Pacific Rim (film)

[CoinReturn]

While this film is more than a year away, I can't help but get hyped when I see this promo pic of Idris Elba dressed as a Jaeger pilot:

https://twitter.com/StaxIGN/status/210982236042956800/photo/1
http://i.imgur.com/oyhrp.jpg

Plus, this recent interview with Del Toro makes me think this is going to be the best giant monster movie ever:

http://www.totalfilm.com/news/guillermo-del-toro-talks-pacific-rim


Total Film caught up with Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro recently, who took time out of his busy schedule shooting monster mash Pacific Rim to talk about the movie.

A massive epic starring Idris Elba, Ron Perlman and Charlie Hunnam, the film revolves around an alien invasion, and the human-made robots created to combat the intergalactic nasties.

“So much of the creation of the movie was having the best creative experience I’ve ever had in Hollywood,” the director says.

Here’s a taster of what del Toro had to say about Pacific Rim. For more, pick up the latest issue of Total Film, out now…

What sort of scale are you working on?

"When we’re talking about the physicality of the fight, we ended up building several blocks of Hong Kong. And literally demolished them. We built a building and then we took down the buildings.

We built command centres of the robots that were the size of the house. We started them on hydraulic rigs that shoot and elevated them and moved them round so you could really get a sense of the physical nature driving a robot like this."

Here's the official synopsis which came out last week, if you haven't heard about this film:


When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju.

On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes-a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)-who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse.

Definitely my most anticipated movie of 2013. :D

[CoinReturn]

New poster, hopefully there will be more info at Comic-Con:

http://i.imgur.com/p8gKw.jpg

[EvilNed]

Hmm... I'll bite... Cautiously.

[Neil]

Not heard of this at all... Definately on my radar now :)

[bassman]

As long as it's more Pan's Labyrinth and less Hellboy....I'm there.

[Mike70]

Not heard of this at all... Definately on my radar now :)

nah. i'll pass. i think del toro is one of the most overrated directors of all-time. thankfully he did not end up directing the Hobbit movies. other than "Pan's Labyrinth" nothing he's ever done has even remotely impressed me. i don't get why people go ga-ga over the guy.

[Neil]

As long as it's more Pan's Labyrinth and less Hellboy....I'm there.

I loved Hell Boy :)

[Neil]

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[MoonSylver]

As a lifelong confirmed Godzilla fan & kaijuphille in general I'm stoked for this. What's with the hate? You guys a bunch of old ladies or what? Giant robots fighting kaiju? My inner 12 year old gives this the seal of approval. This & the new Godzilla due in 2014 are a couple of my most anticipated films on the horizon.

[AcesandEights]

What's with the hate? You guys a bunch of old ladies or what? Giant robots fighting kaiju? My inner 12 year old gives this the seal of approval.

With Guillermo Del Toro at the helm I tentatively agree.

[CoinReturn]

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Hype level at critical levels. I know Del Toro has an eye for visual flair, but that looks better than I could have dreamed!

[MoonSylver]

Shweet. Reminds me a bit of ID4+Godzilla+Gundam. = Cool. :thumbsup: :cool:

[bassman]

Hrmm. Looks fun enough, but I was expecting it to look a bit more original because it's coming from Del Toro....

[AcesandEights]

2vKz7WnU83E

Hype level at critical levels. I know Del Toro has an eye for visual flair, but that looks better than I could have dreamed!

Goddamn that looks like it could be good!

[MoonSylver]

Hrmm. Looks fun enough, but I was expecting it to look a bit more original because it's coming from Del Toro....

Meh. You go too far off the reservation of A) Kaiju & B) Giant Robots & then you're making something else other than: "Kaiju vs Giant Robots", which appears to be the intent. :)

I like the premise of where the Kaiju are coming from. Simple, effective, & "plausible" (enough) way to get the big ol' buggers in action ASAP. :D

[krisvds]

many geekgasms ensue.

Looks cool. Del Toro rarely dissapoints. If it's a big hit he might even fund his Lovecraft film which is something I really want to see.
Untill then giant monsters vs robots will do I guess.

