Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Pacific Rim'

[areaseven]

Glad you changed your mind and like it! Were the audience in Hong Kong psyched to see their city get trashed? Too bad the city scenes look more like Chinatown than Hong Kong.

I was wondering why there were green taxis on Hong Kong Island, as they're only stationed in New Territories.

[Hikuro]

I went today, had to do 3D since all the regular showings were really late in the afternoon. surprisingly, I came out satisfied! Not only did I go in there with mild expectations thinking I'm watching like a glorified tokyo robot jox with godzilla reject monsters and end up liking it, but I also got a free soda AND the entire movie theater to myself! I think that helped me enjoy the movie a lot more cause I didn't have people chatting and being annoying like usual.

Gotta say, though it was shallow robot monster mashing film, it was good. That's going on my 3D Bluray list.

[Negotiator]

Why do people say this? Why do we expect less during the summer? We give them a pass to make substandard movies (and they make a lot of them).

Because they can still find something enjoyable.

Lots of ice cream is bad for you but some of them can tastes good.

[Duke Togo]

Because they can still find something enjoyable.

Lots of ice cream is bad for you but some of them can tastes good.

All ice cream is bad for you, which is why you should only buy the best.

[Graham]

Glad you changed your mind and like it! Were the audience in Hong Kong psyched to see their city get trashed? Too bad the city scenes look more like Chinatown than Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong skyline scenes were pretty authentic, but I agree the street scenes were not at all accurate. For some reason Hollywood has this idea that modern day Hong Kong streets resemble a stylised 1930s Shanghai, but with lots of neon

And don't get me started on how Macau was portrayed in Skyfall ;(

Graham

[raptormesh]

Paid more attention to the cockpit scenes the second time round to notice the little details. Great work, wmcheng. Movie was still very entertaining even though I watched it last week. Don't mind seeing it a third time...

Now if they would only make an 18" Eureka Striker. I love that design, with the Coyote second. The 7" toys don't seem to have a lot of articulation.

[jenius]

My summer film comment just meant that it was a fun action flick, if you want something that reinvents a genre or changes your perspective on something this certainly isn't that... Nor is it intended to be. It means to be a fun action film and it achieves its goal.

[slaginpit]

I saw this movie 2ice and I gotta tell you Micheal Bay is probably sulking in a corner and sucking his thumb. Heard some of the spoilers for the second movie. This hopefully kicks start the evangelion project

[mechaninac]

...Micheal Bay is probably sulking in a corner and sucking his thumb...

According to boxofficemojo.com:

• Michael Bay's Transformers opening weekend domestic take (in 2007 money): $70,502,384 USD
• GDT's Pacific Rim's (in degraded 2013 money): $37,285,325 USD

Michael Bay must be shaking in his boots...

I'm not making a statement regarding the relative merits and quality of the two movies, only relating a fact pertinent to their popularity and profitability, and poking a little fun at the rose-colored-glasses attitude given to Pacific Rim's impact.

[raptormesh]

Obviously transformers have a massive edge with an existing fan base. Bay can't seem to direct a coherent movie to save his arse though. I'm a fan of TF but his movies are like a bunch of cheesy one liners and car adverts smushed into a cacophony of explosions tempered by mediocre rock music.

[areaseven]

Review in Haiku Rating: Good

[slaginpit]

Review in Haiku Rating: Good

Im tired of hearing the reference to Power Rangers. Obviously those people have no clue of the last 30 years of the Super Robot Genre. Del Toro admitted to references to tetsujin 28 as an inspiration. Mazinger, Getter Go, and others are the real inspiration of this movie. There were no wacky teams in skittle colored suits carrying swords around them and shouting by the power of grayskull. The monsters were not related to Godzilla movies. These were creatures were created to combat humanity,

Edited July 21, 2013 by slaginpit

[slaginpit]

According to boxofficemojo.com:

• Michael Bay's Transformers opening weekend domestic take (in 2007 money): $70,502,384 USD
• GDT's Pacific Rim's (in degraded 2013 money): $37,285,325 USD

Michael Bay must be shaking in his boots...

I'm not making a statement regarding the relative merits and quality of the two movies, only relating a fact pertinent to their popularity and profitability, and poking a little fun at the rose-colored-glasses attitude given to Pacific Rim's impact.

I understand your point. BUT, numbers alone mean nothing. Sure to their pocket books. Lets look at some examples. Transformers and the crumpled up tinfoil they called transformers made lots of money. In 2007 people went to see it for the first time run on a super robot movie. Later on it got panned in reviews horribly. This movie may have not gained that money yet we still dont have the final tally on worldwide numbers, but was by far more enjoyable and likable. The people that saw this film with me all had the same thing to say. Transformers sucked this movie kicked ass. SO even tho numbers may dictate how well it did it does not correlate how good the movie was. Im sure if this came out first in 2007 it would have made more. Now I am speculating of course but I think people have been Bay'd out from robot trash. This movie shows that a director knows how to use his CGI department , understands scale and understands story progression with out the need for dog humping ballsacs hanging from robots, spitting, and T&A and obvious racial tones to be fun. Just because a movie does well in $$ doesnt make it a good movie. Another example was the show Serenity, Very good show but got cancelled because it didnt make money. Why maybe the who concept was too advanced for a lot of the no minds to understand it.

