A giant alien robot teaches the value of morality

Rating: 10/10 (12 June 2017)

This remains my favorite animated movie of all time and survives frequent re-watch.
The Iron Giant tells the tale of a giant robotic killing machine that falls to Earth in the paranoid days of 1950's America, after the sputnik launch.
Fortunately for the small Maine town, the robot's AI get's scrambled by a bad fall after short-circuiting on eating a power plant.
This movie combines the best elements of 1950's giant monster movies, x-files investigations, and good old lessons on morality and the dangers of war and violence.
The voice acting in this movie is top shelf, well beyond typical Disney style crap, with Harry Connick Jr, Jennifer Anniston, Vin Diesel, Christopher McDonald, and Eli Marienthal providing stand out performances.
Our young red ryder bb gun totin' hero, Hogarth Hughes, must feed and hide his new pet giant alien robot, as a government x-file agent snoops around and government forces close in.
The finale is a jaw-dropping War of the Worlds action fest extravaganza, as the robot's lethal AI reactivates briefly due to threats against his new boy master.
The animation is incredible, with F-86 Sabres, M-48 tanks, the battleship New Jersey, and the ssbn Nautilus all beautifully rendered in 100% accuracy. The soundtrack is also a treat, with the first half of the movie filled with classic 1950's radio hits, and the last half with menacing sci fi thriller tones that leave you on the edge of your seat.
The movie is full of fun developments, like when the child-like giant robot begins to see itself as a copy of Superman after Hogarth reads it comic books in the barn. The robot's true nature however soon becomes apparent when it witnesses hunters shoot and kill a deer, and the automatic programming registers the human guns as a threat.
Harry Connic turns in a fantastic performance as the beatnik junkyard collector and artist Dean, and Jennifer Anniston does a fantastic job as Hogarth's overworked but ever doting young mother.