I'll go out on a limb here and guess that the first time the idea of boxing robots was put to film was the fourth season Twilight Zone episode titled 'Steel', which aired on October 4th, 1963. Lee Marvin starred in that one, and when his mechanical fighter broke down against an opponent by losing it's left arm, Marvin's character put on a metal suit to enter the ring. I won't give away the ending, but if you think man vs. machine, you might guess the outcome.
So this story brings the concept into the present day, and although it's kind of interesting, I couldn't help but feel the whole thing was rather surreal, what with enthusiastic crowds cheering on machines pounding the crap out of each other. Why would that really matter to anybody? The main event between Atom and World Robot Boxing Champion Zeus brings the surrealism to yet another level, with sports reporters from ESPN waxing philosophically about the stakes involved in such a highly publicized and anticipated event. If robot boxing suddenly became a real entertainment spectacle today, I have to wonder how many fans would actually get behind it. To be sure there would be some, but it seems to me it would be experienced more as an underground sort of event than on the mass scale presented here.
With echoes of 1931's "The Champ" and 1976's "Rocky", the film relates the dynamic between a father (Hugh Jackman) and his estranged son (Dakota Goyo) who come together under stressful circumstances, and begin to grow close together due to their fascination with and love of robot boxing. What's astonishing to witness in the picture is the amazing dexterity and ability of the mechanical fighters, as the special effects utilized make them all appear to be almost human in their movements. A whole lot better at least than the tin can fighters first seen on screen a half century ago when Rod Serling came up with his story. Speaking of which, the robot boxer that Lee Marvin managed was called 'Battling Maxo'. Any chance Charlie Kenton's son was named Max just coincidence?
So this story brings the concept into the present day, and although it's kind of interesting, I couldn't help but feel the whole thing was rather surreal, what with enthusiastic crowds cheering on machines pounding the crap out of each other. Why would that really matter to anybody? The main event between Atom and World Robot Boxing Champion Zeus brings the surrealism to yet another level, with sports reporters from ESPN waxing philosophically about the stakes involved in such a highly publicized and anticipated event. If robot boxing suddenly became a real entertainment spectacle today, I have to wonder how many fans would actually get behind it. To be sure there would be some, but it seems to me it would be experienced more as an underground sort of event than on the mass scale presented here.
With echoes of 1931's "The Champ" and 1976's "Rocky", the film relates the dynamic between a father (Hugh Jackman) and his estranged son (Dakota Goyo) who come together under stressful circumstances, and begin to grow close together due to their fascination with and love of robot boxing. What's astonishing to witness in the picture is the amazing dexterity and ability of the mechanical fighters, as the special effects utilized make them all appear to be almost human in their movements. A whole lot better at least than the tin can fighters first seen on screen a half century ago when Rod Serling came up with his story. Speaking of which, the robot boxer that Lee Marvin managed was called 'Battling Maxo'. Any chance Charlie Kenton's son was named Max just coincidence?