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Another praising review of THE IRON GIANT
Hey folks, Harry here. Ya know it amazes me how the media is sometimes. You see folks, some in the media are calling my support, and that of the site's, for THE IRON GIANT as an orchestrated buzz created by Warner Brothers. Wow... Now that really would be something. One article claims I've printed 61 stories on THE IRON GIANT.... this one is number 19. One press mouthpiece says how scary it is that THE LA TIMES printed a bit about THE IRON GIANT saying it had "hot Internet Buzz" and then goes on to say AICN had ONE unverifiable review to back it up. Well... Last I heard, you could contact Moriarty. You could contact me. By April I had 4 reviews, all of which did not come from ANYONE working on the film. Contrary to this UNRESEARCHED B.S. from the press mouthpiece is saying, I know each of the people prior to that L.A. TIMES article that sent in reviews. Two are animators without a connection with the film, another was a writer for a noted entertainment magazine that wasn't allowed to run the story in their magazine and I've met this person at film festivals multiple times... and the last was Moriarty.
I've seen THE IRON GIANT, but guess what... it wasn't on the Warner lot. It wasn't with their permission. There is another way to see films that these lazier reporters seem to not pursue. As a result, when THE IRON GIANT is being heralded as a brilliant work of American Animation, and Brad Bird is being highly praised uniformly by critics across the country, including the mouthpiece that shot off at the mouth like no tomorrow... I bet he doesn't apologize. The Fact of the matter is this fella probably hasn't seen the film, unless it was at the screening at the LA COMIC CON where fans were happy as hell, getting the tingly sensation they craved from STAR WARS but didn't get.
AICN has been hyping the hell out of this movie for several reasons.... 1) Warner Brothers has been incompetent in their marketing of the film. 2) It's a film that is highly appealling to the readers of this site and last and not least 3) It's a brilliant movie that WE HAVE SEEN!
Hello. I have been reading your site for over a year now, and never really
had any reason to contribute, yet after attending a screening of The Iron
Giant, I was compelled to send you a review. I will let you know that I run
a web site dedicated to movies and DVD's called The Digital Ring (
www.thedigitalring.com ), and the review you are about to read has already
been posted on my site. However, you are perfectly welcome to post my review
on your website, without even letting anyone know about my site. I am not
looking for a plug. I just feel that the world needs to know about what a
truly enthralling experience The Iron Giant is. Just call me moviefann.
Iron Giant
Warner Bros. has been the weakest contender in the animated genre of films,
as Quest for Camelot, and The King and I rank as some of the worst animation
I have ever seen on the big screen ( though I will admit, I never saw The
King and I at the theater, only the trailer ). Anyway, from the trailers
that I saw for The Iron Giant, it looked again as if Warner Bros. would
embarrass themselves. Yet despite the initial impressions I had about the
animation, The Iron Giant turned out to be one of the greatest animated
movies I have ever seen. This movie is truly unbelievable.
The Iron Giant is a story about a large robot who crash lands on earth,
only to be befriended by a young boy. I won't go any further into the story,
for knowing nothing is the best way to go into the theater. The story is
very mature, and isn't nearly as goofy as most of Disney's movies, yet it
also has allot of humor. The story is very gripping, and is played out
perfectly.
The animation in The Iron Giant really grows on you. The opening sequence
of the robot crash-landing into the ocean is very beautiful, yet as the film
progresses, the animation tends to weaken. Though not entirely eye-popping,
I believe that the animation ranks as some of the most impressive I have
seen. It is just completely breath-taking. You see, unlike Tarzan, The Iron
Giant's animation is completely seamless. You can't distinguish the CG from
the hand-drawn. Everything looks like it is of the same world. The robot is
animated beautifully, and so much compassion is shown in it's eyes. It is
truly the heart of the movie.
Michael Kamen has written one of the most beautiful musical scores of the
year, a truly haunting melody. I think that the score suits this movie very
well, and can't imagine the film without it. This score is a bit subtle, but
is really great.
It is just really hard to talk about the film, fearing I'll spoil some
elements for you. Just know that The Iron Giant is one of the best films you
are likely to see. If you are a fan of animation, E.T., or masterpieces,
rush out to see The Iron Giant. It is a very rare type of film, one that you
expect to be bad, yet turns out to be the polar opposite. The Iron Giant is
a movie I will rush out to see again, upon it's August 6th release date. I
recommend you do the same.
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Having seen a number of different trailers/commercials now, and having read all of the reports that have been popping up, I am really looking forward to this movie. Even the photo gallery on the Iron Giant site is impressive. I am envious of all the people who have already seen it. Just looking forward to seeing it myself. Thanks to Moriarty and Harry and all the others for keeping us informed on the movie. It looks like WB may be actually trying to market the movie a little bit more, too.
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i love the comment he made at the end that it looks bad, yet the movie is the polar opposite of what u'd expect. this movie appears to be not much more than a non-disney stab at animation that looks like the same calibre of king and I. but with every single review being 100% sure that this is the ultimate movie to define and celebrate animation in all of its glory, it seems impossible that it is as bad and simple as the trailer suggests.on a different note, i would also like to add that don bluth animation is not an animation joke. i seriously think that the land before time and american tale are such great movies with such great stories and wonderful mood. i know that they havent come up with much in the last few years but u should not just ignore the studios past and simply acknowlege it as the lowest form of animation- baff
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are very real! Especially when I am a former disgruntled employee of said studio. I have as much dislike for Warner Bros as most people do for the movie Batman & Robin. And tho I have friends that worked on the movie, that doesn't sway my judgement of the film overall. Some of the work that I was a very small part of were pieces of shit in my opinion (and that includes the above mentioned film). Now, I remember when WBFA was looking for people to get on Iron Giant in 1996. All they had at that time was a poster to get animators and other artists interested. Also, I heard all the rumblings about how crappy Quest was going to be and the poster looked like Gigantor, so I wrote the project off (like most WB projects.) Seeing this movie changed some feelings about WB. Like I said in an earlier talkback, it's renewed my faith in WB. Some good is there somewhere. And they have some projects (not many) that have a glimmer of hope. Maybe this was the last thing Max Howard made sure WB greenlit before his jump to Dreamworks? Thanks must go to him for starting this project off, and to Tom Sito for seeing it completed. You've made a great film WBFA!
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...on the screen NOW! Looking forwards to this one so much. However, still have no idea when it's being released over here in blighty (the idea that it may not get released over here is just too awful to contemplate). Feel dead jeolous of you guy's who've already seen it.
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Jul 16, 1999 8:17:37 AM CDT
The SOLUTION to WB's HORRENDOUS ad campaign: MORE DAMN REVIEWS!
by ricolie00
I cant get enough. This movie is going to be sooo F#@## AWESOME. i have already seen about fifteen minutes of it at school (CAL ARTS)and absolutely cannot wait. Fuck Warners and their so called "ad campaign" for this movie. They truly did a bad job.
Wanna spread how good this movie is?? Lets get MORE REVIEWS and post'm up on every movie site available. Lets make this damn movie SOAR!!!!! Harry, you take point and we'll follow suit.
Also, there are some reviews coming up on the forums section of the official site: check'm out!
www.theirongiant.com
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who knows what's gonna happen at the big WB with this flick and all the others now that the co-chairmen are retiring. two predictions: 1. the animation department will definitely shut down (like we'll miss it. their stuff sucks!) 2. BATMAN 5 is definitely gonna happen! here's a toast to the fool who gets to be the next Chairman & CEO. woo-hoo!
Soldier 2, here we come!!! -
I so often read articles on AICN in which the quality of animation is brought to task in various animated features. Take for instance THE IRON GIANT, you can't comment about the animation quality until you have seen the performance. Most people have NOT seen this movie. Those who have praise its quaitly animation. I notice people do not question a live action performance from a 2 minute trailer. They usually say they will wait to see the movie before passing judgement. Everyone should reserve their "animation" comments until they can make an educated one!
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I'm starting to wonder if there's some kind of conspiracy against this movie. I mean, first there was virtually NO talk of it at all--almost deliberate avoidance. There was an article published about SF aniamtion about 9 months ago, without a single mention of the Iron Giant. Even Enntertainment Weekly, a magazine OWNED by Warners, only gave it the briefest of mentions in their summer preview issue (and then they mostly slagged it by assuming it would be another King and I). Now it sounds like some people are going out of their way to *defuse* the hype, whihc is sickening, the more so because it sounds like someone's saying, "Those wacky internet folks, they get excited about everything. How cute. But we all know it's gonna suck. The internet is just a sellout camp." Argh, that annoys me. Who's making the snap judgements here? Anyway, I *really* hope IG becaomes critically acclaimed, but at this point I wouldn't be surprised if ti gets pasted. Critics can be the most close-minded and biased people I've ever seen, and they may give IG a bad mark simply because all of WB's previous animated offerings were so weak. They may not even bother to see it! Harry, can you put up some links to those articles you mentioned? I'd like to know who not to read anymroe. Thank you.
