REAL STEEL
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Dreamworks Pictures
MSRP: Amazon has the blu-ray combo pack, which includes a digital copy of the film, for $27.99
Running Time: 127 minutes
What’s Going On?
In the not too distant future, robots will punch each other in the face for our amusement. I assume, of course, this is before they eventually turn on the human race and enslave us all. Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman), a former fighter, has to team up with his estranged son after his former robot is destroyed in an attempt to build a championship fighter and reclaim his former glory. It’s an underdog story, only with more robot on robot violence.
Who’s In It:
Hugh Jackman stars as Charlie Kenton, and Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie and Dakota Goyo also star.
If You Like…:
Underdog sports movies like WARRIOR, RUDY or LITTLE GIANTS, and if you’ve got an affinity for the show BATTLEBOTS, this will be right up your alley.
Special Features:
This film features Disney’s Second Screen technology and since I didn’t get an iPad over the holidays, here are some handy screenshots of the kind of bonus content you’ll be able to see when you download the app and watch the film:
There’s an audio commentary with Director Shawn Levy, who manages to be his own hype machine for the film, but oddly it’s only on the DVD version of the film and not the blu-ray.
There are deleted and extended scenes, with introductions from Levy, a special feature on Sugar Ray Leonard, who helped train Jackman on the ways of boxing and was an advisor on the film. The most engaging behind the scenes special feature is called “Making of Metal Valley” which focuses in depth on the scene in which Charlie and Max, Charlie’s son, discover an old robot graveyard and find the pieces to put together Atom, the film’s mechanical lead (not Evangeline Lilly).
Lastly, there’s a featurette on “Building The Bots” and bloopers.
The Technical Gist
As has been the standard with most Disney blu-rays, the transfer is absolutely fantastic. This is especially impressive considering REAL STEEL was shot digitally and oftentimes movies shot this way have a tendency to look flat.
The Verdict
While like WARRIOR, you can see exactly where this film is going from the very beginning, it’s done fairly well and worth a watch. If you have a young son or nephew and you show them this film, they will likely become obsessed with it and/or robot fighting, so you might want to set aside some money to buy a Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots set. QUEUE IT.
