The Iron Giant (1999)

I have always maintained that 1999 was one of the best years ever for American cinema. It was a year that saw the release of The Sixth Sense, Toy Story 2, The Matrix, Fight Club, The Blair Witch Project, American Beauty, The Insider, Office Space, Election, Ride with the Devil, Any Given Sunday, Man on the Moon, Galaxy Quest and a bunch of others. One of the very best films of that year was an animated feature produced by Warner Bros, which was released without much advertising or promotion and failed at the box office: Brad Bird's The Iron Giant.

At the height of the cold war, a boy named Hogarth Hughes stumbles upon a giant alien robot in the forest outside of town. While he initially relishes the chance to make friends with this unique creature, its arrival has already raised the suspicion of the United States Military and the authorities are closing in.

This is one of those rare perfect films: perfect in the sense that it has a clear creative objective and it fulfils that objective without any qualifications or visible flaws. There isn't a bad scene, nor one weak characters. It is entertaining from beginning to end, and hugely effective. I am a pretty easy cryer when watching movies; this film makes me bawl every time. It's an emotional masterpiece.