Edited July 21, 2013 by slaginpit

[mechaninac]

Did I say the Transformers movies were good? Or that Bay has ever made a good movie, or even that Pacific Rim is inferior to Transformers in anything but domestic ticket sales? I'm sure I didn't; but just in case I left that impression, despite the disclaimer I added to my post, let me make it crystal clear: Nothing Bay has ever been involved in could ever be considered good by anybody with even an iota of taste; the drivel he directs, if what he does with the "scripts" he's handed can even be called directing, are the purest example of lowest-common-denominator garbage... you have to delve into the Twilight Saga movies to find unwatchable dreck of greater magnitude. However, just like the Twilight crud, Bay's movies do seem to succeed where it counts in Hollywood... they attract an audience and make money despite being almost universally panned for the crap that they are. This is far more of a condemnation of the audience's tastes than of the movies or directors themselves.

Edited July 21, 2013 by mechaninac

[raptormesh]

Im tired of hearing the reference to Power Rangers. Obviously those people have no clue of the last 30 years of the Super Robot Genre. Del Toro admitted to references to tetsujin 28 as an inspiration. Mazinger, Getter Go, and others are the real inspiration of this movie. There were no wacky teams in skittle colored suits carrying swords around them and shouting by the power of grayskull. The monsters were not related to Godzilla movies. These were creatures were created to combat humanity,

Yeah never once did power rangers cross my mind. Hell evangelion fits better.

[Gakken85]

http://blip.tv/redlettermedia/half-in-the-bag-episode-58-pacific-rim-6617795

I agree with just about everything that Red Letter Media said.

- No cynicism

- Great action that you can actually see.

- The director actually cared about the movie, unlike movies like transformers.

- The characters were a little weak and they would have liked to have seen more about how the world changed.

- It's all about team work.

Edited July 21, 2013 by Gakken85

[slaginpit]

Did I say the Transformers movies were good? Or that Bay has ever made a good movie, or even that Pacific Rim is inferior to Transformers in anything but domestic ticket sales? I'm sure I didn't; but just in case I left that impression, despite the disclaimer I added to my post, let me make it crystal clear: Nothing Bay has ever been involved in could ever be considered good by anybody with even an iota of taste; the drivel he directs, if what he does with the "scripts" he's handed can even be called directing, are the purest example of lowest-common-denominator garbage... you have to delve into the Twilight Saga movies to find unwatchable dreck of greater magnitude. However, just like the Twilight crud, Bay's movies do seem to succeed where it counts in Hollywood... they attract an audience and make money despite being almost universally panned for the crap that they are. This is far more of a condemnation of the audience's tastes than of the movies or directors themselves.

I was agreeing with you...just pointing out there is a difference between sales and quality. THat is all

[slaginpit]

http://blip.tv/redlettermedia/half-in-the-bag-episode-58-pacific-rim-6617795

I agree with just about everything that Red Letter Media said.

- No cynicism

- Great action that you can actually see.

- The director actually cared about the movie, unlike movies like transformers.

- The characters were a little weak and they would have liked to have seen more about how the world changed.

- It's all about team work.

About the Characters. I thought it was just enough to make them interesting, After all its a giant robot movie Im not looking for Gurran Lagann. I found what inspired and motivated the characters. And that was enough. I didnt need to know if Jax had to go to university and get his first lay on with some bimbo that turns into a kaiju or that he had parents that used to bicker while he was chasing his dog from humping his cat while I got 360 panoramic shots of some oversized bimbos lips eyes and hair. Del Toro cares about the movies. I dont think Bay could ever do anything like Pan's Labyrinth and make the monsters so intriguing and frightful. Del Toro listens to his CGI staff and works with them. Now I really hope this pushes Peter Jackson to initiate Evangelion. Boy do we need it. Its funny that del toro and Jackson are almost spitting images of each other and take great care and pride in their work.

[nexxstrait]

Why crappy Evangelion? I for one am glad that Del Toro went for something new instead of translating an already existing universe into movie form.

[Duke Togo]

Now I really hope this pushes Peter Jackson to initiate Evangelion. Boy do we need it. Its funny that del toro and Jackson are almost spitting images of each other and take great care and pride in their work.

Oh god please no. Jackson needs not to be allowed to make any more big, bloated messes.

[reddsun1]

Paid more attention to the cockpit scenes the second time round to notice the little details. Great work, wmcheng. Movie was still very entertaining even though I watched it last week. Don't mind seeing it a third time...

Now if they would only make an 18" Eureka Striker. I love that design, with the Coyote second. The 7" toys don't seem to have a lot of articulation.

Hey, was wmcheng able to leave any easter eggs for us fellow MW'ers when he was working on that project? Now that'd be fun...

[Sebastian]

I watched this with my Son last friday and it was fantastic! He was totally blown away with the giant monsters and the Big Robotos... for the very first time I felt this guy was into the same stuff I was at his age... so I preorder the 18 inch Neca figure at HLJ (I hope it wont suck balls) just to try to make him all into collecting toys

[BeyondTheGrave]

Saw it

What I liked:

• The robots. They were better than the whirling piles of garbage the Transformers were in the live action movie series.

What I DID NOT like:

• The characters
• The dialogue
• The drawn out fight scenes
• The fact that they lose a boxing match that has gone on for like 20 min, THEN use the sword... stupid (maybe this was some Voltron Trib)
• The chiche of sci-fi lately with just blowing up big cities
• The monsters
• The comic relief scientists
• The comic relief dead parts dealer
• The comic relief dead parts dealer's gold shoes which HAD to be focused on two F-ing times
• The comic relief baby monster...
• The hole in the plot that they are all clones, except for the baby one that was born... idiots that don't even know what they are writing
• The slapstick moments like making the Newton Pendulum swing in the office
• The racism of having the russians be all stoic and angry looking, the Aussies being fist fighters, and the asians being like ninjas
• The cliche of saying "with our global warming and pollution we have practically tera-formed this world for the aliens. Just HAD to throw a political message in there eh!?

This movie was a steaming pile of feces. I want two hours of my life back.

You have now persuaded me to not see this in theaters. Or possibly buy it.

[Uxi]

Finally got to go see this. Definitely enjoyed it. Dialogue was a bit corny but not as bad as I was fearing from the discussion. The names were cornier than the dialogue, though. Disagree about the Russians or Chinese being stereotyped. There just wasn't enough of them to be stereotyped. Either would have liked for them to have survived the first fight (at least some of them). Or better yet had 2 or 3 Russia and Chinese Jaegars each to be redshirts for the action. Maybe a budget buster, though.

For example, one of the Chinese pilots could have been killed and they could have shown them taking off an arm for the next fight where they could have been killed. Cherno Alpha was set up pretty good to get killed by the Kaiju double team and hard to see it get saved. Definitely great use of the robots, though the Kaiju weren't nearly as unique as the robots. Would have also liked Pentecost to have had his old Mk 1 that he talked about instead of taking the dad's place.

They established enough that conventional weaponry took 3 cities before they finally got rid of it. Imagine they were all Bay area (San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose)? Would probably enjoy prequels more than anything else. The wall is just plain idiocy. I could see them going to a defensive bent with static defenses with Jaegars supplementing it. Was a bit disappointed that the Jaegars rely on close combat and only use their ranged weaponry as special attacks. Would have made more sense for them to use tank/armor tactics using ranged weaponry, moving in wedge and/or echelon formations and then closing to close combat.

When they were approaching the rift, for example, use guns and missiles first and then close to using swords.

I'll definitely go see a sequel and hope it's successful enough for there to be one.

Edited July 22, 2013 by Uxi

[raptormesh]

Very good points there Uxi, discussed the exact same things with my friends post movie.

I mean why couldn't they just create a cryo cannon styled after the flamethrower connected to a tank. Maybe it's only effective in very close range? On the other hand Pentacost's Coyote Tango did have ranged weaponry with the two ballistic cannons, and there was an earlier Jaeger that's equipped with cryo guns.

Then again it's fantasy so anything can be explained away to make it fit the plot. Really stoked about the sequel, hoping they would deploy more melee weapons.

[Graham]

I watched this with my Son last friday and it was fantastic! He was totally blown away with the giant monsters and the Big Robotos... for the very first time I felt this guy was into the same stuff I was at his age... so I preorder the 18 inch Neca figure at HLJ (I hope it wont suck balls) just to try to make him all into collecting toys

Haha, after watching the movie, I immediatly went to the nearby Toys R Us with my son to look for any Pacific Rim toys as he wanted Gypse Danger and a Kaiju, but there was nothing in TRU.

So I went online on my phone and ordered wave one of the 7" Neca figures Gypse Danger a Kaiju and the 3 armed Chinese one (forgot the name just now).

Graham

[raptormesh]

Crimson Typhoon.

[Duke Togo]

Crimson Typhoon.

Aka Red Shirt

[Hikuro]

Heard those 7 inches don't have the best articulation but the 18 inch Gypsy Danger had some really cool gimmicks....but not worth 80+ I think. Although I wouldn't mind seeing some model kits of these things.

[raptormesh]

Absolutely loving the main score for this movie, a very good song for getting pumped up.

[slaginpit]

I'm waiting on a chogokin or hot toys gypsy danger

[electric indigo]

Of course the better designs didn't make it into the movie: http://i.imgur.com/Ovmb7pB.jpg

[Graham]

Crimson Typhoon.

For some reason I had it in mind that the name was 'Crimsom Hemorrhage', but I was too lazy to Google it

Graham

[nexxstrait]

Of course the better designs didn't make it into the movie: http://i.imgur.com/Ovmb7pB.jpg

They did. You can see all of these Jaegers in the voiced over intro (I watched the movie three times, so I know what I'm talking about)

All of them Mark I, all of them killed in action

Edited July 22, 2013 by nexxstrait

[raptormesh]

Yup you can see Tacit Ronin very clearly as well.