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| The Iron Giant Signature Edition is available this week on blu-ray. |
“It’s bad to kill.
Guns kill. And you don’t have to be a gun. You are what you choose to be.”
The term “modern classic” gets bandied about almost too
regularly in certain circles to truly be taken seriously, but when one is faced
with sheer masterwork – and the film in question is a directorial debut – one
seriously considers it the appropriate moniker. The Iron Giant, an oft-overlooked but positively resplendent film
directed by Brad Bird for Warner Brothers in 1999, is a genuine modern classic
of animation, a feat well worth celebrating upon its Blu-Ray release.
Loosely based around the 1968 Ted Hughes novel of the
same name, The Iron Giant posits some
important questions. What would happen if weapons were endowed with sentience?
How would we ensure they would do as they were programmed, if they developed
self-awareness? If, indeed, a gigantic metal man fell from space and was
discovered to be an easily-triggered war machine, could it truly become a hero,
if it were taught that it could be whatever it chose?
Animated primarily traditionally on a rather small
budget, The Iron Giant speaks to such
huge themes and questions, all through the story of a young boy named Hogarth
who discovers an enormous, metal-devouring robot from outer space roaming the
outskirts of his Maine hometown during the autumn of 1957 and takes the
automaton under his wing. The Iron Giant’s presence draws the interest of the
U.S. Government and military, and Hogarth must try to help his unusual friend
stay out of harm’s way, all while teaching it about the nature of death, and
what it means to be a hero – even if it seems the Giant itself was built to be
a defensive weapon.
Animated movies with “a boy and his X” at their heart can
be overly sentimental, but the relationship between Hogarth and the Iron Giant
is the true masterpiece at the center of this film. Bird avoids attaching too
much schmaltz to the interactions between characters, but allows them to
organically function in a way that refuses to talk down to even the smallest
viewer. The love the boy develops for the gigantic machine is palpable, but it
doesn’t make the Giant into more than it is; it is only through a very human
sacrifice that the mechanical man can be redeemed. Even as it seems the robot’s programmed
instincts will destroy any chance it has of shedding its identity as a
firearm…it remembers its desire to be like Superman, and makes its choice.
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| Bro. You're massive. Where do you work out? |
With sensitivity and maturity, Brad Bird’s The Iron Giant is a lovingly animated
powerhouse of anti-gun rhetoric, quietly masquerading as a tale of Cold War
paranoia and the fantastical friendship between a boy and an advanced, if
childlike, robot. Maintaining an intelligence and nobility that, to this day,
marks it as an important film for children as well as for adults, the fable’s tangible
gentility and the visceral gut-punch of its climax are more than enough to warrant
its status as a modern-day classic. Add to these the lush, Rockwell-esque
background animation, superb voice-over acting (particularly by Vin Diesel,
whose work as the Giant is almost heartbreaking during certain lines), and
swirling Michael Kamen score – and how could there be any question?
Often overshadowed by animated films with perhaps less
heavy-handed morals, The Iron Giant
stands today as a genuinely incredible addition to the genre, both visually and
thematically. If it’s possible for a creature who was built with the express
purpose of killing can learn the value of life and desire to save it, the film
gives us hope that we, too, can decide to alter our own perceived destinies.
We can also choose to be Superman.
-Dana Culling