The Iron Giant (DVD)

Advantages: Great characters, funny, touching, very entertaining
Disadvantages: Though the FX are good, they're not up to the fantastico stuff we've seen more recently, also not many extra features

...seem to be taking over the animation market. Whereas Disney’s recent releases (Mulan, The Emperor’s New Groove and Dinosaur spring to mind) have not achieved the success of their earlier releases, such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, animation features that are coming from the folds of other production studios are doing roaring trade, Shrek being an excellent example. One other such animation feature is The Iron ...
...is an animation adaptation of the Ted Hughes book ‘The Iron Man’, which most of us probably read in school. The film tells the story of Hogarth Hughes, a young adventurous boy who makes a discovery that is feared by most but terrifically exciting to him. Whether the film actually stays true to the original story, I’m afraid I can’t say because it’s been so long since I have read it. Hogarth lives with his mother, Annie, ... Read review

Advantages: Visually stunning
Disadvantages: Might be put off due to comparisons with a classic book

The year is 1957 a lone satellite, Sputnik, drifts in orbit around Earth, its monotone pips the only sound to violate the silent void. Far off past the moon an object appears, at first a dot, then rapidly growing in size. It throw plumes of steam into the velvet black as it hurtles towards earth right into the eye of a storm, in more ways than one. Off the coast of Maine… A tiny boat is tossed around on a mountainous sea like a matchbox…. ...
...North 68 degrees…..” In the distance a flash of light stands out against the dark and sullen storm clouds as an object streaks into the boiling sea. “I don’t know somewhere off the coast of Rockwell, wait I can see the light house….” Marv Loach, looks up at one light through the black haze of rain and sees a light in the distance one light becomes two side by side. He drops his jaw and his radio set in one movement ... Read review

Advantages: see review
Disadvantages: see review

...clutching a ticket to see The Iron Giant. I had not been greatly impressed by most of the recent Disney offerings(A Bugs Life aside) and the thought of seeing a non-Disney movie with a voice-over cast list of B-movie standard actors didn’t do much to whet the appetitie. However, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised to find that The Iron Giant was not another Disney-wannabe but rather a thought provoking morality tale packed with social ...
...both adults and children. The hokey comedy element is not the main feature of The Iron Giant as is the case with many other animated cartoons, but a complementary element of the movie as a whole and as such I feel that it works well on both adult and child levels. Set in 1950’s America, we are first introduced to a young boy named Hogarth. He is a lonely child, the son of an over worked waitress(voiced by Jennifer Aniston) and makes various ... Read review

Advantages: marvellous film, with stunning visuals on dvd
Disadvantages: ermmmmm...

...this film and walked by the cinema so many times during it's short run in my town. couldn't quite overcome the stigma of a 27 year old bloke going in to see a childrens movie. what a fool. this is no childrens movie. this is a movie that should be seen by everyone, based, eventually, quite loosely on a book that should be read by everyone. i picked it up on dvd during a sale and thought i'd get round to watching it some time. what a fool. it sat ...
...sat with my girlfriend, put the film in, seeing as West Ham in the 2nd round of the Worthington Cup had been frowned upon, and we both sat transfixed for a blissful 90 minutes. It was superb. No songs, no cute animals, no condescending morality tales, just downright good fun. briefly, the story of a young child who lives only with his hardworking mother, which leaves him plenty of time to sit in front of sci-fi films on tv. his imagination is fertile, ... Read review

Advantages: great characters and animation
Disadvantages: not many dvd extras

...robot falls from space to the earth to be discovered by a young boy named Hogarth Hughes. It's the fifties and america is just coming out of the war. Hogarth finds this giant metal robot to be quite innocent but has a problem hiding the 50 foot tall monster and keeping him a secret. This robot likes to eat metal and soon some cars are left chomped in half that interests the government. Naturally Hogarth and the Iron Ginat have a lot of fun until ...
...some great litl touches about the period it's set in with references to america's fascination with all things nuclear. It also has a lot of humour and you'd never think you could care so much for a 50-foot tall piece of metal. Harry Knowles of Aint It Cool News.Com raved about the film and rightly so but sadly it didn't really set the box office alight. The dvd is in it's original 2.35:1 widescreen format and is anamorphic. The transfer I would imagine ... Read review

Advantages: Great fun, lots of extras
Disadvantages: None

...It ain't easy being a superhero; just ask the Incredibles. Not only is there all that world-saving to be done, but these days the public aren't just stupid or helplesss - they're litigious, too. So the former Mr Incredible, his wife Elsatigirl (voiced by Holly Hunter) and their three equally unusual children are hiding out in pseudo-1950s suburban hell, trying to pretend they're normal. At least until a suitably evil baddy comes along... Director Brad Bird (The Simpsons, The Iron Giant) has given the Pixar animation studio one of their biggest successes yet. The DVD extras are also incredible including two shorts, extensive commentary and enough'making of' material to render thorough viewers practically capable of making their own cartoon by the end. My kids must have watched this at least a dozen times now and don't seem to have... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful