It is amazing. If you don't go see it, be very ashamed. Cause you are a jerk.
I personally liked it because unlike say Man of Steel, when giant robots were crashing around cities and fighting giant monsters, I wasn't all "Why aren't they saving the people?" Because even though they tried, it was made very clear that this was the best humanity could do. And somehow they kept the action more grounded than I would have thought, considering y'know, giant robots fighting giant monsters.
It looks like a big giant jobby. I shall not be partaking in it's brand of robo-filth.
According to rumours the film screened so poorly with test audiences that the studio sent this movie into hype/marketing overdrive. Hence why it's been everywhere for the past 3/4 months. Even they thought they had a stinker on their hands.
Perkustin wrote: It looks like a big giant jobby. I shall not be partaking in it's brand of robo-filth.
According to rumours the film screened so poorly with test audiences that the studio sent this movie into hype/marketing overdrive. Hence why it's been everywhere for the past 3/4 months. Even they thought they had a stinker on their hands.
I believe obscure unconfirmed rumors more than people that have actually seen it
Perkustin wrote: It looks like a big giant jobby. I shall not be partaking in it's brand of robo-filth.
According to rumours the film screened so poorly with test audiences that the studio sent this movie into hype/marketing overdrive. Hence why it's been everywhere for the past 3/4 months. Even they thought they had a stinker on their hands.
It currently holds a 72% on rotten tomato with 136 critics chiming in. That number is pretty dang good for a standard movie, but a cheesy robot vs monster movie? Sounds like they actually pulled it off and it's good!
I saw it yesterday, I liked it. Its the sort of film that you owe it to yourself to see in the theater because the larger screen complements it very well.
The action is great and there is alot of it. However the story and characters are a little underdeveloped.
The thing I liked about the trailers is that I could tell what was happening. The combatants weren't just a jumble of metal spines. I'd like to throw some money at that.
I never said it was going to be a bomb just that WB had very little confidence in this product.
It is my unrelated opinion that it looks like poop. I hate Charlie Hunnan, i don't enjoy giant robo building smashing (unless it features lolz like transformers) and the title makes me think of something involving a young Filipino boy and a 12-inch Easter island statue replica.
Perkustin wrote: I don't enjoy giant robo building smashing (unless it features lolz like transformers) and the title makes me think of something involving a young Filipino boy and a 12-inch Easter island statue replica.
Turn in your man card on your way out of the thread
To be clear the dialogue isn't always the best and neither is the acting. The giant mech suits punching giant monsters is awesome however and well worth a matinee price.
Yes.... at last... mechas fighting Kiaju.... It's probably going to have some bad acting here and there and the plot probably won't make sense... but forget that friggin mechas!
The kid in me is excited by the idea of a movie about giant robots. The adult in me can't help but think "why are they just punching stuff?". I plan on seeing it but it looks like the kind of movie I will struggle to turn my brain off for the duration.
I'm just hoping there's more on display than rockem sockem robots. Robot jox was corny but entertaining, still thought when they shut off the robots ranged weapons and forced close combat was the weakest part of the movie.
This might just be me, but I think seeing it in the imax 3d might be worth your money. It makes the giant fights look even bigger.
Frazzled wrote: OK this isn't really a spoiler but why don't the humans just nuke the monsters?
Spoiler:
They explain at the beginning of the movie that, after the military threw everything they had at the monster, it had already trampled three cities and made a mess. It just took too long.
I just got back and absolutely loved it. The story is weak. The male lead is boring. The comic relief scientists are REALLY irritating. But all of that doesn't matter when giant robots and alien monsters start knocking seven shades of crap out of each other. The big fights are brilliantly staged (particularly the middle one) and amazingly, it's fairly easy to keep track of what's going on. Are you watching Michael Bay?
It's full of moments that should be dumb, but are executed so well that you end up cheering. For example...
Spoiler:
Towards the end of the middle fight scene, it looks like Gypsy Danger is boned. The boring male lead turns to Rinko and says they're out of options. She says they have one left and hits the big flashing red button marked sword. She then says something to the effect of, "This is for my family!" before chopping the offending creature in half. Read that back and it sounds like total cheese, but it's sheer genius on the screen.
Oh and be warned, you will want to marry Rinko Kikuchi by the end of this film.
So.... why does a giant robot punching these critters in the face work while a cruse missile doesn't? Don't give me that stuff about hard skin cause we have bunker busters that'll go right through that.
Breotan wrote: So.... why does a giant robot punching these critters in the face work while a cruse missile doesn't? Don't give me that stuff about hard skin cause we have bunker busters that'll go right through that.
Whose to say it will? I'm not a xenobioligist, are you? It might scratch them, it might hurt them, but given their size I don't think a cruise missile will be all the power they need to stop them.
The giant robots were made to pull them away from civilization and be dealt with in more remote areas.
Got invited to go see this with friends from work and I did.
I will say. I'm pleased. The beginning of the film was about as corny as I was expecting and as silly but once the movie got to the robots fighting monsters part I could sit back and enjoy myself. The acting is blarg, the dialogue cheesy, and the plot inveriably stupid;
Spoiler:
Whoa whoa whoa world leaders. Let me get this straight. You're stopping your giant robot program, to build a massive ocean spanning wall? I must say. For all my complaints about giant robots being impractical in all aspects you managed to find the only other solution to your problem that is even more absurd!
Also, how the feth is a nuclear reactor not digital?
Also the first movie that I've ever been glad to see in 3D. Some of the camera tricks like water splashing against my 'eyes' were much better than previous attempts I've seen that really just felt gimmicky. The film is all spectacle and no substance but its spectacle that's worth going to see.
Oh this is one of the few cases that I am really optimistic about a movie, I want some big stompey robots fighting big stompey monsters. Mechwarrior Online has been giving me my fix for the former but not so much the latter.
Yeah, normally I hate 3d, but it worked really well in this. It wasn't a bunch of gimmicky popout crap.
As for the viability of using the robots, of course it is illogical, that isn't what the movie, hell the entire genre is about. If you go in with a curmudgeonly attitude expecting realism from something like this, you've rather missed the point.
I saw the trailer.
That alone removed any interest I had in seeing it.
I gave up on kaiju when I was 9 or 10, when I discovered SF with spaceships and explosions. Sure, Gamera was cool when I was 8 - but compared to space dogfights and shiny chrome robots it just no longer rated.
I've liked ALL of GDT's previous stuff - but this is just one movie I have absolutely no desire to see.
The same holds for man of steel, Iron man3, or any other superhero flick.
Bromsy wrote: Yeah, normally I hate 3d, but it worked really well in this. It wasn't a bunch of gimmicky popout crap.
As for the viability of using the robots, of course it is illogical, that isn't what the movie, hell the entire genre is about. If you go in with a curmudgeonly attitude expecting realism from something like this, you've rather missed the point.
As I stated when the film was first announced, I love giant robots. I'm a huge Gundam fan. Mobile Suit Gundam may well be my favorite anime of all time! But as awesome as giant robots are, I can't get over the whole "tanks and jets aren't working sir. I propose we build a giant robot and have it beat the monsters with its fists" illogical brilliance. They even have the robots armed with firearms but bizarrely they still engage in primarily in hand to hand combat even when not underwater. This film doesn't even boast the rehumanization of mechanized warfare angle present in Gundam and other works like it for thematic justification.
If you can look past that, awesome. You'll definitely enjoy the movie more for it. I have a harder time with it XD
I just got back from the movie and thoroughly friggin' loved it. The paired pilot angle makes perfectly fine sense when they actually explain it, but they also cunningly don't make the folly other scifi movies make and go too far into trying to explain how the fake science somehow "works".
It took all of the awesome robot fighting from Transformers, but completely eliminated the idiotic half-naked chicks thrown in for pre-pubescent boys to lust after. The female lead was the perfect non-sexpot. She was definitely cute and tough and I'd go after her, but she wasn't a random Victoria's Secret model.
AegisGrimm wrote: The female lead was the perfect non-sexpot. She was definitely cute and tough and I'd go after her, but she wasn't a random Victoria's Secret model.
Yes, she gives the film a bit of soul. Idris Elba doesn't disappoint either.
I absolutely loved it as did the crowd of 15 or so friends I saw it with. I thought it was a brilliant homage to the kaiju films of the 50s through 80s and was pretty much everything I expected and hoped for.
I was actually baffled when I went to see it. I showed up 20 minutes early expecting a huge crowd and I didn't want a crappy seat. The theater was empty by show time and I must say I was quite confused. Only four or five others in there with me. Same theater same time Man of Steel was packed to the brim and I imagine PR would attract the same crowd.
LordofHats wrote: I was actually baffled when I went to see it. I showed up 20 minutes early expecting a huge crowd and I didn't want a crappy seat. The theater was empty by show time and I must say I was quite confused. Only four or five others in there with me. Same theater same time Man of Steel was packed to the brim and I imagine PR would attract the same crowd.
Yes, my showing had hardly anyone in it either. Probably needs a bit of word of mouth.
GO SEE THIS FILM! Seriously. Go see it in 3D, I might add...IMAX if they have it in your area (sadly, the closest IMAX to me is over an hour away, but I may go see it again just to see it in IMAX). Sure, the story isn't deep, but the action is awesome, and NO SHAKY CAM NONSENSE!
Breotan wrote:So.... why does a giant robot punching these critters in the face work while a cruse missile doesn't? Don't give me that stuff about hard skin cause we have bunker busters that'll go right through that.
Somewhat of a spoiler, but it doesn't ruin the movie:
Spoiler:
The main character narrates during the beginning description of what happened when the first Kaiju arrived. They used conventional weapons to kill it, but it took far too long for them to bring the monster down, and it destroyed three cities in the process. Cruise missiles and other weapons do indeed hurt them, but they're so big that it's like a death by a thousand cuts; slow and agonizing.
LordofHats wrote:
Spoiler:
Whoa whoa whoa world leaders. Let me get this straight. You're stopping your giant robot program, to build a massive ocean spanning wall? I must say. For all my complaints about giant robots being impractical in all aspects you managed to find the only other solution to your problem that is even more absurd!
Also, how the feth is a nuclear reactor not digital?
Spoiler:
Spoiler:
A nuclear reactor does not have to be digital. Obviously, that isn't really the case nowadays, but how do you think they operated nuclear reactors before digital computers existed? The nuclear reactor pre-dates the digital computer (back when the first reactor was created, computers filled up entire rooms). You'd be surprised at how many military electronics nowadays still utilize electron tubes and analog components, specifically because of the risk of an EMP event like the one Kaiju used in the film.
Unlike some movies that use it as a gimmick, Pacific Rim is by far the best experience in 3D. The water and rain effects are very impressive, especially.
The main character narrates during the beginning description of what happened when the first Kaiju arrived. They used conventional weapons to kill it, but it took far too long for them to bring the monster down, and it destroyed three cities in the process. Cruise missiles and other weapons do indeed hurt them, but they're so big that it's like a death by a thousand cuts; slow and agonizing.
We need bigger guns for our bigger robots.
Spoiler:
A nuclear reactor does not have to be digital. Obviously, that isn't really the case nowadays, but how do you think they operated nuclear reactors before digital computers existed? The nuclear reactor pre-dates the digital computer (back when the first reactor was created, computers filled up entire rooms). You'd be surprised at how many military electronics nowadays still utilize electron tubes and analog components, specifically because of the risk of an EMP event like the one Kaiju used in the film.