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Hey Harry - looks like Salon has jumped on the expose bandwagon too. They have an article at: http://www.salonmagazine.com/tech/feature/1999/07/16/blair_marketing/index.html
You get some press as the internet movie man who may be guilty of peddling cleverly packaged movie hype disguised as insider info. Keep up the chin, we know you aren't a marketing mouthpiece for The Man. You are just Fanboy #1 who happens to be human. -
All I can say is, "Where the Hell have you been for the last 20 years, Harry?". The traditional media have been bashing the net
and the online world forever. Why is this any surprise to you? If it's not hackers, it's kiddie porn. If it's not kiddie porn it's stalkers. If it's not stalkers it's stock manipulation. If
it's not stock manipulation it "They're information is not reliable like ours". Hell Harry, 60 minutes did this very same hatchet job AGES ago. The reason is simple shortsightedness and fear of the
unknown... Fear from these Luddites that they're about to be left behind, crushed under the wheels of progress. Which is stupid as credibility is an even more valuable commodity online than in traditional media.
But really, for any online veteran this should hardly be a shocking development. The thing is these people are simply disproving their
own positions. If the online world and online sites were truly irrelevant or unreliable, why would they need to waste space cutting it down? If this site wasn't a threat to their market shaer it would simply be ignored. -
TESTIFY, BABY! Ain't nothin' wrong with tellin' it like it is!!!!!
Warner Bros. needs to be educated on the proper way to make money for its stockholders....
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Am I the only one, but when are they going to make a movie based on Mr. X from Vortex comics? Or how about Twisted Tales? Enough of this chit-chat, I've got to get back to the Somnopolis.
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Shut up. just shut the fuck up, ok? Why is it not one single talkback doesn't have Harry getting slagged by some asshole accusing him of being a sellout or a corporate shill? If you don't like Harry, don't come to his site. Waste your time somewhere else ripping into AICN, but don't do it here. Is it so infathomable to you that Harry might like a movie just because YOU don't??? I liked the faculty, i liked armageddon, and so did my friends (i had to convince them to go see the faculty with me, but they liked it) does this make me a tool of the big studios? Harry's opinions at this site are HIS OWN gasp! So don't give him shit about his reviews-- THIS GOES TO EVERYONE-- if you don't want to know what mood he was in before the movie, don't read the article. oh yeah, i liked star wars too, OH NOOOOOOOO! Howq could i or harry or anyone like that piece of dogshit?!!! How could i be looking forward to the blair witch project??? because people's tastes differ, that's how. it doesn't mean we're whores at the capitalist gang bang, it means we're individuals. get that through your thick skull and then we'll talk.
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Iank, if you want people to take your stupid, lip-flapping posts seriously, perhaps you should pay attention to the freakin' posts that have come before you. Like, for instance, the fact that Gorthor already posted a link to that article, the fact that Harry already addressed the issues raised in the article, and the fact that that article is so full of bullshit it's a wonder it didn't dirty up my screen when I downloaded it. It's unresearched and contains numerous factual innaccuracies, among the slanderous accusations, and the ONE "expert" they rely on for opinions. Most of us reas that article and dismissed it, because we are free-thinking individuals, you, however, are clearly a puppet of Salon magazine. It's really disgusting that every single charge ever levelled against Harry by the jealous dipwads who's sites aren't anywhere near as successful or fun gets picked up, no matter how much of a flat-out lie it is. It's now "common knowledge" that Harry is a sellout, because people have been saying that for so long, it MUST be true, right?
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your point is executed so much better than mine (although i must admit it was quite early when i wrote mine, and i was extremely angrty at Iank) The problem i have with people who slam harry or call him a sellout is that their basis is always a matter of opinion. "Ok, i didn't like the Faculty, but Harry raved about it, he must be in Dimension's pocket." Did it never occur to them it may have had nothing to do with him being in it or the fact that he and Rodriguez are friends, maybe only that he enjoyed the finished product? Harry's been disappointed in movies he's been directly involved with, or invited by the studio to see. Do you think Roland and Emmerich were happy when Harry 180'ed his initial review of Godzilla and slammed it, even after the massive $$$ spent to get him to NY to see it? He didn't change his mind because WE hated it, he changed his mind because he watched it again and it sucked ass. Don't think because you call harry a sellout that therefore he is one, or that it bothers him. This is his site, not yours. If you want to come in guns rip roaring about how much this site sucks, well, tough. I've been coming here as long as i can remember, and it's always been on harry's terms. accept that fact. this is not your site, it never will be. The fans make it fun, but harry does the work to give us scoops long before you'll see it in the paper. you want objective sites with scoops totally unbiased, go elsewhere. Harry's site, and he's all over it. i come here because he's as much a part of the scoops as the spies. i like reading his reactions just like i like reading everyone in talkback. but knee jerk "harry sucks, drop your reviews yak yak yak" losers only drop out in the long run.
