Kind of, but more specifically the director who did the adaptation pitched it that way. CW death and ab*se Taken from IMDB: Brad Bird was in part inspired to make this film as a memorial to his sister Susan, who died at the hands of her estranged husband by gun violence. His pitch was this: "What if a gun had a soul and didn't want to be a gun?"
Also is inspired by the death of the director’s sister who was killed in a murder suicide with a gun. The movie all around is ingenious with a sad backstory.
One thing I noticed at the 6:05 minute mark, the humans say, "Look, it's the monster.." Even though in his eyes, they're the monsters, as they shot a deer for either sport, or to feed themselves. Which I think, there is no true monster, it's a shame for what happened. But people have to eat, the deer has to eat, it's the circle of life.
While I agree that hunters are not monsters, calling the act of hunting a part of life doesn't seem quite fitting to me. To me, a human knowingly taking the life of an animal is not the same as a deer looking for food. While it does not reduce a hunter to being a killer/monster, it is still a conscious choice.
@@estoybn474 Yeah, but it evidently is no longer a part of life for most humans in the present. I agree that it is important to be aware of our evolutionary history, but I don't think that we as a species are limited to these prehistoric behaviors. So many aspects of our lives no longer resemble the prehistoric way of life, why would hunting be an exception? Modern hunting is quite different from prehistoric hunting anyway.
The part where Hogarth was explaining how everything dies was so exactly how a parent says this to their child. You can tell he's been on the receiving end of this conversation before
And the receiving end was likely where his father is. It's not said in the film (that I can remember) whether his father is dead or abandoned them, but if he died, Hogarth's mother likely gave him the "souls don't die" talk. Then Hogarth said it to Giant.
@@Techydad There's a scene (or deleted scene, I can't recall) that shows a picture of his dad in an army uniform. It's therefore suggested that his father died in combat.
@@dubblebubbletoilandtrouble6646It's shown towards the beginning of the movie. I can't remember if it's in a frame on the nightstand or if it's in the box that Hogarth gets his rifle, flashlight, and hunting cap out of. It's one of those "blink and you'll miss it" details.
The Iron Giant was also based on a book "The Iron Man" by British novelist and poet, Ted Hughes. When the movie was in pre-production, Brad Bird either met with Hughes or researched into the novel's background and learned that Ted Hughes wrote the story for his children to console them in the aftermath of their mother's suicide (Sylvia Plath). With the knowledge that life and death were the story's main drivers, Brad Bird applied his own feelings to the mix with his sister's murder by gun violence and set the film's theme and thesis: "What if a gun had a soul, and it didn't want to be a gun?"
In all my years of crying my eyes out to this movie and ‘knowing’ the backstory not once have I realized or connected that Ted Hughes was married to Sylvia Plath, thanks for leaving this comment! Connecting all the things that make me emotional wow
Another subtle message in this movie is actually displayed by the contrast between Mansley and Dean. Mansley has been stated to have been modeled on the ideal man of the era, who everyone in town would have expected to wind up Hograth's stepfather; Dean on the other hand is a beatnik, a subgroup looked down upon by society at large and who is clearly something of an outcast in town. However, Mansley turns out to be the biggest villain of the story and Dean is a good and kind man who is the perfect role model and mentor for Hograth. A perfect metaphor for how what people SAY is the truth isn't necessary actually the truth.
Yes. And I think the key that unlocks that dynamic (especially near the end) is the General's character, the one thrust in between the two of them. He starts off as a skeptical ally of Mansley, gets convinced by seeing the Giant, but ultimately is the one stuck deciding between Mansley and Dean at the critical moment when the Giant has Hogarth in his hands. And it would have been SO easy to just make the General a cowboy stereotype character. Instead, he thinks on his feet when he sees Hogarth alive and IMMEDIATELY realizes that Mansley is a liar and Dean is trustworthy. In many ways the General is the true "everyman" of this movie. He's not a villain or a hero, he's just doing his job. He makes the wrong choice at first but changes his mind when he realizes what's really going on. And does so very publicly, taking responsibility for the situation. I don't think this movie works quite so well without him. It was a critical minor role and they nailed it.
As a grown man when he sacrifices himself it makes me cry every time. Superman would definitely give Giant his own uniform. To quote Superman "In the end the world didn't need a Superman, just a brave one."
My husband is retired military and this is one of his favorite movies. The military made him into a weapon too, and this message was/is powerful during his deconstruction.
The fact that Iron Gigant doesn't actually die at the end is actually key. He didn't have to sacrifice himself to stop that missile. He could have very easily blasted it out of the atmosphere with any of his weapons. He used himself because he chose to rebel against his nature. He didn't have to die to be a hero, but was willing to, to show how much he was willing to sacrifice for the family and friends he’d made on a foreign world.
He _couldn’t_ have used his own weapons, because he risked becoming a weapon himself again. He had to stop the missile, not as a gun, but as a (Super)man.
There's also the parallel with the Christ figure rising again. They don't show it in this video but the twinkle in the sky after the explosion is in the shape of a cross
I want to comment on the end. Right before the Giant collides with the missile, the head tilting back as the eyes close never came across as just "joy" for me but instead "bliss". He was going out, not only with a bang, but completely content with who he had decided to be. He could die with no regrets, knowing he did the right thing. Man, I loved this movie as a kid, but I appreciate it even more now. I can relate really strongly with the Giant's arch. Side note: The moment when the Giant goes full scifi murder mode actually reminds me a lot of the moment when Christopher Reeves Superman finds Lois' dead body and he screams in anger and sorrow before reversing time. They're both similar moments of grief that cause the character to lose control, which is very relatable as someone with anger management issues.
The Iron Giant is my go to of "What if a childhood movie is just as good as you remember, if not better?". It's aged so incredibly well and to me it's the best Superman movie we've gotten to date as well (If Iron Giant was an Elseworlds Superman)
Not only has it aged very well, it's even more applicable today for the new generations being raised right now. This honestly I think is one of the must-sees for children and families too. @@CinemaTherapyShow
I agree. I can't stand him in a live action movie, likely due to the roles he is playing, but love the nuance he brings to his voice acting in animated roles.
For me, the crying moment is when Hogarth tells the Iron Giant, "I love you." Hogarth knows what is going to happen and is preemptively fortifying the Giant's soul, and his own, with a truth that needs to be spoken before the Giant dies. Perhaps he didn't get to say that to his father, or his father didn't say that to him... ...but it really highlights how core the aspect of personal relationships are to great sacrifices. I also love the robot's joy when he knows by reality that he IS Superman. Only superman can do what he did at the end of the film. It's one thing to TALK about being who you choose to be...another thing altogether to live it. The fundamental a ha moment for me in life was the realization that things like 'dying to self for other people brings true life' are true statements. Everything else doesn't really satisfy...but making the conscious choice to sacrifice for someone you love so that their life is better...makes your life better. We don't like to admit that its true...we are afraid of sacrifice. But we are robbing ourselves when we do this.
I think the main driver of fear of sacrifice is the fear that it wont be worth it. The person wont appreciate it, the thing you were trying to stop or avoid happens anyway, etc. Somehow we have to be okay with that lost effort and time, and not regret that the effort and time maybe could have been used elsewhere more successfully. What if's.
This is my FAVORITE ANIMATED FILM OF ALL TIME exactly for this reason: its moral isn't "believe in yourself" or "true friendship is x" but "you are who you choose to be" and I firmly believe that it should be required viewing for all human beings during their development.
I’d never seen it this way until now, but in the scene with the deer and the hunters, the Iron Giant reminds me so much of my granddad. He was a WWII and Korea vet, a bomber mechanic, but the one time he went deer hunting, he simply couldn’t bring himself to kill the deer. He was, by all accounts, as profoundly gentle a man as you would expect someone whose middle name was “Friend” to be. Granddad passed away when I was just five, and I treasure things like this scene that remind me of him.
Also shoutout to the General for being suprisingly not gun-ho about all this. Other movie generals would've sent an entire army day 1 and carpet bombed the town, meanwhile this guy was level headed even when standing directly infront of the giant and was willing to hear everyone out. It literaly took sleezebag lying to him multiple times and then stealing the radio to issue the command himself for the nuke to be launched.
I really liked how at the end in the park Dean gives Hogarth the box saying the general had sent it to him thinking he’d like to have it. Like that’s really great of him. Most of the time in movies they would keep that sort of thing for study to find out how the Iron Giant worked, what he was made of, but instead the General realized the sentimental value it would hold to the kid the Giant befriended and just let him have it 🥹
It is very refreshing that most of the adults in this movie are actually decent, sensible people, and it's just that one jerk messing things up. It's very true to life.
I watched this movie for the very first time about a month ago. Loved it so much that the next day I went to go watch some analysis videos on its themes. Just hearing a completely isolated clip of the Giant saying "Superman" made me tear up 😂
Vin Diesel is THE expert in "dude talk". Wherein you can hold an extended conversation with just one word. I have a cousin who shares my interest in linguistics, poetry, and world building. One time, in our mid teens, we held a five minute conversation using nothing but varying inflections of the word dude. It wasn't random either. We spent a minute and a half successfully giving each other instructions on a task, and coordinating our roles using the word dude and some basic gestures and body language. So it's never been a surprise for me that a good actor can turn a single word or phrase into an entire moving performance. And VD is one of the best. With a team of animators of even moderate skills, he can make your heart dance.
Honestly the moment where the Giant sees the toy gun and immediately goes on the offensive hits so hard to anyone who's been traumatised to that degree that everything is a threat, you HAVE to strike first to survive, weakness is death, etc etc. I remember being that way for such a long time, and still am in a way, after suffering some pretty horrendous shit in my childhood and through to college, about 17 years. Its easy to slip into that feeling that you have to fight or die at the slightest perceived threat when you lived in a place where there were no "perceived" threats, there was just threats. I felt like a monster for so many years, people were afraid of me just because of the way I walked, because I had that much anger that people could sense it. And when I see people bragging about being feared, or that a man should be feared, I can tell immediately they've either never been feared or they're fucking psychopathic, because it is literally the worst feeling in the world. Knowing you can hurt people, knowing that you have hurt people, knowing that a tiny part of you actually enjoyed it cause you felt like you were taking back some control in your life just by taking control away from someone else. I feel genuinely ill to this day thinking about it. And through time and therapy, even though I know I HAD to do those things, that I had to survive, I still hate myself so damned much. I never wanted to be a monster, but I became one anyway. People brag about pretending to live the life I actually lived and it pisses me off, because trust me, there's nothing cool about seeing genuine fear in someone else's eyes, when they think you're going to kill them, when they realise that they went too far and things just got serious. I didn't like what I saw of myself reflected in those eyes. I'll never understand people who brag about killing someone, or hurting them, even in self defence. Hurting others is not something to be proud of. It's something nobody should ever have to do. And when you do have to do it, trust me, you'll spend the rest of your life wondering if you really had to.
Beautifully said. I wish there was more I could think to say beyond wishing you well, but I sincerely do. And thank you for finding it within yourself to change for the better.