[EvilNed]

I'm one of the few that have yet to be impressed by what Del Toro's put up to offer. Although, I haven't seen his best work. But I thought Blade 2 and Hellboy were both pretty shitty (and ugly) and Mimic wasn't that great either. I've missed out on Pan's Labyrinth, so yeah. But I don't like his visual style. He reminds me off a sloppy Terry Gilliam with too much of an affinity for CGI.

Coming from that, this trailer doesn't blow me away. I love big robots, and especially big robots fighting. So I'll see this and I'll enjoy the hell out of every action scene in it. But the trailer itself makes the film seem very flat. Monsters appear. Robots appear. Idris Elba makes one of those really awkward speeches about how the human race will endure (which is so fucking talking out of his ass...) and they fight and I bet that the monsters are beaten. That's maybe my problem with Del Toro. He can't put a spin on his films. It's as if none of his films ever go past a first draft in their scripting, because all he cares about are cool visuals. I predict something similar here.

But -

I love big robots fighting more than I dislike Del Toro. So go figure.

[krisvds]

Ned. You really should check out Pan's Labyrinth and The Devil's Backbone. Both are good films and miles ahead of his more regular Hollywood fare.
This will probably have nothing to do with those two smaller 'horror' fairy tales.

[bassman]

Yeah....Pan's Labyrinth is amazing. One of my top 5 films of the year it was released. I too don't enjoy Hellboy all that much, but Del Toro made a work of art with PL. Definitely check it out.

[Danny]

I like the simple fact that they explain away the monsters like in the mist with a simple "dimensional window" approach instead of a "they came from the sea" thing like cloverfeild that just made me think "then how the shit does its species go unnoticed and not eat the oceans empty?
As for the flick i love giant monster flicks and in anime and videogames im a sucker for the giant robo stuff. Honestly im more excited for this than superman, looks like the popcorn sci-fi flick tron legacy was meant to be before it got kind of up its own ass.

- - - Updated - - -


Ned. You really should check out Pan's Labyrinth and The Devil's Backbone. Both are good films and miles ahead of his more regular Hollywood fare.
This will probably have nothing to do with those two smaller 'horror' fairy tales.

yes to both, but especially devils backbone. Pans labyrinth is gorgeous, but the plots a bit generic fantasy and the acting is not so hot. Devils backbone however is a very, very good film not nearly enough people have seen.

[EvilNed]

I like the simple fact that they explain away the monsters like in the mist with a simple "dimensional window" approach instead of a "they came from the sea" thing like cloverfeild that just made me think "then how the shit does its species go unnoticed and not eat the oceans empty?


I´d have to disagree with you there. Not that I loved Cloverfield, but I prefer it when there's an aura of mystery around it. The explanation that there's a dimensional rift at the bottom of the ocean is just dumb. Why even include it? Do we have to explain everything? Especially when it's a lame explanation like that. It's a far more interesting scenario when it's just "We don't know - yet".

[shootemindehead]

'Pans Labyrinth' would have been better if Del Toro had left out the (post) civil war nonsense TBH. It works best when it's focusing simply on the little girl's fantasy. There's a particularly creepy scene that's very well designed.

But, overall, I didn't really enjoy the whole thing.

The same can be said for 'The Devil's Backbone'. Although, I found 'Pans Labyrinth' more enjoyable. Out of the two I'd recommend that.

[Danny]

I´d have to disagree with you there. Not that I loved Cloverfield, but I prefer it when there's an aura of mystery around it. The explanation that there's a dimensional rift at the bottom of the ocean is just dumb. Why even include it? Do we have to explain everything? Especially when it's a lame explanation like that. It's a far more interesting scenario when it's just "We don't know - yet".

i think "we dont need an explanation because mystery is better than a pointless explanation" has gone back round the trope wheel to making me want a pointless explanation again. So many films in the last decade relied on "just cus, dont ask why" that im kind of bored by it. Why only shamylan gets shit it i'll never know when its so common place that people think its just how you "be original" now.

[EvilNed]

i think "we dont need an explanation because mystery is better than a pointless explanation" has gone back round the trope wheel to making me want a pointless explanation again. So many films in the last decade relied on "just cus, dont ask why" that im kind of bored by it. Why only shamylan gets shit it i'll never know when its so common place that people think its just how you "be original" now.

