being released on the same weekend as five other new movies the iron giant is and will become one of the best films you are not likely to see . it's a shame that such a critically acclaimed movie can't do well at the box office , but the public likes it's mainstream trash . hogarth hughes is an adventurous young boy living in rockwell , a cozy seaside town in maine . it's 1957 and sputnik has just been sent into orbit by the russians , so when a crazed drunk is out on his boat and sees what he calls a metal monster the townspeople joke around with him at first . when cars start getting eaten , and power lines destroyed , the people begin to wonder . when kent mansley ( a government agent ) comes to investigate he discovers hogarth's fake gun near the power plant and questions him about it , he says he doesn't know anything but mansley figures he knows more than he's letting on . the truth is , hogarth is hiding the robot at the local scrapyard where dean mccoppin , the owner , is keeping him hidden in a shed . he's beginning to form a bond with the metal man and doesn't want to see him hurt . when kent discovers that there is a robot , he is scared it's from another country and is going to annihilate us all , and he sends for reinforcements . while bearing the strong resemblance to e . t . , the film is still in a class of it's own . finally , an animated film with no songs , no fake love stories , and no stupid sidekicks . instead this is a wonderful film with a good message , ( putting in the fact that guns actually kill people is a great message for a children's film ) plus the film is filled with lots of gags and jokes aimed directly at adults too . the film has received horrible box office earnings , and is likely to be put with other critically loved comedies such as rushmore , election , go , and dick . this is a magical film that can be viewed again and again . so what are you waiting for ? go out and see this film now ! don't delay , call moviephone and get tickets for the iron giant , which gets * * * 1/2 stars . 