Spoiler:
But it's just so plot convenient. The Jeagers weren't built in 1960's and given that even the diesel powered robot is apparently digital, it just seems so corny that the mk3 is immune to what shut down all the other older and newer models. It's a great chekov's gun for the ending, but the way they used it in the middle of the movie is just blah to me.
EDIT: They also use the term nuclear as though it is unique to Gipsy Danger, so what exactly is powering the other machines other than the one specifically said to have 50 diesel engines? I just found their usage of the design differences between the machines confusing because logically the development of jaegers seems to make little sense even using internal logic.
Bromsy wrote: It is amazing. If you don't go see it, be very ashamed. Cause you are a jerk.
I personally liked it because unlike say Man of Steel, when giant robots were crashing around cities and fighting giant monsters, I wasn't all "Why aren't they saving the people?" Because even though they tried, it was made very clear that this was the best humanity could do. And somehow they kept the action more grounded than I would have thought, considering y'know, giant robots fighting giant monsters.
....Awesome!
Is this going to get me to want to buy Monstropolis?
I refuse to pay 15 bucks to watch giant robots punch giant sea monsters. I've fallen for that before, and I won't be had again. This is absolutely a wait-for-redbox-and-watch-plastered movie.
rubiksnoob wrote: I refuse to pay 15 bucks to watch giant robots punch giant sea monsters. I've fallen for that before, and I won't be had again. This is absolutely a wait-for-redbox-and-watch-plastered movie.
Then you miss out because this is the best giant robots punching giant sea monsters movie you're likely to see in a while
Nobody is claiming this is high art, but the punching of giant sea monsters is very well executed and really has to be seen on the big screen to be enjoyed.
rubiksnoob wrote: I refuse to pay 15 bucks to watch giant robots punch giant sea monsters. I've fallen for that before, and I won't be had again. This is absolutely a wait-for-redbox-and-watch-plastered movie.
Then you miss out because this is the best giant robots punching giant sea monsters movie you're likely to see in a while
Nobody is claiming this is high art, but the punching of giant sea monsters is very well executed and really has to be seen on the big screen to be enjoyed.
Pretty much!
Saw it today with my oldest daughter and we loved it!
Made me think of all those Saturdays I spent watching Channel 56's Creature Double Feature.
I was always there for the giant monsters (I didn't know they were called Kaiju back then in...the late 70's and early 80's!) and the giant robots - wasn't really all that into Dracula and the Wolfman!
This movie is a lot of fun and well worth seeing in the theater.
That is, of course, if you're at all into these things!
Just got back from seeing this and it was fun for the 1st 90 minutes or so but I was checking my watch towards the end.
There was also a hell of a plot hole right at the end.
Spoiler:
According to the scientists the rift will only let something with Kaiju DNA can pass through it. Hence the need for Gipsy to grab the Kaiju corpse to pass through the rift to get to the Kaiju universe and detonate it's reactor. So a one way trip for the crew in other words.
But no, they eject their escape pods and make it back to Earth, with absolutely no explanation given whatsoever.
I watched it and I enjoyed it. Kind of wished there was more of it. The thing is now it's got me on a giant monster kick. I wonder if I can get mechs into my D&D game without people griping too much.
Someone really needs to make a good set of rules for a miniatures game that will allow us to use 6" action figures amongst 15mm terrain. Kind of like a 15mm Monsterpocolypse.
I remember all the fun I used to have fighting my robot figures against Godzilla monster figures, while 15mm plastic army-men futilely died as collateral damage. Make that a miniatures game, and I can form an argument as to why I can do that as an adult (I don't have a kid yet).
I wonder how it would work to just use the stats for Warjacks and Warbeasts from Privateer Press, but proxy in my own figures? They already have rules for good melee, throwing, and the like.
LuciusAR wrote: Just got back from seeing this and it was fun for the 1st 90 minutes or so but I was checking my watch towards the end.
There was also a hell of a plot hole right at the end.
Spoiler:
According to the scientists the rift will only let something with Kaiju DNA can pass through it. Hence the need for Gipsy to grab the Kaiju corpse to pass through the rift to get to the Kaiju universe and detonate it's reactor. So a one way trip for the crew in other words.
But no, they eject their escape pods and make it back to Earth, with absolutely no explanation given whatsoever.
Not neccessarily...
Spoiler:
its possible that only the earth end of the tunnel had the fail safe. After all, if earthlings couldn't come through from their side, and they had a factory full of kaiju on their side...why worry about needing a fail safe going both ways?
As an aside saw this two times already, once in IMAX 3D. Worth the price of admission both times
As an aside saw this two times already, once in IMAX 3D. Worth the price of admission both times
I saw it in IMAX as well, and it was definitely worth the additional cost. As with most films built around scale and spectacle, Pacific Rim benefited greatly from the format.
I really liked the film as I got exactly what I expected: massive amounts of spectacle, Charlie Day being manic, and Ron Perlman being Ron Perlman. The obvious technical problems within the universe didn't bother me, as the implied subtitle of the film has always been "rule of cool".
Frazzled wrote: OK this isn't really a spoiler but why don't the humans just nuke the monsters?
I know they do it in the comic, and the reason given for end of the practice was a combination of radiation, and the difficulty of luring kaiju out to sea. I don't remember if they addressed that in the movie, though.
But it's just so plot convenient. The Jeagers weren't built in 1960's and given that even the diesel powered robot is apparently digital, it just seems so corny that the mk3 is immune to what shut down all the other older and newer models. It's a great chekov's gun for the ending, but the way they used it in the middle of the movie is just blah to me.
Spoiler:
But that's true of the entire movie. I mean, as bio-weapons go, the kaiju are really gak. If you can genetically engineer a massive monster, you can probably design a pathogen to kill everything on the planet you're trying to conquer while also rendering yourself immune to it.
Nuking monsters that are actively seeking out population centers is generally a bad idea. The Jaeger's job is to enforce the "miracle mile" off-shore.
The only glaring hole I saw in a great action flick is that even lacking ranged weapons on the Jaegers, why they all have to full-on grapple with the Kaiju, rather than using melee weapons like swords, flails, and motorized saws (other than one tragically limited occurrence of the latter)? Other than the rule of cool, of course. It would be generally accepted as "boring" if the opening move of a fight was to light up the Kaiju from a half-mile out with mega-shells and then return to base.
I completely understand the visceral thrill of a 25-story MMA fight, but without any spoilers, when the pilots suddenly "remember" to pull out the on-board melee weapons, it definitely amps the fights up to "11".
Breotan wrote: So.... why does a giant robot punching these critters in the face work while a cruse missile doesn't? Don't give me that stuff about hard skin cause we have bunker busters that'll go right through that.
Who cares?
Giant Robots vs Kaiju. You really want to go in to the science of that?
I don't think I've ever had more fun watching a movie in, well, forever.
If you walked away from a a movie about giant crazy mechs fighting giant crazy monsters, and the only thing you can think about is how it's not realistic, then about the only thing I can says is that you hate fun, and I pity you.
But that's true of the entire movie. I mean, as bio-weapons go, the kaiju are really gak. If you can genetically engineer a massive monster, you can probably design a pathogen to kill everything on the planet you're trying to conquer while also rendering yourself immune to it.
I find that simpler to work my mine around. In my mind, I know how a human thinks. So when a human character does something that strikes me as absurd, it irks me.
Spoiler:
The aliens however are completely alien, in every sense. We really don't know much about them or how they think. They aren't humanized in the film in the slightest, so in my mind I can work around them behaving in a manner counter to human thought. It really just makes them more alien.
Though when I first saw the trailer I'll say I was expecting the Kaiju to be Lovecraftian in nature.
Breotan wrote: So.... why does a giant robot punching these critters in the face work while a cruse missile doesn't? Don't give me that stuff about hard skin cause we have bunker busters that'll go right through that.
Going to answer in spoilers since some of it comes from the movie and some from the prequel graphic novel....
Spoiler:
The first Kaiju that hit San Francisco took 6 days to kill. They threw the kitchen sink at it (a few of the scenes in the graphic novel include a run by an AC130 gunship) before resorting to using a nuke. They killed the next three the same way. The problem was that until you got to bigger, city-threatening weapons, they were relying on weapons designed to kill other humans and their war machines.
Eventually they realized that they needed a way to kill the Kaiju without resorting to finishing the job for them by destroying said city.
On heading home my buddy and I were joking that Cloverfield could almost have fit into the same universe (pre-Jaeger), had it happened on the West Coast. Obviously not the horrible shaky-cam film style, but the theme was quite the same, where the amount of mundane ammo needed to kill the thing also took out half of Long Island..
The look of the film was very impressive, especially the design of the mechs and creatures and the big CGI "sets," and the fights were fun. There were occasional parts in the fight scenes where things momentarily went incoherent and the screen was obscured by water, smoke, glass, explosions etc but then things resolved themselves. They definitely got the crazy sense of scale right with things like ships and cranes being used as weapons...
Eh....as much as I like well-crafted fighting scenes I prefer to have a whole package "well-rounded" movie rather than having to rely on only one aspect as the selling point while the other parts are lacklustre. I'll probably save myself the money and watch the fighting scene clips separately online later when they're uploaded.
Well more Monty Python and animated DC movies for me I suppose!
Complaint 1: Hey - Jaeger Pilots! Why aren't you all wearing submersible rebreathing equipment as standard kit? You're standing on the RIM of the PACIFIC Ocean!
Complaint 2: Hey - Jaeger Pilots! Why aren't you in an armored bunker in the chest viewing the outside world remotely?
Those are all of my complaints.
[One of them would lead to an interesting but brief conversation about the merits and demerits of such a configuration.]
Exaltation 1: That one part when...!
Exaltation 2: Or that other one when...!
Exaltation 3: Or when she...!
tl;dr
Epic, escapist cinema.
If you don't see this film you are dumb and sad and hide your stupidity behind a lame veneer of sophistication and erudite... drivel.
Complaint 1: Hey - Jaeger Pilots! Why aren't you all wearing submersible rebreathing equipment as standard kit? You're standing on the RIM of the PACIFIC Ocean!
Complaint 2: Hey - Jaeger Pilots! Why aren't you in an armored bunker in the chest viewing the outside world remotely?
Those are all of my complaints.
How about having swords which slice through the level 4 monsters with extreme ease, but never using them and getting into a 30 minute futile wrestling match instead which lead to the direct destruction of multiple robots and death of tens of thousands people.
Why would you need to beat a monster to death with a boat when a simple slice of the sword equipped into both arms of the robot could have done it in seconds? And why are all the robots not equipped with effective CCWs? I mean, the people 'train' to fight with weapons, and then get in the robots and fight like they are professional wrestlers.
And they were constantly 'throwing' the monsters... If robot punches and missiles and such barley hurt them, throwing them to the ground in a flashy wrestling move is going to do ZERO damage to the monster except maybe skin his knee.
The flaws were beyond disbelief. This is not like they were making the best of 'what they had' as if they found robot suits from a lost civilization. They built them. They could have built real weapons and used them opposed to Hollywood terribleness setting in.
When the robot punched a building to hit a desk toy on an office cubicle's desk, I wanted to walk out. And it would have been easy because there was barley half-full in the very first showing of the IMAX 3D, the very theater where superman was sold out a week in advance for the same Thursday night pre-release.
LordofHats wrote: Is there any word on the theater take so far? I figured my theater was a random lucky coincidence for me, but it seems to be happening quite a bit.
Going in to the weekend, some tracking suggested Pacific Rim was in for a truly terrible start (below $30 million). While it wound up opening noticeably better than that, its $38.3 million debut is still a little disappointing. Because director Guillermo Del Toro isn't a mainstream selling point, and because the movie was entirely free of true movie stars, Warner Bros. marketing made the primary selling point the monsters vs. robots action. While that proved very appealing to a niche "fan boy" audience, the movie remained inaccessible to general moviegoers. Without their support, there's only so high a movie can go on opening weekend.
Huh. Gotta say. That's the exact opposite of what I was expecting XD Pacific Rim seemed like the kind of summer block buster people flock to en masse. Guess giant robots are even less popular than I always assumed they were.
Loved the gak out of the movie. My only complaints are there weren't enough fights. It's like the whole middle got bogged down in boring human relationship stuff.
They hyped up this awesome war between monsters and robots, and all we got was the tail end of it where we're getting our asses kicked. And we didn't even get to see much of that.
Spoiler:
It would have been awesome seeing Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon in a good fight without being wiped out.
I agree on the fights angle. I could have used at least one other good fight. They could have expanded on the fight in Australia, at least.
I think some people are missing the point of this movie. I went to go see all the best parts of the robots fighting from Transformers, but at 25 stories tall and without the parts aimed at oversexed 16-year old boys. It succeeded. Everything in it was for the "Rule of Cool". It wasn't supposed to be Schindler's List (though I liked that movie too, for different reasons).
So very disappoined with Pacific Rim. Too much talky talky in a smashy smashy movie (my wife fell asleep during the movie's longest/loudest fight scene- sad.) I wanted to see more of the 1st attack on San Fran or show us a few of the fights in Russia and China before relegating some of the cooler bots (and cooler looking Kaiju) to just a few minutes of screen time. I don't really need any of the fluffy "these are people piloting these machines- people with a back story" moments. I don't want your stolen speech from Independance Day or Stargate "oh crap" moment either. | will however keep your Big-O style piston fists and Monsterpocalypse style of combat.
On the plus side it did get me to pull out my copy of Godanar again.
LordofHats wrote: Huh. Gotta say. That's the exact opposite of what I was expecting XD Pacific Rim seemed like the kind of summer block buster people flock to en masse. Guess giant robots are even less popular than I always assumed they were.
If you want to make a summer blockbuster you need a major director, a major producer, a set of major stars, or a major license.
dogma wrote: I really liked the film as I got exactly what I expected: massive amounts of spectacle, Charlie Day being manic, and Ron Perlman being Ron Perlman. The obvious technical problems within the universe didn't bother me, as the implied subtitle of the film has always been "rule of cool".
Same here. I saw it Saturday and I loved it, it was pretty much everything I expected. I had a lot of fun watching it and left the theater feeling like it was $24 well spent (I paid for my brother's ticket, too). Also my first 3D movie ever, since I didn't want to wait until 10pm to see it in 2D and that was the only other showing before then, and...some of the effects were kinda cool, but overall I still don't like 3D. I don't feel like 3D is worth spending the extra cash (and I have to wear them over my prescription glasses so that sucks), but as others have said I feel like this movie at least did it well, so whatever.
No, it wasn't very "deep", the characters weren't very well-developed and the plot was full of holes, but really, who the feth cares? Who watches a Godzilla movie for the human characters and their plight, or complains about how the giant monsters or the science involved isn't "realistic"? The only reason to see this movie was for the action, and it was good: unlike with other films like Transformers where everything is not only fast, frantic and blurred, but the design of the robots is so complicated it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. I never once got frustrated because I couldn't tell what was going on, even though most of the fight scenes happened in the dark or in the rain. I don't care if the jaegers are "practical" or not, and while it would have been nice I'm not particularly fussed that I don't know more about Raleigh's background or why Chuck is such a douche, I got to see a robot beat the gak out of a giant lizard with a boat. I can understand people wanting something "more", because Hollywood does put out a metric ton of garbage (like Grown Ups 2, which was out this same weekend, and reportedly made more money than Pacific Rim, which is news that really makes me want to kill myself), but at the same time there really isn't anything wrong with movies like this if they're done well, and I feel like this one was. Best movie of all time? feth no. A good summer popcorn movie that's a pure joy to watch? Yes, in my opinion.
I keep hearing this movie isn't doing well, despite the fact that the reaction has been mostly positive (72% on Rotten Tomatoes and they're usually pretty harsh on movies that are genuinely bad). As others have said my theater was pretty damn empty, too.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Sorry, "action figures".
I got mine! Or rather they're on the way. Bought them online as soon as I got home.
-Loki- wrote: Loved the gak out of the movie. My only complaints are there weren't enough fights. It's like the whole middle got bogged down in boring human relationship stuff.
They hyped up this awesome war between monsters and robots, and all we got was the tail end of it where we're getting our asses kicked. And we didn't even get to see much of that.
Spoiler:
It would have been awesome seeing Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon in a good fight without being wiped out.
Spoiler:
Agreed, actually...I was disappointed that they didn't last any longer than they did, felt like they died way too fast. It was literally the first time we saw them in a fight, too. I don't have many complaints about Pacific Rim but the lack of jaegers was one of them, there were only four total and we lost two of them before they really got to do anything.
AegisGrimm wrote: I agree on the fights angle. I could have used at least one other good fight. They could have expanded on the fight in Australia, at least.
I think some people are missing the point of this movie. I went to go see all the best parts of the robots fighting from Transformers, but at 25 stories tall and without the parts aimed at oversexed 16-year old boys. It succeeded. Everything in it was for the "Rule of Cool". It wasn't supposed to be Schindler's List (though I liked that movie too, for different reasons).
I kept comparing this to Transformers myself when I talked to my brother about it after the fact. I really gave the first Transformers movie the benefit of the doubt, there was a lot I didn't like about it but I went easy on it because of nostalgia, and because you had to set it all up being the first film and all (some of the scenes were kinda cool, I still really love the chase scene with Bumblebee and Barricade), but Bay just kept making the same mistakes over and over in the other films...if anything it got worse. More stupid "comedy" with the gak parents, Megan Fox being put blatantly on display for all the horny kids and nothing else, dogs fething, deep wang...it was like the robots were an afterthought. But those movies made gak tons of money regardless, I'll never understand why.
This movie did all of the action right, better than Bay could ever hope to do, and didn't get bogged down with all that crap. They try to do a little bit of comic relief with the scientists (Charlie Day was the main reason my brother wanted nothing to do with this film originally), but I felt like it didn't detract from the movie much and those parts were thankfully over pretty quickly (and one of them lead to a surprise appearance from Ron Perlman...or at least a surprise to me since I didn't know he was in it). I really don't like saying stuff like this but I have to agree, it feels like people missed the point here. This was a homage to kaiju films and as I said before, they were never that concerned with the human element or making sure it all "made sense", you watch these movies because you want to see the monsters fight.
I think it's okay to complain about the lack of "smart" movies with deep characters and plots, but doing it here just feels awful pretentious to me. We're allowed to have fun once in a while.
Also, I hope no one missed Ellen McLain, a.k.a. GLaDOS, as the voice of Gipsy Danger's AI. I thought that was cool.
And yeah, I loved the music, too. Especially the "main theme", that was some catchy gak and almost made me want to jump out of my chair in excitement a couple times, lol. I plan on buying the OST, but you can listen to it in its entirety on YouTube.
So, now that the take is low due to Despicable Me 2 curb-stomping everything in sight for a second week, are we going to see the non-stop reporting about this being a box office bomb the way they did with The Lone Ranger?
Gonna go see this with a buddy Tuesday night. Mainly I'm going to pick up girls but I guess watching robots punch aliens in the face will be all right too. The trailer for this movie looked kind of meh, with the dudes inside doing synchronized Wii to kill stuff but I'll give it a chance.
The complaints about there being 'too much talking' sound downright odd to me. You need a break from constant smash, smash, smash otherwise you just end up with the Transformers/Matrix sequals.Battles lasting 45 minutes and nobody caring after about 20. One of the worst things an action movie can have is too many overlong action sequences. A good rule of thumb for a fight scene is that less is usually more.
In fact I thought the last battle could done have been with being shorter. When we finally saw the dreaded 'category 5' Kijau I was kind of monstered out.
Sasori wrote: Well, it's made about 90 Million of a 190 budget so far, so I don't think that is too terrible.
Enjoyable movie, I'd like to see a sequel that gives us some more information on the Alien race that is engineering the Kaijus.
There won't be a sequel. This movie came in 3rd behind a low grade comedy. As a big budget film its a dissapointment. As a B movie it would have been awesome.
I'll wait until rental maybe (probably not). The concept that monsters can survive nukes and bunker busters but something punching it kills it is a bit silly, but it might be good with three rums.
On the psotive I finally saw Silver Linings Playbook last night. Loved it but the ending was not in line with character behavior. DeNiro stole the movie.
There won't be a sequel. This movie came in 3rd behind a low grade comedy. As a big budget film its a dissapointment. As a B movie it would have been awesome.
I'll wait until rental maybe (probably not). The concept that monsters can survive nukes and bunker busters but something punching it kills it is a bit silly, but it might be good with three rums.
On the psotive I finally saw Silver Linings Playbook last night. Loved it but the ending was not in line with character behavior. DeNiro stole the movie.
It’s basically the rule of cool.
The ‘big stompy robot’ program would in reality be an extremely expensive and convoluted method of combating these things, but this sort of thinking just defies the point. The whole premise of the film is for robots to fight monsters for our amusement, so the plot needs to claim that was the best solution. It’s just like Titans in 40k. Commonsense dictates they would be of extremely limit use in a combat situation, but they are an awesome concept so we overlook that in favor to the awesome.
If it was real life I’d spend the cash on developing better missiles and I’d mine the hell out the area surrounding the rift so that nothing that came out of it survived the journey to the surface. Wouldn’t make for a very good movie though.
You're right about Silver Linings though. Good Movie, like you say DeNiro stole it, but Cooper put in an impressive performance. Also anything that involves Jennifer Lawrence in lycra can only be good.
Doctadeth wrote: Saw it today, and I was like "OOOOH GLADOS AI". It was well received by the audience, and I'll probably be going to see it with my other mates etc.
Oh, and wait til after the "pre-credits".
Worst Scene ever. That character and whole story thread with the scientist was totaly dumb and a waste of movie.
Frazzled wrote: There won't be a sequel. This movie came in 3rd behind a low grade comedy. As a big budget film its a dissapointment. As a B movie it would have been awesome.
As is often the case when we're discussing popular films. I have to concur. It's very unlikely this movie is going to get beaten by Adam Sandler and get a sequel.
Which is a shame; because I thought it was a terrific movie. I think I'm going to go see it a second time at some point, perhaps in 3D. Normally I eschew 3D movies that weren't natively filmed as such, but in the case the fact I've already seen it should even out the negative effect the process has on fast motion sequences.
It will probably do really well in the long run internationally, so the studios will still recognize that these ideas work and make them money, they just won't be flagships any time soon.
I have no doubt it will be a big success when you add in the tremendous overseas markets - China alone - but I don't think those numbers get you a franchise. Yet.
Ouze wrote: I have no doubt it will be a big success when you add in the tremendous overseas markets - China alone - but I don't think those numbers get you a franchise. Yet.
Yeah. They won't get big budget sequels. Maybe direct to dvd or animated or something, but no real films.
But what I'm saying is that the studios will still recognize it as a "success" in the sense that they will be more willing to greenlight things LIKE this in the future.
nkelsch wrote: How about having swords which slice through the level 4 monsters with extreme ease, but never using them and getting into a 30 minute futile wrestling match instead which lead to the direct destruction of multiple robots and death of tens of thousands people.
