Real Steel (2011)

Set in the near future, where robot boxing is a top sport, a struggling promoter feels he's found a champion in a discarded robot. During his hopeful rise to the top, he discovers he has an 11-year-old son who wants to know his father.

Director:

Shawn Levy

Writers:

John Gatins (screenplay), Dan Gilroy (story),

Stars:

Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Dakota Goyo

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hugh Jackman	...	Charlie Kenton
Dakota Goyo	...	Max Kenton
Evangeline Lilly	...	Bailey Tallet
Anthony Mackie	...	Finn
Kevin Durand	...	Ricky
Hope Davis	...	Aunt Debra
James Rebhorn	...	Marvin
Karl Yune	...	Tak Mashido
Olga Fonda	...	Farra Lemkova
John Gatins	...	Kingpin
Sophie Levy	...	Big Sister
Tess Levy	...	Little Sister
Charlie Levy	...	Littlest Sister
Gregory Sims	...	Bill Panner
Torey Adkins	...	Large Texan Man

Storyline

In the near future when people become uninterested in boxing and similar sports, a new sport is created - Robot boxing wherein robots battle each other while being controlled by someone. Charlie Kenton, a former boxer who's trying to make it in the new sport, not only doesn't do well, he is very deeply in the red. When he learns that his ex, mother of his son Max, dies, he goes to figure out what to do with him. His ex's sister wants to take him in but Charlie has first say in the matter. Charlie asks her husband for money so he can buy a new Robot in exchange for turning Max over to them. He takes Max for the summer. And Max improves his control of his robot. But when the robot is destroyed, they go to a scrap yard to get parts. Max finds an old generation robot named Atom and restores him. Max wants Atom to fight but Charlie tells him he won't last a round. However, Atom wins. And it isn't long before Atom is getting major bouts. Max gets Charlie to teach Atom how to fight, and the ...

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Plot Keywords:

robot | fight | boxing | near future | boy | 

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Taglines:

If you get one shot, make it real.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

DreamWorks [Canada] (French) DreamWorks [United States]

Country:

USA India

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 2011 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Gants d'acier

Filming Locations:

Yankee Air Museum

Box Office

Budget:

$110,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$27,319,677 (USA) (7 October 2011)

Gross:

$85,463,309 (USA) (10 February 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks SKG, Touchstone Pictures, Reliance Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Gatins:  Kingpin, the bombastic promoter at The Zoo, is played by the screenwriter.

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Goofs

Given that Hugh Jackman is left-handed, Atom is seen at times mirroring Charlie rather than mimicking him. In many scenes, especially in the fight between Atom and Zeus, Atom is clearly fighting right-handed while Charlie is shadow boxing left-handed. This is perhaps the reason why Atom is seen to be alternating between mimicking and mirroring even though according to how shadow boxing is explained in the film he should be only mimicking. This is also easily seen, though, when you notice the person running the shadow function either facing Atom or not. The shadow apparently mirrors when the operator is facing him and in mimic when not.

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Quotes

Max Kenton: Charlie, I think there's a whole robot in there!

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Connections

Referenced in The Nostalgia Chick: Kate and Leopold (2011)

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Soundtracks

Give It a Go
Written by Tim Mosley (as Timothy Mosley), Jerome Harmon, James Washington (as James 'Jim Beanz' Washington) and Veronica Gardner
Performed by Tim Mosley (as Timbaland) (feat. Veronica)
Veronica appears courtesy of Cash Money Records/Universal Motown Records
Timbaland appears courtesy of Blackground Records/Interscope Records

User Reviews

The Heart Of Steel

Based on what everybody said, Real Steal is like Over The Top plus Rocky with Robots. Over The Top because there's a man, his son, and a truck. Rocky because it's obvious. Put these films together and add robots and minus Stallone. Real Steel is not very innovating though but it's excitingly great and has plenty of heart. It's also the return of Hugh Jackman although we just saw him a little last June. There are lot of things to recommend in Real Steel.

The premise isn't really that intriguing. It's boxing replaced by robots. Films with Giant CGI Robots are not innovating since we have Michael Bay's Transformers. But the heart and soul lies to the relationship of Charlie and Max and their robot, Atom. It's fun to watch them. The fighting scenes are pretty exciting. That is what most underdog fighting movies do. The only problem here is the weak major antagonist. It's not really that threatening or a big deal. Ricky was more threatening than the gigantic Zeus.

The filmmaking is pretty decent. Well shot scenes. The CGI robots and the music score are good enough. Nothing to say about the production design except Charlie's truck. It looks fascinating for some reason. The performances were great. We don't see Hugh Jackman in action movies after two years and there's a small cameo of him, flipping off two characters(it's obvious but I won't tell you the title). Here in Real Steel, Jackman is energetic and somewhat perfect for the role. Dakota Goyo is a bit charming. Chemistry of him and Jackman shines through the film. It's fun to watch them together.

There aren't much new here in Real Steel but in the end, it's enjoyable and has plenty of heart. The climax isn't so much overwhelming but it intends to be more heartfelt. Again, it's like Over The Top which the father is trying to make his son proud and Rocky because it's boxing and add some robots in it. Even without thinking much about the robots, there is always human heart in this film. Hugh Jackman does it again. The underdog fighting movie genre does it again. It's really a fun film for the whole family.