Real Steel (2011)
Real Steel is a 2011 action movie directed by Shawn Levy, with a running time of 2h 7m. It stars Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo and Evangeline Lilly.
In a near future where human boxers have been retired in favor of eight-foot fighting robots, Charlie Kenton scrapes by on the underground circuit, wrecking more machines than he wins. Then his estranged eleven-year-old son turns up, and the two haul a battered sparring-model robot named Atom out of a junkyard. What begins as a way to make quick money slowly turns into a second chance neither expected. Shawn Levy directs Hugh Jackman as the deadbeat father and Dakota Goyo as the boy, with Evangeline Lilly in their corner. A robot-boxing crowd-pleaser with a Rocky-sized heart.
Quick answers
What is Real Steel about?
In a near future where human boxers have been retired in favor of eight-foot fighting robots, Charlie Kenton scrapes by on the underground circuit, wrecking more machines than he wins. Then his estranged eleven-year-old son turns up, and the two haul a battered sparring-model robot named Atom out of a junkyard. What begins as a way to make quick money slowly turns into a second chance neither expected. Shawn Levy directs Hugh Jackman as the deadbeat father and Dakota Goyo as the boy, with Evangeline Lilly in their corner. A robot-boxing crowd-pleaser with a Rocky-sized heart.
When was Real Steel released?
Real Steel was released on 28 September 2011.
How long is Real Steel?
Real Steel runs 2h 7m.
Who made Real Steel?
Real Steel was directed by Shawn Levy.
Where can I watch Real Steel?
Real Steel is available on Amazon, Fandango at Home, Google Play and AppleTV.
Where to watch Real Steel
Rent: Amazon, Fandango at Home, Google Play
Buy: Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango at Home, Google Play
Cast
- Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton
- Dakota Goyo as Max Kenton
- Evangeline Lilly as Bailey Tallet
- Kevin Durand as Ricky
- Anthony Mackie as Finn
- Hope Davis as Aunt Debra
- James Rebhorn as Marvin
- Karl Yune as Tak Mashido
- Sophie Levy as Big Sister
- Tess Levy as Little Sister
- Olga Fonda as Farra Lemkova
- John Gatins as Kingpin
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A few thoughts on Real Steel
For the boxing itself, the Punch-Out!! games deliver the same underdog-in-the-ring rush, timing a scrappy fighter against giants twice his size. And Astro Boy gets at the movie's softer core, a machine built like a child and a man learning to love what he made. Both marry the spectacle to real feeling.
Underdog boxers and fighters clawing back into the ring
Real Steel borrows its whole shape from the boxing comeback movie, just with steel instead of skin. Creed II and Creed III keep that Rocky lineage alive with fighters proving themselves under a mentor's eye, Punch-Out!! turns the underdog training montage into an actual game you play round by round, and Gladiator sends a fallen man back into the arena to reclaim who he was.
Sci-fi stories about a kid who bonds with a robot that isn't quite human
Atom never talks, but Real Steel makes his bond with Charlie feel as real as any father and son. A.I. Artificial Intelligence follows a robot boy chasing that same kind of love, A-X-L gives a teenager a loyal robotic companion to protect, and The Electric State sends a girl across a ruined America with a walking robot for company.
Estranged fathers and sons trying to find their way back to each other
Charlie abandoned his kid once already before Real Steel forces them back together in the corner of a boxing ring. Rebel Without a Cause is one of the defining films about a son begging for his father's attention, Light of My Life follows a father protecting his child through a ruined world, and The Mandalorian and Grogu turns a reluctant guardian into a real parent.
Near-future stories where robots quietly take over the jobs humans used to do
Real Steel opens on a very specific idea: humans decided robots hit harder and pulled boxers from the ring entirely. That same premise of machines quietly taking over human roles runs through I, Robot's robotic workforce, Surrogates' robot stand-ins for everyday life, RoboCop's part-machine police force, and The Creator's vision of AI woven into daily society.