Steve Reviews: The Iron Giant 

Interesting fact: The premise of the movie is based on a question, the question being is 'What if a gun didn't want to be a gun?'.

Director: You can't make the audience cry with one word. Giant: Superman

The mother being underdeveloped actually helps the feel. As it lets the viewer feel how distance she is for her own son. It shows and emotes that, she is comstantly occupied, the boy is alone, and thus desperate for a friend. The "shehas to work late, thats why the boy is alone" momemts also fit better because of how theres some underdevelopement with the mother. At least in my opinion

One of the most beautiful aspects of this movie is that Hogarth's father is never expressly mentioned, but it's the driving force behind the entire film. Why is his Mother working so often, why does Hogarth bond so intensely with the giant, why are they renting out a room? It's like Hogarth's father is really the absent main character.

The fact that he doesn’t actually die at the end is actually key. He didn’t have to sacrifice himself to stop that missile. He could have very easily blasted it out of the atmosphere with any of his weapons. He used himself because he chose to rebel against his nature. He didn’t have to die to be a hero, but was willing to, to show how much he was willing to sacrifice for the family and friends he’d made on a foreign world.

I don't feel cheated at all, I actually liked the more hopeful ending. And his regeneration was foreshadowed so it doesnt feel like an asspull

iron giant: *just in the city standing doing nothing* the army: HeS aTtAcKiNg ThE cItY

Iron giant needs more love. It's an amazing movie, its AMAZING the lore, animation, and the PERSONALITY in these characters. Its action packed, it's scary in some bits!, and a do like a sad ending. But the cliff hanger at the end, and like the person explains there are deep meanings and lessons. I still haven't gotten over it in 7 YEARS.

Fun fact: this movie was such an underrated gem. Cartoon Network did a 24 hour marathon of the Iron Giant a year later after its original movie released. Even they knew how good this movie was.

"Superman" *cries like a toddler with a scuffed knee.

Fun fact: the scene where Hogarth explains death to I.G. is one that made everyone on the production team tear up. Ain't that something?

They quite literally teased him being able to fix himself how did you not see that happy ending coming?

The Giant coming back to life doesn't diminish his sacrifice. It wasn't like the Giant was aware he was going to live.

I love the ending honestly. The message is that the soul never dies, and I think it holds true even with that. The giant intends to sacrifice himself, learning from the lesson in the deer scene that death isn't always bad. He didn't make his sacrifice thinking he'd survive, but he did, which doesn't take away from the nobility of his character in my opinion.

Fun Fact: The old train engineer and the fireman were voiced by two of the then surviving members of Disney's Nine Old Men, Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas. Brad confirmed that he was inspired by the two, so is nice to him honoring these two legends, and he did it once again with The Incredibles 5 years later.

The only movie that I wished there was a sequel during my childhood. It was a precious gem indeed.

Nah it was foreshadowed earlier when he repaired himself after getting hit by the train. It’s a perfectly fine ending. But I do agree maybe the nail just bleeping would have been better. When I was younger I always thought there was gonna be a sequel to the film because of that ending.

I don't think the ending allowing the Giant to reassemble himself and survive the blast takes away from the movie in any way. In fact I think it makes it even better, and I think this quote explains it better than I could: "Because it's a book about a man who doesn't know he's about to die and then dies. But if the man does know he's going to die and dies anyway, dies willingly, knowing he could stop it, then... I mean, isn't that the type of man you want to keep alive?" -Kay Eiffel, Stranger than Fiction It might not make sense given that it's in the context of its own film, but the point still stands. The thing that makes the Giant's actions so emotionally powerful is not the fact that he's going to die; it's the fact that he is ready and willing to give his life to save his friend and even the people who attacked him. He's never seen a nuclear weapon, so when the person he trusts most tells him that it's going to kill absolutely everyone, he has no reason to believe he won't be obliterated beyond repair when he flies up there to stop it. The result of his actions are of course relevant, but not nearly so much as the intent behind them. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." And as implied by the movie quote above, the sacrifice doesn't necessarily have to result in death; it's still just as powerful (and I believe in this case even more so) that the Giant survived. A type of poetic justice as it were, because if anybody deserved a happy ending it was him. The movie would be so much worse without that final scene. We all know in real life heroic sacrifices aren't generally survivable. In our fantasy worlds, we can have our cake and eat it too, as it were. And it's never a bad idea to end a movie on a happy note. But hey, this is just my opinion.

