Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Movies

Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores

Wide Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Limited Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

58 (Untitled)
96 35 Shots of Rum
56 Adam
39 Adventures of Power
66 Afterschool
73 Amreeka
49 Antichrist
76 Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86 Beaches of Agnes, The
71 Big Fan
65 Black Dynamite
76 Bliss
26 Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
44 Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81 Bright Star
76 Broken Embraces
70 Bronson
62 Cloud 9
65 Coco Before Chanel
69 Cold Souls
60 Collapse
82 Cove, The
75 Crude
82 Damned United, The
53 Dare
50 Defamation
67 Departures
70 Earth Days
85 Education, An
55 Endgame
88 Fantastic Mr. Fox
31 Fix
49 Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80 Food, Inc.
xx From Mexico with Love
28 Gentlemen Broncos
72 Good Hair
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Horse Boy, The
74 House of the Devil, The
xx How to Seduce Difficult Women
26 I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
70 It Might Get Loud
46 Killing Kasztner
43 Little Traitor, The
34 Looking for Palladin
80 Lorna's Silence
46 Love Hurts
84 Maid, The
45 Mammoth
75 Messenger, The
55 Missing Person, The
59 More Than a Game
34 Motherhood
62 My One and Only
48 New York, I Love You
66 No Impact Man
26 Oh My God
68 Paranormal Activity
68 Paris
79 Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73 Red Cliff
69 September Issue, The
79 Serious Man, A
65 Skin
41 Splinterheads
42 Staten Island
50 Stoning of Soraya M., The
58 Storm
82 Sun, The
49 Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon
73 That Evening Sun
61 Trucker
49 Turning Green
83 U2 3D
45 Uncertainty
67 Visual Acoustics
32 War on Kids
67 Way We Get By, The
65 Wedding Song, The
xx White on Rice
59 William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
74 Woman in Berlin, A
43 Women in Trouble
69 Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Iron Giant, The

EMAILPRINTWarner Brothers

Iron Giant, The reviews
85
9.0 User Score:

Movie Info

Genre(s): Sci-fi

Written by: Brad Bird
Tim McCanlies
Ted Hughes (book)

Directed by: Brad Bird

Release Date:
Theatrical: August 6, 1999
DVD: November 23, 1999

Running Time: 86 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG for fantasy action and mild language

Starring Jennifer Aniston, Vin Diesel, Harry Connick, Jr., Christopher McDonald, John Mahoney, Eli Marienthal, James Gammon, and Cloris Leachman

A giant metal machine falls to Earth in 1950s Maine, frightening townspeople. However, the robot befriends a nine-year-old boy named Hogarth who must save it from the predjudices of the townspeople and from a government agent intent on destroying the robot.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

LA Weekly F. X. Feeney

One of the best films of the year thus far.

Read Full Review >
100

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

Heart and tenderness are rare in cartoon movies. But in an age of frenetic children's fare, the new animated adventure The Iron Giant dares to show a lot of both, and it comes up a winner.

Read Full Review >
100

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

It's an antidote to complacency. The question is, whom is it trying to wake up?

Read Full Review >
93

Mr. Showbiz Cody Clark

Bird's movie neither panders to children nor sneers at them, and it beautifully, lucidly captures the giddy adventurousness of childhood.

Read Full Review >
91

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

One of the best children's movies in years. Spunky, inventive and filled with life and wonder.

Read Full Review >
91

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

At times, The Iron Giant is more serene than it needs to be, but it's a lovely and touching daydream.

Read Full Review >
90

Dallas Observer M. V. Moorhead

An unpretentious, funky, fast-moving work every bit as enchanting as the book.

Read Full Review >
90

Salon.com Mary Elizabeth Williams

Surprising as it sounds, as far as examinations of trust, loyalty and identity go, the big metal dude's story winds up far more satisfying than the plodding Kubrick opus any day of the week.

Read Full Review >
90

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Both a step back and a step forward from the trends of modern animation, it feels like a classic even though it's just out of the box.

Read Full Review >
89

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Clearly the single best, the single coolest (to borrow from Harry Knowles) animated film in a great while.

Read Full Review >
88

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Not just a cute romp but an involving story that has something to say.

Read Full Review >
88

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

An animated tale equipped with heart, humor, blazing action and not a sappy song in earshot.

Read Full Review >
88

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Keeps its sense of humor while dealing with serious issues.

Read Full Review >
80

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Still, the movie -- as beautifully drawn, as sleek and engaging as it is -- has the annoyance of incredible smugness.

Read Full Review >
80

The New York Times Lawrence Van Gelder

A smooth, skilled example of animated filmmaking.

Read Full Review >
80

Time Richard Schickel

A smart live-and-let-live parable.

Read Full Review >
80

TV Guide Ken Fox

A rare adaptation that actually improves upon the original material: It's everything a good children's adventure tale should be, and a powerful fable for adults.

Read Full Review >
80

Newsweek David Ansen

This is not exactly standard children's fare, but kids (and their parents) should be smitten by its wit and wisdom.

Read Full Review >
80

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Remarkably unassuming, genuinely playful, and superbly executed, The Iron Giant towers over the cartoon landscape.

Read Full Review >
80

Film.com John Hartl

A terrific feature-length cartoon.

Read Full Review >
75

Boston Globe Jay Carr

A solid, not to say ironclad, winner in the less than overcrowded family animation arena.

Read Full Review >
75

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

This remarkably clever, often hilarious animation derives much of its humor from its satirical view of the 1950s.

Read Full Review >
75

Miami Herald Howard Cohen

The kind of uplifting film families can enjoy without any reservations.

Read Full Review >
75

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

We are happy to report there is intelligent life in feature animation beyond planet Disney and the gaseous ball of foul language known as South Park.

Read Full Review >
75

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

More intelligent and thought-provoking than the usual dumb and dull-witted fare for children.

Read Full Review >
70

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

An E.T. spin-off, but it's a very likable and imaginative one.

Read Full Review >
63

New York Post Rod Dreher

In most respects, The Iron Giant is one of the better animated children's films in recent memory, which makes its strident political correctness all the more frustrating.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 34 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Mysti C gave it a10:
I watched this near the time of it's release, when I was eleven. I loved it then, as any science fiction-reading child would. But, what I did not expect was to come across it at twenty one, and cry like a baby throughout the last half.

Ikarus14 gave it a9:
A masterpiece in animation. Any animation student should admire this.

Gavin C gave it an8:
Very exciting, very entertaining, and very funny.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
This movie was great.. I liked the giant robot learning not to kill, and about the boy teaching him, and being his friend... This movie has a good moral, i expected less excitement, but it gave me soo much excitement!!!!!

Sophie gave it a10:
By far one of the greatest animations ever made. Very underrated, but it's finally starting to get the recognition of critics and public alike, and it's great when a family-friendly cartoon is fantastic and intelligent entertainment for both kids, teens and adults. I really mean it - this is a rare thing, the type of wonderful movie they won't make anymore... Watch it and LOVE it.

Scott B. gave it a10:
One of the best and most moving movies -- animated or otherwise -- of all time.

Daniel K. gave it a10:
This movie not only has a good story; but it has heart. Along with a couple of comedic moments, there are morals that almost anyone can relate to.

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use