Well, again, I'd have to disagree with you. The way you write it, "just cus, dont ask why" really simplifies it. By all means, ask it! Have the characters ask it, the plot ask it, but what I don't need is a military officer standing in front of our main characters and explaining some bogus science idea infront of a few projected images in a military briefing room.

[AcesandEights]

'Pans Labyrinth' would have been better if Del Toro had left out the (post) civil war nonsense TBH.
I actually really appreciated that aspect. Gave a real air of menace about the dreary and (seemingly) in-extractable reality the little girl was mired in.

[shootemindehead]

Um...I thought it was rather childish and silly Aces. The Nationalist Captain is such a stupid OTT caricature, I had to roll my eyes back out of my head several times.. It also jars badly with the general flow of the film. It concentrates far too much on how ridiculously bad the Captain is, instead of focusing of Ophelia, where the real story was. The "realistic" parts of the film were just too ham-fisted and interfered with the fantasy parts to a greater extent than they should.

[Neil]

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[CoinReturn]

Much talked about footage from WonderCon finally available to the public:

http://i.minus.com/iefR5NOKgCNbS.gif

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[Legion2213]

Is this set in the future? I'm not buying the "giant robots" shtick to be honest.

(I can suspend belief for aliens, dimensional portals and the like because they are created by "the other", I can't buy into super huge mechs created by modern day humans...especially when they move with such speed and power).

I know, I know, I'm a miserable git. :D

[Neil]

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[Neil]

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[Neil]

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[bassman]

I love Del Toro's style, but I just can't get excited about this. I'm sure it will be a good way to waste two hours, but it just seems so bland to me for some reason. You could cut and paste some of these scenes into the Godzilla film from the nineties and I don't think anyone would notice.....

[MinionZombie]

I would like to see this movie, and as with all GDT movies the design looks flawless ... although with films like Hellboy 1 & 2, and some of his other work, I've struggled to get into the movies ... I'm not quite sure how to explain it, I just never really got into them ... I always felt a bit distanced from them ... and Blade 2 was one I really didn't like whatsoever, despite two viewings years apart (although I thought Cronos was pretty good when I saw it years ago).

This one should be a good bit of fun, and hopefully I'll find more of a connection with this one ... or whatever it was/is I've been struggling to find with some of GDT's other works. Perhaps it's just me and I'm just not that into his films? Who knows ... I wasn't much into David Lynch's films during my teens, but in the last few years I've become a huge fan of his work.

[krisvds]

Hey Minion, have you seen 'The Devil's Backbone'? It's closer to Pan's Labyrinth than most of his 'Hollywood' productions and a great little horror film. I like his smaller films more but that being said Pacific Rim does look promising.

[bassman]

Hey Minion, have you seen 'The Devil's Backbone'? It's closer to Pan's Labyrinth than most of his 'Hollywood' productions and a great little horror film. I like his smaller films more but that being said Pacific Rim does look promising.

That's my issue. I love his earlier, smaller films, but this one just doesn't seem to grab me. I'll check it out at home, but the trailers just do nothing for me. And I really want them to.

[AcesandEights]

I love Del Toro's style, but I just can't get excited about this.

I've been losing interest a bit in it the last few weeks, myself. It looks so cool, but I have a vague unease it will fail to draw me in, and I will end up yawning if I go to the theater.

That said, if my friends want to go, I'll probably give it a shot.

[MoonSylver]

I'm still psyched about this, & I'll tell you why: Every promo I've seen suggests it is unapologetically EXACTLY what I want to see - giant fighty robots vs giant monsters. It doesn't seem like it's going to be some lame ass attempt at being a "serious" movie with "drama" and all that. I'm sick of movies that try to be more self important than what they are, & suck balls at it. If you're going to be a giant robot vs giant monster movie, DO IT. DO IT GODDAMN WELL!!! Save Shakespeare for someone else. When I went & saw ID4 I didn't expect anything other than what I got. And what I got was done damn well for what it was trying to be. And I suspect that is what were getting here. Which is what I want. :)

[rongravy]

I can't wait for the porno version of this to come out...

