THE IRON GIANT

THE IRON GIANT - 1999

RATED - PG for fantasy action & mild language.

RATINGS - 415 Amazon (5/5), 25,008 IMBD (7.8/10), Roger Ebert (4/4).

AWARDS - 19 wins & 14 nominations.

THEMES - Friendship, loyalty, sacrifice, justice.

STORY - It's 1957 in Maine. The Cold War is heating up and people are getting paranoid about Russia especially with Sputnik orbiting the earth. Hogarth lives in a wooded area outside a small Maine community with his single mother who works long hours in a restaurant. This gives Hogarth plenty of time to explore and develop his imagination. There is a crash nearby in the woods and rumors start about some giant creature. When Hogarth is watching TV alone at night the picture suddenly turns to snow. Hogarth climbs up on the roof to adjust the antenna only to find part of it missing. He sees a trail of destruction and follows it to the nearest power station where Hogarth finds the unconscious Iron Giant, a 50 foot tall robot like character who must find metal and lots of it to eat to survive. Trying to eat a chunk of the high voltage tower was bad for indigestion. Hogarth saves his life and the adventure begins of trying to protect this friendly giant from the community and a very paranoid government agent determined to destroy first and ask questions later. Unfortunately, many people will skip this wonderful film because it is animated. Don't make that mistake. It's as entertaining for adults as it is for children, particularly if you remember the days of Sputnik, the Cold War, etc. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 11/17/2007.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMBD, TRAILER, ROGER EBERT