in that way throughout the entire film.

The Good: The voice acting was fantastic and I appreciated that we don't ever break into song like in most animated features. The theme of an individual choosing what type of person they want to be instead of choosing a destructive path that seems already programmed for you was conveyed beautifully. The flow of the story was excellent as we see the friendship evolve which lends to the great tension and threat that the friendship becomes once we see that the Iron Giant will show no mercy when threatened. Oh the metaphors are so abundant in this film, I could not help but think of why the setting of the story was during the Cold War and how one could easily trade the Robot with say a Soviet defector and society would still be suspicious and one wrong move by him and he would be destroyed. It's not just a cartoon for kids, dumb *ss adults could learn a few things from watching it. 

The Bad: I hate to point out inconsistencies in such a well done animated film but I think that even if I watched this as a 15-year old, I would notice things like the ground shaking violently in some scenes with the Iron Giant and in other scenes it is conveniently left out or it's obvious the robot would have been discovered or heard. It's a children's film so you won't see animated gore or blood at all. I was confused when it is offered up that perhaps running to a bomb shelter would be a good idea and Dean (Harry Connick, Jr.) says, "It wouldn't matter",  I really found that kind of silly. The only other thing I would nit-pick is the lack of the red-eyes when the Iron Giant is facing his biggest threat....perhaps showing him fighting back his programming by having his eyes flash between the eye colors we associate with his emotions would have been a nice consistent touch.

The Ugly: I felt the end comes at you at warp speed and that last act seems so compressed, what I mean is that Iron Giant saves those kids from falling to their deaths and within minutes we are now facing human extinction, nothing was allowed to settle in and I was not a huge fan of that ending in the same way I felt let down at the end of Max Manus : Man of War (2008), don't make him smile !!! lol , they should have just end it with Hogarth holding the body part and just showing it light up briefly. Instead, we are let in on the secret, but it diminished the sacrifice that had been curiously more profound to me initially. 

Final Verdict...3/5... Like DJ, animated features are not something I usually gravitate to (someone is still trying to get me to watch Into the Spiderverse) but this animated feature was worth watching again because it has a lot more heart than it does cartoonish slapstick. The themes alone make it deserving of a quality live version and am surprised that we haven't gotten one made yet or that that there was never a sequel. The Iron Giant is a real cool animated film that could serve in teaching children and adults about a lot of things, from the Cold War, to tolerance, to accepting oneself for being different, trying to understand things before judging them, and all the way to Animal compassion. I mean, as an animal lover, you know the bambi scene really f*cked with me big time. Anyhow I loved the main message that I got out of it  and that is that no matter how much an environment molds you a certain way or your tastes and likes lean towards more unconventional directions, that ultimately you possess the power to choose how you want to behave and how you treat every living thing that crosses your path....are you evil or kind to the living...but more importantly, how are you choosing to be, no one else controls your thoughts. The themes and messages will never go out of style and is why The Iron Giant is considered to be one of the best animated features of all time. I think there was more story to explore once the Iron Giant is revealed to the town and feel there were missed opportunities for more fun moments that wouldn't have made the climax seem so rushed to me and is the only reason I couldn't give it a higher score.

Edited October 8, 2020 by Con

[Con 5,703]

On 9/27/2020 at 3:34 PM, LimeGreenLegend said:

This was actually something from the book to show how a broken person can still put themselves back together again after the authors wife committed suicide and he wanted to comfort their children and let them know that they’ll be ok again one day.  I don’t think anyone had any intentions of a sequel, but I could be wrong about that.  

It makes sense to tidy up the suicide mission in that manner for the kids. It also works as the analogy for someone putting the pieces back together. But i still think its a disservice to children to make them believe anything but roaches could survive a nuclear blast. Although as I pointed out in my review, the mystery behind the Iron Giant's origin helps in keeping the Iron Giant's destruction threshold completely unknown and it's completely plausible for it to have survived enough to summon it's parts back together. And I'm sure ultimately the ending they went with ensured the target audience left theaters with smiles on their faces too.

Edited October 8, 2020 by Con

[Smurf 947]

@Con 

14 minutes ago, Con said:

It makes sense to tidy up the suicide mission in that manner for the kids. 

Come to thinking about it I wasn't even thinking about how the kids would frame the movie. 

[Con 5,703]

17 minutes ago, Smurf said:

@Con 

Come to thinking about it I wasn't even thinking about how the kids would frame the movie. 

And as I just added to my previous post, we really don't know the robots destruction threshold so it is not that ridiculous that the body parts remained intact, especially his head. He could have been made out of some metal compound unknown to man. He really never takes damage from the high-ballistic military weapons shot at him, not any I remember. 

.....and this is why we discuss movies..

Edited October 8, 2020 by Con

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

1 hour ago, Con said:

And I'm sure ultimately the ending they went with ensured the target audience left theaters with smiles on their faces too.

That was probably foremost in their minds.  Kids can deal with some dark stuff if they get a happy ending.  Same with most adults too, to be honest.