"And when I see people bragging about being feared, or that a man should be feared, I can tell immediately they've either never been feared or they're fucking psychopathic" Or because posturing and intimidating potential threats is an animalistic instinct that goes so far back in our roots that it was present before we could even stand on two legs? Use your brain, please. Your experiences are not a monolith and god knows they're not the only way people think in the world.
@@Asm0d3u5 Absolutely it can. *Everything* will experience change through time. When I was younger I was overflowing with hatred and sadness, which my eyes reflected. There were numerous times when strangers would look at my eyes and become scared or uncomfortable or disgusted. I would sometimes hear children *and* adults whisper about how creepy I looked, and how uncomfortable they felt being around me even if I wasn't interacting with them. Now that I'm healthier, occasionally I will get a compliment on my eyes or smile. People have told me that they look pretty. Those compliments were foreign to me when I was younger. You don't have to pretend to like the things about yourself that upset you, but trying to find neutral grounding is a good way to start building a foundation for yourself. A lot of our behaviors are a direct result of the way people treat us, which can make it very tempting to mistreat others or approach people or ourselves with criticism when we're in a negative situation. One thing I used to do was journal about the way I felt. Writing my feelings out physically helped me regulate them and accept what I was feeling by admitting it though the entries. Even when I would complain, as long as it was on paper, it would help. It also gave me the opportunity to be honest and transparent with myself, those moments were meant for myself only, I could throw away the papers after if I wanted to. No one else had to see them. No matter what your method for grounding yourself is, consistency and actively putting in effort even if you're not getting the results you want, is the key. I hope your days get better, and become more enjoyable. 🧡🌻
everytime I see Alan cry, my heart breaks into a million pieces, like I'm usually crying for the movie as well, but the way he expresses emotion... I just wish someone would hug him 🥹
As a veteran of the war in Afghanistan with PTSD, this really speaks to me. We allowed ourselves to be made into weapons and thought that everything around us could be turned into a weapon when we ran out of ammo or our primary firearm was made useless. The urge to kill could solve all of life’s problems in a place I would never want anyone else to experience, and now we are just expected to assimilate back into society. I’m still trying to figure out how to be Superman instead of the punisher.
I really appreciate you friend, and I'm so sorry to hear you had to go through that. The fact that you're striving so hard to be Superman means you already are as far as I'm concerned. 🦸
I'm so sorry that you went through and are still going through that. I wish that the leaders of these conflicts would just duke it out personally instead of sacrificing millions of lives (not to mention well-being of the survivors).
I’m so sorry for the struggles you are going through. This story struck me and I hope you find a way to be Superman. Soldiers like you deserve the highest respect and you are much more than a tool for warfare
I'm so sorry you went through that hell and the situation you are living right now is another type of hell as well. I hope you find peace in this life. I wish you healing.
It's always a delight to see how open Alan is with his emotions. I think every person should be allowed to cry without feeling guilty or shame about it. Crying is okay for everyone, doesn't matter which gender or age you are.
This is a relatively minor thing, but I have always appreciated Hogarth not begging Giant not to go, not to do it. He just... lets Giant choose. It lends so much authenticity to the moment, and made it even more impactful than a big dramatic goodbye. So much of this movie avoid heavy handed tropes and just lets the characters BE. I love it so much.
Dude, how could you not go over the scene where the giant thinks Hogarth is dead? That scene makes my heart cave in on itself just as much as the end. He learned what death meant earlier, and when he touched Hogarth's limp unconscious body, he was struck with loss and anguish. To your point of praise for the animation, they expertly conveyed so much through his limited expressions when he thought he lost his friend. Top tier film.
7:28 Wow, I didn't know that. The fact that Brad Bird says his motivation behind this movie was his sister's death and characterizes The Iron Giant, "the gun," as sympathetic shows why this movie is so pure. The film isn't a timely message born out of hate but a call to empathy in her memory created from his love.
You don't think it's avoiding accepting that her husband was abusive and killed her? It wasn't "a bad day" and a gun that killed her. It was her husband.
@@mahnamahna3252 Both statements are true. Her husband killed her, and she was killed by a gun. He may have killed her regardless of whether he had the gun or not, but having access made it easier for him to do. I agree that saying he "had a bad day" sort of trivialises the issue and his motivations, but it doesn't change the role the firearm played either. I think about this often when I see news about school shootings - individuals can do a lot of damage in a short space of time with firearms compared to what they could do with another weapon (except for a bomb), because that is what firearms are designed to do.
Alan, I want to thank you for choosing to allow us to see you cry. For a long time I felt ashamed of getting emotional and crying. Your strength to show others your emotion has made it easier for me to be kinder to myself about expressing and feeling my emotions. To see my emotions as well as my tears as normal not a weakness in my character. You helped me realize it's okay to be vulnerable. I which has been quite healing after a lifetime of being taught many unpleasant things about vulnerability from my family.
I always liked that when the giant finds the hunters, they call him a monster as they stand/crouch over the deer they just killed with their guns, before running away. While he is just standing there harmless and ends up having compassion for the deer.
I mean. . .to be perfectly fair. It would be very startling to see. They were honestly a couple of hunters minding their own business. It's not like they shot multiple times, it was a single clean shot. If its one gripe I have with the movie, its the slight suggestion that hunting makes someone a monster. . .when its been proven that keeping the deer population in check benefits them in the long run.
@@hallaloth3112 I've never objected to hunting when it's done for food. That's what happens in nature after all. Killing a buck for venison is the same thing as a cougar would do, or a pack of wolves. So not a problem. The hunting I hate is the so-called "sport" hunting or "trophy" hunting, when it's just to get a head stuffed & mounted or something.
@@tonypringles2285 There is a contrast. They've just enacted violence, which can be seen as a monstrous thing to do, whereas the iron giant had just been very gentle with the deer. I don't think it can be simplified to "they're monsters", it's just an interesting way to show the contrast between what they're saying and what they're doing
I'll have to save this for later because I choose not to burst into tears at work at ten in the morning. Later on in the day at work, fine. But not the morning.
Thank goodness for bringing up choice! As a psychology student, sometimes there's too much emphasis on nature and nurture, but we do have the ability to choose, and that's so important.
As someone who suffered some severe childhood trauma this movie really resonated with me as a kid. I couldn't define why back then. I found myself whispering "Superman" when I was confronted with making a good decision or a bad decision. This movie may have made the most impact on my life more than any other.
"Superman." 😭 I'm right there with you Alan. Piggybacking off the point that was made about when someone takes a life, even if it's an honorable thing, it's still hard and scary. I hope when it becomes available, you will spotlight Koichi from Godzilla Minus One. If you haven't had a chance to watch it, please give it a chance. It's good film about a Kamikaze pilot who chooses not to go through with it, and just happens to have Godzilla who symbolizes this trauma that keeps reappearing every time it seems like he's able to take a step forward in life.
I love the ending honestly. The message is that the soul never dies, and I think it holds true even with that. The giant intends to sacrifice himself, learning from the lesson in the deer scene that death isn't always bad. He didn't make his sacrifice thinking he'd survive, but he did, which doesn't take away from the nobility of his character in my opinion.
Exactly!!! While some people might say that lessens the impact, even as a kid, and even now, knowing that he survives, it in no way distracts from the powerful nature of the giant’s sacrifice!
The Giant surviving only makes it better, as if he died for real there's still the idea that maybe he should have used his cannon arm to shoot the missile out of the sky so he'd still be alive. Him surviving makes it a moot point, therefore quashing such thoughts and confirming that you can reject your harmful programming and past. Plus he's a superweapon from an interstellar civilization, a nuke probably shouldn't be enough to put him down for good
Brad Bird was asked about this, when some people had thought the happy ending was "tacked on" or took away from the sacrifice. He just said something along the lines of "Absolutely not. This movie has the ending it deserves". I thought it was a great retort.
The impact this movie has had on my life is undescribable. As a kid i loved this movie but it was only until later years that i thought of the sentence "you choose who you want to be" again and it quite literally changed my life. It gave me the courage to overcome my social anxiety 3 years ago. I am not who i want to be yet but I'm making the choices in my life to get there. I am forever grateful to the people who created this masterpiece and love that you covered this movie on the channel. Seriously underrated movie.
I feel like that corporate synergy actually serves the story: because it's WB, they are allowed to just use Superman, show a comic, etc, and that makes the story seem more real. No suspension of disbelief for a figure *like* Superman existing, just actual Superman as a culture icon. That actually grounds it, without being product placement. In short, corporate synergy has done exactly one good thing, and it's this movie
I believe that by the time of this movie's release you could have said Superman anyway. As you say story uses Superman as a cultural icon and shorthand and doesn't use the character as such. Of course most corporations would be unwilling to fight for the right to advertise rivals though.
@@gathorall9136 sure, but there's a difference between like Aunt May telling Peter he's not Superman and this, where Superman and the idea of Superman is important to the central theme. I get you, though
"today represents a clean start. not that the past doesn't exist. not that the consequences don't continue. but you can start right now and say who do i want to be" is such a powerful statement and something i needed to hear today. absolutely love your videos
iron giant, black widow in end-game, sitka from brother bear, and ji-yeong from squid games have all had the most heart-wrenching sacrifices to me. the look on their faces when they die for the people they care about is just so tragic but also beautiful
A thing no one ever talk about in the scene after the explosion is that every military is cheering, while the general is the only one composed giving the giant the salute
Love the fact that there are two giant metals in space, one filled with humanity’s love, and compassion, the other, filled with humanity’s Hatred and Fear: 21:05
One of the best movies ever. Not just animation or "kids" movies, it's fantastic. Sure it's the typical "boy and his dog" story but it does it so well.
12:56 Boothe from the series, Bones, is a great example of this concept. He was a sniper in the military and has no regrets for the kills he made for the lives saved from taking out his targets but does regret that he had to take a life. He said when you kill someone a part of yourself dies too.
Fun fact: It was originally gonna be a musical in the wake of the Disney Renaissance, only for that idea to be scrapped when Brad Bird took the project. Also, the movie was loosely based on a novel of a same name that the author wrote for his children to comfort them in the wake of the his wife’s suicide. BTW, thank you for making this Iron Giant video; it’s one of my favorite movies!
It was already a musical…an album by Pete Townshend, which I love. But as cool as it would have been to see it realized as a movie, _The Iron Giant_ is too brilliant to make me regret anything. :)
This is my all time favourite childhood film, according to my mum I used to watch it 10 times a day as a kid. I'd watch my video tape copy and would immediately rewind it and watch it all over again. My Mum died in 2017, it was very tragic and sudden (she was only 46). On her memorial plaque I put the quote "Souls don't die." as a reference to this film (which we both loved) and how she and I quoted film lines and other such things everyday to each other.
I learned so many lessons from this film as a kid, it taught several fundamental facts of life that adults often shy away from discussing with young children, but did so in a very mature and accessible way. I love, and will always love, this film. Thank you for covering it. Certainly among the greatest films ever made.
