It came from outer space!|Aug. 06, 1999|United States|86 Min.|PG
Genre: Adventure;Animation;Comedy;Family;Science;Fiction
Description: “The Iron Giant” (1999) is a captivating animated film set during the Cold War, shortly after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 in October 1957. The story begins when a mysterious object from space crashes into the ocean near the coast of Maine and then lands in the forest close to the town of Rockwell.
One night, a curious nine-year-old boy named Hogarth Hughes investigates the crash site and discovers a 50-foot-tall alien robot. Initially, the Giant attempts to consume power lines from an electrical substation, but Hogarth eventually befriends him, realizing he is gentle and inquisitive. When the Giant eats railroad tracks, causing a train to derail, Hogarth helps him escape and learns that the Giant can repair himself. Hogarth introduces the Giant to comic books, comparing him to the heroic Superman.
As word of the incidents spreads, a paranoid U.S. government agent named Kent Mansley arrives in Rockwell. Suspecting Hogarth’s involvement, Mansley questions him and his widowed mother, Annie. To keep an eye on Hogarth, Mansley rents a room in their house. Hogarth manages to evade Mansley and takes the Giant to a junkyard owned by Dean McCoppin, a beatnik artist who reluctantly agrees to hide the Giant.
Hogarth enjoys his time with the Giant but faces the challenge of explaining the concept of death after the Giant witnesses hunters killing a deer. That night, the Giant experiences a vision of his past life as an alien extermination weapon, which Dean glimpses through the TV.
Mansley eventually uncovers evidence of the Giant’s existence and interrogates Hogarth. He brings a U.S. Army contingent led by General Rogard to the scrapyard to expose the Giant. However, Dean, warned by Hogarth, cleverly tricks them by disguising the Giant as one of his art installations.
The film is a heartfelt tale of friendship, humanity, and the consequences of fear and prejudice.
Cast director: Louis Gonzales
Cast actor: Eli Marienthal, Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., Vin Diesel, James Gammon, Cloris Leachman, Christopher McDonald, John Mahoney, M. Emmet Walsh, Jack Angel
Original name: The Iron Giant