We’ve been sharing clips of the movie “Real Steel” along with photos from Comic-Con and other red carpet events (more below) with you, our readers not because we are pretty excited about this movie.
First, personally speaking, I’ve never been disappointed by any movie that Hugh Jackman is in. But, when you start seeing the clips coming out and like the story, you start getting excited about going to the movies and knowing that you won’t be disappointed. With that said, we’ve done a double duty here with coverage of the movie – now in theatres today and a review from one of our staff, who maybe isn’t the “target” audience… not a mother, father or single woman swooning over Hugh Jackman. The following review is from a twenty-something male who is a gamer, producer, and has been in front of the screen and behind it (yeah, card carrying SAG member), who has a love for all things movies (and TV) and is someone that I’ve been collaborating with for as long as he’s been able to share “what’s your favorite part” of this movie with me.
“First let me say that Shawn Levy is no Michael Bay, where as Bay would have taken a script for a ‘Robot Boxing Movie’ for what is is at face value. The rainy day favorite of my youth ‘Rock’em Sock’em Robots’ with Sylvester Stallone’s “Over The Top” – You remember, the one where Sly is a truck driver and makes cash on the side being the greatest arm wrestler this side of the Mississppi, then gets a telegram saying some woman he knocked up died, and he’s got to come get the kid he abandoned to keep his truck driving life style, while the kid’s mother’s family desperately wants to raise the kid, and the dad is enough of a dirtbag to sell his child to the other side of the family? well, it’s that. even for the same amount of money, $100k. ‘Over The Top’ came out in 1987, when $100k was A LOT of money. Real Steel takes place in 202X, where $100k is still apparently a crap load of cash, i guess the economy never really recovers. Which, once you get past the rehashed story, that’s where the beauty of the movie is. the little details of what tomorrow may bring. Which, looks a lot like today, aside from some teasing angles of a Cadillac Sixteen (google that, you’ll thank me), a Nokia future phone, HP acrylic & LED displays, and Virgin & Bing having their own stadiums in Detroit and New York, respectively. None of that seemed that far out of place (except the Cadillac Sixteen) all that is pretty much tomorrow tech- there were no flying cars, teleportation, or iPhone brain implants- all the technology was reasonably accessible*. Except, shall i not forget the eight to eleven foot tall ambulatory fighting robots.
In my screening, Danny Elfman’s score had most of the audience in his hand, cheering and gasping as if he were in the room conducting them. They were involved. The movie was, to them, much more than Hugh Jackman eating Thomas Jane’s lunch (Tom wasn’t in the movie, but you say ‘i want my kids back’ i see Tom Jane). It was more than a hokey advertisement for a crappy childhood game that was impossible to put away. It had the fervor of a Holyfield match with BattleBots. The explanation of why Robot Boxing was cool was a throw away line from Hugh, but the understated stuff is what made the movie work for me. When really, there was nothing new brought to the table. Other than the lack of kitsch.
Rating: Better than expected (reblogged)
Hugh Jackman REAL STEEL Los Angeles Premiere
Steven Spielberg and Sugar Ray Leonard at Screening of Real Steel
Here are some interesting behind the scenes facts about the movie that you can share with your friends to show you are really in the know:
- Sugar Ray Leonard was the film’s boxing consultant and trained Hugh Jackman for his appearance in the ring
- Costume designer Marlene Stewart created a retro wardrobe for Hugh Jackman’s character Charlie inspired by looks the rugged Americana looks from the 1960s
- Dreamworks used motion-capture technology and practical-built, full-scale robots to film the robot boxing scenes. The motion-capture elements were performed and shot on a stage in Los Angeles ahead of time and the fighters were put in the ring wearing data-capturing jumpsuits and then their motions were converted into robot avatars on the computer and then instantaneously appeared on the monitors on set. Then, later during principal photography, the filmmakers lined up their cameras on an empty ring and the motion-capture data streamed through their cameras, allowing them to watch and frame the robot fighting in the ring in real time
- Each of the robots each have a distinctive look, personality and color scheme and range in size from 7’6” to 8’5” in height
Midas - One of the Robots from Real Steel Movie
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See Our Coverage – Hugh at ComicCon 2011 , Real Steel Movie Coming Soon, And in this Corner
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