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I'm sure Iron Giant is great. I am going opening week, but I know it won't match up with Don Bluth's greatest. The Land Before Time is the most gorgeous, mysterious, memorable, haunting, fun, emotional, beautiful animated movie ever. It has great, smoky, pale, not dark animation. It is often overlooked and forgotten because of its cheesy straight-to-video musical sequels. James Horner had a wonderful score in that movie.
Also great are The Secret of Nimh(straight-to-video sequel followed), Anastasia(straight-to-video spinoff followed), and An American Tail(good big screen sequel with returning voices but no Bluth).
I also enjoyed the lame-scripted, imaginative and well-animated Pebble & The Penguin and All Dogs Go To Heaven(followed by a non-Bluth big screen sequel). -
I'm turning into Mr. Negative on this Talkback, aren't I? Well, can't help it. Iron Giant damn well *better* be superior to Bluth. Even at his best (Secret of Nimh, An American Tail) Bluth's main accomplishment is usually making a movie that's about equal to Disney. And that's usually from a technical point of view. Don't get me wrong--I appreciate that Bluth had the stones to go out and make movies at a very harsh time for animation. And pulling even with Disney is no small feat. However, his films lean too heavily on Disney's style. Iron Giant is something that doesn't *look* like Disney, doesn't *feel* like Disney, doesn't even *smell* like Disney. It's taking a creative risk, as opposed to the economic risks usually taken by Bluth. And, let me say, The Land Before Time is a decent animated movie at best. Impressive animation, but NO story. Even as a kid I was bored by it, and I loved Dinosaurs! And Anastasia is not anything even remotely close to "great" It's an exceedingly awkward mixture of transcendant moments, formulaic storytelling, great voice actors and not-so great ones, poor backgrounds, fine character animation, and the most BLOODY AWFUL CG I've EVER seen.
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I am the "press mouthpiece" quoted extensively in the Salon article. I'm not quite sure what there is that I said that Harry feels is "unresearched B.S.," but I'm pretty sure he's far more pissed about what the Salon writer wrote than about my quotes. I didn't count 61 stories on AICN about Iron Giant. The quote "hot Internet Buzz" is not attributed to me, though I'd be willing to say that it has that. And if you think that seeing a movie without the studio knowing somehow makes you a "journalist," then we are going to have to agree to disagree.
The reviews, about which Harry says, "Two are animators without a connection with the film, another was a writer for a noted entertainment magazine that wasn't allowed to run the story in their magazine," reflect just my point. How did these three people see the movie when they did? They saw it because they were considered friendlies by the filmmakers and/or the studio. Think about it. Do you really think that I think that the producer sends you a review and says, "Call Me Madame X" and that you'd print that? You are no bumkin. But neither are they.
And as far as The L.A. Times goes, did they know your review sources? Did they verify who they were? If not, they failed to do the basic journalistic work that a major paper should do. Not doing it, THAT is lazy reporting. Just because something on AICN is unverifiable doesn't make it wrong. But it doesn't make it right either.
And as far as my opinion of the film, I like it very much. I saw it two months (give or take) ago. I wrote about liking it two months ago. Has Warner Bros. really been incompetant in marketing the film? I don't think so, but we'll see when it opens. It certainly hasn't had their complete attention, but they've had two huge films to get out in the meantime. Just as Universal will sell the hell out of Man On The Moon this holiday season, WB will sell the hell out of Iron Giant in the next two weeks. And maybe they will fail. We'll see. But it won't be because WB marketing doesn't care. Every filmmaker feels uunattended by the studio on virtually every movie. And some movies get treated better than others. Believe me, Iron Giant will get a much bigger send off than Deep Blue Sea. And that movie cost the studio a lot more.
Ain't It Thin Skin?
