Many critics have called this movie the best Superman film in history.
At the end, we see that Hogarth has become friends with the kids who originally picked on him.
General Rogard sending the only piece of the Giant they could recover to Hogarth.
This gets even better when Hogarth wakes up in the middle of the night to find it missing from its box; looking under his bed for it, only to hear a familiar beeping sound and flashing light. He smiles before turning around, knowing fully what that means. The hopeful tone in his voice changes what was shaping up to be a Bittersweet Ending into pure Sweet Dreams Fuel.
Hogarth: See you later...
The movie's final shot, with the Giant giving the audience a big, friendly smile.
It's a small detail, but after the Giant saves everyone with his sacrifice, the General salutes him for his bravery.
Dean's involvement with Hogarth, in general, is pretty damn heartwarming. Despite how it turns out for him, he starts by being nice to him at the diner. Then, he very kindly doesn't rat Hogarth out when he finds him at the scrapyard; Dean protects him when he sees the Giant for the first time and then agrees to help the two of them. Dean automatically slips into a caretaker role without being asked and even encourages Hogarth when he admits to being bullied. Dean goes above and beyond being a Parental Substitute and even permanently ends up in the role.
The scene where Annie visits Dean's home, which in the theatrical cut marks the first time they hit it off. Dean's stunned to meet someone who likes his work, and the way they meet and chat as the spark ignites feels natural and sweet.
The cut scene where he gets a cup of coffee from her right before picking up the bitten tractor is also sweet. They engage in light-hearted ribbing (including him asking what a pretty woman like her is doing at a diner) after he apologizes for the "squirrel incident." She feels comfortable enough with him to confide about her worries that Hogarth acts out because he's lonely (a theory the movie supports), to which he responds by saying Hogarth is a great kid.
Hogarth runs back to the power plant to save the Giant from getting electrocuted; its screams of agony tell him that this isn't just a monster but a sentient being with feelings getting tortured.
While Dean is operating on a Wrong Assumption (that the Giant's eye lasers are going off because it randomly decided to kill Hograth), the fact that his reaction to Hograth being in danger is to risk his life after a being he couldn't possibly fight or stop is a wonderfulPapa Wolf moment.
Hogarth manages to bring back the Giant from his weapon mode by standing before the Giant's arm cannon and telling him: "You don't have to be a gun. You are what you choose to be. You choose. Choose!"
The original script has its heartwarming ending:
Hogarth, Annie, and Dean are all town celebrities after the Giant's sacrifice. Dean has gone from being an outsider to a liked and respected figure, and other people say the three of them make a lovely family. As they walk together, Hogarth sees a piece of scorched iron on the ground. He picks it up, looks at it with a bittersweet expression, puts it in his pocket, and looks up at the sky.
Then, cutting to northern India at night, Sashi, a lonely tinkerer living in a home almost identical to Hogarth's, is introduced. He's working on an electronic project in his room when a meteor crashes in the field outside. Sashi uses an elephant to pull the meteor out of its crater; the meteor is revealed to be the Giant's head. While Sashi's inside the barn with the head, Sashi's mother calls him for dinner, and as he walks out, the Giant's eyes light up. He looks around, and his antenna emerges. Then, his scattered parts are seen springing back to life in different parts of the world, and some sneak onto an ocean liner heading for India.
Back in Hogarth's room, he sees the piece of iron he found move towards his window. Knowing what it means, he opens the window and watches it go. Then, the Giant's hand is seen in Earth's orbit. It springs to life and re-enters the atmosphere, reaching toward Earth, meaning that the Giant will either reunite with Hogarth or help Sashi, another kid like Hogarth, find friends.