I was actually really happy with the ending of him being put back together even as an adult.

Every time I see the giant go into his enraged state I get chills. The way they drew it, and the vocal delivery by Diesel of the giant’s gut wrenching rage is awe inspiring. A true representation of what happens when you take away someone’s reason to be a man vs a monster.

I still can’t believe vin diesel was the voice actor for the Iron Giant.

I remember actually watching this in a doctor's office, but the TV's audio was messed up so the voices seemed muffled and the Iron Giant's mechanical movements were the only things clearly heard. It made it seem like you were watching it from the view of the Iron Giant which was way more endearing in a sense.

As a kid, I needed the happy ending. It would have traumatized me otherwise.

Kent was unironically my favorite character in the film. I loved how well they treated all the characters and Kent is one of them. He portrays the fear perfectly while also being hilarious. He's basically the definition of being reasonably unreasonable

The train scene foreshadowed the giant coming back to life.

Vin Diesels famous lines - Superman - you'll always be my brother - i am grout

People honestly feel they got cheated with the ending? Seeing that goofy smile brought even MORE tears to my eyes! Even though I know it'll be a happy ending, my heart still breaks every time he brings that line back. "You stay. I go. No following". I suppose I could understand the argument if his regen power came out of nowhere, but it doesn't. Most viewers probably forgot about it after the train scene (I know I did). Being reminded in the end made that scene even more powerful! Maybe it's part of movie critic culture these days to want something more abstract, making anything slightly familiar seem "overdone". But in my book, this is a kids movie with some extremely mature themes and believable characters. The ending doesn't take away from the giant's sacrifice, it mends a broken heart. If anything it made the movie a pleasure to watch that leaves you with a good feeling, instead of a pit in your stomach.

Let's face this guys. The Iron Giant is no longer a forgotten underrated film. Now, it's has become basically an animated phenomenon. The Iron Giant has received universal critical praise, it has sold millions of copies on DVD, VHS and Blu-Ray, it has been referenced in countless TV-shows and movies(most notably Ready Player One) and has been considered as one of the greatest animated films of all time, alongside Spirited Away and The Lion King.

vin diesel got paid a shit ton of money to say less than 10 words

You have absolutely no idea how happy you just made me. This movie was my entire childhood.

This movie was and still is my childhood favorite, I was born 2004 but when my mom showed me this movie, and as child, this show me that I can choose to who I can be. This will always stay as number to me for childhood movies.

I remember when i rewatched the movie (shortly after the first time) to show it to a friend, at the end she was bawling and hugging a pillow, and when the bolt scene happened I'll never forget the transition to a sobbing happy smile. That was magical AF and made the rebuilding plot absolutely worth it.

The final 15 seconds were foreshadowed in the train wreck scene when the Iron Giant was able to rebuild himself. I don't feel like it was a cheat, I feel like it was not meant to be a story about accepting death but hope to be able to change who you are for the better and be happy. With acceptance of death possibly being a fake out/plot twist, leading everyone to accept his death before the upswing of happiness when you find out he is alive. For a kid's film it is nice to have a happy ending since most sad ending movies seem to emotionally scar some people and the sad scene is usually all anyone remembers. (cough cough -bridge to terrabithia/bambi/old yeller/My girl-).

Iron Giant is 20 years old!? God I'm getting old. Also that Spongebob joke 😂

Interesting detail, the motorcycle Dean is on has the throttle on the left side which was accurate for bikes back then.

The Iron Giant is and will always be a magnificent classic that I hope kids continue to watch for decades to come.

"Rattatoullie... which was 'okay', i guess" *You initiated a gang war*

Oh cool, the version you saw had the Giants dream sequence in it. The original didn’t have it, I think it was cut from the script. but Brad Bird brought the original animators back to make the cut scene for the rerelease

I definitely shed a single tear at the “Superman” ending scene.