Why would you need to beat a monster to death with a boat when a simple slice of the sword equipped into both arms of the robot could have done it in seconds? And why are all the robots not equipped with effective CCWs? I mean, the people 'train' to fight with weapons, and then get in the robots and fight like they are professional wrestlers.
And they were constantly 'throwing' the monsters... If robot punches and missiles and such barley hurt them, throwing them to the ground in a flashy wrestling move is going to do ZERO damage to the monster except maybe skin his knee.
Ha, yes - I forgot about the sword suddenly appearing. Good point. At least they remembered the sword was available during the undesea fight.
Re: effective CCWs - what about massive rocket-powered fists, arm-blades on the Australian model, the hand-blades of the Chinese model, and the "powered fist w/ grinder palms" of the Russian model? Seems like there were plenty in the movie I viewed. It also seemed like the monsters were quite proficient at grappling, being grown for the purpose, and possessing speed which would require grappling in turn from the Jaegers at least until an opening could be made.
nkelsch wrote: When the robot punched a building to hit a desk toy on an office cubicle's desk, I wanted to walk out.
Alpharius wrote: It is doing very well internationally, but I don't know if 'making your money back' (and maybe a bit more?) is enough to get us a sequel.
Sadly...
it cost $180mm per IMDB, plus marketing. It made $90mm including internationally. Technically thats a bomb vs. the investment.
It's a bit early to declare the film a flop isnt it? It's only been out 4 days. Chances are it will run in the Cinema for another 3-4 weeks and even then will still generate money in other ways.
Are all films expected to break even on their opening weekend?
LuciusAR wrote: It's a bit early to declare the film a flop isnt it? It's only been out 4 days. Chances are it will run in the Cinema for another 3-4 weeks and even then will still generate money in other ways.
Are all films expected to break even on their opening weekend?
They almost need to these days given how quickly audiences move on to the next summer film. Man of Steel was one of the summer's biggest movies, and yet look at what happened to the box office after the opening weekend.
It's why it's hard to fairly compare box office receipts from the '70s and earlier with those of today. When Star Wars, Superman, Jaws, etc. were released, they didn't have a crush of other summer films to compete with, and films stayed in theaters for months. There also wasn't the "wait to see it on VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray" option back then.
Basically if a movie doesn't make it back in the first weekend, it can still be a "success" as far as the studio is concerned with longterm sales and DVD and foreign markets and stuff, but they won't be very excited to make sequels unless it's a big well known IP already.
Like, a star wars or a batman or something can bomb and still get a sequel. A new IP can't.
The problem with many of these blockbusters is not that they don't make money, but they don't make money vs. the gazillions spent on it (using Hollywood accounting, who knows how much was actually spent of course).
Saw the movie in 3D with my 12 year old son last night. He loved it. I thought it was great pop corn fare. I can see why the acting and dialogue were getting panned. While I like Ron Perlmen, that whole sub plot felt like filler. If they needed filler, some past battle featuring the Russian and Chinese Jaegers would of been nice.
Was it worth seeing in a theater.....yes. Is it a great movie? No, but it is an okay movie. It's just a shame for someone like Guillermo del Toro to neglect the dialogue and acting like he did when you know what he is capable of. I think the movie might have benefitted from an earlier or later summer opening. Also, going up againist Despicable Me 2 doesn't help.
Alpharius wrote: It is doing very well internationally, but I don't know if 'making your money back' (and maybe a bit more?) is enough to get us a sequel.
Sadly...
it cost $180mm per IMDB, plus marketing. It made $90mm including internationally. Technically thats a bomb vs. the investment.
Wha...?!?
So, it is being pulled after one week and won't get a DVD release?
It will get a dvd release, but thats not a winner vs. the sunk costs and marketing.
Hollywood seems to have forgotten that B Movies should have B movie budgets.
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Rented Tritium wrote: No they'll actually RELY on the DVD release to make up for it, but if you want money for a sequel, you have to have a better opening weekend.
LordofHats wrote: The films budget was just under 200 million US. I'm guessing that it'll probably break even at the end of its DVD release.
You're forgetting the international market. I think it will easily break even globally during its theatrical release. It will be huge in Japan and will do ok in China. Heck, if they'd given Crimson Typhoon a decent fight scene, it would have made a profit in China alone.
It made $90 with the international market. The US market was craptacular for an A movie. I just don't think there is a major market for giant monster movies.
Frazzled wrote: Hollywood seems to have forgotten that B Movies should have B movie budgets.
Spielberg and Lucas changed that. The idea of high concept films they pioneered with Jaws and Star Wars basically established the idea that you can make a hell of a lot of money by taking a solid b-movie concept and making it really, really well. It's basically what Hollywood has been trying to do ever since then.
But I agree that Pacific Rim looks to be underperforming a fair bit. I think it follows the pattern of films targeted a little too much at the geek market - they get great internet buzz before hand and even excellent reviews, but the content just doesn't appeal to a broad enough market.
It kind of pains me to say, because I hate that films have to do it, but ultimately if you want to get a decent return on a budget around $200 million, you need big name stars on the poster to draw in the audience.
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Flashman wrote: You're forgetting the international market. I think it will easily break even globally during its theatrical release. It will be huge in Japan and will do ok in China. Heck, if they'd given Crimson Typhoon a decent fight scene, it would have made a profit in China alone.
The international market matters, and good results can turn a modest US performance in to a good overall return.
But simply breaking even is an overall money loser for a studio. Remember that not all of that box office flows to the studio. About a third of it stays with the cinema complex, and after opening weekend that portion increases.
And if the international market saves a movie, it isn't because of the Chinese market. China matters, but not enough that it can save a movie by itself. I mean sure, there's lots of people who go to see a movie, but they pay like 9 cents for a ticket.
Frazzled wrote: There won't be a sequel. This movie came in 3rd behind a low grade comedy. As a big budget film its a dissapointment. As a B movie it would have been awesome.
As is often the case when we're discussing popular films. I have to concur. It's very unlikely this movie is going to get beaten by Adam Sandler and get a sequel.
Which is a shame; because I thought it was a terrific movie. I think I'm going to go see it a second time at some point, perhaps in 3D. Normally I eschew 3D movies that weren't natively filmed as such, but in the case the fact I've already seen it should even out the negative effect the process has on fast motion sequences.
Best movie I've seen this year, I think.
It didn't really get beaten by the Grownups 2, though. In fact, it made over double the box office money that the Grownups did, just not in America. Granted, Grownups 2 had a much lower budgert, it has only made about half it's budget back so far as well.
I'm hoping word of mouth and the international market carry this movie though.
It's pointless to pick this movie apart. I mean, you can ruin the entire thing just by wondering why the monsters are attacking the only place with Jaegers remaining, and not the thousands of other undefended population centers along the Pacific coasts. But that's not the point.
AegisGrimm wrote: It's pointless to pick this movie apart. I mean, you can ruin the entire thing just by wondering why the monsters are attacking the only place with Jaegers remaining, and not the thousands of other undefended population centers along the Pacific coasts.
The answer is obvious. We like seeing giant robots beat up monsters and they like seeing monsters beat up giant robots. It's all just mutual entertainment Both sides have sneakers to sell after all.
Sasori wrote: I'm hoping word of mouth and the international market carry this movie though.
Yeah, and that does happen from time to time. I mean, first weekend there was speculation that Avatar might be in trouble, because box office was high, but not high enough given the money spent on it. But then the box office numbers didn't just hold, they actually grew, and then held for a bizarrely long time. Word of mouth didn't just save that film, it turned it in to a monster hit.
But that was an exception, and like with everything, while it can happen, you don't want to be left hoping for the unlikely to happen. As a result, the rule of thumb is that when you see people saying that hopefully word of mouth or the international market will save the film, well there's trouble.
Sasori wrote: I'm hoping word of mouth and the international market carry this movie though.
Yeah, and that does happen from time to time. I mean, first weekend there was speculation that Avatar might be in trouble, because box office was high, but not high enough given the money spent on it. But then the box office numbers didn't just hold, they actually grew, and then held for a bizarrely long time. Word of mouth didn't just save that film, it turned it in to a monster hit.
But that was an exception, and like with everything, while it can happen, you don't want to be left hoping it happen for the unlikely. As a result, the rule of thumb is that when you see people saying that hopefully word of mouth or the international market will save the film, well there's trouble.
I need to check, but I think that's exactly how "The Matrix" turned out too...
I certainly don't remember seeing/hearing any aggressive advertising.
whembly wrote: I need to check, but I think that's exactly how "The Matrix" turned out too...
I certainly don't remember seeing/hearing any aggressive advertising.
The Matrix is one of the exceptions - basically one of the only films in recent memory that's made as much money after the first three weeks as it did in the first three. On big budget movies normally the money made after week three is a rounding error.
So, like I said above, it's certainly possible that Pacific Rim might be the exception, and might sustain its numbers. But it is hoping for something that is, historically, not very likely.
AegisGrimm wrote: Don't forget the Riddick franchise that started with Pitch Black.......
That example doesn't really work. Pitch Black was a pretty small budget movie, with a final box office that was great relative to budget but nothing to cause. Pitch Black ended being made in to a franchise of sort because Vin Diesel became a bigger name, and so they went searching for a multiple film project for him.
Urban and the director have said they'd like to do more films, and there's hope as people realise the film found an audience. The money behind the project said a sequel was unlikely. Stranger things have happened, but they don't happen very often.
Man I saw it last night with my family, as we were walking out of the theater we were talking about how great the subtle effects were. like
Spoiler:
how they constantly played with the lighting to evoke certain moods
and
Spoiler:
how the kid with the metal detector at the beginning is actually the kaiju scientist
Then on the car ride home we talked about who we might be drift compatible with. We all agreed my dad would make a bad pilot because he'd wind up chasing the rabbit like the girl, and my sister and I would likely be drift compatible because we've made a good tag team in fights before because we can practically predict the moves the other is about to make. On a side note did anyone notice that most of the pilots were somehow related to each other? I think the only ones that weren't were the second teams in the movie to pilot Gypsy Danger and Striker Eureka. (we're fairly certain Cherno Alpha's pilots are siblings)
sure, when the scientist first drifts you see him on the beach with as a child with who I assume is his dad when Gypsy goes down in the beginning. it's only there for a second, but I noticed it. also notice that the kid at the beginning when they find the old toy says with a dismissive tone "it's just an old robot toy". which is strange considering that Jagers were all the rage at that time. also the guy at the beginning has the same glasses as the scientist.
It was a great movie, nipper and I reckoned far superior to Transformers.
Charlie Hunnam was adequate, but he was more than made up for by Rinko Kichuki. Dialogue was just good enough, and personally I liked the generic aspect of a lot of the dialogue and plot, using lots of sci fi staples. But I didn't like the too-obvious constant references to other movies - geeky scientist out of Jurassic Park, nerdy Brit scientist out of Dr Strangelove, body-parts shopping straight out of Bladerunner. the little boss aliens really reminded me of other movies, too, maybe Independence day.
But that was more than made up for by the vision and imagination of the fights, that were prefectly paced. My only disappointment was that the trailers spoiled on of the best bits, when they brained the kaiju with an oil tanker.
As for physical fighting - well... maybe there is some justification. You can't set off nuclear weapons in built-up areas, and the physics of large creatures means being thrown on your back is very damaging, it's all about weight vs surface area.
That said, there were only 20 people in the cinema on Monday night. Even with strong international showings, it will struggle to make back its budget.
Corpsesarefun wrote: So the kid of 11 grows up to be a scientist in his mid to late 20's in the 6 years between the beach scene and the rest of the film?
