Pacific Rim, the movie spacifically.

[Hammerskjold]

Since Deebye was curious.

I saw this in theatres, but just the standard version, not 3d. It's Del Toro's love letter to Japanese Monster films\anime\manga. Mecha vs Monsters. See giant badass mechas rocket punching a monster right in the face. INB4 it's just a newer 'Robot Jox.'

If you're not in the mood for that type of movie, or don't\won't understand that the Rule Of Cool is in full effect here, save your breath, time and money.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfCool

I'll start off what worked for me.

Some minor spoiler warning.

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- The music. The main theme song instantly drew me in. Probably my favorite song of the bunch. The composer did Game of Thrones and some other stuff. My compliments to the man, he knows what he's doing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpuhWD4mjUY

- The world that's hinted off-screen, or just briefly mentioned. Ie: The parade scene flashbacks. It gives a really nice atmosphere.

- The visuals. Some of them are beautiful concept paintings come to life. Love the designs of both the Jaeger (mecha) and Kaiju (monsters). Love the names\naming conventions for both.

What I think might have been missed opportunities.

- The male lead char is kinda boring. Everyone else was ok, Idris Elba was fun to watch. But yeah, male lead char was boring for me at least.

- Maybe it's going to be played with in the possible sequel, but the good vs evil is a bit too black and white. Yes it's a straight up pop corn monster mash movie, but this is Del Toro. I was kinda hoping there'd be a bit more grey.

eg: Did the Kaijus really just attack humanity out of nowhere? I wouldn't mind if it turned out that it was humans doing nuke tests in the sea that alerted our presence to them. Cliche'd I know, and it's probably just me. But I wouldn't mind something like that. Not to say that I want to see a rawr rawr humans are all evil, but something where both sides have a not so evil and not so noble goals\intentions.

Pure wishful thinking on my part for possible sequel: Humanity decides to invade Kaiju's world. Both for revenge and resources. Cooler heads did not prevail, the UN decides to go on full warpath\resource raid mode. Kaiju parts\biology research\reverse engineering leads to new gen of Jaegers. A combination of mechanical and biological parts. Mecha-Godzilla Jaegers.

Leaders of the world decides (despite objections from some veteran military and scientists) to open a new rift into Kaiju space. Sends off new Bio-Mecha Jaegers to kick ass and take names. Finds out in first skirmish that the Kaijus were adapting and researching our technology (nukes) as well. Hilarity ensues.

All in all, it's an enjoyable popcorn film. It's robots rocket punching monsters. Done by Del Toro, who genuinely loves the source material and is not doing this as an ironic thing. His love for the genre shows through and for me at least, I find that charming and infectious.

As long as people understand that it's not a video manual on robotics, or a National Geographics marine biology special, it can be enjoyable.

Also, in the comic prequel\expanded universe the first Jaeger that defeated a Kaiju was from Canada. 'Brawler Yukon'. Though the wikia claims since it's a prototype, it should be classified under no countries, if anything it should be under the US due to joint efforts between the US and CAN. To that I say, ya wish ya Merkins, it's Canada that got the First Win! Canada Represents!1111111

[kandrathe]

All in all, it's an enjoyable popcorn film. It's robots rocket punching monsters. Done by Del Toro, who genuinely loves the source material and is not doing this as an ironic thing. His love for the genre shows through and for me at least, I find that charming and infectious.

I'd agree with you. I did see this one with my boys -- I believe I enjoyed it more than they did. Our theater's sound was cranked too high (pain), so we spend the first few minutes crafting comfy ear plugs from napkins.

I'd add that for me, I'd say that for the amount of resources devoted into each Jaeger, I'd expect them to be a bit more durable in battle. If all my eggs are in a single Jaeger basket, I'd have made them more A10 warthog durable (redundant systems). Not being much into schizophrenia, I'd work on obsoleting that need for the two minds connection thing too.

I was not *too* distracted by the "rift" physics, which violates what we know about Einstein-Rosen Bridges, in that movement in a Schwarzschild wormhole connecting two universes is possible in only one direction, or that there is no accounting for time dilation.

But... It's 1000x better than any Godzilla / Mothra movie evar!!!

[DeeBye]

I really enjoyed Pacific Rim. Del Toro did a great job modernizing the genre without making it over the top campy. The visuals were incredible. The sense of scale was really well done.