I get that some of his actions would seem weird but Dean is one of my absolute favourite characters! He‘s funny and relatable and genually really nice. Also I think he was the one who actually told hogarth that you can be who you want to be.

during the scenes before his death I was dead ass crying to my boyfriend "He just wanted to be a good boy and help people!" then he said super man I burst into even more tears, I was crying really hard. I also cried when he was called a gun and he said he doesn't want to hurt people or something of that sort

I think the happy ending is perfectly fine. It's not much of a cheat, since we saw the robot had self-repairing functionality, and there's no reason something as mundane as a nuclear missile would destroy an intergalactic planet-crushing robot. Simply put; sappy but not out of nowhere. It makes perfect sense.

I watched this movie way back when I was a little kid. I remember I liked it back then but didn't remember much else. Just watched it again with my 4 year old. He usually won't sit through a whole movie. This film had his attention start to finish, and I realized watching it again how great it is. Awesome animation style, score, and a great message. 9/10!

Sad fact: when Brad Bird started working on the movie, he was still dealing with the death of his sister Susan, who was shot and killed by her estranged husband. I think that's where he got the idea for death and grief to be a prominent part of the movie.

“Welcome to down towns coolville”

"You stay. I go. No Following."

Seeing this movie again really hit me, harder than ever before. The last time I saw it I was still young. I hadn't felt the deep pain of losing someone then. Seeing it again now, I feel a rush of so many intense emotions. This movie is beautiful. Thank you for reminding me of it.

7:36 It was established that it was hiding in the woods and hogarth lives in a more isolated area near the woods so when it was established the giant was in the woods then its only logical the only phone near by would be the house it was approaching later when it was following hogarth home. And it just so happened there were train tracks in the same direction of hogsrths house. So it makes sense actually

The train thing and him reassembling himself would be a pointless part of the story without that ending.

eh, i think the happy ending was a good thing. not only was it cathartic, it didn't take away from the INTENT behind the giant's sacrifice. the giant thought he would die and did the superman thing anyway, and THAT'S what matters most. plus there was that message of "souls don't die" and death not being completely bad, which could be interpreted as a message of rebirth or reincarnation. the permanence of the soul contrasted with the fragility of the body. not only that, but the giant's ability to rebuild was already established in the film. it wouldn't have made sense not to have that pay off. ...plus i think happy endings get a bad rap. we're used to the taste of bittersweetness, so full-on sweetness comes off as sugary.

Steve: ratoutoulie is fine Me: no Shaiffralis productions: well Steve...

Dude, you lost me at Ratatouille. That film has as many layers as an onion. It can be recontexualized as a commentary for the cinema, as the predicted cautionary tale of the direction of Disney as a company, as reflection of artists in general, and it's admirable also for its use of imagery to represent flavor. I LOVE also its ACCURATE depiction of cooking as an art. It's one of the best edutaining films out there. How many films do you know of that teach real facts in its narrative?

The ending is... mixed for me. As a kid, "Yay! He's alive!" As an adult, I agree that it does muddle the message a little. Also, a nuclear bomb couldn't stop him! If there's an invasion, eath is Doomed!

“Superman” And just like that, ladies and gentlemen, I have a serious case of crippling depression

Fun fact: the twist ending where it turns out the giant is alive is a reference to old 50's horror and B movies where the monster is revealed to be alive.

16:40 I have a feeling that the ending was a result of studio meddling. It's not a sequel thing it's that they're paranoid about sad endings.

I'm about 99% sure the ending was always intended since we had an establishing scene about the giants auto repair function.

Naw, I still like the ending. I can't even say how happy it made me when I was a kid. Because let me tell you, before that part, I was in tears.

8:15 deadly foreshadowing

The Iron Giant is almost like a Disney film: Warner Bros version. It has darker moments about the deer scene about "guns" can kill. I know. People shouldn't using guns to harm one or another. It clarifies of violence never solves any problems. This PG rated movie makes the most recognizably sadden even the ending just so devastatingly sadden. Brad Bird is a creative ingenious.

Even better when you realize Vin Diesel is the Iron Giant’s voice. The memory scene wasn’t in the movie when I was young, maybe it was just the TV release or added in later.

i completely get your point, but when i was a kid i was grateful for the last scene, and i ultimately think that is why it was there, kids films are not necessarily made for critical adults 20 years in hindsight, as much as you and i may wish them to be when we watch them back.

