The Iron Giant - Special Edition

After many failed attempts to match the brilliance of Disney’s The Lion King in 1994, Warner Bros. had simply no more money and resources needed to attempt to re-enter themselves into the animation market. Luckily, for Warner, now animation-superhero Brad Bird (of The Simpsons and lately Pixar’s The Incredibles) stepped in with a little money and a lot of heart with his debut feature animated film, The Iron Giant.

Somebody needs a hug!

A giant robot is found in the woods neighbouring the property of Annie and Hogarth Hughes. It’s difficult to ascertain the motives behind landing in such a confidently placed location, as while the film steadily progresses said robot and boy Hogarth build a relationship that consists of far more than bolts and iron. However, it may have been fate that sent said robot to Hogarth’s quarters, or perhaps a higher power is controlling the actions of robot and young Hogarth. Yes indeed; and this God calls himself Ted Hughes, writer of ‘The Iron Man’, from which Brad Bird drew his inspiration and subsequent animation.

Young Hogarth (Eli Marenthal) slowly teaches said robot (Vin Diesel) how to walk and talk like normal 50s people, which often leads them both into disastrous circumstances. However, through this menial banter, the two form together an immeasurably deep relationship, of which can never be broken (until, of course the end of the film). Hogarth’s single mother, Annie (Jennifer Aniston) also builds a relationship, except this time it’s with a human, Dean McCoppin (Harry Connick Jr.) who happens to also be an artist. When all four individuals combine together, we’re blessed with Captain Planet – which could also mean a dramatic confrontational conclusion leaving its audience with a poignant and deeply thought-provoking aftertaste. However, instead of calling on Captain Planet, our main characters seem to reach a point of closure without heavy doses of Disney flavoured sentiment, but reunite like normal people do after a disaster of this magnitude.

Oh no! The giant's after me!

Now, this is all why The Iron Giant stands ahead of the 90% of all other animated films (aimed towards children). It isn’t a revolting sob-story that ends in peace and harmony. It doesn’t contain walking, talking deer that are quite simply too cute to be allowed to live. The Iron Giant doesn’t follow the cliché-bricked road down to animation land; it forges a new path lined with remarkable narrative structure and a solid ‘message’ instead of irresistible eye-candy.

The simple, yet heavily profound bond formed between the giant and Hogarth is almost inconceivable. An innocent, young child accepts this 20ft tall iron man as his friend, and when everyone else ran away he turned to find solace in a giant robot. Isn’t there a lesson in that for everyone?

To bring this review down from way, way up where it was – The Iron Giant is great. Animated films succeed when they have a strong narrative force behind them. Pixar know this, and it’s why they make incredibly good animated features. However, most idle trash that is released doesn’t follow the simple instruction presented. The Iron Giant has richness in character, in allegory and in social commentary that is presented through a very simple 2-D animation design.

Just a bit of size comparison.

Warner have blessed us with a fantastic video transfer to complement this great film. As you’d expect from an animated feature, rich and often varied colours are used extremely frequently, appearing in almost every frame. These colours are presented perfectly with no sign of bleeding or over-saturation. This will be the greatest factor of consideration when assessing the transfer of an animated film, and Warner have succeeded very admirably.

The detail of the image, as well as shadows, was presented very well with little sign of grain and no blurring of background images. Black levels remain consistently solid, and never seem to appear grey or brown, but blend in to the natural black of your monitor.

Perhaps the only thing holding this transfer back from being reference quality is the slight shimmer in a number of different scenes. Never does this distract, as it is present in the background, away from all the action on screen!

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack presented on Warner’s special edition of The Iron Giant is very good, and will prove an excellent reference disc for those with a 5.1 home theatre setup.

The giant "wigging out!"

Unlike the majority of soundtracks for animated films, The Iron Giant here remains quite understated – using the rear and sub channels extremely effectively, rather than extremely often! Ambient sounds will often keep the rear channels alive between major sequences involving all six channels. This serves to significantly heighten the experience in key scenes, as a strong rear and sub presence is felt in contrast to dialogue-driven or fill scenes.

All dialogue is very easily heard, and everything seems in ideal sync with each other. This soundtrack sits perfectly with the film, as a stronger rear presence could have potentially ruined many different scenes.

There are a number of extras on this disc; however there are only really two worthwhile extras that prove interesting and informative – the audio commentary and ‘Beyond the Armour’ feature.

A feature-length audio commentary from various production designers, as well as director Brad Bird, is available alongside the film. This is quite an interesting commentary, providing a lot of information into production that would probably otherwise go untold. This is the main reason anyone would consider updating their edition of The Iron Giant, as this is certainly a commentary worth listening to. Those interested in animation will be delighted with the amount of technical insight provided.

Obvious 'Dilbert' influences found in that tie.

Eight deleted scenes find their way into this special edition. To accompany each scene, Brad Bird provides an introduction to highlight the reasons why each scene was cut. Beyond the Armour is a featurette comprised of 13 smaller clips from different people involved in production, offering an inside look into how different parts of the film were technically created and refined. Most of the clips are too short, but remain interesting and engaging.

Three smaller featurettes are also available, one looking at how Vin Diesel managed the voice of the Giant, another a smaller advert sending up the nuclear protection mindset of the 50s, and another featuring a mentally unstable storyboard artist. There’s a gallery featuring storyboards and pre-production artwork too.

A theatrical trailer, as well as a ‘Brad Bird’ trailer (one we assume was edited by Brad Bird) for the Iron Giant are presented in 16:9 enhanced widescreen and letterboxed widescreen respectively. Four easter eggs are there for you to find, but if you’re the lazy type click here for directions! DVD-ROM features are there for those who feel like installing InterActual Player.

The Iron Giant is essentially an E.T. the Extraterrestrial for the 21st century. With a far more engaging narrative, and some top quality animation; how could you possibly go wrong? A film for all ages; with inherit depth balanced perfectly with light-hearted, engaging entertainment.

"To infinity and beyond!"

Both audio and video on this disc are top-quality, which is what we’ve come to expect from most distributors re-releasing fairly recent films. However, the lack of extras found on this ‘special edition’ will disappoint fans, who were probably expecting a second disc. This film is more than deserving of another disc packed with interesting, lengthy featurettes and perhaps a few more easter eggs! I don’t see this film being released again within the next five years, so I’d safely say this is the disc to buy if you’re interested in this great little film.

"Hundred-foot robot? He, he. That's nutty. "