David Poland
The Hot Button
www.roughcut.com -
You're right, most of the mudslinging seems to be coming from Salon magazine. But here's the offending paragraph: ********"Warner Brothers knew they'd get positive stuff out of [Harry Knowles]," says Poland. "There were clearly people involved with the movie saying good things about it on AICN." Poland is appalled that the newspaper took what it found online at face value, treating it as honest and legitimate adoration. "When the L.A. Times goes into a Web site, gets an unverifiable review and says this is what people are saying about this movie -- that's scary." ****** Now, they may have taken you radically out of context. However, the LA Times quote--genuine or not, and I haven't seen you offer any proof yet that it wasn't "genuine"--is, unarguably, "what people are saying about the movie". Holding up that quote is not misrepresenting the reaction to Iron Giant at all. If you don't believe me, you can check out www.cinescape.com, www.awn.com/blast, or www.staytooned.com for more glowing reviews--and I have yet to read a negative one. And I find your allegation that all these positive reviewers have been involved in the movie unlikely--the movie's main supporter has been Moriarty, who's been vocal in his criticism of WB. In fact, most of the movie's supporters have had harsh words for WB on the whole. If you have PROOF that specific reviews were "plants", then by all means come forward with it. However, that would still not change the fact that the LA Times accurately represented the level of enthusiasm for this movie on the web. And BTW, whether Harry is a journalist or not is questionable--I've never heard him call himself one--but accusing him of being bought (which you do in the Salon article) is a whole different story...and I hardly think it's unreasonable for Harry to refute it. Thin skinned, indeed. The guy's a rhinoceros.
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Who said anything about Harry being a sell-out? No me. Not ever. Not once. Vulnerable? Yes. Trickable? Absolutely. A sell-out, no. Unfortunately, one is not allowed to be critical of Harry in any way without being accused of trying to destroy him. It's all black & white around here. But reality is never black & white. Was a campaign orchestrated by WB in this case? No, probably not. But I never said that WB organized it. Putting words in my mouth doesn't make it so. It is filmmakers who tend to use AICN early on for buzz. And it i sthe filmmakers who screened this film for two animators and a journalist early and coincidentally, they sent in reviews to AICN. This becomes a studios game when they have a screening and they try to manipulate the AICN buzz. And they do sometimes succeed. Harry has admitted as much. Truth is, I've been far more critical of The New York Times this month for columns that were planted than I've ever been of AICN. Rhinocerous? Maybe when there's no truth at all coming this way. But when there is a reasonable disagreement. Tissue paper. Signed, David Poland
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I haven't read any of the past talkbacks or articles about this movie, but I've only seen on breif mention of Gigantor (speeling?)
I used to never miss this as a kid, I'm 32, and I vaguely remember the story line...but I knew it involved a kid, and a huge robot...It made a big impression on me and I knew it was very cool! Is the Iron Giant an update/remake or is it being passed on as an original idea, but really isn't?
Please forgive any ignorance....still getting over seeing the digital Episode I... -
The quote I was referring to was, "Studios know if you bring him on a set, you'll get good buzz out of him." Which does sound like you're accusing him of being a sellout. However, I see your point. I guess the problem is that the article implies a stance that isn't true. So I apologize for that. However, I still don't think that it was unreasonable for Harry to take issue. And oh yeah, the rhino commetn was a joke. You gotta admit, Harry has a lot in common with a rhinoceros.
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I've only had the pleasure seeing the trailer of Iron Giant.
I found that i liked what i saw, thou it looked little kiddized for me. I remember when i was in school, of a giant falling to earth, but instead of being a robot. Boy goes into the fallen giant and it turned out to be alien was piloting this giant repair bot that fell to earth after it was knocked off his ship.
Adventure was pretty cool.
As i watched the trailer, i suddenly though, dang they were ripping off Giant Robo, which been around for nearly 50 years.
Lastest version protays a robot control by a boy to stop a crazy alien. It seem that this is the non-violient version of that story.
Well, it looks like good kid/family movie.
I may see it when it goes to HBO or something.
======DMS
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Am curious how this movie may pull from the Hanna Barbara cartoon "Frankenstien Jr"? (circa late 1960s)
Story of Buzz, a smart small boy, who builds a large robot and the two go fight crime.
Just thinking.... -
Don't know what Devil's Halo was talking about re: "Tom Sito seeing [Iron Giant] completed". Sito was too busy working on "Osmosis Jones" to get involved with IG. How about some credit to the producer, Allison Abbate?
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I hang out a lot with a 4-year-old boy. (Baby-sitting, helping his mom out, etc.) Is this a movie that I can take him to, or is it too mature for him?
Thanks.
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