You guys should do an episode on A Goofy Movie!! I feel like there’s so much to be said about a parent/child relationship, growing up, dealing with what you inherit from your family, and what it means to be a family. Also the animation is awesome and there’s a parallel between Powerline’s songs and Max/Goofy’s relationship
Solidarity to everyone crying, and who will always cry, over this movie. Let us never become so cynical and jaded that an honest, good act does not move us.
There is a cut scene where Giant sees a dream of what he used to be, he was a leader or least high ranking robot whose mission was to strip worlds from all metal. Multiple of his kinds marching on planet and blowing up it in the end. It was probably the electrocution that hard reseted his mind and allowed Hogarth to re-educate him
I like listening to these videos every so often, during my commute, and now I’m sitting in a Costco parking lot holding in the waterworks so I can get some darn shopping done LOL
One of the most beautiful aspects of this movie is that Hogarth's father is never expressly mentioned, but it's the driving force behind the entire film. Why is his Mother working so often, why does Hogarth bond so intensely with the giant, why are they renting out a room? It's like Hogarth's father is really the absent main character.
I mean...consider Hogarth's age and when the movie takes place. My personal theory is that the dad was in either WW2 or Korea (more likely) and, well, didn't come home for the same reason so many others didn't.
There's a "blink and you'll miss it" moment in the later part of The Iron Giant where we get a glimpse of a smiling US combat pilot in front of his fighter jet in a framed photo sitting in Hogarth's bedroom ...the implication being that Hogarth's father was in the armed forces & was either KIA or reported MIA during combat. 😢
The way Hogarth climbs up onto the hood of the old junkyard truck when the Giant has just been flicking the hood up and down with the easiest little flick of his fingertip shows the amount of trust he has developed for the giant. Pointing to the way he trusts the giant so much when he stands in front of the gun, asking the giant to make his choice.
As this started I thought it looked like Alan had pre-gamed tears before recording in the hopes that it wouldn’t happen during the actual episode all the while knowing that he was going to cry anyway. I see you, Alan. Thank you for feeling feelings.
7:58 this is a very important thing to remember is that a gun is a weapon, and weapons are tools designed to kill. Even tools that don't kill are still dangerous and you have to respect them a lot, but for a weapon? You have to give that weapon respect and understanding, you have to be honest about what it is and what it is is a tool designed to take away life. You can not change what it is and what it is for, you can only respect it and give it proper handling. Coming from someone whose only interest in firearms is purely to the scientific intricacies behind their mechanisms.
Instantly clicked when this hit my feed. And I'm completely with Alan here. I'm a 49 year old man who cries every single damn time at the way the Giant says "Superman." Hell, I'm crying now just remembering it. Just the simplicity of the choice and the selflessness. It breaks me every time I see it. Everything about the movie is done excellently, but that simple moment... Pardon me, I gotta go cry again.
I showed this movie to my almost 4 year old. She understood it better than I thought she would. Maybe it's because I'm a dad now, but this movie had me crying way more than the last time I watched it.
I’ve seen this movie countless times growing up. Now I’m 23 and the giant sacrificing himself made me cry my eyes out like they didn’t have to go THAT hard
I was one of the eight people who saw the Iron Giant in theaters. I was seven years old and immediately fell in love with it. So much so that I watched my VHS copy so much that the VCR ate it and I was devastated. Then when I was a teenager my mom surprised me and got it for me on DVD for my birthday! :D I still have that DVD to this day and rewatch it ever so often. :) And yes, I cry at the ending every time.
Fun fact, I saw this film when I was 3-4 after my brother came back with a VHS of the film from the library and it jumpstarted my obsession with robots that's never stopped for over the past 20 years, lol. I do wish you guys went over the coffee talk between Hogarth and Dean because I think it's one of those subtle but interesting moments with the theme. I think that's the first time someone flat out says "You are who you chose to be". Also, I wish more people talked about this more, but the more I get old and work with kids, the more I realize that Hogarth is a really well written child character. Like, he legitimately acts like a kid.
I totally cried with Alan. No matter how much I tried not to cry tears came down out of my control. I mean seeing “the gun” willingly destroying a missile while knowing it'll destroy itself in the process and doing that with a smile is just… 😭
Unironically the best Superman movie. Does a better job of demonstrating what the idea of Superman is supposed to represent than any of the live action Supermen.
That's because they are only after money following hype for a popular trend, rather than creating genuine stories that are true to the characters and what they are meant to represent. Most of the time.
@stormiexnights why can't they make good fun stories on superheroes nowadays? That's why Tim Burton's Batman, and Christopher Nolan's Batman are so good is because one is a fun ride, and the other is a dark truth. Even the Arkham games perfected that. I will say, I liked Justice League and the Aquaman films simply because, are they perfect stories? No. But it's just a fun time, kind of gives off those comic vibes. And that's what all these guys came from. Comic books. People need to learn that a movie doesn't have to be a perfect script or plot or visual effects, but as long as you keep that character core, that's all that matters. The rest of it comes second. Because then if your story doesn't encapsulate that character core, you have already failed.
@@complex2live IDK, probably partly because of executives that just don't care about the property, and only about the money, and what they think will make the most money. And partly people that think they understand the character and/or what people would like, but they actually don't.
I'm heartened by james gunn's words so Far, he seems to be aiming for a more optimistic.Hopeful truly superman vibe I'm sick of grim and gritty Irony and nihilism
2:50 something that made this movie better in swedish is what early swedish publisher did with superman, in Swedish superman was not translated into superman but Steel man, so when the IRON says he is super man in Swedish he is saying he is the man of steel.
I really relate to this movie and it’s such a shame is so underrated. As an autistic woman who wanted to go into nursing I faced a ton of barriers: with people trying to talk me about of it, saying nursing was not a suitable career for an autistic woman, I didn’t get through to university the first time and it took a few attempts to get to university. One of my mentors at uni during nursing placement told me that as I was autistic I shouldn’t continue my nursing training, after qualifying I have faced stereotyping and discrimination, to the point I have wanted to just give up nursing completely, but I love nursing with all my heart and I choose to continue be a nurse, despite some difficulties and I’m proud to know I was the first nurse ever on my ICU ward to have autism when I started working there in 2022. Love your work as always guys ❤
Little fun fact about munitions, the nuke shown (while not existing in that time period) actually wouldn’t have gone off upon impact in the upper atmosphere due to control measures where the activation measure wouldn’t have been armed yet. So he’d just impact and disable the missile and its warhead.
Fun fact I discovered recently, in the scene at the end of the movie when everyone is cheering as the giant saved them all you can see the general saluting the giant instead of cheering. It is such a good little hidden detail that I can’t believe I never saw until now
The Iron Giant is one of the most personal movies for me. And it's not for the premise which is amazing it's just for the character of the giant himself. My great grandfather was a very strong, pillar of happiness, faith, and innocence. This unshakable person that no matter what you throw at him was able to brush it off and look at what really matters. The Giant in this movie always reminded me so much of him even by the way he looks.
The role of the seasons and the resulting colour pallet is significant for the evolving mood and growing tension though the film. It starts as a green lush Summer, it turns to Autumn as the giant learns about death, first snowflakes fall as the Giant runs away, then it is cold and grey for military conflict. So good.... oh and a short slash of summer again at the end.
When it comes to whether we have choice, I learned something from being homeless as a teen that kind of resonates with what Alan and Jono said. I believe we always have a choice, even when we think or say we don't. Because when we think or say we don't have a choice what wr really have is only bad options to choose between and you're often choosing the best option you have at that time. I've found that realising that and reframing those decisions in my mind as the best choices I could make at that time with only bad and worse options in front of me lifts my sense of shame or guilt or whatever negative feeling is attached to the memory of that decision and gives me a sense of I did the best I could in really bad circumstances when a lot of things weren't in my control. But this helps me realise/remember I made the best choice I could at that time, and that choice was part of a line of choices that ultimately brought me to where and who I am now. Had I made different choices I can only say with certainty it would have been different, not better or worse because I can't ever know that for sure. But what I do know for sure is that my choices brought me to this point and that I have the found family and friends I have now because of those choices so I don't really regret making the choices I made, I only regret I was ever in the position of having to make them because I was in a bad place when I had to make them to survive. Reframing my thoughts this way is what helped me let go of a lot of the pain of the past to do with lost opportunity when I was young because of surviving a bad home life and homelessness as a teen. I hope maybe it helps someone else too.
I showed this to my 5 yr old son a few nights ago. He was glued to the screen the entire time. Right as Iron Giant says Superman and sacrifices himself, my son jumps up and screams, "No!! He died!!" Starts bawling his eyes out and runs out of the room. It took a bit, but we got him to calm down and watch the end. But I feel ya kid. That's how I felt, too. Hell, i was crying and ive seen it sooo many times. Such a powerful scene. This movie is a work of art in all aspects. I was tearing up just watching this.
I'm SO EXCITED that you covered this movie! "You are who you choose to be" is probably the most impactful piece of advice I've ever received, and I constantly come back to it when things get tough. Plus, this is just a great movie! It's so rewatchable. If not for the beautiful life lessons, then for the squirrel up the pant leg and a goofy detached giant's hand wandering the house.
"The Iron Giant" is an absolute classic! To this day people just can't get enough of the story Brad Bird did an amazing job bringing this movie to life!!!! What I like most about the missile scene in this movie is that it really shows how much the Giant learned from his experiences on Earth. Because it was thanks to Hogarth that the Giant learned that he may have been created to be a living weapon, But he could be way more than that and he chose to be a force for good. And since the Giant knew that the whole thing with the missile was because of him, Giant didn't want to see another planet get destroyed because of him. So he realized that the best way save the Earth was to save it from himself and so the Giant sacrificed himself by letting himself get blown up by the missile. He may have turned out to be alive in the end, But the point is The Iron Giant's sacrifice managed to show people that he was a hero.
I don't see it as him sacrificing himself to save the world from himself. I see it as the point is him choosing to sacrifice himself when he easily could've destroyed the bomb and saved everyone with one of his powerful weapons. Because he's choosing who he wants to be and he does not want to be a weapon.
Brad Bird is currently working on a new film at Skydance animation studios. I don't know what it's called yet as it is still in its very early stages, but I have a friend who is working on it, and says that it will be great.
"We all have 3 things inside of us, nature, nurture and choice" That really resonated wih me and my loved ones are gonna hear me say this often in the future.
Thank you for covering this Film...havent seen it in like 15-20 years when i was at a day care center. The movie definitely went over my head as a kid.
One interesting thing is that “Bambi” also got criticism for making hunters look like villains. I grew up in a hunting family, so messages like this got balanced out for me. I do appreciate when balance can be found in the messaging. But things like this and “Bambi” also drive home the pain of death, so we appreciate life more.
I firmly stand that hunting is not evil. It is disrespect of life that is evil. When you hunt a deer for meat or fur, you have to respect the animal you've destroyed. You are part of an ecosystem of birth and life and death and eating and pooping. To place yourself above that intricate dance is the arrogance of humankind.
The interesting thing here is, I’ve noticed that most people who hunt in the way you’re talking about actually have a *tremendous* respect for the lives of the animals they hunt. I wasn’t raised in a hunting family, but my dad and a lot of my friends and extended family were, and there always seems to be a lot of emphasis about respecting the land you hunt on and above all the life you’ll take to feed you and yours; shoot clean, don’t leave a wounded animal to suffer, take only what’s needed & let nothing go to waste, leave no trace when you’re done. Idk, I’m trying to make a point but I’m not sure how to say it. I guess just that, people with that kind of lifestyle, who see and engage in the cycle that closely, seem to deeply understand and appreciate the weight of it. (There does seem to be a general consensus that wild hogs are the spawn of satan, though 🤷♀️)
pretty sure any hunter worth their salt would also view the hunter in bambi as the villain, because they killed a doe. you're very explicitly told not to shoot does, because they're needed to birth and raise young so there are more deer. one buck can mate with dozens of does but without the does the whole population collapses.
@@dietotaku If you read the novel it explains that Bambi's mom was killed by a poacher but then later it explains teenagers on a camping trip were responsible for hunting the animals at the end of the movie when you see the animals running in full panic, hunting dogs being unleashed irresponsibly, and leaving the campfire unintended that caused the forest fire.
My grandpa passed away last year. I always think of him when I see this movie. He used to drink when my mom was a kid, and he recognized on his own that he got too mean and abusive when he did, so he stopped cold turkey all on his own. He became the sweetest, most loving person you could've ever imagined after that. I miss him so much.
The film is based on the book, iron man. It used to be on the uk exam syllabus back in the day. It was written by Ted Hughes after his wife Sylvia Plath passed away, but also an allegory for the threat of nuclear war in the late 60s
I cried at this movie. It also took me a long time to realise that Vin Diesel voices the iron Gaint, and its both surprising and funny seeing as he also voices Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy
Thank you two for covering my #1 favorite movie! I always felt it was so underappreciated. The bond that Hogarth and the Giant share is so genuine and pure. Hogarth is so unbelievably mature for his age and Vin Diesel killed it as the Giant!! I cry EVERY time I watch it and it never gets old. 😭 ❤
Recommendations (if possible) - Hero psychology of Gwen Stacy: Across the Spiderverse - Character psychology of Marie: Unbelievable (8 episode miniseries) - Psychology of an antihero of Joel: HBO The Last of Us (possible Troy Baker guest star) - The Nanny McPhee movies - Nimona - Dreamworks Abominable - Over the Moon - Psychology of a Villain: Snow from Hunger Games (both prequel & original trilogy) - As They Made Us (w/ Mayim Bialik guest star) - Psychology of a Hero; Tulip from Infinity Train
I am fully on board with Gwen Stacy, Nimona, and Tulip. For Infinity Train, I'd also like to throw in Jesse, Lake, Grace, Simon, Min-Gi, and Ryan. Simon obviously gets Villain Therapy instead of Psychology of a Hero.
I know I'm, like, 5 months late to this, but I just have to say this. I tried SO HARD not to cry my eyes out during the nuke scene. I knew what was coming beat for beat and braced for it. And then Giant said, "...Superman...". The floodgates opened, and I had to bite my finger to keep from wailing. This movie speaks to me on the deepest of levels, because I know, in my heart of hearts, that if I have to be anyone, I want to be like Superman, a paragon of truth, honor, and justice. So, in short, you're not alone, Alan. I cried, too.
Just like Alan I am bawling at that final scene every time I see it. It is just such a beautifully, heroic, affirming, heart aching scene. One small thing I liked about the movie is that General Rogard isn't some idiot who thinks "We don't know what this is, so it must be a threat to America. So we have to kill it first by any means necessary." When he is told that the Iron Giant only reacts to being attacked, he is able to take control of the situation and think rationally. Plus he has one of the best lines in the film by far. "Where's the Giant Manseley?"
I was with a guy recently who was a military vet. When he retired he worked in intelligence, but he'd done active combat tours before that. I'm never going to forget how he described PTSD. I'm paraphrasing here but: "When you're in combat, you have to turn off your empathy and your morals, otherwise you're going to break. PTSD kicks in when you come home and you have to turn it back on to live with normal people again, and you have to face everything you've seen and done. And that switch gets harder to flip every time, until it's either stuck on and you can't serve anymore, or it's stuck off and you can't handle civilian life."
The part about the gun that can be used for self defence is so on point, because that's exactly what the Giant does. He always goes aggressive when guns are pointed or fired onto him, so his response is literally just self defence. And he still chooses not to be that, because that's still not good. He chooses to protect everyone despite the hatred from others, despite the "justified" violence he could have inflicted.
@@tonypringles2285 I literally said the opposite in the entire comment. I put "justified" in quotations to explain that even if it's legally justifiable I still don't consider it morally justifiable. If you can't understand context and don't know how quotations work, I'd say it's completely your L
One of the few animated movies that made me cry. Though honestly I kinda find the ending refreshing. It shows that you don’t have to die in order to be a hero. The Giant didn’t think he would survive but he was still willing to sacrifice himself because of his arc/friendship with Hogarth and him rebelling against his creation.
That's all materialistic success, though. This movie deeply moved and touched so many people and was a genuine work of art. I see what you're saying about how it deserves those things because it's so good, but that isn't what's important for a movie like this. It's true success lies in the powerful and genuine message and what it means to people.
...and have sequel after sequel, each resembling the first less and less, as long as people were willing to desperately try to recapture what the first made them feel. It's better that it wasn't massively successful.
Movies like this clearly don't satisfy everyone, since it's messages are taken as divisive. Like them commenting on the whole 'guns kill' allegory. So sadly things like that are going to make certain individuals upset and just see the movie as a political statement or anti-gun propaganda. Or other shallow things like that. There is never a movie that satisfies everyone and that's a good thing.
I cried with Alan... I cry with movies too. I'm going through horrible anxiety attacks. Jono saying that today is a clean start, makes me cry a bit more... In a good way... Thank you ❤
From the incredible voice talents, the perfect script, a beautiful visual style, succinct pacing, a heartfelt message, and a beautiful score... What a film, what a damn film.
@@tonypringles2285 people experience feelings according to their morals and personal history, that's why he cried and you make fun of him crying. I wish for you to learn to respect one's feelings
"You stay. I go. No following." It took me forever to realize something about this line. When Hogarth says it, he is ordering the giant to stay put, "you are not allowed to go where I go". The giant has a choice to follow or not, and Hogarth is telling him which choice to make. When the giant says it, he is saying that he must do something that Hogarth cannot possibly do, "where I go, you are unable to follow. I must go alone". He is not telling Hogarth to make a choice, like Hogarth told him. He is telling him that he, the giant, is making the choice. Gawd dammit, this movie will never let me stop crying. This is possibly the best movie ever made, yes.
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this one's gonna get me. you guys suck, I dont have enough tears 😢
Goodness is arbitrary concept the most horrible people did it all in the name of their goodness
Goodness is arbitrary concept the most horrible people in history did stuff Genocide in the name their own goodness
Genetic aren't a digital program responses . There raw Materials for proteins
Life depends on Killing
Interesting fact: The premise of the movie is based on a question, the question being is "What if a gun didn't want to be a gun?".
Was the original book also?
Kind of, but more specifically the director who did the adaptation pitched it that way.
CW death and ab*se
Taken from IMDB: Brad Bird was in part inspired to make this film as a memorial to his sister Susan, who died at the hands of her estranged husband by gun violence. His pitch was this: "What if a gun had a soul and didn't want to be a gun?"
"What if a gun had a soul and didn't want to be a gun?"
Also is inspired by the death of the director’s sister who was killed in a murder suicide with a gun.
The movie all around is ingenious with a sad backstory.
There's a book?@@matityaloran9157
One thing I noticed at the 6:05 minute mark, the humans say, "Look, it's the monster.." Even though in his eyes, they're the monsters, as they shot a deer for either sport, or to feed themselves. Which I think, there is no true monster, it's a shame for what happened. But people have to eat, the deer has to eat, it's the circle of life.
That it is.
The circle of life.
And i think too many people forget this.
While I agree that hunters are not monsters, calling the act of hunting a part of life doesn't seem quite fitting to me. To me, a human knowingly taking the life of an animal is not the same as a deer looking for food. While it does not reduce a hunter to being a killer/monster, it is still a conscious choice.
@@kk-fo3zxWhat do you mean it isn’t a part of life? We’ve survived by doing so for millions of years
@@estoybn474 Yeah, but it evidently is no longer a part of life for most humans in the present. I agree that it is important to be aware of our evolutionary history, but I don't think that we as a species are limited to these prehistoric behaviors. So many aspects of our lives no longer resemble the prehistoric way of life, why would hunting be an exception? Modern hunting is quite different from prehistoric hunting anyway.
@@kk-fo3zx then how do we eat if we don’t kill animals?
The part where Hogarth was explaining how everything dies was so exactly how a parent says this to their child. You can tell he's been on the receiving end of this conversation before
And the receiving end was likely where his father is. It's not said in the film (that I can remember) whether his father is dead or abandoned them, but if he died, Hogarth's mother likely gave him the "souls don't die" talk. Then Hogarth said it to Giant.
@@Techydad There's a scene (or deleted scene, I can't recall) that shows a picture of his dad in an army uniform. It's therefore suggested that his father died in combat.
@@dubblebubbletoilandtrouble6646It's shown towards the beginning of the movie. I can't remember if it's in a frame on the nightstand or if it's in the box that Hogarth gets his rifle, flashlight, and hunting cap out of. It's one of those "blink and you'll miss it" details.
@@FurryWrecker911 Gotcha. Thank you. :)
Hogarth is a good big brother
The Iron Giant was also based on a book "The Iron Man" by British novelist and poet, Ted Hughes.
When the movie was in pre-production, Brad Bird either met with Hughes or researched into the novel's background and learned that Ted Hughes wrote the story for his children to console them in the aftermath of their mother's suicide (Sylvia Plath). With the knowledge that life and death were the story's main drivers, Brad Bird applied his own feelings to the mix with his sister's murder by gun violence and set the film's theme and thesis: "What if a gun had a soul, and it didn't want to be a gun?"
Would also explain why Hogarth's last name is Hughes. A nice, respectful nod.
In all my years of crying my eyes out to this movie and ‘knowing’ the backstory not once have I realized or connected that Ted Hughes was married to Sylvia Plath, thanks for leaving this comment! Connecting all the things that make me emotional wow
I have so much respect for grown men who allow themselves to be silly, serious and emotional. This is SUCH an amazing channel.
100% agree:)
Yes!!❤😊🎉🎉
Love this comment!
I wish it wasn't seen as such a big deal either. But sadly yeah, thats just the world we live in.
Agreed
Another subtle message in this movie is actually displayed by the contrast between Mansley and Dean. Mansley has been stated to have been modeled on the ideal man of the era, who everyone in town would have expected to wind up Hograth's stepfather; Dean on the other hand is a beatnik, a subgroup looked down upon by society at large and who is clearly something of an outcast in town.
