Product Details

• Actors: Eli Marienthal, Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Aniston, Vin Diesel, James Gammon
• Directors: Brad Bird
• Writers: Brad Bird, Ted Hughes, Tim McCanlies
• Producers: Allison Abbate, Des McAnuff, John Walker, Pete Townshend
• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: November 23, 1999
• Run Time: 86 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (515 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000028U3S
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,236 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

VHS TAPE.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

232 of 237 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never mind the ad campaign, see the movie., August 29, 2000

By 

J. T. Nite "mightybjorn" (Mesa, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Iron Giant [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Due to horrendous advertising that buried most of the movie's charms, most people think this movie is a b-grade kiddie flick. But ignore the brainless trailers and the awful extreme-sport ad campaign that accompanied the video release, and you'll be rewarded with an astonishing film.

The Iron Giant is complex and sophisticated enough to be a live-action movie, indeed more complex and sophisticated than the movies that trounced it at the box office (I'm talking to you, Inspector Gadget). It is a remarkable achievement of all the elements of a movie working at their very best.

The visuals are astounding. The script is funny without resorting to cheap laughs. The characters are well-rounded. The voice talents are ideal, from the Giant's rumble to Hogarth's wide-eyed wonder (for a welcome change, a pre-adolescent boy does the voice instead of someone trying to sound like one).

Most interestingly, the movie makes such a dynamic, empathic character of the titular hunk of metal that we genuinely care about his fate. At the film's climactic scene, I was ashamed at the tears running down my face, until I saw that my three friends (all of us twenty-something, manly guys) were misty-eyed as well.

Anyone over the age of 8 will love this film. If you don't like animation, try this on for size. If you love all types of animation, see it NOW. Even though the film's marketing department apparently doesn't want you to see it, you'll be glad you did.

92 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolutely first rate animated film., March 21, 2002

By 

Matthew Horner (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Iron Giant (DVD)

It is a shame that Warner Brothers chose to give an uninspired prerelease publicity campaign to the gentle, joyous and original animated movie, The Iron Giant. Precious few saw it in theaters.
Thank God for film preservation in the form of DVD!

Like the book, the picture takes place in 1957, during the height of The Cold War. The Soviet Union's satellite, Sputnik, flies across American skies. Our country is filled with paranoia. What else may they have launched?

One stormy night off the coast of Maine, a huge object falls from the sky. A frightened sailor sees it and swears that it is a giant made of metal. The townsfolk chalk the tale off to the sailor's love of drink. A giant made of metal, indeed!

A night or so later, young Hogarth Hughes, whose Mom is working overtime at the local diner, gets mad when his TV starts acting up. He goes to the roof to check the antenna and finds it missing. He then notices huge footprints leading away from the house and into the woods. He grabs his deceased Dad's old army rifle and a flashlight and goes off in pursuit. He soon discovers that there is indeed a metal giant. In fact, he saves it when it bumps into some high voltage utility wires. The adventure has begun.

Rarely has a movie for children - or adults! - addressed the need to search for a peaceful solution to our problems as gently or as wisely as The Iron Giant. It never preaches and is always accessible. It does not address us from on high. It remains at our level. It also shows how clever we can be at overcoming the most unexpected obstacles. It reminds us that things alien to us are not always hostile to us. In fact, it is we who often initiate the hostilities. Perhaps best of all, The Iron Giant examines these and other issues in the guise of a wonderful story that should hold almost anyone's attention.

The animation is first-rate. Most of the voices are good, especially Harry Connick, Jr.'s as Dean Cooper, a hip young artist. As Hogath's voice, Eli Marienthal speaks like a real boy, not a cartoon boy. Speaking for Hogarth's mother, Annie, Jennifer Anniston gives her a loving quality. Vin Diesel does well with the most difficult voice, that of The Iron Giant.

Rated PG for a couple of spooky scenes and a few mild profanities. Recommended without reservation for children seven and up.

61 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best animated films ever made, November 29, 1999

By 

Cosmo Kramer "The Real Peterman" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Iron Giant (DVD)

In the recent age of Disney films, the classic art of animated story telling has given way to 3d vine surfing and rock music. THE IRON GIANT is here to tell the world that the old art is alive and well. This is such a well made and touching film, with humor and heart, and superb voice overs. It resonantes like E.T., tackling childhood innocence, danger, death, and rebirth with the same funny and touching aplomb. It both pokes fun at and sympathises with the fears and prejudices of adults with equal care, demonstrating a lesson without demonizing anyone. As someone who writes and produces feature films, I am quite jaded, and usually leave a theatre fealing empty and critical. But THE IRON GIANT made me run out and tell everyone who would listen to go see it. They didn't, and it is their loss. So BUY THIS, watch it on your own, and with your kids as many times as they want. It's either this or Pokemon. Let them see what a real family film is all about.