One thing that struck me in head like a frying pan was how much the plot was like The Avengers. The charismatic and forceful leader of a counter-insurgent force assembles a group of Earth's mightiest heroes, despite the reluctance of his group of superiors, to fend off an attack from a powerful alien force emanating from an extra-dimensional portal. The Gipsy Danger is basically Iron Man.

The male lead char is kinda boring. Everyone else was ok, Idris Elba was fun to watch. But yeah, male lead char was boring for me at least.

I thought that all of the main characters were intentionally portrayed in a very stereotypical manner. The male Jaeger pilots had physiques like greek gods, the females were lithe and curvacious - like comic book superheroes. The duo of scientists were half chaos, and half order. The nationalities of the Jaegers were "in your face" stereotypical - especially the Russian one. I had no problem with any of that. It sort of solves the stark "black and white" issue you have. It's intentional. I did have a problem with Idris Elba's accent. It was off just enough to be distracting.

eg: Did the Kaijus really just attack humanity out of nowhere? I wouldn't mind if it turned out that it was humans doing nuke tests in the sea that alerted our presence to them.

That is exactly what happened, I think. After Dr. Newton drifted with a Kaiju, he explains that they tried invading once already, but this was in the age of dinosaurs and the Earth was too "clean". They waited until our atmosphere was "dirtied up" a bit to make it more hospitable to them. The movie could've done a better job explaining this I think.

Pure wishful thinking on my part for possible sequel: Humanity decides to invade Kaiju's world. Both for revenge and resources. Cooler heads did not prevail, the UN decides to go on full warpath\resource raid mode. Kaiju parts\biology research\reverse engineering leads to new gen of Jaegers. A combination of mechanical and biological parts. Mecha-Godzilla Jaegers.

Del Toro has stated recently that he has started writing a sequel. I think a combination Jaeger/Kaiju is almost to obvious, but it would be awesome. Maybe he could turn it around, and have the Kaiju invent it first and have humanity try to form a defense.

All in all, it's an enjoyable popcorn film. It's robots rocket punching monsters. Done by Del Toro, who genuinely loves the source material and is not doing this as an ironic thing. His love for the genre shows through and for me at least, I find that charming and infectious.

I can't agree with this enough. It's not going to win a Best Picture Oscar, because it stays true to the genre and doesn't overstep those bounds. Del Toro is one of my favourite movie-makers, and hasn't yet let me down.

[DeeBye]

I'd add that for me, I'd say that for the amount of resources devoted into each Jaeger, I'd expect them to be a bit more durable in battle. If all my eggs are in a single Jaeger basket, I'd have made them more A10 warthog durable (redundant systems).

The Jaeger builders were still limited by the resources, and time. The Jaegers were built as a response to the Kaijus. The Kaiju incursion beasts had more than 65 million years to be developed. That's a tough hurdle to climb in a short amount of years. The Russian Mark-1 Jaeger was very durable - at least until the final Category-4 Kaiju attack. It had no business even lasting beyond Category-2 attacks. The young Aussie pilot had it right when he said that Jaegers were only as good as their pilots.

As for redundant systems like an A10 Wartog - the Gipsy Danger survived having half of its piloting system torn off, its left arm torn off, and a deep fissure in the vicinity of its power system. It survived long enough to kill the Category-3 Kaiju and get to shore. I think that a lot of redundant systems were in place and worked perfectly.

edit: there is one glaring plothole I want to see discussed. I want to see if someone else will bring it up before I mention it.

[Hammerskjold]

Our theater's sound was cranked too high (pain), so we spend the first few minutes crafting comfy ear plugs from napkins.

This seems to be an annoying variance among theaters. The one I went to for Pacific Rim was fine. The friend I went with said it was much better compared to when he saw Man of Steel, where it was cranked up way too loud.


Allright minor spoiler warnings, you know the drill etc etc.

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I'd add that for me, I'd say that for the amount of resources devoted into each Jaeger, I'd expect them to be a bit more durable in battle. If all my eggs are in a single Jaeger basket, I'd have made them more A10 warthog durable (redundant systems)

The eggs probably were in one basket, but the timing was pretty bad in their universe. IIRC, The brief flashback showed after the first victory morale and funding were probably pretty good\increased. By the time we jump into the main character's story, it was looking like the beginning of the end.

Gypsy Danger got clobbered, IIRC that loss broke the 'winning streak', or what humanity thought was our winning streak at least. Funding for developement\improvement slowed\nearly halted.

