Real Steel/ Twilight Zone

[Ardbeg... innit]

Real Steel was this past weekend's biggest box office draw. Ever since I saw the first ad/trailer for the movie Ive been haunted by the thought "Wasnt that a Twilight Zone" episode. Turns out the movies is an homage to Richard Matheson's short story which was turned into a Twilight Zone episode that starred Lee Marvin.

Director Shawn Levy's new robo-boxing movie Real Steel will have to punch hard to achieve the cultural relevance of "Steel," the 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone upon which it is based.

Although it arrived late in The Twilight Zone's meteoric arc, "Steel" proved a poignant, masterful tale of human resilience and artificial obsolescence.

Starring the timeless Lee Marvin as a boxing manager determined to keep the dream of his decrepit robot boxer alive, Richard Matheson's televisual adaptation of his 1956 short story confirmed The Twilight Zone as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, sci-fi programs ever aired.

Sadly, the PG-13 Real Steel, which opens Friday, doesn't totally honor the episode's memory. Judging by the trailers, the new movie's father-son narrative, which pairs Hugh Jackman with Dakota Goyo and is grafted from dual versions of the The Champ, looks like it will cloyingly inject sentimentality into a film that wants to have its Transformers cake and eat it, too.

A more lasting adaptation for the new century would adhere to the original's merge of humans and machines, which is what made the "Steel" story stand out. Mashing our current infatuation with mixed martial-arts bloodsport and fetishism for the latest gadgetry would have been clever as well, and could have delivered a stimulating commentary on what intellectuals used to call cyberculture before that term became uncool.

I plan to wait until this comes out on PPV but it looks interesting.

Other episodes of Twilight Zone that could be movie worthy... Link

[Chicago Jake]

When I saw the ads for this movie, I didn't remember the TZ episode. My first thought was, "Mine Gott in Himmel! They made a movie out of "Rock'em Sock'em Robots!"

It's not a bad idea, actually. If something as decidedly non-cinematic as the Pirates of the Caribbean ride could spawn a series of uber-successful flicks, why not a game from our Baby Boomer past?

[Merlot Joe]

watched this Satyrday night.

Not bad when you are half gassed, but it is still very predictable. Glad I only spent the $4.99 for on demand instead of $20.00 to go see it.

Jackman's hair was to short.

[Chicago Jake]

Somehow, I think I'd rather spend $20 at a theater than $5 to watch something on TV at home. Paying money to watch something at home just feels WRONG!

[Merlot Joe]

I know but I saved the 15 bucks. That will get me 3 Jack and 7's at one of our local bars.

[Ardbeg... innit]

Better yet, wait for the next Twilight Zone marathon and watch the original for free.

[Chicago Jake]

Saw this movie tonight, rented from Netflix. I thought it was really good! Well paced, well acted, great seamless effects, and it made me care about the characters. Usually, the "cute kid" meme is enough to make me head for the exits, but this was handled with minimal cloying.

Other than Hugh Jackman and James Rebhorn, I'd never heard of any of the actors, nor of director Shawn Levy. But to their credit, they DID have opening credits, which is getting mighty rare these days.

Quick plot summary: We are set in the year 2020, when human boxers have been replaced by robot boxers. Former boxer, and current robot boxing manager, Jackman, is bouncing from client to client (robots) who suffer from his inability to manage them very well. When he gets his estranged eleven year old son dropped in his lap, his luck begins to ch-ch-change. The son has a knack for video games, dancing, and robots. Suddenly they are together managing an up-and-coming upstart robot who has a shot at the title.

Except for Hugh shadow-boxing at the end, there was precious little homage to the Twilight Zone original. There were far more parallels with Rocky than with The Zone! (e.g.; "Zeus" for "Apollo Creed" and "Midas" with his Mr. T. mohawk!) But still, judging the movie on its own merits, I thought it was successful, entertaining, and satisfying. I especially liked seeing Jackman playing a third-rate dildo loser, a role he rarely gets to sink his teeth into.