However, Mansley turns out to be the biggest villain of the story and Dean is a good and kind man who is the perfect role model and mentor for Hograth. A perfect metaphor for how what people SAY is the truth isn't necessary actually the truth.
Yes. And I think the key that unlocks that dynamic (especially near the end) is the General's character, the one thrust in between the two of them.
He starts off as a skeptical ally of Mansley, gets convinced by seeing the Giant, but ultimately is the one stuck deciding between Mansley and Dean at the critical moment when the Giant has Hogarth in his hands.
And it would have been SO easy to just make the General a cowboy stereotype character. Instead, he thinks on his feet when he sees Hogarth alive and IMMEDIATELY realizes that Mansley is a liar and Dean is trustworthy.
In many ways the General is the true "everyman" of this movie. He's not a villain or a hero, he's just doing his job. He makes the wrong choice at first but changes his mind when he realizes what's really going on. And does so very publicly, taking responsibility for the situation.
I don't think this movie works quite so well without him. It was a critical minor role and they nailed it.
As a grown man when he sacrifices himself it makes me cry every time. Superman would definitely give Giant his own uniform. To quote Superman "In the end the world didn't need a Superman, just a brave one."
Same. Every single time that scene makes me bawl.
Same here
The only reason I took any interest in the WB fighting game was because we got to see Iron Giant meet Superman for the first time.
No amount of brave men could've stopped General Zod
Even though I knew it was coming it still hit hard. 😭
My husband is retired military and this is one of his favorite movies. The military made him into a weapon too, and this message was/is powerful during his deconstruction.
well duh. hat do you think people in the military do?
@@tonypringles2285 why are you repeating what I said in a hostile, condescending way? Do you need a hug?
@@melodycook4561 not from you, hippy
@@tonypringles2285 Seek help, NOW!
@@melodycook4561I hope you and your husband are doing well :)
The fact that Iron Gigant doesn't actually die at the end is actually key. He didn't have to sacrifice himself to stop that missile. He could have very easily blasted it out of the atmosphere with any of his weapons. He used himself because he chose to rebel against his nature. He didn't have to die to be a hero, but was willing to, to show how much he was willing to sacrifice for the family and friends he’d made on a foreign world.
Let’s not forget he is the cause of the missile being thrown also, and they pretty much could throw a second one thinking they missed. Oh well!
I didn't realize that but it totally fit
He _couldn’t_ have used his own weapons, because he risked becoming a weapon himself again. He had to stop the missile, not as a gun, but as a (Super)man.
As much as I love this thought thought process, there’s nothing to suggest he even knows how to use his weapons outside of his rage mode.
There's also the parallel with the Christ figure rising again. They don't show it in this video but the twinkle in the sky after the explosion is in the shape of a cross
I want to comment on the end. Right before the Giant collides with the missile, the head tilting back as the eyes close never came across as just "joy" for me but instead "bliss". He was going out, not only with a bang, but completely content with who he had decided to be. He could die with no regrets, knowing he did the right thing. Man, I loved this movie as a kid, but I appreciate it even more now. I can relate really strongly with the Giant's arch.
Side note: The moment when the Giant goes full scifi murder mode actually reminds me a lot of the moment when Christopher Reeves Superman finds Lois' dead body and he screams in anger and sorrow before reversing time. They're both similar moments of grief that cause the character to lose control, which is very relatable as someone with anger management issues.
The word that presents itself to me is "grace."
@@thork6974 A picture is worth a thousand words. Let’s find all of them!
btw, I always saw it as “contentment”. So not far from “bliss”.
Peace!
except he doesn't even die at the end, he's just flown into pieces that are coming together
The Iron Giant is my go to of "What if a childhood movie is just as good as you remember, if not better?". It's aged so incredibly well and to me it's the best Superman movie we've gotten to date as well (If Iron Giant was an Elseworlds Superman)
I could totally see that
You're right, it aged very well!
Not only has it aged very well, it's even more applicable today for the new generations being raised right now. This honestly I think is one of the must-sees for children and families too. @@CinemaTherapyShow
Check out Superman vs the elite.
The Iron Giant is absolutely the Superman of his respective universe
"It's bad to kill, but it's not bad to die" is SUCH a good line
Vin Diesel dosen't get enough credit for his voice acting abilities. He made me feel big feelings about a robot and a tree-man...incredible work
Vin Diesel is more creative than he is given credit for. His big dream is to direct the film Hannibal (the general from Carthage).
Family..
not to mention how he makes IG sound like a kid
It was him !!!😲😲
I agree. I can't stand him in a live action movie, likely due to the roles he is playing, but love the nuance he brings to his voice acting in animated roles.
For me, the crying moment is when Hogarth tells the Iron Giant, "I love you." Hogarth knows what is going to happen and is preemptively fortifying the Giant's soul, and his own, with a truth that needs to be spoken before the Giant dies. Perhaps he didn't get to say that to his father, or his father didn't say that to him...
...but it really highlights how core the aspect of personal relationships are to great sacrifices.
I also love the robot's joy when he knows by reality that he IS Superman. Only superman can do what he did at the end of the film. It's one thing to TALK about being who you choose to be...another thing altogether to live it.
The fundamental a ha moment for me in life was the realization that things like 'dying to self for other people brings true life' are true statements. Everything else doesn't really satisfy...but making the conscious choice to sacrifice for someone you love so that their life is better...makes your life better.
We don't like to admit that its true...we are afraid of sacrifice. But we are robbing ourselves when we do this.
I think the main driver of fear of sacrifice is the fear that it wont be worth it. The person wont appreciate it, the thing you were trying to stop or avoid happens anyway, etc. Somehow we have to be okay with that lost effort and time, and not regret that the effort and time maybe could have been used elsewhere more successfully. What if's.
This is my FAVORITE ANIMATED FILM OF ALL TIME exactly for this reason: its moral isn't "believe in yourself" or "true friendship is x" but "you are who you choose to be" and I firmly believe that it should be required viewing for all human beings during their development.
you think people should be forced to watch this movie?...
@@tonypringles2285 Kids like watching movies, not everything is a horrible plan to ruin people's lives lol
@@tonypringles2285To answer your question: Yes, I do!
@@tonypringles2285we are required to watch all those damn Shakespeare plays. This would be better.
@@mist3995 so you think it is okay to force people to watch something they may not want?
I’d never seen it this way until now, but in the scene with the deer and the hunters, the Iron Giant reminds me so much of my granddad. He was a WWII and Korea vet, a bomber mechanic, but the one time he went deer hunting, he simply couldn’t bring himself to kill the deer. He was, by all accounts, as profoundly gentle a man as you would expect someone whose middle name was “Friend” to be. Granddad passed away when I was just five, and I treasure things like this scene that remind me of him.
Also shoutout to the General for being suprisingly not gun-ho about all this. Other movie generals would've sent an entire army day 1 and carpet bombed the town, meanwhile this guy was level headed even when standing directly infront of the giant and was willing to hear everyone out. It literaly took sleezebag lying to him multiple times and then stealing the radio to issue the command himself for the nuke to be launched.
He and most of the other adults in this movie are actually pretty reasonable people, and it's refreshing to see!
Same i loved how he was actually an adult
I really liked how at the end in the park Dean gives Hogarth the box saying the general had sent it to him thinking he’d like to have it. Like that’s really great of him. Most of the time in movies they would keep that sort of thing for study to find out how the Iron Giant worked, what he was made of, but instead the General realized the sentimental value it would hold to the kid the Giant befriended and just let him have it 🥹
The late, great John Mahoney.
"Where's the Giant, Mansley?!!!"
It is very refreshing that most of the adults in this movie are actually decent, sensible people, and it's just that one jerk messing things up. It's very true to life.
The Iron Giant serves as such a strong metaphor for anyone who wants to change.
The “Superman” at the very end never fails to make me cry omg
It would do me, too. But I'm already well into ugly crying by that point lol
I watched this movie for the very first time about a month ago. Loved it so much that the next day I went to go watch some analysis videos on its themes. Just hearing a completely isolated clip of the Giant saying "Superman" made me tear up 😂
Vin Diesel is THE expert in "dude talk". Wherein you can hold an extended conversation with just one word.
I have a cousin who shares my interest in linguistics, poetry, and world building. One time, in our mid teens, we held a five minute conversation using nothing but varying inflections of the word dude. It wasn't random either. We spent a minute and a half successfully giving each other instructions on a task, and coordinating our roles using the word dude and some basic gestures and body language.
So it's never been a surprise for me that a good actor can turn a single word or phrase into an entire moving performance. And VD is one of the best. With a team of animators of even moderate skills, he can make your heart dance.
It seems hilarious at face value but he really is that good
Honestly the moment where the Giant sees the toy gun and immediately goes on the offensive hits so hard to anyone who's been traumatised to that degree that everything is a threat, you HAVE to strike first to survive, weakness is death, etc etc. I remember being that way for such a long time, and still am in a way, after suffering some pretty horrendous shit in my childhood and through to college, about 17 years. Its easy to slip into that feeling that you have to fight or die at the slightest perceived threat when you lived in a place where there were no "perceived" threats, there was just threats. I felt like a monster for so many years, people were afraid of me just because of the way I walked, because I had that much anger that people could sense it. And when I see people bragging about being feared, or that a man should be feared, I can tell immediately they've either never been feared or they're fucking psychopathic, because it is literally the worst feeling in the world. Knowing you can hurt people, knowing that you have hurt people, knowing that a tiny part of you actually enjoyed it cause you felt like you were taking back some control in your life just by taking control away from someone else. I feel genuinely ill to this day thinking about it. And through time and therapy, even though I know I HAD to do those things, that I had to survive, I still hate myself so damned much. I never wanted to be a monster, but I became one anyway. People brag about pretending to live the life I actually lived and it pisses me off, because trust me, there's nothing cool about seeing genuine fear in someone else's eyes, when they think you're going to kill them, when they realise that they went too far and things just got serious. I didn't like what I saw of myself reflected in those eyes.
I'll never understand people who brag about killing someone, or hurting them, even in self defence. Hurting others is not something to be proud of. It's something nobody should ever have to do. And when you do have to do it, trust me, you'll spend the rest of your life wondering if you really had to.
Beautifully said. I wish there was more I could think to say beyond wishing you well, but I sincerely do. And thank you for finding it within yourself to change for the better.
Thank you very much for this comment. It provides valuable insight into your soul, which in turn has a rippling effect on mine as well.
"And when I see people bragging about being feared, or that a man should be feared, I can tell immediately they've either never been feared or they're fucking psychopathic"
Or because posturing and intimidating potential threats is an animalistic instinct that goes so far back in our roots that it was present before we could even stand on two legs? Use your brain, please. Your experiences are not a monolith and god knows they're not the only way people think in the world.
I'm still in that situation. It really sucks and I feel like a horrible, unlovable monster. Does...it get better?
