It's 1957, the height of the Cold War era, ridden with hatred, suspicion and political doublespeak. The Soviets had successfully launched Sputnik resulting in a mass hysteria in The US as their smug sense of superiority suddenly being shattered breeding an all encompassing and blinding paranoia.

The Korean War, The Berlin crisis, The Vietnam war and the Cuban Missile Crisis were just some of the events which had the world teetering on the edge of nuclear holocaust through out the Cold War.

It is within this scenario that The Iron Giant is set. A brave attempt by Warner Brothers to even dare to create an animated feature - a domain which has been singularly monopolized by Disney for eons. The Iron Giant however failed miserably at the Box Office playing to empty theatres for a short few weeks. It is however a film that certainly deserves a greater audience and now hopes to attain that elusive audience through video and DVD.

The story is on the lines of Spielberg's E.T with the Iron Giant being the benign "thing" from Outer Space (Communist Russia) which somehow crash landed in the American heartland. The Giant is capable of enormous destructive powers but is programmed only to use them only when under threat.

The Giant lumbers around Maine's forest area where it proceeds to chew up anything metallic it can lay its eyes on. When about to devour some juicy looking electrical cables the Giant is electrocuted only to be saved by a 9 year old boy typically in need of a friend. The Giant and the kid bond and The Giant then does a Lassie by following the kid home.

The problem arises when the kid has to conceal the Giant, at least 100ft tall, from his mother as well as the nefarious government agent who clearly suspects an Alien (read Soviet for Alien) plot, and wants desperately to destroy the giant.

The animation, done in a "realist" pseudo Japanese style is quite simply stunning. The dramatic colors and imagery an absolute treat to behold and so refreshing after the rather CGI dominated imagery of Antz and A Bugs Life from last year.

The characterization of the personalities is far more complex then is usual for animated films and fortunately there are no cutesy furry creatures and no sing-a-long songs a la Disney. This is the "real life" school of animation and it makes a welcome change from the usual flora and fauna of the Disney stuff.

It's a sad statement that modern day kids rejected this film outright - the only scene they seem to enjoy is the one where the Giant, in self defense turns into war machine mode and unleashes his fury in a stunning destructive show of strength. Thus the sad irony is that the films strong pacifist message seems to have backfired as audiences appear to react best to the scenes of destruction and violence! A sad sign of the times.

The film is well worth watching though for all ages though works best for adults. It is thoroughly entertaining, Brilliantly animated and thankfully devoid of cutesy creatures and songs. It also has a statement to make, even if its sense of morality is considerably far removed from reality.

Also, perhaps more accurately, the pacifist and pro left wing tone of the film hit a raw nerve with American audiences so used to reveling in a certain self righteousness and basking in their "victory" in the Cold War - the "we told you so" attitude. The film is directed by Brad Bird one of the pioneers of the "The Simpsons" the enormously popular animated series.