Today in an effort to avoid japanese animated hamsters, I responded to Patches’ demands for “Taro!” (Hamtaro) by shoving in a tape of The Iron Giant. Such has been the mania for Hamtaro & friends in our household that most of the other videos we own have been neglected. This meant that Patches had no memory of ever seeing The Iron Giant. It was a brand new movie for him. He was completely mesmerized “Robot!” I was informed when the movie was over.
90 minutes of peace is an unusual occurance, so toward the end of it I wandered in to see what the kids were doing. I happened upon the finale of the movie. I have seen this movie dozens of times as it has fallen in and out of favor with the kids, and yet those final moments before the explosion still have the power to bring tears to my eyes.
“You are who you choose to be.”
“Superman”
Just hearing the “Superman” in my head starts the tears…
That scene always got me too… I felt like such a sap for getting teary at that, but it’s a deeply moving moment in an excellent movie.
Yeah. For a movie with a hokey-looking cover, “The Iron Giant” is surprisingly powerful.
I have only seen the beginning and the end, nothing in the middle, but that end made me cry (and just thinking about it makes me cry even now). My kids love that movie.