Corpsesarefun wrote: So the kid of 11 grows up to be a scientist in his mid to late 20's in the 6 years between the beach scene and the rest of the film?
Even with some flaws, at least Pacific Rim wasn't like Revenge of the Fallen, where a hangar door in Washington DC leads to an aircraft graveyard in Arizona, complete with time of day change.........
I thought it was pretty fekking awesome, and liked it about as much as an adult could. If I was 10-15 though holy crap I would have lost my mind...
Strong recommend to go see, don't analyze it too much though it is certainly not as non-sensical as most stuff in this type of genre is, but just take it in as an experience and you should enjoy it quite a bit... visually spectacular...
MajorTom11 wrote: I thought it was pretty fekking awesome, and liked it about as much as an adult could. If I was 10-15 though holy crap I would have lost my mind...
Strong recommend to go see, don't analyze it too much though it is certainly not as non-sensical as most stuff in this type of genre is, but just take it in as an experience and you should enjoy it quite a bit... visually spectacular...
Best part of Pacific Rim:
'Giant Robots are a stupid idea, lets build a giant costal wall instead'
*Cuts to a scene showing the monsters smashing through the wall with ease*
MetalOxide wrote: Best part of Pacific Rim:
'Giant Robots are a stupid idea, lets build a giant costal wall instead'
*Cuts to a scene showing the monsters smashing through the wall with ease*
I don't think the word smashing is even appropriate, it just kinda walked through the wall...
Frazzled wrote: I just don't think there is a major market for giant monster movies.
I think that's the crux of the issue. When I asked some of my colleagues if they wanted to go see it they unanimously declined. Mind, my colleagues are all huge nerds that geek out over anything Star Wars or Star Trek related, among other things. As a result I ended up going with a couple guys I used to canvass with who obsess over all things giant robot related.
The point being, of all the people I knew who wanted to see it, I was the only one who found the kaiju themselves at all interesting.
The problem with many of these blockbusters is not that they don't make money, but they don't make money vs. the gazillions spent on it (using Hollywood accounting, who knows how much was actually spent of course).
Its also a case of opportunity cost. Money spent on a profitable film may well have been better spent on established IP that is likely to be even more profitable.
dogma wrote: I think that's the crux of the issue. When I asked some of my colleagues if they wanted to go see it they unanimously declined. Mind, my colleagues are all huge nerds that geek out over anything Star Wars or Star Trek related, among other things. As a result I ended up going with a couple guys I used to canvass with who obsess over all things giant robot related.
The point being, of all the people I knew who wanted to see it, I was the only one who found the kaiju themselves at all interesting.
Yep. Giant robots and monsters fighting is a niche within a niche.
Now, I'm not saying it was a bad idea to make this movie because all kinds of niche material gets gambled on successfully (there was a time when only Batman and Superman were considered viable comic book characters for blockbusters, but studios took the punt on X-Men and Iron Man and changed that... in fact there was a time when the first Superman and Batman movies were huge gambles). But in the case of Pacific Rim it looks like this is a gamble that simply didn't pay off.
Its also a case of opportunity cost. Money spent on a profitable film may well have been better spent on established IP that is likely to be even more profitable.
Sure, though not that a lot of the final calculations comes back to the final pay off. A studio can fund another Star Wars movie, and know that $200 million in investment will almost certainly net a healthy box office, but that's all. A new Star Wars will boost merchandising sales but it won't massively change that cash cow. A new IP, even one that doesn't deliver a massive box office, can potentially create all kinds of new merchandising, potentially creating a new cash cow for years to come.
Look at Cars, for instance, which produced a solid but hardly remarkable box office, and is generally considered one of Pixar's more modest efforts. But it's a merchandising juggernaught worth probably in excess of a billion.
When I was a kid, we didn't have cable TV. It was kind of unusual to have it at the time. Instead, we had the WPIX movie of the week on sundays, and I watched a lot of the WPIX movies of the week.
Some were pretty recent, but a lot of them were of the Godzilla variety. Long story short, I think I was kind of pre-destined to like Pacific Rim.
Ouze wrote: When I was a kid, we didn't have cable TV. It was kind of unusual to have it at the time. Instead, we had the WPIX movie of the week on sundays, and I watched a lot of the WPIX movies of the week.
Some were pretty recent, but a lot of them were of the Godzilla variety. Long story short, I think I was kind of pre-destined to like Pacific Rim.
I think this is the case for most people who enjoyed it, they went into the film thinking "YEAH A FILM ABOUT GIANT ROBOTS, THIS WILL BE AWESOME" and came out feeling the same.
I went into the film without any particular predisposition towards giant robots and found it very average.
The point being, of all the people I knew who wanted to see it, I was the only one who found the kaiju themselves at all interesting
Agreed. While I would love a nice Macross style movie, monsters vs. robots is not greatly interesting. I do like the concept enough to rent it later, and its eminently better then many movies out there, just not my thing.
Its also a case of opportunity cost. Money spent on a profitable film may well have been better spent on established IP that is likely to be even more profitable.
So there's hope for you kaiju baka to get your sequel yet.
I stopped finding kaiju entertaining about the age of 8 (spaceships and stuff were better than giant monsters.).
For the record, Star Wars came out when I was 8.
Leave your mancard and testes on the way out. Heard that Wallmart was having a sale on tampons you might want to check that out. And did you actually use the Japanese word Baka? Seriously though bro, the vast majority of men find in this movie something absolutely wonderful and divine for the purposes of bro-time and father-son bonding.
So there's hope for you kaiju baka to get your sequel yet.
I stopped finding kaiju entertaining about the age of 8 (spaceships and stuff were better than giant monsters.).
For the record, Star Wars came out when I was 8.
Leave your mancard and testes on the way out. Heard that Wallmart was having a sale on tampons you might want to check that out. And did you actually use the Japanese word Baka? Seriously though bro, the vast majority of men find in this movie something absolutely wonderful and divine for the purposes of bro-time and father-son bonding.
Except its going to losemoney for the studio so you are what we would call, wrong.
So there's hope for you kaiju baka to get your sequel yet.
I stopped finding kaiju entertaining about the age of 8 (spaceships and stuff were better than giant monsters.).
For the record, Star Wars came out when I was 8.
Leave your mancard and testes on the way out. Heard that Wallmart was having a sale on tampons you might want to check that out. And did you actually use the Japanese word Baka? Seriously though bro, the vast majority of men find in this movie something absolutely wonderful and divine for the purposes of bro-time and father-son bonding.
ThePrimordial wrote: Leave your mancard and testes on the way out. Heard that Wallmart was having a sale on tampons you might want to check that out.
Movie watching as a manly activity? How fat and lazy have we gotten that sitting your ass on a chair and watching a movie is how we judge manliness?
It's not a manly activity and I never implied it was. It just that this is the kind of movie that I honestly can't see a lot of women loving, and also the kind that appeals to a vast number of men.If you're a man and you don't like boatswords, 600 foot monsters, Del Toro, & billion dollar robots and massive amounts of destruction that would make Michael Bay blush (without the raping of your childhood) then you're not the typical man simply put.
So there's hope for you kaiju baka to get your sequel yet.
I stopped finding kaiju entertaining about the age of 8 (spaceships and stuff were better than giant monsters.).
For the record, Star Wars came out when I was 8.
Leave your mancard and testes on the way out. Heard that Wallmart was having a sale on tampons you might want to check that out. And did you actually use the Japanese word Baka? Seriously though bro, the vast majority of men find in this movie something absolutely wonderful and divine for the purposes of bro-time and father-son bonding.
Except its going to losemoney for the studio so you are what we would call, wrong.
No there's still the already successfull NECA toyline (great figures as expected from NECA), the video game (might actually be good), and DVD's. All of these are included in the 180 million budget. Plus Legendary is primarily a group of geeks & they love doing this kind of stuff. There's probably no way they won't at least make their money back (might already have, I for one bought the entire NECA figure set) & if they lose a million or so they won't care as they enjoyed doing it. Legendary isn't the normal soulless Hollywood company you know.
EDIT: probably should have mentioned the massive thousand people showing room I was in was completely full
I think we've made contact with a strange alternate universe where niche geeky films are the pinnacle of masculinity and always make large amounts of money.
In Perth at least, there was about a 50% attendance rate. We've had some pretty good filler (I think though thats cause Sydney gets flattened, and two of the bigger stars have Aussie Accents)
Pacific rim is essentially like Starship troopers the movie. Leave out the politics, leave out your intelligence and just enjoy bashing monsters apart and a bit of fun.
Corpsesarefun wrote: I think we've made contact with a strange alternate universe where niche geeky films are the pinnacle of masculinity and always make large amounts of money.
Whenever I want to do something manly I play full tackle football with my cadre of 6'6 friends. Something I don't see you doing given your avatar. And It's not a niche film based on the showing I was at.
And you never actually made comments or refuted the arguments I made . I'm pretty sure that w/ all the other stuff included in the budget they've probably already made MOST of their money back.
Also Iron man & Transformers did well & they're not niche movies. To the average viewer who doesn't know about kaiju or mecha this will simply like those movies but on a MUCH bigger and more epic scale.
I've just realized you've been looking at this wrong. To the average viewer who knows nothing about kaiju or mecha they'll come for the same reasons they would go to Iron Man or Transformers. The fact that it's Kaiju or Mecha will only matter to a niche that's a small minority in the number of people who like the movie.
Look at Cars, for instance, which produced a solid but hardly remarkable box office, and is generally considered one of Pixar's more modest efforts. But it's a merchandising juggernaught worth probably in excess of a billion.
But that's Pixar and, more importantly, a movie aimed at children. Its difficult to sell merchandise when a film is aimed at adults or, more problematically, a particular group of adults who share a trait that many children would be admonished for.
Why was it pregnant? That makes no sense what so ever
The kaiju were shown to be sapient & they have genders. (that one was female obviously) The one you're talking about was a female called Otachi & I think there was a male Otachi in the comics.
Also they're completely alien so while it doesn't look like a mammal (I know live birth doesn't define mammalian but you know what I mean) but that doesn't mean It isn't a mammal.
Why was it pregnant? That makes no sense what so ever
Spoiler:
At that point in the movie, I think it's implied that the "hive mind" evidently knew that the scientist would go for a fresh brain, so hence the pregnancy to try and eliminate any threat to the brain.
But the movie said they where genetically engineered by the alien race
Also, Dinosaurs didnt have two brains.
Sauropods did. And them being genetically engineered doesn't mean anything. There are multiples of the kaiju shown in the film. Think of it like a production model.
It doesn't and wasn't meant to. The kaiju just got preggers in it's time when it wasn't purging worlds or making Idris Elba look awesome.
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hotsauceman1 wrote: Ok, So what? It said they where grown, like it showed when the guy drifted. They are grown.
If the kaiju were also capable of reproduction it would make them a better fighting force & allow them to replenish their numbers on their own. Growing giant monsters is expensive you know.
ThePrimordial wrote: It's not a manly activity and I never implied it was. It just that this is the kind of movie that I honestly can't see a lot of women loving, and also the kind that appeals to a vast number of men.If you're a man and you don't like boatswords, 600 foot monsters, Del Toro, & billion dollar robots and massive amounts of destruction that would make Michael Bay blush (without the raping of your childhood) then you're not the typical man simply put.
Therefore tampons?
And while most guys love action movies, it's just way out there to claim that typical men must therefore love this particular kind of action movie. And it appears enough men don't love this particular kind of action movie, and the box office is disappointing because of that.