[Neil]

I can't wait for the porno version of this to come out...

Ummm... Each to their own I guess.... *backs carefully away*

[rongravy]

Ummm... Each to their own I guess.... *backs carefully away*
Awwww, come on. Who doesn't wanna see Pacific Rimjob?!?

[wayzim]

Awwww, come on. Who doesn't wanna see Pacific Rimjob?!?

For that, you get a Pacific Rimshot ( accompanied by stock footage of an audience of little old ladies clapping, ala Monty Python. )

Wayne Z

[MoonSylver]

I can't wait for the porno version of this to come out...


Awwww, come on. Who doesn't wanna see Pacific Rimjob?!?

"Pacific Trim"

"Pacific Quim"

:lol:

[rongravy]

For that, you get a Pacific Rimshot ( accompanied by stock footage of an audience of little old ladies clapping, ala Monty Python. )

Wayne Z

I'll have you know my life is sad enough that I couldn't wait to get home and post that reply. :p


"Pacific Trim"

"Pacific Quim"

:lol:
I have no idea what quim even is, but it sounds nasteh.
:eek:

[MoonSylver]

I'll have you know my life is sad enough that I couldn't wait to get home and post that reply. :p


I have no idea what quim even is, but it sounds nasteh.
:eek:

Archaic slang for the female genitalia. ;) Now never let it be said I didn't class up tha' joint. :lol:

[wayzim]

I'll have you know my life is sad enough that I couldn't wait to get home and post that reply. :p


I have no idea what quim even is, but it sounds nasteh.
:eek:

To quote my favorite character from Babylon 5: "Zathras has sad life; will probably have sad death. Either way, there's symmetry. " :D

Wayne Z

[Neil]

Ahhh! Zathras :)

"Zathras not of this time. You take, Zathras die. You leave, Zathras die. Either way, it is bad for Zathras."

[wayzim]

Ahhh! Zathras :)

"Zathras not of this time. You take, Zathras die. You leave, Zathras die. Either way, it is bad for Zathras."

Hee.
"You, are finite. Zathra, is finite. This, is wrong tool. "

And so the church of Zathras was born.

Wayne Z

[CoinReturn]

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I really hope this movie is a success and we don't have another Dredd on our hands.

[MinionZombie]

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I really hope this movie is a success and we don't have another Dredd on our hands.

But Dredd was awesome!

Or do you just mean in terms of disappointing box office? It was a damn shame that Dredd didn't do better at the box office, because it really deserved to as it's a bloody good flick that sticks closer and truer to the spirit of the source than the cheesy 90s movie.

[CoinReturn]

Or do you just mean in terms of disappointing box office?

Exactly, the chances of a sequel are almost non-existent at this point. Great flick.

[Neil]

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[EvilNed]

This film will be more like Hellboy and Blade 2 than Pan's Labyrinth. It will suck.

[Neil]

This film will be more like Hellboy and Blade 2 than Pan's Labyrinth. It will suck.

Why put Hellboy and Blade 2 in the same sentence? Completely different films, by different people, with very difference agendas? And then why suggest making Pacific Rim - clearly a balls-to-the-wall action flick - anything like Pans Labyrinth would be a good thing to do?

[EvilNed]

Why put Hellboy and Blade 2 in the same sentence? Completely different films, by different people, with very difference agendas? And then why suggest making Pacific Rim - clearly a balls-to-the-wall action flick - anything like Pans Labyrinth would be a good thing to do?

Hellboy and Blade 2 are very similar films, directed by the exact same person. That same person has one good film under his belt = Pans Labyrinth.

[Christopher Jon]

I´d have to disagree with you there. Not that I loved Cloverfield, but I prefer it when there's an aura of mystery around it.

+1

I don't need an answer to every mystery and often times the answers given are worse than not knowing.

Pacific Rim is about giant robots fighting giant monsters. Make it big and fun and I'll be happy.

[Neil]

Reviews seem fairly +ve...

http://www.sfx.co.uk/2013/07/08/pacific-rim-review/

[krisvds]

Hellboy and Blade 2 are very similar films, directed by the exact same person. That same person has one good film under his belt = Pans Labyrinth.

