The big picture

• The classic from 2011
  Real steel
  starring Hugh Jackman is a modern adaptation of Matheson’s
  Steel
  short story.
• Richard Matheson
  Steel
  inspired a
  Twilight Zone
  Episode with Lee Marvin, who embodies human spirit and tenacity.
• Real steel
  Director Shawn Levy adapted Matheson’s work for a father-son dynamic, reflecting the enduring theme of human resilience.

This director Shawn Levy was reunited with Hugh Jackman for Deadpool and Wolverineit is the perfect time to revive their 2011 classic, Real steel. In this sci-fi boxing drama, Jackman played former boxer and robot trainer Charlie Kenton, who is forced to build a robot boxer with his son when automated machines replace the sport. Although this may seem like an original concept, the film was an adaptation of a short story titled Steelwritten by a well-known science fiction and horror author Richard MathesonOf course, Twilight Zone – The Hidden World Episode of the same name, which aired in October 1963, with Lee Marvin as Tim “Steel” Kelly, a former boxer who decides to spend a round in the ring with his robot counterpart. If you haven’t seen this episode of the original series, consider this your starting point.

What is “Steel” by Richard Matheson about?

Whether you prefer the short story or the television episode, both versions of Matheson’s “Steel” are incredibly similar. In each of them (set in the near future of 1974…), former boxer Tim “Steel” Kelly has decided to become a boxing trainer/promoter after the sport was banned for humans. This may sound absurd today, but that’s only because you weren’t living in the 1960s back then. In 1963, the sport was rife with controversy following the deaths of not one, but two different boxers – Benny Paret And Dave Moore — one of them died during a live televised fight. This made the general public aware of the enormous importance of the sport and many believed that there might be a time when boxing itself would be erased from the history books. This is the world of Richard Matheson’s story.

Matheson, who also wrote the more famous (and immediately following) Twilight Zone Episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” wrote this half-hour drama as the second to air during the fifth and final season of the series’ original broadcast. With Lee Marvin (who previously appeared in season three’s “The Grave”) in the lead role, there was no doubt that this film would build on its own merits, regardless of its Magazine for Fantasy & Science Fiction Origins. While Matheson’s next Twilight Zone is infinitely more loved, Steel has more than enough emotional appeal, even if it is a little more restrained. What begins as a story about a washed-up boxer trying to recapture his glory days with the help of a machine (in this future, machines are the only boxers of the time), is slowly becoming a Rocky Story that ends quite similarly to the later film by Sylvester Stallone. After his B2 model boxbot “Battling Maxo” (Tip McClure), the robot loses a feather and is no longer able to fight. In order to make ends meet, “Steel” Kelly, himself a former boxer, decides to compete against a superior B7 model.

Although Kelly tries valiantly, he doesn’t have much of a chance in the ring. Rod SerlingAt the end of the commentary it says: “Portrait of a losing side, the clear proof that you can’t outdo machines.” Nevertheless The narrator also notes that “Steel” is a prime example of the courageous nature of the human spirit and our willingness to rise to the challenge, no matter how impossible the odds.. One almost wonders if Stallone has seen or read Steel before we look at the plot of the first Rocky. It is impeccable how familiar (and perhaps even relatable) the story still feels after all these years, which is a true testament to the enduring power of an author like Matheson. These days, we know him best for I am a legend, Hell Houseor duelwhich later developed into a Steven Spielberg film of the same name.

This Twilight Zone episode was Richard Matheson’s favorite episode

Accordingly The Twilight Zone Companion from Marc Scott Zicree, Steel was Matheson’s favorite episode of the 16 episodes that bore his name (“And When the Sky Was Opened” and “Third From the Sun” were based on his works but were not written by him). In addition, the writer noted that the short story/episode title had a double meaning of its own. “Steel was his nickname and that was his character, his backbone, that he was so determined,” Matheson explained. “When you have such a monumental figure, it’s easier to deal with.” The author compared “Steel” Kelly to Captain Ahab from Moby-Dickwho was so obsessed with his own obsession to “win” against his opponent that it cost him everything. “He has no shades of grey, he just wants to kill the whale.” In this case, Kelly only wants the B7, Maynard Flash (Chuck Hicks) and secures the winnings he needs to continue his ailing career. Unfortunately, he barely makes it out of the ring alive.

