Warner Bros. dumped The Iron Giant into the crowded film landscape of 1999 with terrible promotion and minimal confidence, letting it wander off to be ignored like a neglected ginger in a mall. Brad Bird's Cold War-era story about Hogarth, an adventurous boy with an unfortunate name who discovers a robot in his backyard and tries to keep him, was rescued on home video thanks to scenarios like: "My kid likes robots. This has a robot in it. It's five bucks on VHS in a bin by the checkout counter. Why the hell not." Then the film—full of so many amazing moments that every viewing is like a tiny miracle of storytelling—worked its surprising magic. by Bobby Roberts