ThePrimordial wrote: It's not a manly activity and I never implied it was. It just that this is the kind of movie that I honestly can't see a lot of women loving, and also the kind that appeals to a vast number of men.If you're a man and you don't like boatswords, 600 foot monsters, Del Toro, & billion dollar robots and massive amounts of destruction that would make Michael Bay blush (without the raping of your childhood) then you're not the typical man simply put.
Therefore tampons?
And while most guys love action movies, it's just way out there to claim that typical men must therefore love this particular kind of action movie. And it appears enough men don't love this particular kind of action movie, and the box office is disappointing because of that.
It's obvious from your avatar that you're not a real man.
ThePrimordial wrote: It's not a manly activity and I never implied it was. It just that this is the kind of movie that I honestly can't see a lot of women loving, and also the kind that appeals to a vast number of men.If you're a man and you don't like boatswords, 600 foot monsters, Del Toro, & billion dollar robots and massive amounts of destruction that would make Michael Bay blush (without the raping of your childhood) then you're not the typical man simply put.
Therefore tampons?
And while most guys love action movies, it's just way out there to claim that typical men must therefore love this particular kind of action movie. And it appears enough men don't love this particular kind of action movie, and the box office is disappointing because of that.
I was making a joke, calm down. Plus there's only him and like three other people who didn't like the movie on this thread.
ThePrimordial wrote: Also Iron man & Transformers did well & they're not niche movies.
Yes they did. And this, to date, hasn't done well. And so the sensible conversation to have would be why those movies did well, and Pacific Rim hasn't.
A lot of it probably comes down to the basics of brand recognition. People know Godzilla, but mostly as an ironic joke (and not helped by that lamentable Matthew Broderick movie), and from they don't really know the rest of the genre at all, and certainly don't care about it.
Whereas Iron Man and Transformers are properties people know. Even if you'd never read an Iron Man comic you likely still know the character, and Transformer toys were owned by probably half the potential audience for that movie, and known by almost all of the rest. And from there you add in film specific factors (Robert Downey Jr suddenly revealed himself as a big a-list drawcard, and for Transformers it appears Michael Bay signed a deal with the devil that means his films always make money).
I've just realized you've been looking at this wrong. To the average viewer who knows nothing about kaiju or mecha they'll come for the same reasons they would go to Iron Man or Transformers. The fact that it's Kaiju or Mecha will only matter to a niche that's a small minority in the number of people who like the movie.
That was probably the theory the producers had when they decided to fund this thing. From the numbers we've seen far, they were wrong. Big robots and big monsters hasn't been the draw they were hoping for.
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dogma wrote: But that's Pixar and, more importantly, a movie aimed at children. Its difficult to sell merchandise when a film is aimed at adults or, more problematically, a particular group of adults who share a trait that many children would be admonished for.
There is an outrageous amount of money in merchandise aimed at older fans. It isn't Cars type money, but then other than Star Wars probably nothing is, and it is still a massive revenue stream.
There's a reason that the studio behind Prometheus decided very late in pre-production to make the film its own thing, the start of a new franchise set. They didn't want to boost Alien merchandise sale, they wanted a whole new line of merchandise they could sell to nerds for the next 50 years.
And it's why the people behind John Carter were already in panic mode a year before the film hit the box office. They took their stills and concept stuff to the toy fairs and couldn't get any interest at all.
Neither the Alien or John Carter franchise were aimed at kids, but both had merchandise as a major part of their business plans.
ThePrimordial wrote: It's not a manly activity and I never implied it was. It just that this is the kind of movie that I honestly can't see a lot of women loving, and also the kind that appeals to a vast number of men.If you're a man and you don't like boatswords, 600 foot monsters, Del Toro, & billion dollar robots and massive amounts of destruction that would make Michael Bay blush (without the raping of your childhood) then you're not the typical man simply put.
Therefore tampons?
And while most guys love action movies, it's just way out there to claim that typical men must therefore love this particular kind of action movie. And it appears enough men don't love this particular kind of action movie, and the box office is disappointing because of that.
It's obvious from your avatar that you're not a real man.
ThePrimordial wrote: I was making a joke, calm down. Plus there's only him and like three other people who didn't like the movie on this thread.
Yeah, but that's the audience that saw the movie. Which is, of course, a self-selecting group of people to whom the material appeals. 'People who like movies about big robots fighting big aliens like a movie about big robots fighting big aliens' is not a very remarkable thing at all. It indicates that this is a well made version of that type, but that should be no surprise considering its a del Toro film.
Meanwhile, judging by the box office, there's a hell of a lot of people out there who aren't very interested in the subject material at all who simply didn't go see this movie. Which is the real story, for anyone who wants to talk about sequels or other similar movies ever getting made.
ThePrimordial wrote: I was making a joke, calm down. Plus there's only him and like three other people who didn't like the movie on this thread.
Yeah, but that's the audience that saw the movie. Which is, of course, a self-selecting group of people to whom the material appeals. 'People who like movies about big robots fighting big aliens like a movie about big robots fighting big aliens' is not a very remarkable thing at all. It indicates that this is a well made version of that type, but that should be no surprise considering its a del Toro film.
Meanwhile, judging by the box office, there's a hell of a lot of people out there who aren't very interested in the subject material at all who simply didn't go see this movie. Which is the real story, for anyone who wants to talk about sequels or other similar movies ever getting made.
So are we ignoring all the other stuff like the NECA toy line, DVD sales, comic sales, Hero-Clix & the fact that people don't go see every movie they would like to.
ThePrimordial wrote: So are we ignoring all the other stuff like the NECA toy line, DVD sales, comic sales, Hero-Clix & the fact that people don't go see every movie they would like to.
No, we're spending a lot of time with you talking around the basic fact that the box office is way below what would be needed to break even, and me trying to remind you of that fact.
Dude, it's okay if a movie you like didn't do very well at the box office. A lot of my favourite movies didn't do well at the box office. But there's no point deciding that you like a movie, and then making up reasons that it must be profitable. You don't get to re-shape the world according to how you'd like it to be.
Corpsesarefun wrote: I think we've made contact with a strange alternate universe where niche geeky films are the pinnacle of masculinity and always make large amounts of money.
I want to point out again that Hellboy 1 only made 1/3 of its budget on opening weekend.
There is an awful lot of "will not" and "can not" being tossed around here for something that isn't remotely set in stone yet.
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sebster wrote: But there's no point deciding that you like a movie, and then making up reasons that it must be profitable. You don't get to re-shape the world according to how you'd like it to be.
Have you read anything about Hollywood accounting for things like this?
Regardless, how much money a film makes isn't indicative of quality... A film can be awesome and not make much money but by the same token a film can be terrible and make a fortune.
If you enjoy a film there is no reason to try and justify it financially, leave that to the film makers.
Hey guys stop liking this movie I heard on the internet that some guy who knows some other guy said that WB told another guy that it screened poorly
so cut it out.
Grundz wrote: Hey guys stop liking this movie I heard on the internet that some guy who knows some other guy said that WB told another guy that it screened poorly
so cut it out.
Which is precisely my point, albeit from the opposite angle.
If a film doesn't do too well at the box office, who gives a feth? If you like it then you like it.
Del Toro is getting a christmas card from me this year, THIS is how you do a summer action movie. I loved it from the second it started till the second it stopped. The plot isn't deep and there's some hollywood cheese here, but that isn't what you're there for, you're in the theater to watch giant robots (with stunning visual design) beat the ever loving hell out of giant monsters (who are also awesome looking). Absolutely fantastic from start to finish. It's not going to change the world, but it is awesome, and sometimes awesome is exactly what you need.
Del Toro is getting a christmas card from me this year, THIS is how you do a summer action movie. I loved it from the second it started till the second it stopped. The plot isn't deep and there's some hollywood cheese here, but that isn't what you're there for, you're in the theater to watch giant robots (with stunning visual design) beat the ever loving hell out of giant monsters (who are also awesome looking). Absolutely fantastic from start to finish. It's not going to change the world, but it is awesome, and sometimes awesome is exactly what you need.
Anyone else feel this was a giant allegory for immigration?
With the wall representing the wall they want to put up at the mexico border, The kaiju destructive immigrants and the robots outlaw patriots?
hotsauceman1 wrote: Anyone else feel this was a giant allegory for immigration?
With the wall representing the wall they want to put up at the mexico border, The kaiju destructive immigrants and the robots outlaw patriots?
I know, but me and my friend starting making jokes about that when their final plan was a giant wall. Seriously why did they think a concrete wall would stop it?
hotsauceman1 wrote: I know, but me and my friend starting making jokes about that when their final plan was a giant wall. Seriously why did they think a concrete wall would stop it?
The wall was phase 1
phase 2 was tax cuts for the rich
Really enjoyed it being honest.
At a basic level, sure its Giant Robots VS Lizards but it had a few nice little sub plots going on, characters were solid and had some of the best CGI I've seen to date in the cinema.
Would have liked to see a bit more funky weaponry, there was a bit two much face punching of said Lizards (I literally burst out laughing when they full nelsoned one) but overall very enjoyable.
ThePrimordial wrote: I was making a joke, calm down. Plus there's only him and like three other people who didn't like the movie on this thread.
Yeah, but that's the audience that saw the movie. Which is, of course, a self-selecting group of people to whom the material appeals. 'People who like movies about big robots fighting big aliens like a movie about big robots fighting big aliens' is not a very remarkable thing at all. It indicates that this is a well made version of that type, but that should be no surprise considering its a del Toro film.
Meanwhile, judging by the box office, there's a hell of a lot of people out there who aren't very interested in the subject material at all who simply didn't go see this movie. Which is the real story, for anyone who wants to talk about sequels or other similar movies ever getting made.
Keep in mind there are several markets it hasn't opened in yet, I mean, Japan doesn't get it until August 9th.
AegisGrimm wrote: The lack of shakey-cam was one of the many things that made this movie awesome.
THat and the fight scenes were actually followable. None of that flash cut to a screen shot flash crap that pervades the third Transformers movie or some of the scenes in World War Z.
They weren't just follow-able. The camera path was really well thought out and creative. I'd actually say the cinematography for the fights was full-on excellent.
I saw it over the weekend, and splurged to see it in IMAX 3D. To anyone who might have a chance to see the movie this way, DO IT!
Really enjoyed it, but after all I was the kind of kid who would sit down with Kaiju toys in hand (Godzilla and Mechagodzilla were my favorites) to watch guys in rubber suits duke it out in giant cardboard/Styrofoam model cities.
Oh, and to anyone who may have thought the story was a little weak (which, I admit, it was) you may want to pick up the novelization of the movie. I've only read a bit into my Kindle version, but I'd put it up there with the novelization of John Carpenter's The Thing, where it does a great job of getting you inside the characters' heads and expanding on the story in ways that movies simply can't.
Kanluwen wrote: I cannot watch things in 3D. It hurts my eyes too much.
This is usually - but not always - my situation. Natively shot movies I don't have a problem with, but the converted ones almost always suck pretty bad.
I think I might try it in 3D anyway because my wife didn't see it, and since I already saw it in 2d if the 3d conversion process ruined it I won't feel like I'm missing stuff.
Rented Tritium wrote: I want to point out again that Hellboy 1 only made 1/3 of its budget on opening weekend.
There is an awful lot of "will not" and "can not" being tossed around here for something that isn't remotely set in stone yet.
Hellboy cost a third of what Pacific Rim cost. At $60 million you can save your bottom line with a really strong DVD audience. That's not as much of an option for a $180 million movie.
Have you read anything about Hollywood accounting for things like this?