I may already be an adult, but the final scene still makes me smile like my 6-year-old self

Very important that everyone knows that the giant's dream after the souls don't die scene is a deleted scene that was added back in and is only seen in pirated versions from a specific blu-ray directors cut version. But I loved the end. It's cheesy yes but having watched this movie so much as a kid that our VHS is worn to all hell and barely viewable these days and it was always nice being able to see he was happy.

That part where the iron giant had memories of his past is actually a bonus scene added in for a directors cut blu-ray/dvd released just a few years ago. There’s also a couple other scenes that are new too. I’m happy they decided to finish and include a couple deleted scenes which I think added more to the story. I saw the original movie on dvd back in 2002 (too young to see it in theatres) and I loved it. After seeing it for so many times it’s easily one of my fav animated movies. Seeing the directors cut was like seeing it for the first time all over again. I cry every time

This movie is actually based off of a book also called the iron giant, Hogarth is in the book as well. but the difference between the book and movie is at the end, there is no nuke, there is a huge bat kaiju called a star creature, and the iron giant, determined in saving the earth to eat more metal, challenges the star monster to a competition to who can withstand touching the sun longer, which the iron giant wins, sending the monster plummeting down to earth.

My all time favorite movie as a kid! I wish I still had the huge iron giant action figure, I bet it's worth a good bit now!

6:26 Iron giant is true Slav, he squats with heels on ground.

Iron Giant is a better Superman film than Man of Steel. Nothing but facts

I loved the ending as a kid, and I still love it as an adult. As a kid I just didn't want the Giant to be dead, and having confirmation that he wasn't felt great. -It made we want to see the movie again and again. As an adult, I see where you wanted this film to go, and how it could teach a lesson about death, but I don't think that was the film's intent. Th Iron Giant shows us that communication is better than fighting. Hogarth taught the giant about Earth things, rocks, trees, comics, death, etc. Hogarth risked his life between the army and the giant's battle form just to convince him to stop. And in the end it was Hogarth's conversations with the giant that built their friendship and convinced him to risk his life to save the town. The ending where the giant is put back together gives the audience hope he may find his friend Hogarth once again.

"And Ratatouille... which is fine... I guess." *Judges silently in the comment section.*

I still remember crying at the end

Steve: "Rattatouille... which was "okay", I guess..." Me: My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. How dare you.

this is the new directors edition with extra scenes. the original didnt have him dreaming

For as many reviews as I've seen over the years of this film, I've never watched it in full. Love the messages presented, and the casting seems like it was an excellent fit. Nice review!

10:37 That scene was NOT shown in the movie itself. At least, not on the copy I own and have watched dozens of times as a kid. I never knew about this scene until just recently. Is it a deleted scene, or is it exclusive to certain copies? Also, 13:58 that face is chillingly and scarily funny. My big brother often laughs at that because of how insane the Giant looks. My brother has a habit of laughing at scary and epic things, and I think I'm growing to do the same. XD Also, when I was a kid watching this movie, and Hogarth told the Giant that when the missile hits, they will all die, I thought he meant THE WHOLE PLANET EARTH would die and not just that one town in America. XD Which also confused me as to where Ken was planning to go to avoid that missile. So that made the scene A LOT scarier for me as a kid, though now that I know he meant just in that one town, it makes more sense that Ken was trying to escape, and it also made the scene less scary, as I don't live in America. :) I also was really happy as a kid when the movie ended with the Giant still being alive but just disassembled in the Arctic/Antarctic??? It also goes to show that... these robots can't really die. Which is kind of terrifying, since they're made as weapons, apparently. But it also kind of brings up the other thing Hogarth said: "Souls don't die."

I’m a man I don’t cry “Superman...” **EXPLOSION** Me; **Niagara falls**

10:59 Not framed. "You can't' protect him, Hogarth. Any more than you can... protect your mother." "My mom?" "Ah, it's difficult to raise a boy all alone. We can make it more difficult. In *fact* we can make it so difficult that it would be irresponsible for us to leave you in her care. You'll be taken away from her, Hogarth." "You can't do that!" "Oh, we can, and we will!" I always saw this as a bluff, because I thought it meant raising the living standards for every family in the country. And there's no way the government would be able to handle that.