@@Asm0d3u5 Absolutely it can. *Everything* will experience change through time. When I was younger I was overflowing with hatred and sadness, which my eyes reflected. There were numerous times when strangers would look at my eyes and become scared or uncomfortable or disgusted. I would sometimes hear children *and* adults whisper about how creepy I looked, and how uncomfortable they felt being around me even if I wasn't interacting with them. Now that I'm healthier, occasionally I will get a compliment on my eyes or smile. People have told me that they look pretty. Those compliments were foreign to me when I was younger. You don't have to pretend to like the things about yourself that upset you, but trying to find neutral grounding is a good way to start building a foundation for yourself. A lot of our behaviors are a direct result of the way people treat us, which can make it very tempting to mistreat others or approach people or ourselves with criticism when we're in a negative situation. One thing I used to do was journal about the way I felt. Writing my feelings out physically helped me regulate them and accept what I was feeling by admitting it though the entries. Even when I would complain, as long as it was on paper, it would help. It also gave me the opportunity to be honest and transparent with myself, those moments were meant for myself only, I could throw away the papers after if I wanted to. No one else had to see them. No matter what your method for grounding yourself is, consistency and actively putting in effort even if you're not getting the results you want, is the key. I hope your days get better, and become more enjoyable. 🧡🌻
everytime I see Alan cry, my heart breaks into a million pieces, like I'm usually crying for the movie as well, but the way he expresses emotion... I just wish someone would hug him 🥹
As a veteran of the war in Afghanistan with PTSD, this really speaks to me.
We allowed ourselves to be made into weapons and thought that everything around us could be turned into a weapon when we ran out of ammo or our primary firearm was made useless. The urge to kill could solve all of life’s problems in a place I would never want anyone else to experience, and now we are just expected to assimilate back into society. I’m still trying to figure out how to be Superman instead of the punisher.
I really appreciate you friend, and I'm so sorry to hear you had to go through that. The fact that you're striving so hard to be Superman means you already are as far as I'm concerned. 🦸
I'm so sorry that you went through and are still going through that. I wish that the leaders of these conflicts would just duke it out personally instead of sacrificing millions of lives (not to mention well-being of the survivors).
I’m so sorry for the struggles you are going through. This story struck me and I hope you find a way to be Superman. Soldiers like you deserve the highest respect and you are much more than a tool for warfare
One day at a time ✊
I'm so sorry you went through that hell and the situation you are living right now is another type of hell as well. I hope you find peace in this life. I wish you healing.
It's always a delight to see how open Alan is with his emotions.
I think every person should be allowed to cry without feeling guilty or shame about it.
Crying is okay for everyone, doesn't matter which gender or age you are.
Crying also releases happy hormones. So it does help a little bit :)
This is a relatively minor thing, but I have always appreciated Hogarth not begging Giant not to go, not to do it. He just... lets Giant choose. It lends so much authenticity to the moment, and made it even more impactful than a big dramatic goodbye. So much of this movie avoid heavy handed tropes and just lets the characters BE. I love it so much.
well, it follows what he was teaching the giant: killing is bad, but dying isn't
It's only appropriate since he encourages the giant to choose his own destiny, even at gunpoint.
Dude, how could you not go over the scene where the giant thinks Hogarth is dead? That scene makes my heart cave in on itself just as much as the end. He learned what death meant earlier, and when he touched Hogarth's limp unconscious body, he was struck with loss and anguish. To your point of praise for the animation, they expertly conveyed so much through his limited expressions when he thought he lost his friend. Top tier film.
7:28 Wow, I didn't know that. The fact that Brad Bird says his motivation behind this movie was his sister's death and characterizes The Iron Giant, "the gun," as sympathetic shows why this movie is so pure. The film isn't a timely message born out of hate but a call to empathy in her memory created from his love.
Yes!!, 😢 sad !
You don't think it's avoiding accepting that her husband was abusive and killed her?
It wasn't "a bad day" and a gun that killed her. It was her husband.
@@mahnamahna3252 Both statements are true. Her husband killed her, and she was killed by a gun. He may have killed her regardless of whether he had the gun or not, but having access made it easier for him to do. I agree that saying he "had a bad day" sort of trivialises the issue and his motivations, but it doesn't change the role the firearm played either. I think about this often when I see news about school shootings - individuals can do a lot of damage in a short space of time with firearms compared to what they could do with another weapon (except for a bomb), because that is what firearms are designed to do.
@@Fragmented_Mask If a bad guy with a gun is stopped by anything other than a good guy with a gun, the bad guy wanted to be stopped.
@@leandersearle5094 Bro what-
Alan, I want to thank you for choosing to allow us to see you cry. For a long time I felt ashamed of getting emotional and crying. Your strength to show others your emotion has made it easier for me to be kinder to myself about expressing and feeling my emotions. To see my emotions as well as my tears as normal not a weakness in my character. You helped me realize it's okay to be vulnerable. I which has been quite healing after a lifetime of being taught many unpleasant things about vulnerability from my family.
I always liked that when the giant finds the hunters, they call him a monster as they stand/crouch over the deer they just killed with their guns, before running away. While he is just standing there harmless and ends up having compassion for the deer.
I mean. . .to be perfectly fair. It would be very startling to see. They were honestly a couple of hunters minding their own business. It's not like they shot multiple times, it was a single clean shot. If its one gripe I have with the movie, its the slight suggestion that hunting makes someone a monster. . .when its been proven that keeping the deer population in check benefits them in the long run.
@@hallaloth3112 I've never objected to hunting when it's done for food. That's what happens in nature after all. Killing a buck for venison is the same thing as a cougar would do, or a pack of wolves. So not a problem. The hunting I hate is the so-called "sport" hunting or "trophy" hunting, when it's just to get a head stuffed & mounted or something.
are you trying to imply that they are somehow monsters???
@@tonypringles2285 There is a contrast. They've just enacted violence, which can be seen as a monstrous thing to do, whereas the iron giant had just been very gentle with the deer. I don't think it can be simplified to "they're monsters", it's just an interesting way to show the contrast between what they're saying and what they're doing
@@thatwardoo violence against a deer though? thats hardly monstrous nor can it be seen as montrous
10:47 these damn ninjas never stop cutting onions i swear.
I'll have to save this for later because I choose not to burst into tears at work at ten in the morning. Later on in the day at work, fine. But not the morning.
That's fair.
😂😂😂
Well the intro was enough to make me cry god choice
I type this crying at my desk at work, hoping no one will notice. You made the right call.
I was right to wait 😂😭😂😭
Thank goodness for bringing up choice! As a psychology student, sometimes there's too much emphasis on nature and nurture, but we do have the ability to choose, and that's so important.
As someone who suffered some severe childhood trauma this movie really resonated with me as a kid. I couldn't define why back then. I found myself whispering "Superman" when I was confronted with making a good decision or a bad decision. This movie may have made the most impact on my life more than any other.
"Superman." 😭 I'm right there with you Alan.
Piggybacking off the point that was made about when someone takes a life, even if it's an honorable thing, it's still hard and scary. I hope when it becomes available, you will spotlight Koichi from Godzilla Minus One. If you haven't had a chance to watch it, please give it a chance. It's good film about a Kamikaze pilot who chooses not to go through with it, and just happens to have Godzilla who symbolizes this trauma that keeps reappearing every time it seems like he's able to take a step forward in life.
I hope they cover that movie, too. It’s so good. I have CPTSD and felt they did a great job handling a character with PTSD.
I love the ending honestly. The message is that the soul never dies, and I think it holds true even with that. The giant intends to sacrifice himself, learning from the lesson in the deer scene that death isn't always bad. He didn't make his sacrifice thinking he'd survive, but he did, which doesn't take away from the nobility of his character in my opinion.
Exactly!!! While some people might say that lessens the impact, even as a kid, and even now, knowing that he survives, it in no way distracts from the powerful nature of the giant’s sacrifice!
The Giant surviving only makes it better, as if he died for real there's still the idea that maybe he should have used his cannon arm to shoot the missile out of the sky so he'd still be alive. Him surviving makes it a moot point, therefore quashing such thoughts and confirming that you can reject your harmful programming and past. Plus he's a superweapon from an interstellar civilization, a nuke probably shouldn't be enough to put him down for good
Brad Bird was asked about this, when some people had thought the happy ending was "tacked on" or took away from the sacrifice.
He just said something along the lines of "Absolutely not. This movie has the ending it deserves". I thought it was a great retort.
@@Pantheragem Based Brad!
The impact this movie has had on my life is undescribable. As a kid i loved this movie but it was only until later years that i thought of the sentence "you choose who you want to be" again and it quite literally changed my life. It gave me the courage to overcome my social anxiety 3 years ago. I am not who i want to be yet but I'm making the choices in my life to get there. I am forever grateful to the people who created this masterpiece and love that you covered this movie on the channel. Seriously underrated movie.
I feel like that corporate synergy actually serves the story: because it's WB, they are allowed to just use Superman, show a comic, etc, and that makes the story seem more real. No suspension of disbelief for a figure *like* Superman existing, just actual Superman as a culture icon. That actually grounds it, without being product placement.
In short, corporate synergy has done exactly one good thing, and it's this movie
I believe that by the time of this movie's release you could have said Superman anyway. As you say story uses Superman as a cultural icon and shorthand and doesn't use the character as such. Of course most corporations would be unwilling to fight for the right to advertise rivals though.
@@gathorall9136 sure, but there's a difference between like Aunt May telling Peter he's not Superman and this, where Superman and the idea of Superman is important to the central theme. I get you, though
I could watch Alan cry all day. Seriously, it's super cool seeing men rejecting the toxic stereotypes of masculinity and being publicly vulnerable.
"today represents a clean start. not that the past doesn't exist. not that the consequences don't continue. but you can start right now and say who do i want to be" is such a powerful statement and something i needed to hear today. absolutely love your videos
iron giant, black widow in end-game, sitka from brother bear, and ji-yeong from squid games have all had the most heart-wrenching sacrifices to me. the look on their faces when they die for the people they care about is just so tragic but also beautiful
A thing no one ever talk about in the scene after the explosion is that every military is cheering, while the general is the only one composed giving the giant the salute
Well someone just died for his country, have to give his respects.
Love the fact that there are two giant metals in space, one filled with humanity’s love, and compassion, the other, filled with humanity’s Hatred and Fear: 21:05
One of the best movies ever. Not just animation or "kids" movies, it's fantastic. Sure it's the typical "boy and his dog" story but it does it so well.
Or boy and his dragon if httyd taught us anything 😁
12:56 Boothe from the series, Bones, is a great example of this concept. He was a sniper in the military and has no regrets for the kills he made for the lives saved from taking out his targets but does regret that he had to take a life. He said when you kill someone a part of yourself dies too.
Fun fact: It was originally gonna be a musical in the wake of the Disney Renaissance, only for that idea to be scrapped when Brad Bird took the project. Also, the movie was loosely based on a novel of a same name that the author wrote for his children to comfort them in the wake of the his wife’s suicide.