I take it you haven't seen The Devil's Backbone? It's really good IMO.

[Neil]

AICN loves it...

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[MinionZombie]

I've been hearing generally good buzz about this flick in reviews ... although I did read in one that it's a tad lacking in the human heart department ... so we'll see about that.

Somewhat weirdly, Yahoo complained that you 'couldn't see the monsters enough', whinging that too many fights happened at night in the rain ... I think we'll be seeing enough of the Kaiju and Jaeger fights from the trailers ... Yahoo even went on about 'men in suits' fighting in 'styrofoam cities' ... ... wouldn't exactly cut the mustard these days, would it? :p Fine for the originals many decades ago, but we have new tools these days, and Pacific Rim - to me at the moment - certainly looks the part.

[MoonSylver]

I've been hearing generally good buzz about this flick in reviews ... although I did read in one that it's a tad lacking in the human heart department ... so we'll see about that.

Somewhat weirdly, Yahoo complained that you 'couldn't see the monsters enough', whinging that too many fights happened at night in the rain ... I think we'll be seeing enough of the Kaiju and Jaeger fights from the trailers ... Yahoo even went on about 'men in suits' fighting in 'styrofoam cities' ... ... wouldn't exactly cut the mustard these days, would it? :p Fine for the originals many decades ago, but we have new tools these days, and Pacific Rim - to me at the moment - certainly looks the part.

Aye. Even Big G will be a CGI critter in the 2014 return from Legendary. It will certainly be interesting to compare this film & that one when they're both out. :)

[Neil]

So any of you folks seen it yet? Thoughts?

[MoonSylver]

So any of you folks seen it yet? Thoughts?

Some of us have jobs y'know. :lol:

Hope to see it this weekend. :thumbsup:

[CoinReturn]

Caught it late last night, and it was fantastic. The scale is really off the charts, so much monster destruction. The weight behind every punch, throw and plasma blast made the fight scenes feel truly epic, and I can't wait to see it again.

A solid B+ from me. I love how the film was completely self contained, although a sequel would be welcome.

[MinionZombie]

Mark Kermode certainly dug it.

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[MoonSylver]

Just got back, LOVED it. 100% pure fun. It's been a long time since I went to the movies & just purely ENJOYED one like I did this. It delivered on everything I wanted + more.

Kaiju, Jagers, fights, all incredibly well executed.

It actually had more story than I expected for the human characters. Nothing terribly deep or than hasn't been done in some form or another, such as a hero's redemption arc, or a platonic romance, but well done & welcome, making me like the characters & engage with them.

Some interesting ideas too on how the Jager's are piloted & what the interaction with the human pilots is.

A lot of my favorite moves do a good job of "world building" (Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Men In Black), & this one did that as well, although we only got to see glimpses of it.

It put me in mind of other "humanity's last stand against the invaders" movies like "Independence Day" or "Starship Troopers" + every Japanese Kaiju movie+every Japanese Giant Robot anime+a big ol' handful of American steroids.

Hit all the right notes for me & did it well. It definitely connected with my inner kid in a big way. I spent most of the movie with my eyes as big as dinner plates, & either a big grin on my face or mouth hanging open.:thumbsup: :hyper:

[ProfessorChaos]

saw this tonight with the gf and her nephew. thought it was pretty good, but it had some rather corny acting at times and could've been edited a little better.

i also can't really stand it these days when during a big fight scene, the cinematographer thinks it'd be a good idea to have the camera rolling and tumbling around, making it damn near impossible to keep up with the action. lots and lots of that during this film.

however, the special effects and CGI were awesome, the monsters and robots were incredible, and the concept was kinda nifty, though a little derivative of other films in many ways. but it really shines when it comes to huge epic loud flashy monster battles and crazy amounts of collateral damage....i'm pretty excited for what legendary pictures will be doing with the 2014 godzilla film.

overall, worth seeing, but be warned, it runs a bit long and gets a bit cheesy at times.

