71. The Iron Giant
The Iron Giant
This is the single greatest thing Vin Diesel has done and will ever do.
In early October, 1957, a mysterious hunk of metal lands off the coast of Rockwell, Maine. When he eats a TV antenna from a house dangerously close to the woods, he attracts the young boy who lives there. When the metal-eating metal giant gets tangled up in active power station wires, the boy, named Hogarth Hughes, shuts the power off and saves him. The giant becomes ever grateful and befriends the boy.
Obviously when a giant metal man crashes in the sea near a small American town, it's bound to rouse the suspicion of certain government agencies. Enter Kent Mansley, a strong-chinned pompous US agent with an extreme case of paranoia. Convinced the creature is a threat, Mansley does everything in his power to take it down a notch.
What Mansley doesn't expect, of course, is that the creature is not a threat. Maybe. In all honesty, most things about the giant aren't that well known. Director Brad Bird was smart enough to keep the audience in the dark about, well, just about everything. Even though he may not normally be a threat, he apparently has some sort of command built within him to destroy whatever threat approaches him.
But he still would never naturally hurt a fly. When Hogarth introduces him to comic books, he's compared to the giant killer robot Atomo. The giant never wants to be Atomo, he prefers to be seen as well-known hero Superman. He's a kind spirit who is taught by a newfound friend the value of compassion and life.
Defining moment:As a missile threatens to destroy Rockwell in the film's climax, the giant, remembering the stories of Superman, chooses to sacrifice himself to save the town. As he blasts off into space, barreling down on the missile, he remembers Hogarth's words about how "you are who you choose to be." Right before his collision, he closes his eyes and says a single final word: "Superman."
Yeah, tearing up again.
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