I didnt mind the ending at all. Cause the timing is right throught the movie, and the Giant never showed a "frick it! Ill autorepair anyway!" behavior. So ots fully believeable that he went and sacrificed himself, convinced he wount come back. And at the end, the smile makes me more think of a mirror of the audience. Its more a "He's going to be alright! Hurray!!" then a 'haha, knew id make it' Its like the Giant, just like the audience, forgot he had that ability. And its more a happy ending, knowing hes alright, then taking away from his sacrifice. Kinda like those momemts superman gets beaten and "killed" in order to save everyone, only to miraculously return at the end of the movie, and he cant believe it himself that he survived/returned.

I remember some odd years ago I went to the Dallas Museum of Art with my family and the art director for this film was giving a presentation on the film and his influences... I've been kicking myself ever since I realized the amazing amount of emotion and plot development that this film portrayed, if only I could go back and tell my younger self to just "go sit down and learn some amazing things from this genius!".

The ending was made if it “needed” a sequel

I like the ending because it makes sense it’s a robot made by smarter and stronger creatures than humans so of course it would survive a nuke also it dosent take away from the fact that he still sacrificed himself to save the town

you got disappointed by the Giant being alive? Dang man, cold.

17:21 I understand that feeling but we must remember its intended to be a kids/teens movie i think they did that so everyone can have joy in the end and not the sudden urge to slit their rists in the end...those teens go through a lot of emotions i don't think the would like that on there conscience to be responsible for everyone committing suicide...plus you have to remember that this isn't a real person its an alien robot who we all know can rebuild himself literally piece by piece

I never really saw a problem with the end. We get an example of his regenerative powers after the train scene so the ending wasn't really shoehorned in. It also doesn't take away from the death scene because he could have very well have died and was willing to do so. In fact we don't see all of his parts return so it's even possible that some of them just didn't return. I think the reason why I was least bothered by this ending as opposed to the happy endings I felt were shoehorned into other movies, is because it doesn't just leave you with a 'yay, he's still alive' feeling. Instead, it's a feeling of 'his story isn't over, and he has more lives to impact', and I think that's really why I was excited instead of disappointed by the end.

*Superman...* - The Iron Giant, 1999

I’m 28 I watched this as a kid and cried and now watching this review started crying at the superman bit again :/ I mean I took it like a man.....

I had this on vhs as a kid and still remember it to this day and saw this pop up in my recommended. Thank you

As powerful as the Giant's sacrifice scene was, the scene that really made me tear up was where Hogarth explains to him what soul is. By the way, I think the best way to experience this movie is in the middle of the night.

I think the reason that Hogarth says death isn’t always a bad thing because his dad died in WW2 Edit: Yeah, it’d be the Korean War. I misread the dates.

I remember when I was crying in the theater in front of finding dory because the ending was just so sweet, I am the biggest man child

7:29 Those train drivers are easter egg appearances from legendary disney animator duo: Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Same appearance happens when they win the giant robot at the end of The incredibles movie. There are those 2 old men who look just like the train drivers from Iron Giant :D

22 minutes of glorious review, what more to ask for?!!

I love how this movie wasn't afraid to express a religious point of view to explain why death isn't the end. It doesn't really matter whether you're the religious type or not, the movie was seriously deep at that point and it was impressive that they were actually willing to make that decision rather than being too scared of being different from most other films these days.

I am so proud that I was one of the people to watch this in cinema, it's always been a favourite of mine and I'm glad he survived in the end.

Just found your channel and 4 vids deep and found this, I absolutely love that you covered my favorite film as a kid

"Ratatouille (...) was okay, I guess." EX-FLIPPING-CUSE ME?

At the end when he said "Superman" I bawled my eyes out, I didn't know I could cry so hard

I remember back then as a kid I watched this movie so many times this easily goes to my top 10 favorite movies of all time and I love the animation I will always prefer classic animation over modern animation cuz modern animation just kind of looks a little Bland all looking the same

I love the Agent. Hes never shown as evil. Hes shown more as fearfull, a coward, a conspiracy nutt. Ultimativly he means well. But hes blinded by fear and worry the cold war era imposed on people. And cpnsidering his position he has a large responsability on his shoulders. So all the way through, his actions, while condemed, are umderstandeable and come from good intentions. Just like the Giant, the Agent isnt evil. Noone is in this movie. But indifferent to the Giant, the Agend doesnt learn or consider, but acts on impulse. Just like the weapon the Giant used to be does.