The Iron Giant Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

The Iron Giant Blu-ray Movie Review

BigFellas

Reviewed by Michael Reuben September 4, 2016

The runaway success of Disney's The Lion King in 1994 jump-started a boom in feature animation. Warner dubbed its new group "Warner Bros. Feature Animation", and like every other in-house division, it failed to replicate Disney's success in an era when animation was being redefined by the creative upstart known as Pixar. Warner's effort produced a single box office hit (Space Jam) and a string of flops that included Quest for Camelot and Osmosis Jones. It also produced an undeniable classic in The Iron Giant, which failed at the box office but became a family favorite on TV and home video. Meanwhile, Iron Giant's director, Brad Bird, was snapped up by Pixar, where he became the Oscar-winning creator of The Incredibles and Ratatouille.

In 2014, Bird and Warner began discussions on a new version of Iron Giant for which the director would complete several scenes that were initially cut for budgetary reasons. The result was released to theaters in the fall of 2015 as The Iron Giant, Signature Edition. After almost a year's delay to allow for the creation of a fascinating new documentary on the making of the film, Warner is now issuing The Iron Giant on Blu-ray. Both the theatrical cut and the Signature Edition are included on the same disc.

The Iron Giant is freely adapted from The Iron Man, a children's sci-fi novel by Ted Hughes, who is better known as a British Poet Laureate and the husband of American poet Sylvia Plath. Bird and screenwriter Tim McCanlies (Secondhand Lions) shifted the locale from England to the U.S. and set the events in 1957, just after the Soviet Union's successful launch of Sputnik had elevated Cold War tensions to a new height. Fear of space-based weapons lent new urgency to the "duck and cover" maneuvers in which school children were routinely drilled. The Iron Giant includes its own version of a short film shown in classrooms to assist in such drills.

In this atmosphere of paranoia, a giant robot plunges from space into the ocean waters off the fictional town of Rockwell, Maine, where it terrifies a local fisherman named Earl Stutz (M. Emmet Walsh). No one believes Earl's tall tale of a space monster, but a nine-year-old boy, Hogarth Hughes (Eli Marienthal), encounters the Giant in the woods one night and, after initially running in terror, ends up befriending the metal behemoth, who is suffering from mechanical amnesia caused by his crash landing. The Giant (voiced by Vin Diesel) quickly learns basic English from Hogarth, who also introduces his new friend to the world of comic book heroes, of whom Hogarth's favorite is Superman.

Instinctively recognizing the need to conceal the Giant from adult eyes, Hogarth hides him at the scrap metal yard managed by Dean McCoppin (Harry Connick Jr.), a beatnik and aspiring sculptor who is a regular at the diner where Hogarth's mother, Annie (Jennifer Aniston), works as a waitress. The junkyard proves to be an ideal location for the Giant, whose diet consists of metal and whose foraging for food has caused much unexplained destruction in the area. Reports of these incidents have attracted the attention of an officious government agent, Kent Manley (Christopher McDonald) from the Bureau of Unexplained Phenomena. Despite the skepticism of his superior, General Rogard (John Mahoney), Kent is convinced that a dire threat to national security lurks in Rockwell, and he quickly zeroes in on Hogarth's activities.

The Iron Giant is both a comedy and an adventure, but the film's emotional core is the deepening relationship between Hogarth and his hulking new pal. As events unfold, Kent Manley's concern that the Giant might be a weapon turns out to be justified, but with his memory gone and Hogarth as his guide, the metal leviathan becomes a gentle and caring creature. An encounter with deer hunters introduces him to the concept of "death", which initially makes no sense to the alien machine, because he is capable of self-repair, but which Hogarth explains to him with a clarity and simplicity of which most adults would be incapable. Brad Bird's initial pitch for The Iron Giant consisted of a simple question: "What if a gun developed a soul?" Under Hogarth's tutelage, the Giant discovers the soul beneath his forbidding exterior, but his better nature is challenged when he is found by Manley and attacked with the full fury of General Rogard's military forces. Defensive reflexes trigger the Giant's original programming as a weapon of war, and the awesome power of the alien technology concealed inside him prompts an escalation of firepower from his human attackers. In the end, though, it is the Giant's devotion to Hogarth that rescues the town from destruction.

The Signature Edition of The Iron Giant adds two new scenes. A short scene beginning at time mark 15:51 shows Dean and Hogarth's mother conversing in the diner, thereby deepening their characters and hinting at a possible future relationship. A more substantive addition occurs at time mark 54:46, when the Giant is "sleeping" in Dean's junkyard and experiences nightmarish flashbacks to his former life as a soldier in a mechanical army. His visions emerge as transmissions that are picked up on Dean's TV, who is startled by the violent images flashing across his screen. A further alteration occurs at time mark 29:18, when Hogarth is watching TV at home. In the theatrical cut, the commercial on the screen is for Maypo Cereal, but in the Signature Edition it has been replaced by an ad for Disney's Tomorrowland, which is what Bird originally intended but had to omit when Disney would not grant him a clearance. Today, with the Mouse House having acquired Pixar and wanting Bird to helm a sequel to The Incredibles, a clearance was the least it could do.

The Iron Giant Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Iron Giant is composed of both traditional hand-drawn animation and CG elements (notably, the Giant himself). For this 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray, 35mm preservation elements have been newly scanned and color-corrected by Warner's Motion Picture Imaging facility, under the supervision of director Brad Bird. The result faithfully replicates the film's distinctive mix of bright, colorful daylight scenes and darkened nighttime sequences composed of light, shadow and a few muted colors. Primaries are distinct without oversaturation, and the image is free of any distortion, aliasing or banding. The finely resolved grain structure contributes to a film-like appearance that suits the period in which the film is set. Warner has authored The Iron Giant with an average bitrate of 29.87 Mbps (29.97 for the theatrical cut).

(Note: The last three screenshots accompanying this review (nos. 37-39) are from scenes new to the Signature Edition.)

The Iron Giant Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Iron Giant's 5.1 sound mix has been encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA, and it's a playful affair, with off-screen action routinely heard in the surrounds, especially if it involves the Giant. Broad dynamic range and deep bass extension help convey the Giant's massive stature and the details of his many activities, and the sound editing becomes more elaborate as the Giant's full capabilities are gradually revealed. The climactic showdown between the Giant and General Rogard's forces is as sonically active and intense as any action film. Dialogue is smoothly integrated into the mix and properly prioritized. Michael Kamen's orchestral score shifts easily with the film's many moods, alternating from comic playfulness to dramatic conflict to intense emotion.

The Iron Giant Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Warner released two DVD versions of The Iron Giant in 2004, a basic disc and a "special edition". Although I do not have either disc for comparison, it appears that most of the extras from both DVDs have been ported over to Blu-ray. The omissions include a music video, still galleries and DVD-ROM features. New to Blu-ray is an hour-long documentary entitled "The Giant's Dream", two short featurettes ("The Salt Mines" and "Hand Drawn") and several additions to the commentary.

• The Giant's Dream (1080p; 1.78:1; 55:47): This new documentary serves as both a biography of Brad Bird, who began his career with an internship at Disney, and a detailed account of The Iron Giant's creation, which was Bird's feature debut after working on The Simpsons for eight seasons. A briskly edited combination of line drawings, rough animation sketches, test footage and interviews, the feature is narrated by Bird, an array of animators, producer Allison Abbate and several former executives. You emerge from "The Giant's Dream" with a renewed appreciation for the complexity of the teamwork required to produce feature-length animation. In a departure for an authorized documentary, "The Giant's Dream" openly acknowledges conflicts between the creative team and the studio, as well as within the creative team itself, and it addresses Warner's mistakes in marketing the film with rare candor.