7/10

[bassman]

On a spur of the moment kinda thing, I saw this last night in IMAX 3D. I gotta say.....I felt like a happy kid again. I friggin loved it! I normally don't like 3D, but this is the kinda film where it works wonderfully. Especially on a massive screen where you feel like you're part of the battle.

Big monsters, giant robots, gut-rattling explosions......I was thrilled for two hours. Not a thinking man's film, but as Moon says it's just 100% pure fun. I doubt i'll ever see it at home because the large screen experience was so fun, but I loved it regardless.

[MoonSylver]

On a spur of the moment kinda thing, I saw this last night in IMAX 3D. I gotta say.....I felt like a happy kid again. I friggin loved it! I normally don't like 3D, but this is the kinda film where it works wonderfully. Especially on a massive screen where you feel like you're part of the battle.

Big monsters, giant robots, gut-rattling explosions......I was thrilled for two hours. Not a thinking man's film, but as Moon says it's just 100% pure fun. I doubt i'll ever see it at home because the large screen experience was so fun, but I loved it regardless.

Glad I'm not the only one. :thumbsup: I'll definitely see it again at home. Can't wait for a DVD or Blu. But then again, I love kaiju flicks & own all the Godzilla's, Gamera's, etc. That said, I would definitely recommend seeing in in the theater, as it really did add to the experience. I'd like to see it again as a matter of fact. :)

[bassman]

I just read that the film is doing phenomenally over seas, so a sequel might be a real possibility. I'm not sure it really needs one and I doubt Del Toro would ever get around to it considering the thousands of projects he has lined up at a single time but should he make one, i'll be there with bells on....

[MoonSylver]

I just read that the film is doing phenomenally over seas, so a sequel might be a real possibility. I'm not sure it really needs one and I doubt Del Toro would ever get around to it considering the thousands of projects he has lined up at a single time but should he make one, i'll be there with bells on....

Mmm Hmm. China was huge I heard. I, too, don't think it NEEDS one. I like the fact it wasn't written in any way to SUGGEST one, but I would certainly WELCOME one, & think there's a lot of gold that could be mined from the universe that Del Toro created. Everything from the Aliens to the Drifting with Kaiju thing all ripe territory for further exploration. :)

[rightwing401]

**Spoilers Inside**

Gotta agree with that one. It is very, very rare for me to go see a movie twice in the theaters, but I did with this one. I thought the story and the pace were spot on, and the acting was exactly what it needed to be for the movie.

I loved seeing the evolution of both the monsters and the robots. The first of the Kitju (class one) were big, bulky, and slow as hell, perfect for smashing down cities- where as the class 3 and 4 Kitju were more adapted to combating enemies equal to their size and strengths (ie: Jaegers). Where as the Jaegers themselves were improved over time to match the Kitju's evolution- The first Jaegers are big, cumbersome robots that can do little more than walk and punch like oversized rock 'em sock'em robots. Where as the Mark IV and V Jaegers move almost as fluidly as a human can and are armed with a variety of powerful weapons to take down the Kitju.

My main pet peeve about the movie were the deaths of Chernobyl Alpha and Crimson Typhoon. For as much backstory as was given to them (each team had taken out I think 5 Katju a piece prior to the events of the movie), I expected them to put up a much better fight than they did. While I know they were obviously meant to be red shirts, it still aggravated me that they both went down so quickly.

Overall though, Pacific Rim fare exceeded my expectations for what I went in to go see.

[Neil]

Rightwing401 - If there's spoilers up there ^^ (didn't read to carefully) can you SPOILER tag them please.

[rightwing401]

Fixed it Neil. Sorry about that. I put that post up at the end of a very long day and wasn't thinking.

[MinionZombie]

Fixed it Neil. Sorry about that. I put that post up at the end of a very long day and wasn't thinking.

I edited it so the text was hidden within "Spoiler Tags".

***TEXT HERE***

[EvilNed]

Thought I'd bring this here, rather than the Elysium thread.

