THE IRON GIANT (1999) | FIRST TIME WATCHING | MOVIE REACTION

In the words of Ted Lasso “around the 75 minute mark, there's gonna be a room full of grown men crying.”

“You are who you choose to be…” Iron Giant: “Superman.” Chills

After the box office failure of an animated movie called Quest for Camelot, Warner Bros. decided to shut down its animated film department. The Iron Giant was still in production at the time, so the animators had to finish the film with a skeleton crew and a shortened production schedule. The studio planned to just dump the film into theaters and write it off, but the film received high scores from test audiences (the highest the studio had received since The Right Stuff). The studio executives were not prepared to advertise the film in time for its theatrical release. So instead, they aggressively promoted its VHS release in November of ‘99. That’s where most kids first saw it.

I like how Brad Bird didn't fall into the lazy trap of portraying General Rogard as a psychotic Buck Turgidson clone. A lot of directors would've portrayed him as a paranoid warmonger who shoots first and asks questions never, but Bird instead portrayed him as an intelligent and grounded man just trying to do his job of protecting his country the best he can with the information he is given (which is deliberately falsified by Mansley, the ACTUAL paranoid McCarthyism analogue).

I´m a 33 year old man who has seen this movie many times and I have no problem saying that I cry to this movie every time I see it when the Iron Giants sacrifices himself. Not because it´s sad, but because it´s one of the purest depictions of what we can all accomplish. He is a creation of war and yet he fights his very nature as said war machine because he wants to be much better. He wants to be Superman! And just like the Iron Giant, we can all strive to be better than what we are. Beautiful movie with a beautiful message!

“I am not a gun.” Favorite quote of the movie.

Mansley's a jerk, but even more so, he's a STOOOOPID jerk. "Where's the robot, Mansley?!" That really cracked me up the first time I watched this movie. RIP, John Mahoney/General Rogard. You left behind a magnificent legacy.

Are you trying to cry? Because this is how you cry.

Very underrated film. It’s one of my favorite animated movies.

“What if a gun had a soul?” “You are who you choose to be.” … Superman. 😭

Warner Brothers never gave this one a fair shot. As usual, the public steps up and keeps a good film from obscurity.

Fun fact;This movie was (very subtly) referenced in 'The incredibles' (also directed by Brad Bird)... The plane Helen pilots in the middle of the movie had the call letters 'India Golf Niner-Niner,' or 'IG99'... A nod to this film...😃 I can't say I'm surprised that Carly hadn't heard of this movie... Thanks to some rather questionable decisions on the part o fthe Warner Bros. marketing department, this film got almost no marketing to help support it (no toys, no books, etc.),and the Academy had no category for Best Animated Film in 1999... Still, one of the best movies of the year...

There’s a little hint about Hogarth’s dad: there’s a photo of him in Hogarth’s bedroom, showing he was a test pilot.

I have 6 kids, and they all enjoyed it immensely. And recently, one of my daughters showed it to her boyfriend and he absolutely loved it. A great movie.

So glad you liked the movie. I was one of the animators on it. And we are all so glad that our movie is considered one of the very best of it's kind. And loved by so many. All the best. :)

The Iron Giant's last covnersation gets to me. The Iron Giant: "Hogarth, you stay. I go. No Following."

Brad Bird directed this along with The Incredibles and MI Ghost Protocol. When he closed eyes and says "Superman" just before he hits the nuclear missile, I always cry.

The director made this film inspired from when his sister was gun down by her ex-husband, so he questioned "What if a gun had a soul?", "How would it feel?" and "Would it still want to be one if it had a choice?" Thus birthed the cult classic we have now. This film was is also based on a book with a similar anti-war sentiment, but with a different story. Also, it always blew my mind that Vin Diesel voiced The Iron Giant, but it makes so much sense since he is the voice of Groot now.

This movie is about choice despite nature or nurture. The giant chooses to save instead of destroy with all that he is. I admire that they made this movie. You two are strong women. I've seen grown men shed tears at the sight of him sacrificing himself.

“And you don’t have to be a gun. You are what YOU CHOOSE to be!” 25:25 Such a great line. Also, Christopher McDonald as Kent Mansley (and yes, Shooter McGavin) is perfect in this.