What makes Lee Marvin’s portrayal of Kelly particularly notable is his clear commitment to the role. Matheson recalled how the actor mentally prepared for the big sparring match, and noted that Marvin went to great lengths to prepare for the role.I saw the character of Lee Marvin as a man who never liked to ask anyone for help, but decided to handle things himself the old-fashioned way, no matter how crazy,” Matheson explained. We see this clearly in Kelly’s loud threats to his business partner and robot mechanic Pole (Joe Mantell), who unsuccessfully tries to dissuade Kelly from his single-minded (and stubborn) approach to, well, pretty much everything. “Even when he got his head bashed in and only got a small portion of the money, he didn’t give up,” the author concluded. “Not the smartest man in the world, but in many ways quite admirable, quite brave.” Twilight Zone – The Hidden World has always been a series that focused on putting ordinary people in extraordinary situations, and Steel does that remarkably well.

But how does Mathesons Steel Compare with the 2011 blockbuster Real steel? Of course there are similarities. Robots have indeed replaced boxers in the sport, and Hugh Jackman’s Charlie Keaton is a clear replacement for Lee Marvin’s “Steel” Kellyalbeit a more sensible (and likable) one. But much of the content has been changed to suit the blockbuster style of modern Hollywood film. Instead of turning “Steel” into a more Rocky-like story about a man’s obsessive search (although these elements are partially retained), Real steel is also a heartwarming story about the relationship between a father and his son (played by Dakota Goyo). The updated special effects make Real steel feels like most action movies you remember from the 2010s, although this one has more entertainment value than most. Unfortunately Real steel wasn’t a box office hit, but that didn’t stop fans from clamoring for a possible sequel.

Shawn Levy had not seen Steel when he signed for Real Steel

Strangely, director Shawn Levy knew nothing about Richard Matheson’s original material before signing on for the 2011 film. “I knew Matheson as a writer. I hadn’t read Steel or have seen the episode,” said the director Complex in 2011. “So, shortly after I met with (Steven) Spielberg and talked about working on the film, I immediately inquired and that made me even more excited.” Although he did not adapt Matheson’s short story as faithfully as the author did for Twilight Zone – The Hidden World, Levy was inspired by the desperation of the Kelly character and incorporated this idea into Hugh Jackman’s Charlie Keaton.. From the moment he first became involved in the film, this father-son dynamic was always present in the script, which was written by Daniel Gilroy And Jeremy Leven. But the filmmaker wanted to focus even more on the emotional aspect of the film: “I felt that occupying a unique space, Real steel It should have been more of an underdog story, more of a father-son and sports film than just a film about robots yelling at each other.”

By changing the themes from Matheson’s obsessive outsider to a father-son narrative, Real steel certainly fits the Steel Concept for a new era. Twilight Zone – The Hidden World episode allowed the character Lee Marvin to take the place of his fighting robot in the ring, which was not possible in the world of Real steelwhere the robots were (1) clearly machines and (2) much larger than the average human. This is where Levy’s idea for “shadow mode” came into play, which he used as a means to match the Kelly character’s tenacity and courage to that of Jackman. “While that final battle has to be about our robot maybe having a chance to win, more importantly it has to be about Hugh Jackman’s character returning to grace,” the director explained. “And more importantly it has to be about the son witnessing the father returning to grace.” While Real steel is a completely different production than the original Twilight Zone episode, it captures the same tenacity of the human spirit that is in Marvin’s typical boxer. Maybe one day we’ll finally get Real Steel 2…

Twilight Zone – The Hidden World is available to stream on Paramount+.

Watch on Paramount+