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“Hey hey hey!” an announcer booms in front of a cheering crowd. “Charlie Kenton is in the house!”
Spielbergian influence?: Currently the growling engine noises and big shouty intro have more in common with The Fast And The Furious than the most successful director of all time. But hang on a minute...
Former glories
“Times have changed” says Kenton in a gruff voiceover as the scene switches to an empty, sepia shot of a boxing gym gathering dust.
Spielbergian influence?: More like Martin Scorsese – the black and white photography with strong backlights and far-flung blood and spit is totally Raging Bull.
New dawn
“Fighting has changed” the voiceover continues, as another whooshing noise brings us to an exterior night shot of some kind of venue.
Spielbergian influence?: Robots and the near future? Spielberg’s work is full of them. Though we’re guessing this is less like A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, and more like the Spielberg-produced Transformers.
A fighter by his trade
Ah! Kenton’s back, another set of flashy jump cuts showing him shadow-boxing from ringside, and it’s now totally obvious that he’s a pugilist.
Spielbergian influence?: Not so much. The baying crowds and futuristic bloodsports put us more in mind of the grizzly Norman Jewison classic Rollerball, starring a feisty, wiry James Caan.
Metal on metal
“Our main event tonight features PAIN!” shouts the announcer amid more crowd noise, which is a bit like a Sky’s Martin Tyler announcing “Tonight’s match features a football” if you think about it.
Spielbergian influence?: The scale of the trailer’s crowd scenes hints at Spielberg’s War Of The Worlds, and the car-heavy Transformers was also filmed in the motor city of Detroit.
Back-alley dealing
Biff! After the excitement of hot bot-action we see Kenton slip on a hoodie and go out for a midnight stroll, only to be bashed about in the dark by some ne’er do wells.
Spielbergian influence?: A fighter being leant on to drop a fight is a motif that stretches way back, but was done most memorably by Quentin Tarantino in Pulp Fiction, with Bruce Willis’s unrepentant Butch.
Payback
Right – Kenton’s not having any more of that , thank you very much. Cut to him opening a pair of big metal doors and…
Spielbergian influence?: Actually, it’s more like Rocky with mega-fisted androids. Or more probably like Rocky II – the nearly-man given a second shot at the title. This time with a robot.
The lost boy
A flash of cameras and Kenton’s clearly courting the big time, pushing his way through a bank of waiting photographers.
Spielbergian influence?: The father-son theme is Spielberg’s bread and butter in everything from Third Encounters, through the The Last Crusade and right up to War Of The Worlds, where Tom Cruise plays a similarly buff, battered dad.
The money shot
“This is what it’s all about!” yells Kenton down a chunky earpiece telephone as we cut to him ringside. “Let’s make some money!”
Spielbergian influence?: Actually, having pinpointed Transformers, the scruffier stylings here have more than little 2000 AD to them …
Backyard brawler
In among the snippets of fights is this dusty scrap which, judging by the hats, the Bud sign and the dead bull on the wall, is set in some wooden-floored hick bar.
Spielbergian influence?: Not this time – the spit-and-sawdust feel of the place is actually more reminiscent of Hugh Jackman’s entrance as Wolverine in Bryan Singer’s first X-Men movie.
Get in shape
No boxing film is complete without a montage, and by the looks of things Kenton is definitely getting one too.
Spielbergian influence?: No, this is straight down the line Rocky – mounting the stairs, running through the park, climbing a hill in the snow and punching a big log. All that stuff. With a robot.
The workshop
After more footage of giant limbs swinging for big metal faces we pitch up with Kenton and a mystery lady in some kind of workshop.
Spielbergian influence?: Yes – it’s Transformers again. The gender role-reversal of hot lady mechanic was done first – and in unforgettably tight denim shorts – by Megan Fox.
Hes armless
We move quickly on from the two trashed tin-cans on the floor to a fight that shows the damage being caused, with bad brush-haired bot tearing the arm off Kenton’s fighter.
Spielbergian influence?: Yes, in the wry look on Jackman’s face, which in spite of the thunderous tone of the trailer shows a humour and warmth that Spielberg typically brings to all his family stories.
Whos that girl?
Right – now we’re going at a thousand miles an hour with more crunching metal noises than you thought it was even possible to fit into a trailer. But you were wrong .
Spielbergian influence?: In as much as if we were making a film about the life of Raiders Of The Lost Ark actress Karen Allen, Lilly would play the lead – she has the same striking brunette looks and underlying strength as Spielberg’s star.
Final countdown
“Bring it!” shouts an excited-looking Kenton, clearly in the middle of a very important scrap, as the trailer nears its conclusion.
Spielbergian influence?: We’re convinced by this point that Jackman makes for an excellent Spielberg hero – with the vulnerability and the toughness and all – and this is the moment where the director’s normally rather quiet leading man goes crowd-stirringly berserk.
Oi, you! Outside
One last tasty snippet before the trailer closes its doors with a final big ‘schtum!’ metal noise is this shot of a bot fight taking place outside.
Spielbergian influence?: It was the technology of Jurassic Park escaping its designated boundaries that tipped the film into amazing. But we also keep thinking about the end of Karate Kid/beginning of Karate Kid II, with Mr Miyagi dealing swiftly with a sore loser in a car park.
Real Steel
Ker-chunk – there’s your closing title shot, and there’s the film’s website, www.steelgetsreal.com .
Speilbergian influence?: Not unless Mr Spielberg does a sideline in restoring classic cars that we don’t know about.
