Real Steel Review Thread (Spoilers)

[Lord_Stewie]

Hey,

Another toy to make it to the silver screens.

Who doesn't remember this:

Well Shawn Levi is set to direct this:

You might remember reading yesterday that Peter Berg officially signed on for Battleship as part of a two-picture deal at Universal Pictures. Today DreamWorks has announced that they will be replacing Berg on the studio’s futuristic robot boxing movie Red Steel. Who will be replacing Berg? Night at the Museum hack Shawn Levy. Yup, our interest in this project just dropped a good 50 degrees.

The film tells the story of a father and his estranged teenage son who enter the world of robotic boxing. You see, in the future, human boxing has been outlawed, replaced with sports combat between human-trained heavy steel robots. The concept is something we’ve never seen before, and in the right hands, could be a good Summer tentpole film.

However, Levy is best know for directing mediocre or bad comedies, the Night at the Museum series, Cheaper By The Dozen, The Pink Panther, Just Married, and Big Fat Liar. This could mean that the family sci-fi actioner might be redeveloped with more of a comic tone.

But don’t worry, John Gatins , the screenwriter behind Summer Catch, Hard Ball and Dreamer, wrote the most recent draft of the screenplay, which is the final nail in the coffin. Levy tells Heat Vision:

Steven’s passion for this project was absolutely infectious and I’m so excited to bring this story to life,” Levy said. “In a movie filled with these mechanical warriors, at its core ‘Real Steel’ is an incredibly human story.

The only saving grace is Steven Spielberg’s involvement as executive producer. But who knows how much he will be involved creatively. His influence on Michael Bay’s Transformers was very noticeable, but his fingerprints appeared to be completely missing from the sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Levy’s quote seems to imply an enhanced involvement, and an investment in the human story, which gives us some (a little) hope.

Enjoy.

[OrlandoEastwood]

A Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots film? I'm at a loss for words.

[EricJ]

Actually, I first thought it was cribbing that Twilight Zone episode with Lee Marvin as the old-school "trainer" who has to replace his robot in the ring.
(With Hi-concept tentpoles, you generally have to sneak around to figure out where the screenwriters got their "ideas". )

Not to mention, Hasbro still owns the Rock'em's--
If they wanted a movie, you can be danged well sure we'd have GOTTEN one by now.

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

A Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots film? I'm at a loss for words.

lol.

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

A Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots film? I'm at a loss for words.

How bout a Hungry Hungry Hippos game! Or the game with the coolest commercial ever, Crossfire!

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

How bout a Hungry Hungry Hippos game! Or the game with the coolest commercial ever, Crossfire!

lol. I remember that.

[Foggy]

I thought we had one of those movies, it was called transformers.

[Lord_Stewie]

Update.

November, 12th:

Shawn Levy gives details about the movie.

Back in September we heard that Night at the Museum and Date Night director Shawn Levy might be doing a movie called Real Steel, which depicts a world in which people get their kicks watching robots beat the hell out of each other. Then we heard that Hugh Jackman was the frontrunner as the lead role. Now Levy is out promoting Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian on DVD, and he’s confirmed that Jackman is who he wants for the lead. He’s also talking more about the plot, which he says is “more Rocky than Transformers.” Robo-Rocky? Oh, joy!

The script, originally by Dan Gilroy, but rewritten by Leslie Bohem and then John Gatins, is based on the same Richard Matheson short story that became a Twilight Zone episode called Steel, starring Lee Marvin. Levy says they’re staying true to the original prose story, and that he’s putting as much emphasis on the characters and sports-movie aspect as on the robots. “It’s faithful to the story,” he tells SciFi Wire, “in that that story was very much about a down-on-his-luck, slightly desperate journeyman who works in this robot boxing sport and who is desperately needing redemption and one last shot.”

He says the robots aren’t based on what we’ve seen in most movies. They’re not like the Terminator, and not cute like Wall-E. “These are human built, human-scale fighting machines. They are built for human spectacle. People in this movie have gotten bored with human carnage and human violence. So in the quest for more, more, more, this sport has evolved to this.”

The human-scale thing is important. I haven’t read Matheson’s story, but in the Twilight Zone episode (below) Lee Marvin disguises himself as a robot to fight and earn money. So we’ll likely get to see Hugh Jackman getting into the ring with a robot, and possibly getting his ass handed to him.

Check out the video link after clicking on the picture above.

Enjoy.

[vegeta88]

Real Steel Trailer

Looks like it could be good. The music seemed a bit more dramatic and serious than the premise looked.

[Trekkie313]

It's called Real Steel not RED STEEL.

[vegeta88]

Originally Posted by Trekkie313

It's called Real Steel not RED STEEL.

I noticed that. Somebody screwed up. Somebody who probably has the name Stewie...

[Dave_6]

I think it looks cool. To hell with the haters!

[BLUEGRASS]

I'm just pumped that it has Evangeline Lilly (Kate from Lost) in it

[Blu-Benny]

saw this last night and don't know what to think. looks like it could be bad enough to be enjoyable.

is this the movie they were basing around the 2 fighters in a ring toy??

The trailer for the upcoming futuristic robot boxing movie "Real Steel," starring Hugh Jackman, has been released online. Check it out below.

Plot: The story revolves around Charlie Kenton (Jackman), a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.

"Real Steel" is directed by Shawn Levy (Date Night) and is scheduled to hit theaters November 18th, 2011.

Source

click on the source to see the trailer.

[toddly6666]

I love the gay 1980s title and I love how this would have been awesome in 1985. I would see it since it's so ridiculous.

[CZAR]

It looked meh to me. Got Em!!

[Agent Bond]

All I could think about it when watching this was Robot Jox, but its nice to see the idea get an update in our time.

[Batman1980]

Will definitely have to try to see this on Sunday in Dallas!

[tommyboy81]

saw the preview on ESPN. I thought it was a Rock'em Sock'em Robots movie

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by tommyboy81

saw the preview on ESPN. I thought it was a Rock'em Sock'em Robots movie

Exactly. Got Em!!