You may have seen an advert for this film and dismissed it as standard kiddies Christmas garbage, but this is an excellently made moving film that won't be forgotten when the Christmas tree's been thrown out round the back and the turkey's finally been finished.

The artwork and animation is superb, as is the music and sound of the film. It's based on the popular and equally brilliant book, the Iron Man by Ted Hughes.

The whole film is polished to perfection, with just the right amount of schmaltz, humour, action, and even 50's political observation (check out the infamous duck and cover video). The touching finale almost moved me to tears, and this rarely happens. It is a kids film, and children will love this, but so will teenagers and adults just as much.

This film flopped in America, probably because it didn't have the 'Mouse House' behind it, but I just hope that people will watch it over here, so that it will get the recognition it deserves.

10/10

David Brook
Dave's Film Page