# Real Steel: Made of Mettle **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 16, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784 "2011-10-16T02:42:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/1 "2011-10-16T02:42:00Z")
That was a pune, or play on words. But seriously, this is a much better movie than you might expect from the concept or trailers. It has something for everyone: Male eye candy, female eye candy, cool looking fighting robots, a nice family story. Go see it and you shall be entertained. Anyone has questions, I shall answer in a spoiler box. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/2 "2011-10-16T02:48:30Z")
Sorry, I’m not interested in **Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots: The Movie**. I’m waiting for when they make Mousetrap into a film. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/3 "2011-10-16T02:51:56Z")
It’s better than **Battleship** , at least. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/4 "2011-10-16T03:44:38Z")
Yeah, it is surprisingly decent. I saw it last weekend (it was that or Dream House at the drive-in.). The only thing that didn’t work was the idea of there being the need for an underground bot fighting world when there didn’t seem to be any difference in the actual combat between the “professional” fights and the underground ones. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/5 "2011-10-16T04:29:27Z")
I took the 8year old twins. We all loved it. Unfortunately, it means that it’s only a matter of time before one twin clocks the other. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/6 "2011-10-16T06:35:26Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Yeah, it is surprisingly decent. I saw it last weekend (it was that or Dream House at the drive-in.). > > The only thing that didn’t work was the idea of there being the need for an underground bot fighting world when there didn’t seem to be any difference in the actual combat between the “professional” fights and the underground ones. Well I thought the underground ones had all kinds of “illegal” moves, like the hillbilly’s foot-grapple thing. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/7 "2011-10-16T07:20:22Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Well I thought the underground ones had all kinds of “illegal” moves, like the hillbilly’s foot-grapple thing. Right… but WHY? They are robots! It would make sense if the pro-bouts didn’t ALSO end with a bot basically being destroyed. I’m pretty sure each of Zeus’ opponents also ended up destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/8 "2011-10-16T13:32:03Z")
Because its a movie? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/9 "2011-10-16T13:52:34Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Sorry, I’m not interested in **Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots: The Movie**. I’m waiting for when they make Mousetrap into a film. I would have thought the movie was based on that toy, but supposedly (according to Wikipedia) it was instead based on the short story “Steel” by Richard Matheson. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/10 "2011-10-16T14:10:06Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Right… but WHY? Why aren’t you allowed to use karate kicks in boxing? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/11 "2011-10-16T14:19:59Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Sorry, I’m not interested in **Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots: The Movie**. I’m waiting for when they make Mousetrap into a film. If someone had told me, “You know that \*Pirates of the Caribbean \*ride at Disney Land? They’re making it into a movie!” I would have said, “riiiiiight, that’ll be a hit!” ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/12 "2011-10-16T18:37:49Z")
I really enjoyed it, and not just because it had my movie star boyfriend in the lead. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/13 "2011-10-16T19:59:08Z")
“You knocked his block off!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/14 "2011-10-16T21:08:10Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I would have thought the movie was based on that toy, but supposedly (according to Wikipedia) it was instead based on the short story “Steel” by Richard Matheson. There was also a Twilight Zone episode (also called “Steel”) based on the Matheson story, starring Lee Marvin. > **[Steel (The Twilight Zone)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_%28The_Twilight_Zone%29)** > > "Steel" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. Set in the near future, its premise is that human professional boxing has been banned and replaced by android boxing. The story follows a once-famous human boxer who works as a manager for an antiquated android while struggling to come to grips with his career having been taken over by machines. > The episode is based on the short story of the same name by Richard Matheson first published in the May 1956 issue ... ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/15 "2011-10-19T16:19:12Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Why aren’t you allowed to use karate kicks in boxing? Why aren’t you allowed to rip arms off? ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/16 "2011-10-19T17:05:19Z")
Had never heard of the movie till I saw the trailer today. Apparently it has rather good reviews (for a fun type of film). That said I wonder what the fuck is Jackman doing with his career. > [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > The only thing that didn’t work was the idea of there being the need for an underground bot fighting world when there didn’t seem to be any difference in the actual combat between the “professional” fights and the underground ones. This makes it sound a lot like the old “ **Super Boxer** ” comic book by Ron Wilson and John Byrne (always thought it could make a good movie but apparently it has just been adapted ). > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I would have thought the movie was based on that toy, but supposedly (according to Wikipedia) it was instead based on the short story “Steel” by Richard Matheson. Wasnt the whole robot arena thing in the Matheson novel just the background for a tale of deshumanization? Here it seems the plot _is_ the robot arena (with some dad/son thing). ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/17 "2011-10-19T17:19:44Z")
Sorry, don’t mean to threadshit, but it was the worst kind of kid-tugging-boxer-heartstrings type of movie - with Robots! Plot holes that were too distractingly distracting to ignore - A “second generation” (meaning old tech) sparring 'bot who “can take a punch” and happens to have a “shadow mode” can make it to a championship bout? They are robots, and clearly demonstrate super-human capabilities and fight to the “death,” but no use of weapons, or non-humanoid shapes (oh, one 'bot had two heads, but that doesn’t count…) And the hot gym owner with the heart of gold, the down-on-his-luck deadbeat guy and the kid you wanna smack when he does his intro dance with the robot? I love a trope-filled fairytale-type movie. But this was just bad cliches and lazy writing…IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/18 "2011-10-19T17:24:47Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > And the hot gym owner with the heart of gold, the down-on-his-luck deadbeat guy and the kid you wanna smack when he does his intro dance with the robot? > > I love a trope-filled fairytale-type movie. But this was just bad cliches and lazy writing…IMHO. But it’s all brand new to an 8 year old. And watching an 8 year old on the edge of his seat because he doesn’t know the hot-headed father with the new bot is going to get his clock cleaned is infectious. I need to see if the Black Stallion is on Netflix…but I suspect it’ll be too slow to keep my kid’s attention. ETA: Have you SEEN the really bad kid stuff they play out there? This is not that. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/19 "2011-10-19T17:28:55Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > But it’s all brand new to an 8 year old. And watching an 8 year old on the edge of his seat because he doesn’t know the hot-headed father with the new bot is going to get his clock cleaned is infectious. > > I need to see if the Black Stallion is on Netflix…but I suspect it’ll be too slow to keep my kid’s attention. > > ETA: Have you SEEN the really bad kid stuff they play out there? This is not that. Fair - but it really doesn’t have anything to offer beyond appealing to an 8-year-old… ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784/20 "2011-10-19T17:29:45Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Why aren’t you allowed to rip arms off? Way to miss the point. It’s a sport. Sports have rules. > [@WordMan](#): > > Plot holes that were too distractingly distracting to ignore - > > They are robots, and clearly demonstrate super-human capabilities and fight to the “death,” but no use of weapons, or non-humanoid shapes (oh, one 'bot had two heads, but that doesn’t count…) _That’s not a plot hole._ In-universe, whoever came up with the sport obviously intended for it to be boxing, with robots. The use of weapons or non-humanoid shapes would be against the rules because if they were allowed it would no longer be boxing, with robots. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-steel-made-of-mettle/599784.md?page=2)