History Awesome / TheIronGiant

* Though it's not exactly a good thing, the Giant getting royally pissed off, transforming into his [[OneWingedAngel Defence Mode]] and [[OneManArmy single-handedly]] ''annihilating'' the US Army with [[WalkingArmory a whole assortment]] of alien superweapons after [[PapaWolf he thinks they've killed Hogarth]] is undeniably awesome The scene alone could rival if not surpass most mecha anime.

* [[AllLovingHero Hogarth]] [[BadassPacifist Hughes]] runs right to the Giant, who is on an UnstoppableRage. Guns all around his body and he ''points'' his main arm cannon at Hogarth. Hogarth is probably terrified at this moment, but he doesn't run. [[NervesOfSteel He stands his ground]] and talks to the Giant:

(''cut to the view from the window of the hut, [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech where Rogard can be seen loudly and furiously tearing into Mansley in the front yard]] as Hogarth watches from it with the smuggest grin'')\\

'''General Rogard''': You'll be Chief Inspector of Subway Toilets by the time I'm finished with you! Now pack ''up''. I'll expect you back in Washington to clear out your office.

-->'''Hogarth''': [[TakeThat Goodbye Kent...]] [[IronicEcho and all that implies]].

* [[AllLovingHero Hogarth]] [[BadassPacifist Hughes]] runs right to the Giant, who is on an UnstoppableRage. Guns all around his body and he ''points'' one at Hogarth. Hogarth is probably terrified at this moment, but he doesn't run. [[NervesOfSteel He stands his ground]] and talks to the Giant:
-->'''Hogarth:''' It's bad to kill. Guns kill. And you don't have to be a gun. You are what you choose to be. You choose. Choose.

'''General Rogard''': You'll be Chief Inspector of Subway Toliets by the time I'm finished with you! Now pack ''up''. I'll expect you back in Washington to clear out your office.

* General Rogard's KickTheSonOfABitch moment with Mansley. After the latter orders the nuclear missile fired at the giant, Rogard points out that they don't have enough time to get out of the blast zone. Mansley says ScrewThisImOuttaHere, but the Giant stops him, and Rogard orders his men to ''"make sure he stays here like a good soldier"'', and keep him from [[DirtyCoward abandoning the town to its fate in an attempt to save himself]]. Rogard and his men then prepare to FaceDeathWithDignity. Of course the missile doesn't kill any of them, but seeing [[SmugSnake Mansley]] [[LaserGuidedKarma get what's coming to him]] is very rewarding.

(''cut to the view from the window of the hut, [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech where Rogard can be seen loudly and furiously tearing into Mansley in the front yard]] as [[KickTheSonOfABitch Hogarth watches from it with the smuggest grin]]'')\\

* Though it's not exactly a good thing, the Giant getting royally pissed off, transforming into his [[OneWingedAngel Defence Mode]] and [[OneManArmy single-handedly]] ''annihilating'' the US Army with [[WalkingArmory a whole assortment]] of alien superweapons after [[PapaWolf he thinks they've killed Hogarth]] is undeniably awesome.

* ''[[MeaningfulEcho "You are who you choose to be."]]'' [[TearJerker Suuuuuuuuuuuuper]][[HeroicSacrifice maaaaaaaan...]]

-->''(The Giant shuts down his battle mode and returns to normal.)''

!!Meta
* Originally, Creator/PeterCullen [[WhatCouldHaveBeen was going to be the voice of the Giant.]] Yes, [[{{Franchise/Transformers}} Optimus Prime]] would be playing ''another'' peace-loving robot that fell to earth and can still open a can of whoop-ass.
** This isn't to say that Creator/VinDiesel's performance wasn't good, however. On the contrary, the way he [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct puts the right notes of humor, emotion, and sympathy]] into the Giant's [[TheSilentBob very few lines]] at exactly the right moments deserves a mention on this page all its own.
* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The CGI giant blends in with the traditional animation amazingly and still holds up.
* Warner Bros.' humility over the film's failure being entirely their fault has to be admired. Since it flopped, they've gone out of their way to make up for this by hyping it up for the home video release, re-releasing it in theaters on its 15th anniversary (and funding new animation for it) and, most importantly, not shying away from letting the crew call their bluff on the behind-the-scenes documentary on the Signature Edition. Their subsidiary, Cartoon Network, airs this film every Thanksgiving without fail; regardless of some of their more recent boneheaded decisions, this is something to applaud.