• Commentary with Director Brad Bird, Head of Animation Tony Fucile, Story Department Head Jeff Lynch and Animation Supervisor Steven Markowski: This is the same commentary that appeared on the 2004 "Special Edition" DVD. It can be played with both the theatrical cut and the Signature Edition. For the latter, new inserts have been added in which Bird discusses the Signature Edition's changes. These occur at the following time marks: 15:51 (Annie and Dean); 29:18 (the Tomorrowland commercial); and 54:46 (Giant's Dream). In the main commentary, Bird and his collaborators identify the work of specific animators, discuss key story points and describe plot elements that were considered and abandoned.



• Deleted Scenes with Introduction by Brad Bird (Vintage 2003) (1080p; 1.33:1 & 2.40:1; 15:16): A "play all" function is included.
• Original Opening Sequences
• Campfire
• The Drag Race
• Tired at Breakfast
• Original Introduction of Hogarth and Annie
• Classroom



• Teddy Newton: The X Factor (Vintage 2003) (480i; 1.33:1; 5:38): A portrait of a member of the film's crew with a distinctive take on various story elements.



• Duck and Cover Sequence (Vintage 2003) (480i; 1.33:1; 2:23): Newton discusses this film-within-a-film, which was his first assignment on The Iron Giant.



• The Voices of The Iron Giant (Vintage 2003) (480i; 1.33:1; 8:16): Bird, producer Allison Abbate and several animators discuss the vocal performances. The sole actor who appears is Vin Diesel. A "play all" function is included.
• The Voice of the Giant
• Hogarth Hughes
• Dean McCoppin
• Annie Hughes
• Kent Mansley



• The Score (Vintage 2003) (480i; 1.33:1; 4:49): The late Michael Kamen discusses his score, focusing on three specific scenes. A "play all" function is included.
• The Opening Sequence
• The Deer
• Kent and Hogarth



• Behind the Armor (Vintage 2003) (480i; 1.33:1; 17:31): The short featurettes address various aspects of the production. Of particular interest is "The Origin of the Movie", in which Bird and producer Des McAnuff describe how the film grew out of efforts by musician Pete Townsend to create a musical based on Ted Hughes's book. A "play all" function is included.
• The Warner Bros. Logo
• The Origin of the Giant
• The Origin of the Movie
• Bringing the Giant to Life
• Storyboards and Animatics
• The Battle Sequences



• Motion Gallery (Vintage 2003) (480i; 1.33:1; 4:22): A comparison of various drawings and animatics to the finished film.



• "Brad Bird" Trailer (480i; 2:35:1; 1:29): Narrated by Bird.



• Signature Edition Trailer (1080p; 1.78:1; 2:32): This is the trailer for the 2015 re-release.



• The Making of The Iron Giant (Vintage 1999) (480i; 1.33:1; 22:05): Hosted by Vin Diesel, this made-for-TV documentary was part of the film's original PR campaign and was shown on the former WB channel. It includes interviews with Bird, Jennifer Aniston, Eli Marienthal, Christopher McDonald, John Mahoney and Harry Connick Jr.



• Vintage Easter Eggs (Vintage 2003) (480i; 1.33:1; 1:48): These consist of a letter dated January 8, 1998, from the original book's author, Ted Hughes, praising the screenplay, plus a variety of animatics and concept drawings.



• The Salt Mines (1080p; 1.78:1; 7:06): Iron Giant crew member Andrew Jimenez visits the Hutchinson Facility in Kansas, where all of the physical drawings for the film (including abandoned scenes and concepts, and even artists' doodles) are stored in an underground vault beneath an active salt mine.



• Hand Drawn (1080i; 1.78:1; 1.40): Bird explains why he remains devoted to hand-drawn animation, even as it is being replaced by CG imagery.

The Iron Giant Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Iron Giant has been long awaited on Blu-ray, but the wait was worth it. Warner has delivered an impressive package that provides both the director's preferred version of the film and the original cut that has attracted such a loyal following in the years since Iron Giant died at the box office. The new extras are some of the best I have seen in recent years. Very highly recommended.