BTW, thank you for making this Iron Giant video; it’s one of my favorite movies!
It was already a musical…an album by Pete Townshend, which I love. But as cool as it would have been to see it realized as a movie, _The Iron Giant_ is too brilliant to make me regret anything. :)
(Wouldn't "Their mother's"/"Their wife's " work better OP?)
Also, the original Iron Giant novel is REALLY weird.
I thought it was because Birds sister died to gun violence
@@sierralovat5498 The Iron Giant in the movie is based on that. The Iron Giant book is essentially a completely different story.
This is my all time favourite childhood film, according to my mum I used to watch it 10 times a day as a kid. I'd watch my video tape copy and would immediately rewind it and watch it all over again. My Mum died in 2017, it was very tragic and sudden (she was only 46). On her memorial plaque I put the quote "Souls don't die." as a reference to this film (which we both loved) and how she and I quoted film lines and other such things everyday to each other.
I learned so many lessons from this film as a kid, it taught several fundamental facts of life that adults often shy away from discussing with young children, but did so in a very mature and accessible way. I love, and will always love, this film. Thank you for covering it. Certainly among the greatest films ever made.
Thank you for watching!
nostalgia hits hard..
You guys should do an episode on A Goofy Movie!! I feel like there’s so much to be said about a parent/child relationship, growing up, dealing with what you inherit from your family, and what it means to be a family. Also the animation is awesome and there’s a parallel between Powerline’s songs and Max/Goofy’s relationship
It's already in the works!
Solidarity to everyone crying, and who will always cry, over this movie. Let us never become so cynical and jaded that an honest, good act does not move us.
Amen, I hope many do not fall into that.
There is a cut scene where Giant sees a dream of what he used to be, he was a leader or least high ranking robot whose mission was to strip worlds from all metal. Multiple of his kinds marching on planet and blowing up it in the end.
It was probably the electrocution that hard reseted his mind and allowed Hogarth to re-educate him
Not even 30 seconds into the intro and I already know I'm gonna cry
I saw the title of the video and knew I was gonna cry.
Same
I like listening to these videos every so often, during my commute, and now I’m sitting in a Costco parking lot holding in the waterworks so I can get some darn shopping done LOL
Also, "what you currently have in your mouth IS ART!"
One of the most beautiful aspects of this movie is that Hogarth's father is never expressly mentioned, but it's the driving force behind the entire film. Why is his Mother working so often, why does Hogarth bond so intensely with the giant, why are they renting out a room? It's like Hogarth's father is really the absent main character.
I mean...consider Hogarth's age and when the movie takes place. My personal theory is that the dad was in either WW2 or Korea (more likely) and, well, didn't come home for the same reason so many others didn't.
I wouldn't say he was an absent main character. That implied he chose not to come home.
@@BrokensoulRider His absence is a character.
There's a "blink and you'll miss it" moment in the later part of The Iron Giant where we get a glimpse of a smiling US combat pilot in front of his fighter jet in a framed photo sitting in Hogarth's bedroom
...the implication being that Hogarth's father was in the armed forces & was either KIA or reported MIA during combat. 😢
The way Hogarth climbs up onto the hood of the old junkyard truck when the Giant has just been flicking the hood up and down with the easiest little flick of his fingertip shows the amount of trust he has developed for the giant. Pointing to the way he trusts the giant so much when he stands in front of the gun, asking the giant to make his choice.
As this started I thought it looked like Alan had pre-gamed tears before recording in the hopes that it wouldn’t happen during the actual episode all the while knowing that he was going to cry anyway.
I see you, Alan. Thank you for feeling feelings.
7:58 this is a very important thing to remember is that a gun is a weapon, and weapons are tools designed to kill. Even tools that don't kill are still dangerous and you have to respect them a lot, but for a weapon? You have to give that weapon respect and understanding, you have to be honest about what it is and what it is is a tool designed to take away life. You can not change what it is and what it is for, you can only respect it and give it proper handling.
Coming from someone whose only interest in firearms is purely to the scientific intricacies behind their mechanisms.
Instantly clicked when this hit my feed. And I'm completely with Alan here. I'm a 49 year old man who cries every single damn time at the way the Giant says "Superman." Hell, I'm crying now just remembering it. Just the simplicity of the choice and the selflessness. It breaks me every time I see it. Everything about the movie is done excellently, but that simple moment... Pardon me, I gotta go cry again.
I showed this movie to my almost 4 year old. She understood it better than I thought she would. Maybe it's because I'm a dad now, but this movie had me crying way more than the last time I watched it.
I’ve seen this movie countless times growing up. Now I’m 23 and the giant sacrificing himself made me cry my eyes out like they didn’t have to go THAT hard
I've been rewatching this moving since I was your age. I still bawl every time.
I'm 33. . .still makes me cry. And this was one of the regular movies we watched growing up.
I'm 41 and still crying over this movie
25 year old here, I am so glad they went that hard *sobbing*
I was one of the eight people who saw the Iron Giant in theaters. I was seven years old and immediately fell in love with it. So much so that I watched my VHS copy so much that the VCR ate it and I was devastated. Then when I was a teenager my mom surprised me and got it for me on DVD for my birthday! :D I still have that DVD to this day and rewatch it ever so often. :)
And yes, I cry at the ending every time.
Fun fact, I saw this film when I was 3-4 after my brother came back with a VHS of the film from the library and it jumpstarted my obsession with robots that's never stopped for over the past 20 years, lol.
I do wish you guys went over the coffee talk between Hogarth and Dean because I think it's one of those subtle but interesting moments with the theme. I think that's the first time someone flat out says "You are who you chose to be".
Also, I wish more people talked about this more, but the more I get old and work with kids, the more I realize that Hogarth is a really well written child character. Like, he legitimately acts like a kid.
I love how Hogarth so clearly tells the Giant the words his mom has spoken to him
I totally cried with Alan. No matter how much I tried not to cry tears came down out of my control.
I mean seeing “the gun” willingly destroying a missile while knowing it'll destroy itself in the process and doing that with a smile is just… 😭
Unironically the best Superman movie. Does a better job of demonstrating what the idea of Superman is supposed to represent than any of the live action Supermen.
That's because they are only after money following hype for a popular trend, rather than creating genuine stories that are true to the characters and what they are meant to represent. Most of the time.
@stormiexnights why can't they make good fun stories on superheroes nowadays? That's why Tim Burton's Batman, and Christopher Nolan's Batman are so good is because one is a fun ride, and the other is a dark truth. Even the Arkham games perfected that.
I will say, I liked Justice League and the Aquaman films simply because, are they perfect stories? No. But it's just a fun time, kind of gives off those comic vibes. And that's what all these guys came from. Comic books. People need to learn that a movie doesn't have to be a perfect script or plot or visual effects, but as long as you keep that character core, that's all that matters. The rest of it comes second. Because then if your story doesn't encapsulate that character core, you have already failed.
@@complex2live IDK, probably partly because of executives that just don't care about the property, and only about the money, and what they think will make the most money. And partly people that think they understand the character and/or what people would like, but they actually don't.
I'm heartened by james gunn's words so Far, he seems to be aiming for a more optimistic.Hopeful truly superman vibe
I'm sick of grim and gritty Irony and nihilism
I think _Superman The Movie_ comes close.
2:50 something that made this movie better in swedish is what early swedish publisher did with superman, in Swedish superman was not translated into superman but Steel man, so when the IRON says he is super man in Swedish he is saying he is the man of steel.
I really relate to this movie and it’s such a shame is so underrated. As an autistic woman who wanted to go into nursing I faced a ton of barriers: with people trying to talk me about of it, saying nursing was not a suitable career for an autistic woman, I didn’t get through to university the first time and it took a few attempts to get to university. One of my mentors at uni during nursing placement told me that as I was autistic I shouldn’t continue my nursing training, after qualifying I have faced stereotyping and discrimination, to the point I have wanted to just give up nursing completely, but I love nursing with all my heart and I choose to continue be a nurse, despite some difficulties and I’m proud to know I was the first nurse ever on my ICU ward to have autism when I started working there in 2022. Love your work as always guys ❤
You had shitty friends and shitty teachers. Good for you girl.
Hey, congrats on sticking with it despite the struggles! I hope they realize what an asset you are/will be in the future
you're quite an inspiration for me. Trust me when i say i would bow before you
And let no one stop you ❤
Little fun fact about munitions, the nuke shown (while not existing in that time period) actually wouldn’t have gone off upon impact in the upper atmosphere due to control measures where the activation measure wouldn’t have been armed yet. So he’d just impact and disable the missile and its warhead.
This one is near and dear to my heart
Same here!
Fun fact I discovered recently, in the scene at the end of the movie when everyone is cheering as the giant saved them all you can see the general saluting the giant instead of cheering. It is such a good little hidden detail that I can’t believe I never saw until now
The Iron Giant is one of the most personal movies for me. And it's not for the premise which is amazing it's just for the character of the giant himself. My great grandfather was a very strong, pillar of happiness, faith, and innocence. This unshakable person that no matter what you throw at him was able to brush it off and look at what really matters. The Giant in this movie always reminded me so much of him even by the way he looks.
The role of the seasons and the resulting colour pallet is significant for the evolving mood and growing tension though the film. It starts as a green lush Summer, it turns to Autumn as the giant learns about death, first snowflakes fall as the Giant runs away, then it is cold and grey for military conflict. So good.... oh and a short slash of summer again at the end.
This is considered the greatest Superman film that is not about Superman. Such a great movie.
When it comes to whether we have choice, I learned something from being homeless as a teen that kind of resonates with what Alan and Jono said. I believe we always have a choice, even when we think or say we don't. Because when we think or say we don't have a choice what wr really have is only bad options to choose between and you're often choosing the best option you have at that time. I've found that realising that and reframing those decisions in my mind as the best choices I could make at that time with only bad and worse options in front of me lifts my sense of shame or guilt or whatever negative feeling is attached to the memory of that decision and gives me a sense of I did the best I could in really bad circumstances when a lot of things weren't in my control. But this helps me realise/remember I made the best choice I could at that time, and that choice was part of a line of choices that ultimately brought me to where and who I am now. Had I made different choices I can only say with certainty it would have been different, not better or worse because I can't ever know that for sure. But what I do know for sure is that my choices brought me to this point and that I have the found family and friends I have now because of those choices so I don't really regret making the choices I made, I only regret I was ever in the position of having to make them because I was in a bad place when I had to make them to survive. Reframing my thoughts this way is what helped me let go of a lot of the pain of the past to do with lost opportunity when I was young because of surviving a bad home life and homelessness as a teen. I hope maybe it helps someone else too.
I showed this to my 5 yr old son a few nights ago. He was glued to the screen the entire time. Right as Iron Giant says Superman and sacrifices himself, my son jumps up and screams, "No!! He died!!" Starts bawling his eyes out and runs out of the room. It took a bit, but we got him to calm down and watch the end. But I feel ya kid. That's how I felt, too. Hell, i was crying and ive seen it sooo many times. Such a powerful scene. This movie is a work of art in all aspects. I was tearing up just watching this.
