The Iron Giant
Recommended by chrisnu.
The story here isn't the most inspired in morality--outcast boy makes an unlikely friend, and they teach each other things about life--but Brad Bird puts a quasi-fresh spin on it by making said friend a giant, seemingly harmless robot from outer space. I have to admit I was a little wary of watching The Iron Giant, seeing as it slipped past my radar and I went uninterested in it for 8 years (not to mention I'm not exactly a big Pixar fan). But this was pre-Pixar, and Bird's film proved to be closer in spirit to Miyazaki (who I am a fan of) than Toy Story.
The plot is fairly simple, and that's where a lot of its charm lies. We begin with Hogarth, an evidently smart and caring boy, trying to convince his mom to let him keep a pet squirrel--in lieu of having many human friends. That doesn't pan out, and soon he stumbles upon a new kind of friend altogether. A massive, blank-eyed, metal-eating robot sent from unknown origins takes a curious, cautious liking to the boy--and vice versa. Heart-warming hijinks ensue.
But like all good children's movies, or genre movies in general, there needs to be a villain; someone who wants nothing but the worst for our innocent protagonists. In The Iron Giant, he comes in the form of a fast-talking, pipe-smoking government worker hell-bent on finding and annihilating the "beast" for eating his car and making him appear unstable to his higher-up. He calls in the army on our gentle giant.
In a movie with more than its share of heartbreaking moments, the first one comes from the giant's only encounter with an animal. A deer, that he reaches out to touch, and moments later is shot and killed by hunters. Triggering a defense mechanism, the event awakens the giant's true, though no less mysterious purpose, and he no longer seems so innocent. "Guns kill," Hogarth tells him. The movie's message is presented in just about the least subtle way possible, but it's nonetheless true and--again--heartbreaking. From here on out, it's teary moments one after the other. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say: while it's ultimately a shakily happy ending, it gets there in a surprisingly devastating way (I cried, I'll admit, more than a little).
The film was released in 1999, but its anti-war/gun violence viewpoint is all the more relevant to see today. I'm reminded how helpless good people can be in the face of those with grayer intentions, and a whole lot of fire power.
Thanks chrisnu, for making me cry. Oh, and for recommending a great flick.
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Quoting Raiders 
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