Striker Eureka was the latest gen, and IIRC was the last due to funding cuts\diversion to the Life Wall project. Some Jaegers were more speedy glass cannons by design, but the main point is that it was the Pvt. Hudson 'it's game over man game over' stage of the story.

Not being much into schizophrenia, I'd work on obsoleting that need for the two minds connection thing too.

This part I don't mind (nyuk nyuk) too much. I can buy the 'we need 2 pilots analogous to 2 hemispheres of the human brain', as well as to tie to the theme of teamwork. I liked the premise that it doesn't necessarily need twins\blood related pilots, it's the compatibility between the pilots that's more important. Ie: Cherno-Alpha's pilots were a husband and wife team.

And considering the source material includes an element of Power Rangers\Sentai\Power of Team-Work, I can buy it.

I thought that all of the main characters were intentionally portrayed in a very stereotypical manner. The male Jaeger pilots had physiques like greek gods, the females were lithe and curvacious - like comic book superheroes. The duo of scientists were half chaos, and half order. The nationalities of the Jaegers were "in your face" stereotypical - especially the Russian one. I had no problem with any of that. It sort of solves the stark "black and white" issue you have. It's intentional. I did have a problem with Idris Elba's accent. It was off just enough to be distracting.

That's an interesting and valid counterpoint. I don't mind the deliberate, big broad brushstrokes easily read from a mile away characters, because it's in the genre. Maybe it's the subtle difference between haunted\listless male lead character after what happened with his brother (and that was a great action scene), and just looking bored.

My friend told me the actor is in the Sons of Anarchy series and he's actually not bad. I haven't seen the show so I can only base my impression on what I saw here. If nothing else, he inspires me to hit the weights more often. Though I doubt I'd be getting his 6 pack anytime soon.

edit: there is one glaring plothole I want to see discussed. I want to see if someone else will bring it up before I mention it.

Hmmm, offhand I can only remember one scene that kinda bugged me a bit. It was when Mako stepped into a Jaeger in the 'real' for the first time and almost fired the plasma cannon.

I know it was for t3h drama, and if I'm feeling generous I can chalk it up to it wasn't a missile\standard ammo type weapon. Maybe it was one of those direct energy weapon type systems that goes live the moment you power up the Jaeger. Maybe things are so desperate that either:

- Safety system be damned.
- We need the Jaeger's weapons to be armed and ready at all times because yeah we are that close to getting wiped out.

But yeah, I'm drawing a blank at the moment. Leaving aside that for most practical purposes a giant humanoid mech for fighting is weak at the legs\crotch\hips just like a real human. But rule of cool and all that.

[Ruvanal]

edit: there is one glaring plothole I want to see discussed. I want to see if someone else will bring it up before I mention it.

Needing a kaiju DNA coating to get the jaeger to the other side of the rift, then the life pod not needing the coating to get back?

[DeeBye]

Needing a kaiju DNA coating to get the jaeger to the other side of the rift, then the life pod not needing the coating to get back?

I actually didn't have a problem with that. It was a one-way lock to keep things from going in, not coming out. Either that or the lock was broken when the Jaeger blew.

The problem I had was that the Gipsy Danger was getting its arse handed to it throughout most of the movie, until it finally pulls out the giant sword and starts tearing Kaiju to shreds. Why was it engaging in a boxing match when it had a huge-ass sword they had seemingly forgotten about? Why not LEAD with that weapon?

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Hmmm, offhand I can only remember one scene that kinda bugged me a bit. It was when Mako stepped into a Jaeger in the 'real' for the first time and almost fired the plasma cannon.


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- Safety system be damned.

That's what I figured. These are giant monster killing robots. I don't imagine that any of the budget was used to make them "safe".

[DeeBye]

INB4 it's just a newer 'Robot Jox.'

http://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/thread-7190.html

I really wish the images survived all those years.

[Hammerskjold]

The problem I had was that the Gipsy Danger was getting its arse handed to it throughout most of the movie, until it finally pulls out the giant sword and starts tearing Kaiju to shreds. Why was it engaging in a boxing match when it had a huge-ass sword they had seemingly forgotten about? Why not LEAD with that weapon?

Just off my memory here, IIRC Gypsy Danger only had the sword in the repaired\upgraded\refurbed version.

I know I know, then why the hell didn't they use this sword right away when the upgraded Gypsy Danger stepped back into the ring?

My guess is respect for the source material\tradition. No seriously. I grew up with 'Voltes V', possibly one of -the- great grandfather of Japanese giant robot anime.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%8Dden...e_Voltes_V

Voltes V's arsenal consists of variety of missiles, a bazooka, beams, and weapons such as Chōdenji Top (Similar to the Chōdenji Yo-Yo of Combattler V) and Tenkūken (天空剣 Sky Sword, "Laser Sword" in the English dub, "Excalibur" in the Italian dub). With Tenkūken, Voltes V marks the enemy's final moments with a signature "V" slash. This established it as one of the first super robots to use a sword in its finishing attack.

Now I can definitely confirm this for nearly all the episodes until the last one. Monster of the week\episode shows up, battle ensues with various weapon vs monster of the week's power, but the sword was -the- finishing move.

But story wise it's probably treated more like a Mortal Kombat 'Fatality' move, not an actual move. Otherwise why not start with a 'Falcon Punch' in every fight. Also, fight would be over too soon without showing the rest of the toys accessories dammit!

Or if I'm thinking it as in-universe and trying to be generous, maybe they weren't even completely finished testing it? Cause' it would be a jerk move if Mako deliberately held back on the info until nearly the last minute.

Perhaps huge stress since despite her skill she's still a relative rookie\didn't want to mention it except as a last resort because she wasn't sure if it would've worked at all?

Speaking of the upgrade scene though, there was one bit that I personally really had to be generous with in overlooking. It was the 'she's rebuilt with pure iron, no alloy' quip. Now I'm not a metallurgist. But I do futz around with metal and steel for a hobby. And my first reaction was, '...wait that's retarded if they meant that literally.' Actual pure iron would be crap as a hull for a Jaeger. I chalked it up to 'maybe they're using the word as slang'. Iron= fictionallium metal\hollywoodized titanium.'

Though that is a bit of a missed opportunity for me I think. I know it's another trope in fiction that unobtanium metal alloy=weak, pure unobtanium metal=strongest. While in reality that's usually the opposite. Then again I guess this trope follows more the gold route. Alloyed=less valuable therefore weaker, higher purity = more valuable therefore stronger.

I say it's a bit of a missed opportunity because the 2 pilots, the mind drift, the various countries\personalities allying\alloyed are stronger together idea, they could've used a real life example of metal alloys as yet another subtle nod to the theme.

Then again, I guess the movie is not catered towards metal hobbyist only.

That's what I figured. These are giant monster killing robots. I don't imagine that any of the budget was used to make them "safe".

But think of the children! On a more serious note, I know Gypsy Danger was the main Jaeger of the story, but Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon was such an awesome design\name that I was slightly pissed off that they didn't get more screen time.

Take a well deserved bow Cherno and Crimson, you two were awesomest in my book.

[DeeBye]

Just off my memory here, IIRC Gypsy Danger only had the sword in the repaired\upgraded\refurbed version.

They never expressly said that, but that's what I inferred anyways.

I know I know, then why the hell didn't they use this sword right away when the upgraded Gypsy Danger stepped back into the ring?

Just so we can be clear - it's Gipsy Danger

My guess is respect for the source material\tradition. No seriously. I grew up with 'Voltes V', possibly one of -the- great grandfather of Japanese giant robot anime.

I thought the source was Godzilla movies?

But story wise it's probably treated more like a Mortal Kombat 'Fatality' move, not an actual move. Otherwise why not start with a 'Falcon Punch' in every fight. Also, fight would be over too soon without showing the rest of the toys accessories dammit!

I like this explanation the best

'she's rebuilt with pure iron, no alloy'

Heh, when I heard that I immediately thought of Premium Rush. "Steel frame, no brakes"

I say it's a bit of a missed opportunity because the 2 pilots, the mind drift, the various countries\personalities allying\alloyed are stronger together idea, they could've used a real life example of metal alloys as yet another subtle nod to the theme.

I like this idea, a lot. It also fits in with the scientists drifting together, despite the fact that they are polar opposites of each other.

On a more serious note, I know Gypsy Danger was the main Jaeger of the story, but Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon was such an awesome design\name that I was slightly pissed off that they didn't get more screen time.

Take a well deserved bow Cherno and Crimson, you two were awesomest in my book.

Yeah, I would love to have seen more Jaegers kicking Kaiju ass - especially Cherno.

[Hammerskjold]

Just so we can be clear - it's Gipsy Danger

I thought it was the other, referencing the airplane. Then again, the airplane also had both spelling. But thanks for that clarification at least.

I thought the source was Godzilla movies?