It's a bit... weird.
I've read a lot about Hollywood accounting, and talked about it a bit on this very site. And while there's plenty of Hollywood shenanigans out there, it isn't enough to just assume its the case for any given movie. There actually has to be evidence of it. So, with Harry Potter, when the first film was reported to have lost money there's reason to be suspicious, and when we found out the stars had net points, not gross points, well then we know Hollywood accounting is trying to screw the stars out of money. But here we've got a mega-budget effects film with a budget entirely in line with what those kinds of movies cost (actually a bit lower than Battleship or Transformers III). It's just that the box office isn't what a film on that kind of budget could expect to make back.
They've already made over half their money back on the movie itself ( not counting the other stuff ) & when the movie hits Japan it SHOULD make a profit. I love Legenday & their movies they pour thier heart & soul into & I hope this isn't a hit to the upcoming Godzilla movie (w/ a species of Godzillas)
ThePrimordial wrote: They've already made over half their money back on the movie itself ( not counting the other stuff ) & when the movie hits Japan it SHOULD make a profit.
They haven't 'made back half their money'. The film has grossed about half of what it cost to make, of which the studio will only receive some of that back (and much less of the international gross). If the film grosses $180 million worldwide the studio will still be in the hole for somewhere in excess of $50 million.
Right now the only sensible conclusion is that returns for Pacific Rim don't look great. They'll get better when China and Japan open, but the odds of Japan dragging the film in to profitability are not high.
Seriously, I get that you love the movie and love the production company. But that love doesn't change numbers, and you don't get to change the world to what you'd like it to be.
I finally have some time to sit and type out my issues and praises. Potential spoilers below (not really plot-revealing, so imo it's safe to read):
Spoiler:
1) As a Tau player, it annoys me that the Jaeger pilots are such valuable commodities for their battle experience, skill, drift compatibility, drift tolerance, etc, but they're housed in vulnerable areas inside the Jaegers. Why aren't they in heavily fortified bunkers deep within the units?
2) The WORLD ADMINISTRATION opts for a concrete and steel wall that takes a Cat 3 or 4 Kaiju one hour to bust through (in Sydney) over the very successful Jaeger program? What are these people smoking? Really poor writing there. What were they hoping to do if these walls even held? Just have a big party of Kaiju on the outside until they eventually just scaled the walls or busted through with 12 Kaiju running amok afterward hopelessly overpowering whatever defense was left?
3) So, we have every generation of Kaiju evolving and adapting, with thicker carapace/hides, heavier builds, organic weaponry, etc, etc, and we are still using uber-expensive, moderately effective ordnance on these things, then Gippo Danger comes in and offs three Kaiju with a bladed weapon. Why aren't swords and such standard-issue? They are clearly far more effective. Oh I know why they weren't used before, because A JAPANESE PERSON WASN'T INVOLVED IN THE CONSTRUCTION RIGHT?!
4) If these 'colonists' (such cliched writing there btw. Talk about a canned story) are so advanced and skilled biologists/scientists, why not just engineer a plague to wipe us out? Clearly they aren't out to harvest us, their goal is to exterminate our asses. Just design a disease and end us all in a few years.
The story was pretty weak, and my friend and I facepalmed several times at it. The young scientist Geiszler drove me absolutely bonkers with his high-pitched whiny little bitch voice, but I actually liked Gottlieb. I sort of felt like there were too many attempts at comic relief that just didn't work well. They killed off several of the best dang characters in the movie and they just shouldn't have done that because they had so much potential for further development. I did enjoy the film for what it was though - just a couple hours of mindless smash 'em up fun. The visuals were obviously the best part of the movie, really cool fight scenes and all, especially the penultimate encounter involving the 3 Jaegers and the double-event Kaiju.
Basically I give this movie a 6/10. Worth watching once.
I thought the film was awesome, really enjoyed the show.
The only thing i wouldhave liked, and this is more personal taste would have been a few more Jaegers in use, even 2-3 more. Also to see the supposed 'elite' crews do somethig more than get a little show time of saying how awesome they are then being torn up so quickly.
I would also have liked some of the Jaegers to be equipped for ranged combat, and those more elite close combat guys shielding them.
though that just might be because i'd love to see a huge mech firefight in the city vs all those lovely creatures
PrehistoricUFO wrote:I finally have some time to sit and type out my issues and praises. Potential spoilers below (not really plot-revealing, so imo it's safe to read):
Spoiler:
PrehistoricUFO wrote:1) As a Tau player, it annoys me that the Jaeger pilots are such valuable commodities for their battle experience, skill, drift compatibility, drift tolerance, etc, but they're housed in vulnerable areas inside the Jaegers. Why aren't they in heavily fortified bunkers deep within the units?
The soft answer is that the writing requires there to be some element of danger or else we would completely lose interest (see: Superman fighting Zod). The more substantial answer, however, is that the Jaegers are meant to represent us by proxy: while giant steel robots, we need to associate with them. Hence, they are given athropomorphic elements such as names, unique "personalities" (as in, armaments, design and fighting styles) and are made to represent us not only as our last, best hope but as the physical manifestations of such in the form of our own simulacra. Thus, the elements of danger to us must also be represented in the Jaegers. When our heads come off, it's over. Such as it is with the Jaegers, lest we find fault in their ability to be our avatars and begin to dissociate from them.
PrehistoricUFO wrote:2) The WORLD ADMINISTRATION opts for a concrete and steel wall that takes a Cat 3 or 4 Kaiju one hour to bust through (in Sydney) over the very successful Jaeger program? What are these people smoking? Really poor writing there. What were they hoping to do if these walls even held? Just have a big party of Kaiju on the outside until they eventually just scaled the walls or busted through with 12 Kaiju running amok afterward hopelessly overpowering whatever defense was left?
There were many ham-fisted social commentaries present in the film, and the concept of being invaded by foreign hordes and abandoning ideas that might work (and may have in the past) in favour of simply building an ineffective wall to keep them out is not the least on-the-nose of those commentaries. While this is not a defense of the writing quality, it is a contextual explanation for the actual defense of the writing: it is a very basic, very easy-to-understand idea that can be translated into other languages for a world market with little difficulty. It's much harder to write a story that comes up with more complex political motivations for scrapping the Jaeger program because of the need to translate the writing to other languages. The more complex the exposition (or worse: subtext!) is, the more likely it will be lost in translation.
However, even from an artistic standpoint, the wall was meant to be a hypocritical gesture of hubris, in the belief that the wall would work where the Jaegers failed (also due to hubris).
PrehistoricUFO wrote:3) So, we have every generation of Kaiju evolving and adapting, with thicker carapace/hides, heavier builds, organic weaponry, etc, etc, and we are still using uber-expensive, moderately effective ordnance on these things, then Gippo Danger comes in and offs three Kaiju with a bladed weapon. Why aren't swords and such standard-issue? They are clearly far more effective. Oh I know why they weren't used before, because A JAPANESE PERSON WASN'T INVOLVED IN THE CONSTRUCTION RIGHT?!
Yeah, this part bothere me, too. I understand that it may be a nod to old anime such as Voltron, the original Gundam Wing or even Samurai Pizza Cats, wherein only at the last moment does the giant heroic robot pull out the kill-everything-instantly-sword and defeat its enemies. However, it was still an annoyance to see it, considering it did function as an "easy button", when the Jaeger spend so much time punching for little effect.
PrehistoricUFO wrote:4) If these 'colonists' (such cliched writing there btw. Talk about a canned story) are so advanced and skilled biologists/scientists, why not just engineer a plague to wipe us out? Clearly they aren't out to harvest us, their goal is to exterminate our asses. Just design a disease and end us all in a few years.
Do you know what the problem with plagues is? They're really hard to contain, and they tend to mutate and adapt. No advanced scientific species would be unaware of this facet. Further, if the Kaiju hadn't been here since the late Cretaceous, then it is unlikely that they would have been able to engineer a specialized plague for just us; they would likely be working with viruses that kill them, and perhaps kill us by coincidence. However, that completely defeats the purpose of a plague as you've suggested it.
PrehistoricUFO wrote:The story was pretty weak, and my friend and I facepalmed several times at it. The young scientist Geiszler drove me absolutely bonkers with his high-pitched whiny little bitch voice, but I actually liked Gottlieb. I sort of felt like there were too many attempts at comic relief that just didn't work well. They killed off several of the best dang characters in the movie and they just shouldn't have done that because they had so much potential for further development. I did enjoy the film for what it was though - just a couple hours of mindless smash 'em up fun. The visuals were obviously the best part of the movie, really cool fight scenes and all, especially the penultimate encounter involving the 3 Jaegers and the double-event Kaiju.
I wanted to cringe at some of the attempted comedic relief moments, but I tend to be lenient on films like this, which was clearly hoping for a massive box office in Asian countries as well as North America. As a result, the movie has to be geared towards those markets, which I'm sorry to say, often emply Three Stooges levels of humour to their lowest-common-demoninator. Perhaps that is a result of witty wordplay generally not translating well at all, or perhaps it is just a cultural compromise. In any event, it's quite common to see that kind of comedic relief writing appearing in films aimed at the global box office, and not just North America. So while I don't disagree with you on many things here, I feel context is a mitigating factor.
PrehistoricUFO wrote:Basically I give this movie a 6/10. Worth watching once.
I'll give it a solid 8 on its own; and bump that up to an 8.5 when adjusting for the global box office (because it's not fair to just a film that depends on a world audience against one that sometimes feels like it was written for me personally, like The Royal Tenenbaums, Fight Club or No Country For Old Men). Those latter films didn't need to make 180 million just to get their production costs even, and then likely another 180 million to recoup the media and advertising fees. Pacific Rim, however, does need to. And so it has to adapt slightly and be marketed for a global audience.
Also: compare this to any kaiju movie or even a disasterporn film, and you'll quickly find that it's probably the best one of either genres.
azazel the cat wrote: I'll give it a solid 8 on its own; and bump that up to an 8.5 when adjusting for the global box office (because it's not fair to just a film that depends on a world audience against one that sometimes feels like it was written for me personally, like The Royal Tenenbaums, Fight Club or No Country For Old Men). Those latter films didn't need to make 180 million just to get their production costs even, and then likely another 180 million to recoup the media and advertising fees. Pacific Rim, however, does need to. And so it has to adapt slightly and be marketed for a global audience.
Also: compare this to any kaiju movie or even a disasterporn film, and you'll quickly find that it's probably the best one of either genres.
Heh. First up, that list of films that were written for you personally is also a pretty fair selection of films that I think were written for me personally
Secondly, Fight Club cost a 100 million*. It needed to make massive worldwide bank to break even, and really, really didn't get it. When I was writing earlier about my favourite movies that lost lots of money, I thought about mentioning Fight Club.
*Basically Brad Pitt got slated to work on the film as a low budget piece, taking a massive cut from his normal rate of pay, at which point everyone else who worked on the film would take a similar cut... basically everyone making the film because it was great art, and also because being attached to great art is a huge career boost. Then Pitt said he wasn't taking a pay cut, so no-one else could be asked to take a cut, and the budget exploded to be an a list production. The FOX studio execs decided they'd greenlight it anyway despite knowing it was never going to make money, and then when the director David Fincher did his thing and production costs got even higher the execs took to hiding the final cost of the production Rupert Murdoch. The film did about as much business as a pscycho-drama filled with religious and anarchist philosophy can expect to do at the box office, and Rupert fired the gak out of everyone involved in greenlighting the project. But it's still a great movie.
