Yeah, but Voltron still could kick his ass: "The Iron Giant"

Here's a movie that I remember got great reviews despite flying under the radar when it came out in 1999. I guess that's what happens when you have to battle for box office with "Lake Placid," "Stigmata" and "Inspector Gadget." Jeez.

Our story is simple. With the Cold War escalating in the 1950s, a young boy in Maine comes across a visitor from outer space: a big old scary robot. In the vein of "E.T.," the boy befriends and hides the robot -- as much as you can with something that big -- while a government agent tries to track down the alien.

Hijinks ensue. There's young Hogarth -- yeah, what a name -- chasing down a detached robot hand. There's the beatnik who runs a scrap yard and agrees to help the mismatched duo. There's Hogarth's mom thinking something is amiss. There's the general who thinks the government agent is off his rocker. And so on and so forth.

Of course, this wouldn't be a good kids movie without a big lesson. I guess it's that all life is valuable, looks can be deceiving and that we just have to be who we are and not what someone else wants us to be. Maybe that all sounds cheesy, and hey, it is. But it also is kind of nice when wrapped up in a neat-looking 86-minute package that has few if any slow spots.

"The Iron Giant" also was fun when it came to figuring out the voices behind the animation. I knew our man Vin Diesel, before bursting onto the scene in "Boiler Room" and "Pitch Black," was the robot. I had a harder time picking up Jennifer Aniston as Hogarth's mom, Harry Connick Jr. as the beatnik and Christopher "Shooter McGavin" McDonald as the bumbling government agent. We also get Stifler's little brother as Hogarth, plus a couple of old faves in M. Emmet Walsh and John Mahoney. (Frasier's dad to you, maybe, but he'll always be Good Morning Grant and Diane Court's dad curled up in a bathtub to me.)

Solid cast, sweet story and a cool robot. What's not to love? True, you have to brace yourself for some sappiness, but there's also some wit and genuinely funny moments. "Giant" was the first big-screen effort by director Brad Bird, who went on to make "The Incredibles," another smart, funny animated feature that did a heck of a lot better at the box office. If there's any justice, "Giant" will continue to find an audience on DVD and cable. In other words, watch this movie or the robot will kill you.