Real Steel - Blu-Ray

Movie: After letting Ben Stiller have all sorts of adventures in Night at the Museum, director Shawn Levy has now ventured once again into effects-heavy family entertainment with the help of Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis as executive producers. In Real Steal's case, however, it's a lot more entertaining, a lot less silly, and a lot more charming than Stiller's museum visits were.

Losely based on a short story by Richard Matheson (I Am Legend), Real Steal tells of a not-too-distant future in which more and more robots are used to entertain the masses. For example, humans have long since stopped fighting each other in the boxing ring, only machines. Former boxing pro Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) tries to make a virtue out of this hardship and earn his money as a promoter of self-made fighting robots in underground fights. Debts and destroyed robots make his life hard enough. But then his ten-year-old son Max (Dakota Goyo), who he's never had anything to do with, shows up to spend the summer with him. Even though Bailey (Evangeline Lilly), the daughter of Charlie's former trainer, tries to mediate between the two, the fallen boxer and the ten-year-old boy just can't seem to find each other. But then they literally stumble upon the discarded robot Atom, with whom Charlie wants to step into the ring again. Completely unexpectedly, the robot wins one fight after another, not least thanks to Max. And the bigger the fighting arenas get, the closer father and son become - until Charlie receives a tempting offer.

Real Steal can't really be called original. The story is too brazenly stolen from, say, the Stallone films Over the Top and, of course, Rocky. But that's not a bad thing. Because Shawn Levy didn't only use the story of the 70s and 80s, he also transported the charm of great family movies of that time into the year 2011. The effects, on the other hand, are so not antiquated. With a good mix of practical and excellent computer effects, the fighting robots are perfectly integrated into the action. However, this never results in total overkill, as is unfortunately far too often the case with the Transformers films. Levy and his team have found a good balance to entertain the audience with great effects without burying the actual story of them.

That this works and does not degenerate too much into saccharine kitsch is not only due to the direction, but also the actors. Hugh Jackman is a tremendous likable guy, filling even a cliché-laden role like that of former boxing pro and father-against-all-will with an enormous amount of life and charm. Watching Charlie slowly but surely rediscover his love for boxing while also building a bond with Max is really fun and touching too, without dripping with too much kitsch. Dakota Goyo also delivers a solid performance as Max. Max, like his father, is stubborn, but he's not annoyingly precocious about it; he's just a kid. And that's what makes the father-son relationship so engaging and accomplished. Jackman and his young co-star have great chemistry, which is intensified by the warm-hearted production.

Side characters like Bailey, embodied by Lost beauty Evangeline Lilly, or the nasty Ricky, played by Kevin Durand, also known from Lost, however, remain a bit pale and are drawn very template-like. But that doesn't change much about the positive overall impression the film leaves. Real Steel is perfect popcorn entertainment that will not only delight young viewers. Granted, the robot fights will probably primarily excite boys. But there's more to the film than cool tin boxing. It's a charming story told with wit, heart and great effects offset. It may not be deep or particularly valuable in terms of content. But it's just a hell of a lot of fun, which is exactly how great entertainment cinema should be. Therefore, not only for robot fans, this mixture of The Giant from Outer Space, Over the Top and Rocky is absolutely recommendable!

Picture + Sound: As was to be expected, the technical realization of the film is beyond reproach. The image is absolutely clean, with sharpness, contrast and black level matching all at a very high level. The coloration is also great and gives the action a particularly engaging atmosphere. The sound is in no way inferior. The DTS-DH 7.1(!) mix really lets it rip, especially during the robot fights. But not only the clashing of metal, also smaller sound effects and ambient noises are very coherently implemented. Very good!

Extras: The Blu-Ray has quite a few good extras to offer. Starting off with a very interesting audio commentary by director Shawn Levy, who talks about the making of the film for just under two hours without much pause. You can clearly tell how much passion Levy put into the project, but beyond that he also has some really interesting anecdotes in store that make this audio commentary an extremely entertaining affair. As with the other extras, German subtitles can be added to the commentary as an option.

Continues with an amusing short film (approx. 14 min.), which is presented like a reportage on Charlie Kenton's career broadcast shortly before the grand final fight. An amusing addition to the film. Also worth seeing is the visit of boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard (approx. 6 min.), who helped Hugh Jackman to prepare for his role and gave quite a few tips to turn the actor into a credible professional boxer.

Instead of a standard making ofs, which takes a look at the complete shooting, here only the making of a short scene in Metal Valley is followed in all details (approx. 14 min.). This is much more interesting and revealing than most promo making ofs and without question the disc's most watchable extra.

Continues with a brief look at the making of the robots, which were not only created on the computer but also built as moving models. A couple of not-really-fun outtakes and just under 17 minutes of cut and extended scenes the disc also has to offer. While the removed scenes were rightfully cut from the film. However, it's quite interesting to see how a few moments would have changed the film after all (not necessarily for the better). So overall, the bonus material is perfectly satisfactory.

Conclusion: Real Steel has state-of-the-art special effects, but there's still a pleasantly old-fashioned flair surrounding the story and production. The film is charming and entertaining, possessing plenty of heart and humor. Of course, there are a lot of clichés used and pathos is also extremely important here and there. But the whole thing is worth seeing. The Blu-Ray is technically on a very high level and also the bonus material is almost completely convincing. Therefore: for friends of entertaining popcorn entertainment absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp