Twilight Zone episode review — 5.2 — Steel

Episode 5.2 “Steel”
Original air date: October 4, 1963
Writer: Richard Matheson, based on his short story
Director: Don Weis

Rating: 5/10

“Steel” has some interesting ideas and a good performance by Lee Marvin (The Dirty Dozen), but it still somehow misses the mark. I think the story is so uninteresting, and the budget doesn’t help.

Marvin plays Steel Kelly, an ex-heavyweight who has turned to owning and managing a boxing robot since boxing was made illegal for people. He makes it to his robot, Battling Maxo’s next fight with his mechanic, Pole (Joe Mantell). Their robot is old and washed up, falling apart. It’s a B2, and it’s got to go up against a brand new B7.

When the robot breaks down, Steel decides to go in and fight the B7 himself, considering nobody who’s seen Battling Maxo will watch the fight. Pole tries to talk him out of it, but Steel threatens him. They need the money.

Steel enters the ring, gets heckled, and ends up getting his ass handed to him by the newer robot. So much so that he collapses when he gets back to the locker room. When Pole goes to collect the money, they only give him half of what was promised, considering Steel only lasted one round.

I like the bleakness of the ending of this episode. Steel lies on the ground defeated, but still determined to spend all that he has to fix his robot. You know things aren’t going to get any better for him and Pole.

But I guess I just really don’t like the story. And the boxing scenes aren’t particularly well done. I do like the whole boxing is outlawed in the future thing, although it seems ridiculous now that MMA has taken off, but whatever. It’s science fiction.

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