The Iron Giant (1999)

John Mahoney: General Rogard

Photos 

Quotes 

• General Rogard : That missile is targeted to the giant's current position! WHERE'S THE GIANT, MANSLEY?

  Kent Mansley : [notices the giant is standing just a few feet away. It glares at him]  Oooh... We can duck and cover! There's a fallout shelter not far from...

  General Rogard : There's no way to survive this thing, you idiot!

  Kent Mansley : You mean we're all going to...

  General Rogard : To die, Mansley. For our country.

  Kent Mansley : Screw our country! I WANT TO LIVE!

  [he jumps into a jeep and attempts to drive away, but the giant stops him by slamming his hand down like a roadblock. As Mansley recovers from the crash, some of the soldiers train their rifles on him] 

  General Rogard : Hold him, men! Make sure he stays here... like a good soldier...

• General Rogard : You'll be Chief Inspector of Subway Toilets by the time I'm through with you!

• Kent Mansley : Please, Sir, I've got a feeling about this one.

  General Rogard : That's nice, Mansley, but let me explain how things are supposed to work. If you had, say, a footprint, I might be able to send over an expert to make a plaster cast of it. Hell, you get me a photograph of this thing, I can send some troops down there! But you tell me you've got a feeling...

  Kent Mansley : All right... you want evidence? I'll get you evidence. And when I do, I'm gonna want a memo distributed!

  General Rogard : That's just swell, Mansley.

  Kent Mansley : And I'm gonna want that memo carbon copied and distributed...

  [Rogard hangs up] 

• Dean McCoppin : Don't shoot! There's a kid in his hand! Kent, he only acts defensively. If you don't shoot, he's harmless. You gotta tell the general.

  Kent Mansley : This is your fault, beatnik. If you haven't interfered...

  Dean McCoppin : Will you just listen? Tell the general to stop. He's got the kid with him.

  Kent Mansley : I'll take care of it.

  [Dean leaves; Kent goes over to General Rogard] 

  Kent Mansley : He said the monster has killed a kid. Sir, we must stop it at all costs.

  General Rogard : [On walkie-talkie]  Go to Code Red! Repeat, Code Red!

• [Dean is trying to convince the General of the Giant's true nature] 

  General Rogard : [Shocked]  What are you saying, he's friendly?

  Dean McCoppin : Yes! Attacking him is triggering a defense mechanism.

  Kent Mansley : Don't listen to him, General! Destroy the monster while we still have a chance!

  [the Giant approaches in the mist as the soldiers ready their weapons] 

  Dean McCoppin : General, you shoot now and the whole thing starts all over again.

  Kent Mansley : Stop it *now*, General! Our future's at stake!

  Soldier : Orders, sir?

  Dean McCoppin : Which is why you have got to stop, General!

  Soldier : It's getting closer! Orders, sir?

  Hogarth Hughes : [in the Giant's hand, emerging from the mist]  Don't shoot! Don't shoot!

  Annie Hughes : Hogarth!

  General Rogard : Hold your fire! The boy's alive?

  Kent Mansley : [now almost completely crazed]  It's a trick! Launch the missile!

  General Rogard : Are you mad, Mansley? All units, stand down!

  [on walkie talkie] 

  General Rogard : Rogard to Nautilus. Come in, Nautilus.

  Nautilus Captain : [over walkie talkie]  This is Nautilus, standing by.

  [Kent looks up to see the Giant glaring at him. Finally having lost all reason, Kent grabs the walkie talkie out of the General's hands and screams...] 

  Kent Mansley : LAUNCH THE MISSILE NOW!

  [With a flip of a switch, the Nautilus fires off one of its atomic missiles into the sky] 

• General Rogard : [the U.S. Military proves unable to take down the Giant]  Nothing can stop this thing! We've hit it with everything we got!

  Kent Mansley : Not everything, General. The Bomb. The Nautilus has first strike capability and is anchored just off shore.

  General Rogard : [Taken aback]  ... You scare me, Mansley. You want us to bomb ourselves in order to kill it?

  Kent Mansley : General, the giant seems to follow whatever attacks it. We can lure it away from the town, then destroy it.

  General Rogard : [Considers the thought for a moment, then to a soldier]  Radio the Nautilus. Tell them to target the robot and await my command.

• General Rogard : You realize how much hardware I brought out here? You just blew millions of Uncle Sam's dollars out of your butt!

• [over the telephone] 

  Kent Mansley : Sir, this thing is a menace. It destroyed a power station, it... it caused a train wreck!

  General Rogard : What did, Mansley? Tell me again, and this time, listen to yourself.

  Kent Mansley : [sighs]  A giant... metal monster.

  [Rogard laughs uncontrollably over the phone]