Can you tell me where you watched it? Is it in some streaming platform?
@@SuperCoolSunglasses I believe it was on Amazon.
I'm SO EXCITED that you covered this movie! "You are who you choose to be" is probably the most impactful piece of advice I've ever received, and I constantly come back to it when things get tough.
Plus, this is just a great movie! It's so rewatchable. If not for the beautiful life lessons, then for the squirrel up the pant leg and a goofy detached giant's hand wandering the house.
"The Iron Giant" is an absolute classic! To this day people just can't get enough of the story Brad Bird did an amazing job bringing this movie to life!!!!
What I like most about the missile scene in this movie is that it really shows how much the Giant learned from his experiences on Earth. Because it was thanks to Hogarth that the Giant learned that he may have been created to be a living weapon, But he could be way more than that and he chose to be a force for good.
And since the Giant knew that the whole thing with the missile was because of him, Giant didn't want to see another planet get destroyed because of him. So he realized that the best way save the Earth was to save it from himself and so the Giant sacrificed himself by letting himself get blown up by the missile.
He may have turned out to be alive in the end, But the point is The Iron Giant's sacrifice managed to show people that he was a hero.
I don't see it as him sacrificing himself to save the world from himself. I see it as the point is him choosing to sacrifice himself when he easily could've destroyed the bomb and saved everyone with one of his powerful weapons. Because he's choosing who he wants to be and he does not want to be a weapon.
Brad Bird is currently working on a new film at Skydance animation studios. I don't know what it's called yet as it is still in its very early stages, but I have a friend who is working on it, and says that it will be great.
"We all have 3 things inside of us, nature, nurture and choice" That really resonated wih me and my loved ones are gonna hear me say this often in the future.
Thank you for covering this Film...havent seen it in like 15-20 years when i was at a day care center. The movie definitely went over my head as a kid.
One interesting thing is that “Bambi” also got criticism for making hunters look like villains. I grew up in a hunting family, so messages like this got balanced out for me. I do appreciate when balance can be found in the messaging. But things like this and “Bambi” also drive home the pain of death, so we appreciate life more.
I firmly stand that hunting is not evil. It is disrespect of life that is evil. When you hunt a deer for meat or fur, you have to respect the animal you've destroyed. You are part of an ecosystem of birth and life and death and eating and pooping. To place yourself above that intricate dance is the arrogance of humankind.
The interesting thing here is, I’ve noticed that most people who hunt in the way you’re talking about actually have a *tremendous* respect for the lives of the animals they hunt. I wasn’t raised in a hunting family, but my dad and a lot of my friends and extended family were, and there always seems to be a lot of emphasis about respecting the land you hunt on and above all the life you’ll take to feed you and yours; shoot clean, don’t leave a wounded animal to suffer, take only what’s needed & let nothing go to waste, leave no trace when you’re done. Idk, I’m trying to make a point but I’m not sure how to say it. I guess just that, people with that kind of lifestyle, who see and engage in the cycle that closely, seem to deeply understand and appreciate the weight of it.
(There does seem to be a general consensus that wild hogs are the spawn of satan, though 🤷♀️)
@@theaceguitarist I want to learn to hunt because of the respect of life mindset and basically everything you just mentioned
pretty sure any hunter worth their salt would also view the hunter in bambi as the villain, because they killed a doe. you're very explicitly told not to shoot does, because they're needed to birth and raise young so there are more deer. one buck can mate with dozens of does but without the does the whole population collapses.
@@dietotaku If you read the novel it explains that Bambi's mom was killed by a poacher but then later it explains teenagers on a camping trip were responsible for hunting the animals at the end of the movie when you see the animals running in full panic, hunting dogs being unleashed irresponsibly, and leaving the campfire unintended that caused the forest fire.
I saw this movie with my mother. It holds a special place in my heart since her passing. It made me cry at the end.
7:47 to elaborate further, the pitch for this movie was “what if a gun had a soul, and it didn’t want to be a gun”
I never really realized how well Vin Diesel did in the voice acting here, so soft and gentle without saying much.
My grandpa passed away last year. I always think of him when I see this movie. He used to drink when my mom was a kid, and he recognized on his own that he got too mean and abusive when he did, so he stopped cold turkey all on his own. He became the sweetest, most loving person you could've ever imagined after that. I miss him so much.
The film is based on the book, iron man. It used to be on the uk exam syllabus back in the day. It was written by Ted Hughes after his wife Sylvia Plath passed away, but also an allegory for the threat of nuclear war in the late 60s
I cried at this movie. It also took me a long time to realise that Vin Diesel voices the iron Gaint, and its both surprising and funny seeing as he also voices Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy
"I am Groot!"
"I AM SOOOPERMAN!"
Thank you two for covering my #1 favorite movie! I always felt it was so underappreciated. The bond that Hogarth and the Giant share is so genuine and pure. Hogarth is so unbelievably mature for his age and Vin Diesel killed it as the Giant!! I cry EVERY time I watch it and it never gets old. 😭 ❤
You're so welcome! 😊
Recommendations (if possible)
- Hero psychology of Gwen Stacy: Across the Spiderverse
- Character psychology of Marie: Unbelievable (8 episode miniseries)
- Psychology of an antihero of Joel: HBO The Last of Us (possible Troy Baker guest star)
- The Nanny McPhee movies
- Nimona
- Dreamworks Abominable
- Over the Moon
- Psychology of a Villain: Snow from Hunger Games (both prequel & original trilogy)
- As They Made Us (w/ Mayim Bialik guest star)
- Psychology of a Hero; Tulip from Infinity Train
I am fully on board with Gwen Stacy, Nimona, and Tulip. For Infinity Train, I'd also like to throw in Jesse, Lake, Grace, Simon, Min-Gi, and Ryan. Simon obviously gets Villain Therapy instead of Psychology of a Hero.
I know I'm, like, 5 months late to this, but I just have to say this.
I tried SO HARD not to cry my eyes out during the nuke scene. I knew what was coming beat for beat and braced for it.
And then Giant said, "...Superman...".
The floodgates opened, and I had to bite my finger to keep from wailing. This movie speaks to me on the deepest of levels, because I know, in my heart of hearts, that if I have to be anyone, I want to be like Superman, a paragon of truth, honor, and justice.
So, in short, you're not alone, Alan. I cried, too.
Right there with you, bud. Right there with you.
Just like Alan I am bawling at that final scene every time I see it. It is just such a beautifully, heroic, affirming, heart aching scene. One small thing I liked about the movie is that General Rogard isn't some idiot who thinks "We don't know what this is, so it must be a threat to America. So we have to kill it first by any means necessary." When he is told that the Iron Giant only reacts to being attacked, he is able to take control of the situation and think rationally. Plus he has one of the best lines in the film by far. "Where's the Giant Manseley?"
I was with a guy recently who was a military vet. When he retired he worked in intelligence, but he'd done active combat tours before that. I'm never going to forget how he described PTSD. I'm paraphrasing here but:
"When you're in combat, you have to turn off your empathy and your morals, otherwise you're going to break. PTSD kicks in when you come home and you have to turn it back on to live with normal people again, and you have to face everything you've seen and done. And that switch gets harder to flip every time, until it's either stuck on and you can't serve anymore, or it's stuck off and you can't handle civilian life."
That’s… even more fucked than I could’ve imagined, damn…
The part about the gun that can be used for self defence is so on point, because that's exactly what the Giant does. He always goes aggressive when guns are pointed or fired onto him, so his response is literally just self defence. And he still chooses not to be that, because that's still not good. He chooses to protect everyone despite the hatred from others, despite the "justified" violence he could have inflicted.
justified? lol he fires at hogarth when he has a fake gun thats not justified or self defense lol
@@tonypringles2285 That's why it's in quotes. Learn to read
@@TheDahaka1 lol please you know you meant it one hundred percent. socialist L
@@tonypringles2285 I literally fucking condemned the use of guns even in self defense, you illiterate prick. Go back to school
@@tonypringles2285 I literally said the opposite in the entire comment. I put "justified" in quotations to explain that even if it's legally justifiable I still don't consider it morally justifiable.
If you can't understand context and don't know how quotations work, I'd say it's completely your L
Crying along here with ya Alan. Insane how just a moment from a film I've seen numerous times still chokes me up
One of the few animated movies that made me cry. Though honestly I kinda find the ending refreshing. It shows that you don’t have to die in order to be a hero. The Giant didn’t think he would survive but he was still willing to sacrifice himself because of his arc/friendship with Hogarth and him rebelling against his creation.
It's nice to see others relating to people and life through movies the way I do. Please never stop these deep dives. You guys are the greatest.
In a just world, this film would've been a runaway smash, set box office records, and had a theme park ride named after it.
That's all materialistic success, though. This movie deeply moved and touched so many people and was a genuine work of art. I see what you're saying about how it deserves those things because it's so good, but that isn't what's important for a movie like this. It's true success lies in the powerful and genuine message and what it means to people.
...and have sequel after sequel, each resembling the first less and less, as long as people were willing to desperately try to recapture what the first made them feel. It's better that it wasn't massively successful.
Movies like this clearly don't satisfy everyone, since it's messages are taken as divisive. Like them commenting on the whole 'guns kill' allegory. So sadly things like that are going to make certain individuals upset and just see the movie as a political statement or anti-gun propaganda. Or other shallow things like that. There is never a movie that satisfies everyone and that's a good thing.
I cried with Alan... I cry with movies too. I'm going through horrible anxiety attacks. Jono saying that today is a clean start, makes me cry a bit more... In a good way... Thank you ❤
My first thought when I saw this notification was “OH NOOOO-“ because I know I’m gonna bawl! Saving this for later - thank you for creating!!! 💗💗💗
You're right! 😭
From the incredible voice talents, the perfect script, a beautiful visual style, succinct pacing, a heartfelt message, and a beautiful score...
What a film, what a damn film.
I can’t help but tear up when seeing Giant’s sacrifice every time. The score and line delivery of “Superman” is everything.
are you serious?? why lol
It's said with so much hope.
@@tonypringles2285 people experience feelings according to their morals and personal history, that's why he cried and you make fun of him crying. I wish for you to learn to respect one's feelings
@@dawidmarzol5853 it's fine he cried ig but it's still weird to cry at a not emotional scene
@@tonypringles2285 It’s definitely an emotional scene. Good try though.
"You stay. I go. No following."
It took me forever to realize something about this line. When Hogarth says it, he is ordering the giant to stay put, "you are not allowed to go where I go". The giant has a choice to follow or not, and Hogarth is telling him which choice to make. When the giant says it, he is saying that he must do something that Hogarth cannot possibly do, "where I go, you are unable to follow. I must go alone". He is not telling Hogarth to make a choice, like Hogarth told him. He is telling him that he, the giant, is making the choice.
Gawd dammit, this movie will never let me stop crying. This is possibly the best movie ever made, yes.