Just IMO I think definitely Godzilla plus Giant Robots. Del Toro says he didn't want an overt copy of Godzilla, I'd be as generous as I can see him going to the same wellspring as Japanese giant monster movies in general. But I'd say there's definitely 'Godzilla-esque' parts at least.

Found an interesting blog\article on it. The video clip below it has a Del Toro interview excerpt. Got some slight swears so slight NSFW warning. No F-bombs or anything though. (But pretty funny Del Toro quips.)

http://www.filmindependent.org/blogs/fil...mDFtRBIqHs

from the link:

On celebrating technology:
I was born almost at the same time as Gigantor … the first great mecha in the history of anime. The thing that I love and I wanted to celebrate here—it’s a true celebration—is the Japanese relationship with technology has none of the ambivalence and the guilt of the West’s relationship with technology where we say, “ultimately technology is bad and, fear of Frankenstein, will turn against us.” The celebration in mecha is complete. They have a complete admiration for the robot figure, and they become these gigantic mythic figures.

Yeah, I would love to have seen more Jaegers kicking Kaiju ass - especially Cherno.

For sure. I usually hate expanded universe\prequels, but I think there's definitely strong potentials here.



Ok I kinda have to mention this side note. It's not new, but I guess it evolved, sorta. In my youth it was direct to video 'homages'. The 'mockbuster'. It's the 5 dollar genuwine 'Ghucci' wallet of cinema. The better ones might cost more, up to 15 dollars.

And there is one for this movie. 'Atlantic Rim'. It has Graham Greene (hey I don't hate, a man's gotta eat). But I was curious after reading this blurb of a review.

http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/atla...z2i3N5naVx

..... their own enthusiastically goofball cinematic beast: the ultimate monster movie about booze-hounding broskis in battle bots saving New York City from a crazy-eyed giant sea beast that frequently appears to be merely a lost animal, confused and irritated that these metal men won’t stop hitting it.

As added comedy bonus, the video trailer in the link would not load up for me. Reason given : The studio says it has blocked it in my country due to copyright grounds. A mockbuster studio says I can't watch their mockbuster trailer, on copyright issues.

Now let's just say due to the magic of innernets, it's available. That is to say, it is possible to view the whole thing. But I wasn't able to. Technically I could. But I couldn't, as a viewer.

I'm not even talking about legalities of copyrights. I'm talking about on humanitarian grounds. And I'm a guy who understands that these things are a sometimes unappreciated, but serves a need type of film farm team. Ie: Roger Corman films is where James Cameron got his start. So did many people.

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/23528/8-...ilm-school

This particular mockbuster however, I think broke me. I couldn't do anymore than 15 minutes consecutively.

[cheezz]

I believe I have some answers...

...seeing as how I read the book. It seems that the book was written from the movie, but I suspect it is a bit more information rich.

The sword-- New, added in the rebuild, and NOT mentioned by Mako till the last minute.

The rift-- It did have a one-way biologically triggered lock.

Two pilot system-- Apparently the only computer with enough processing power to run the Jaeger was the human brain and one brain didn't have enough 'RAM' to do it.

The Kaiju's creators-- Moved from planet to planet, terraforming them as they went. Everything in their lives was a biological construct, including their buildings and machinery. They had waited for a hundred million years for earth to be ready for them and they were out of time as the planet they were on was out of resources and was dying. The destruction of Gypsy Danger destroyed the bio-machines that opened and maintained the rift. Without the rift, they're stuck on their dying world, doomed to perish with it.

Yes, I know that there is a giant pink elephant in the room. I still want to see and enjoy the movie, so I will ignore the pink elephant just as hard as the plot writers did. I'm talking about the "why didn't they just come here a hundred million years ago and terraform the planet to begin with?" pink elephant. I mean, why ruin a story with logic?

[Hammerskjold]

The Kaiju's creators-- Moved from planet to planet, terraforming them as they went. Everything in their lives was a biological construct, including their buildings and machinery. They had waited for a hundred million years for earth to be ready for them and they were out of time as the planet they were on was out of resources and was dying. The destruction of Gypsy Danger destroyed the bio-machines that opened and maintained the rift. Without the rift, they're stuck on their dying world, doomed to perish with it.

Then they should really take a lesson from humanity on how well we take care of our own planet, and how well we manage our own natural resources, reduce and nearly eliminate pollution.

I mean just looking at our own real life version of earth it's clear that we're....oh...wait never mind.