Don't know why this has gotten such good reviews from people. It had it's moments, but they were few and far between. My biggest gripe with the film is how flat it was. None of the characters were made interesting in any way shape or form. They all felt extremely routine. They could live or die for all I care. Worst of the bunch were the japanese chick, who was a horrible actor to boot. And the way they portrayed here was just silly beyond belief. She was constantly looking at things in utter disbelief, mixed with feelings of over-the-top anxiety. Man, she'd ruin any scene she was in.

Our hero, Raleigh, was boring as hell. There was nothing that set him apart from any other hero in an Asylum-produced direct-to-DVD crapfest. I just don't get how you can let characters become that boring. Even the Always Sunny in Philadelphia-scientist was kinda dull. But he was much better than his british colleague, but I suspect both were supposed to be comic in some way.

Anyway, much of the film suffered from the same lack of creativity that the character writing did. The monsters looked like something any untalented high school math student would doodle on his notepad and it's clear that the phrase "thinking outside the box" wasn't something that the creature designers were after. A shame. This film could have won me over with a few surprises in the monster department, considering that's about the only thing it's got going for it. The CGI was all over the place, and usually that'd bother me, but they had the good sense of putting most scenes here in the night time, which made it easy on the eyes. It's funny tho how it looked better when they tore down New York in Godzilla from 1998 than when they did the same thing to Hong Kong here, in 2013. Not saying Godzilla was that great, but at least they used more models.

A friend of mine noted that the creators were obviously inspired by japanese mecha anime and the likes, and I'd agree there. But we also agreed on the fact that it was some sort of weird hybrid between wanting to be a pretty crappy and over-the-top anime with robots and some kind of ulta-macho hollywood action film, with the testosterone pumped up to eleven. The mix didn't work very well. Most of the things that are going on are extremely silly or contrived. There's too much talk about "Category 3-4-5 Kaiju" and "Mark 3-4-5" Jaegers. Some backstory is needed, granted, but whatever happened to using the visual medium to tell the story, rather than just pumping us full of meaningless information from scene to scene? That's not just a problem with Pacific Rim, by the way, but pretty much all blockbusters today. Everything is explained, nothing is ever left to the imagination. What results is a pretty boring film experience.

The good parts? Meh. It was cool to watch robots and monsters fight? That's about it. But even those scenes were pretty yawn-inducing after awhile. Spice it up a little. Don't just give us the same thing over and over again.

[rongravy]

Yikes, I'm seeing this tonight in the cheap theater, but EvilNed about has me spooked.
Still, it's only $3 and I plan on being baked for it...

[rongravy]

I thought it was pretty dang sweeet. Whatever the minute complaints are/were, I don't really think they matter once the battles begin. I immediately saw why this would be amazing in IMAX. The visuals were stunning, especially when they show the other worldly stuff. This was no brainbuster, but neither was it a mindless popcorn muncher either. I am very glad I saw it, the monsters were supercool. Anyone who didn't like this might want to pull the corn cob out dey ass.
If/when this gets cheap on blu-ray, I'll snag it up. I highly recommend.

[MoonSylver]

I thought it was pretty dang sweeet. Whatever the minute complaints are/were, I don't really think they matter once the battles begin. I immediately saw why this would be amazing in IMAX. The visuals were stunning, especially when they show the other worldly stuff. This was no brainbuster, but neither was it a mindless popcorn muncher either. I am very glad I saw it, the monsters were supercool. Anyone who didn't like this might want to pull the corn cob out dey ass.
If/when this gets cheap on blu-ray, I'll snag it up. I highly recommend.

I'd say I hate to say I told you so, except I DON'T hate to say I told you so, I love to say I told you so, because it means I'm right. So, I told you so. :lol: :hyper:

[rongravy]

I'd say I hate to say I told you so, except I DON'T hate to say I told you so, I love to say I told you so, because it means I'm right. So, I told you so. :lol: :hyper:

I never said anything different. I did, however, have to look back through the thread to confirm this. I actually found myself chuckling gleefully during the fight scenes.
You are right, though. I'll give you that, good sir.

[Neil]

Highest-grossing live-action original film of 2013 - http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Pacific-Rim-Now-Ranks-2013-Highest-Grossing-Live-Action-Original-Film-39550.html

[AcesandEights]

Highest-grossing live-action original film

...Of 2013...if you can call it original :)