With the exception of No Country For Old Men (thanks to its Oscar hype), all the films I listed bombed at the box office. However, the points still stands that they didn't need to make Batman-levels of money. Even Fight Club, whose budget ballooned, still didn't need to make all that much in order to turn a profit (comparatively). Pacific Rim, however, is closer to the Avatar levels of return required. Hence, the borderline-slapstick humour and pedestrian symbolism.
Keep in in mind that in Japan, slapstick is still by far the most popular form of comedy.
As for the movie, yeah, most of the story elements could have been completely removed and it wouldn't have changed the movie.
The mis-use of equipment was annoying. (how about softening up targets before engaging in close combat?)
Something else that I find EXTREMELY annoying in almost any type of disaster/monster movie or whatever... Why are jet fighters/bombers always flying within 20 meters of the enemy to fire cannons with ranges of up to 5km and missiles with ranges of over 10km? There would never have lost a plane to these things if there was an actual pilot in there.
As usual, the military was wholly mis-represented like in every disaster movie.
With all that said, non of those issues impacted my actual enjoyment of the movie. I just hope it opens the door for more big budget mecha movies. I want a mechwarrior/battletech or Armored Core live action movie, now.
azazel the cat wrote: Mise-en-scene. Because actual jets fire at tiny specks on their radar from many kilometers away; and this does not make for an exciting-looking scene.
It does make for an immersion breaking intro to your movie though. Besides, I enjoy seeing missiles smacking into the target at range more then pilots flying like they are playing BF3.
Also, one more thing I don't get about the movie.
The mark 3 was at least 5 years old in this movie, the original Mark 3 had a very potent plasma cannon which was apparently developed within a couple of years of the first invasion.
Would it really have been so hard to start mounting those things on the walls, tanks, planes, whatever. The things proved themselves to be extremely effective at killing Kaiju, how about using them more.
I don't remember see a single pilot in Pacific Rim attempt to turn during takeoff and crash into the ground sideways moments later.
I think you're thinking of WWI-era dogfights; not Battlefield.
I assumed the plasma cannon was a relatively short-range weapon, considering it was only ever used whilst grappling with the Kaiju... akin to using an acetylene torch in a clinch.
Rented Tritium wrote: I want to point out again that Hellboy 1 only made 1/3 of its budget on opening weekend.
There is an awful lot of "will not" and "can not" being tossed around here for something that isn't remotely set in stone yet.
Hellboy cost a third of what Pacific Rim cost. At $60 million you can save your bottom line with a really strong DVD audience. That's not as much of an option for a $180 million movie.
Have you read anything about Hollywood accounting for things like this?
It's a bit... weird.
I've read a lot about Hollywood accounting, and talked about it a bit on this very site. And while there's plenty of Hollywood shenanigans out there, it isn't enough to just assume its the case for any given movie. There actually has to be evidence of it. So, with Harry Potter, when the first film was reported to have lost money there's reason to be suspicious, and when we found out the stars had net points, not gross points, well then we know Hollywood accounting is trying to screw the stars out of money. But here we've got a mega-budget effects film with a budget entirely in line with what those kinds of movies cost (actually a bit lower than Battleship or Transformers III). It's just that the box office isn't what a film on that kind of budget could expect to make back.
I..er..agree...with Sebster. I think I have to go lie down.
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ThePrimordial wrote: They've already made over half their money back on the movie itself ( not counting the other stuff ) & when the movie hits Japan it SHOULD make a profit. I love Legenday & their movies they pour thier heart & soul into & I hope this isn't a hit to the upcoming Godzilla movie (w/ a species of Godzillas)
No. It cost $180mm to make and $175mm to market. If you're interested, go to the movie. Enjoy the movie. Rent the movie. But there's no way it makes enough money to have a sequel unless its some direct to video horror. Thats ok. The best movies should not have sequels OR REMAKES!!!!
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azazel the cat wrote: Mise-en-scene. Because actual jets fire at tiny specks on their radar from many kilometers away; and this does not make for an exciting-looking scene.
In contrast Spielberg did an excellent version of this. The main character sees potential bad news over the hill, then BOOM BOOM BOOM missiles blow the crap out of something and aircraft blast past at really high speed followed by whoosh whoosh and multiple helicopters coming in slower shooting at the same something.
Cloverfield also did a nice bomber strike (strangely with a B2).
Of course thats my problem with these scenarios. We have nukes and bunker busters, but a giant vulnerable robot can punch something to death? Ok... (thats not going to stop me from renting it based on the reviews but I wouldn't otherwise see it).
Would it really have been so hard to start mounting those things on the walls, tanks, planes, whatever. The things proved themselves to be extremely effective at killing Kaiju, how about using them more.
The plasma cannon needed to charge up for a good number of seconds, despite being hooked directly to a nuclear power plant. I think it's safe to say it needs a completely silly amount of power to fire, which complicates things and provides a handwave.
No its doesn't actually. You shouldn't put a weapon in punching distance of a giant monster then no? Put it on a cruiser or a submarine or a 747.
Probably shouldn't argue this too much though because its the mega shark being jumped over that can't be explained away. Better to go "ew did you see hwo he punched that monster RIGHT IN THE FACE!!!" excellent.
Frazzled wrote: No its doesn't actually. You shouldn't put a weapon in punching distance of a giant monster then no? Put it on a cruiser or a submarine or a 747.
Probably shouldn't argue this too much though because its the mega shark being jumped over that can't be explained away. Better to go "ew did you see hwo he punched that monster RIGHT IN THE FACE!!!" excellent.
I think you should test this theory with some GI-joe vehicles and a bath tub to see how effective tiny machines are vs giant people
Frazzled wrote: No its doesn't actually. You shouldn't put a weapon in punching distance of a giant monster then no? Put it on a cruiser or a submarine or a 747.
Probably shouldn't argue this too much though because its the mega shark being jumped over that can't be explained away. Better to go "ew did you see hwo he punched that monster RIGHT IN THE FACE!!!" excellent.
I think you should test this theory with some GI-joe vehicles and a bath tub to see how effective tiny machines are vs giant people
Wait you think I haven't? The worst giant monster born is a yellow rubber ducky! "OH NO ITS DUCKASAURUS!!!""
Rented Tritium wrote: I mean, 100% realistically, they would have backed up the jagers with long range firepower and mines.
100$ realistically power increases with cross sectional area while weight increases with length/and cross section, if they were possible at all the jaegers would look like really, really stout dwarves.
Rented Tritium wrote: I mean, 100% realistically, they would have backed up the jagers with long range firepower and mines.
100$ realistically power increases with cross sectional area while weight increases with length/and cross section, if they were possible at all the jaegers would look like really, really stout dwarves.
Yep, so we've clearly given up on "realistically" before the movie was made.
Frazzled wrote: No its doesn't actually. You shouldn't put a weapon in punching distance of a giant monster then no? Put it on a cruiser or a submarine or a 747.
Probably shouldn't argue this too much though because its the mega shark being jumped over that can't be explained away. Better to go "ew did you see hwo he punched that monster RIGHT IN THE FACE!!!" excellent.
I think you should test this theory with some GI-joe vehicles and a bath tub to see how effective tiny machines are vs giant people
Wait you think I haven't? The worst giant monster born is a yellow rubber ducky! "OH NO ITS DUCKASAURUS!!!""
Actually.... yeah a really large, self righting sea vehicle with a durable hull would be fantastic against the jaegers.
Frazzled wrote: No its doesn't actually. You shouldn't put a weapon in punching distance of a giant monster then no? Put it on a cruiser or a submarine or a 747.
Probably shouldn't argue this too much though because its the mega shark being jumped over that can't be explained away. Better to go "ew did you see hwo he punched that monster RIGHT IN THE FACE!!!" excellent.
I think you should test this theory with some GI-joe vehicles and a bath tub to see how effective tiny machines are vs giant people
Wait you think I haven't? The worst giant monster born is a yellow rubber ducky! "OH NO ITS DUCKASAURUS!!!""
Actually.... yeah a really large, self righting sea vehicle with a durable hull would be fantastic against the jaegers.
I refuse to suspend disbelief in a movie about giant robots with missle powered fists fighting sea lizards from outer space
For me it's not about suspending belief, obviously that is a given with these kinds of movies. I think just having to suspend belief doesn't mean you get to ignore common knowledge and simple tactics.
Sadly, hollywood always disagrees.
Oh, and as for the plasma cannon requiring a lot of power.... pretty sure it's a lot easier to get lots of power in a stationairy position instead of a moving unconnected vehicle.
I am still dissapointed by the lack of railgun in this movie.
Rented Tritium wrote: I mean, 100% realistically, they would have backed up the jagers with long range firepower and mines.
100$ realistically power increases with cross sectional area while weight increases with length/and cross section, if they were possible at all the jaegers would look like really, really stout dwarves.
Megargants vs. giant monsters! Its Epic Orks vs. Nids!
Oh, and as for the plasma cannon requiring a lot of power.... pretty sure it's a lot easier to get lots of power in a stationairy position instead of a moving unconnected vehicle.
I think it would actually be harder to put guns that use that much power all along a wall. That means you have to be able to provide that much juice to any one of a hundred places along a stretch of wall on command. You'll need thousands of copies of some of those electrical components. The fact that the power plant is right there 20 feet from the gun on the jaeger is actually a huge design advantage vs the MASSIVE cabling project required to line a wall with them.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Think about the Mako cannon in FF7. That's the kind of cabling you would need and you'd have to put these guns all over the place to make them as effective as a single portable gun.
hotsauceman1 wrote: Anyone else feel this was a giant allegory for immigration?
With the wall representing the wall they want to put up at the mexico border, The kaiju destructive immigrants and the robots outlaw patriots?
....no
Just no.
Kaiju Eiga, which Pacific Rim is an unashamed love letter to, has it's own allegorical purposes, but they have nothing to do with immigration. You want zombie movies, at the end of the hallway. For Kaiju Eiga, and especially the first Godzilla movie, you're looking at something a little bigger then immigrants, we're talking about the use of nuclear weapons, the terror of watching in horror, helpless as your home is destroyed by this force of nature... and again in the particular case of the first Godzilla film the Pacific Theater of WW2 is pretty much the film's story arc. There's more details to it, and plenty of interpretation, especially for Godzilla movies, so the allegory of Kaiju Eiga (particularly in the sense of Daikaiju, giant monsters) could be send to be dealing with massive forces beyond your control, destruction at incomprehensible levels, etc. Pacific Rim follows those allegories but adds the more modern trait of rebelling against such forces. (WE ARE CANCELING THE APOCALYPSE)
Oh, and as for the plasma cannon requiring a lot of power.... pretty sure it's a lot easier to get lots of power in a stationairy position instead of a moving unconnected vehicle.
I think it would actually be harder to put guns that use that much power all along a wall. That means you have to be able to provide that much juice to any one of a hundred places along a stretch of wall on command. You'll need thousands of copies of some of those electrical components. The fact that the power plant is right there 20 feet from the gun on the jaeger is actually a huge design advantage vs the MASSIVE cabling project required to line a wall with them.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Think about the Mako cannon in FF7. That's the kind of cabling you would need and you'd have to put these guns all over the place to make them as effective as a single portable gun.
I have no clue what a Mako cannon is.
Also, I doubt cabling would be a massive issue when they are capable of making something like a jaeger. Also, they wouldn't have to place that many, you could just go for a few massive ones to extend their range, powerplant could be as big as they want.
Oh, and as for the plasma cannon requiring a lot of power.... pretty sure it's a lot easier to get lots of power in a stationairy position instead of a moving unconnected vehicle.
I think it would actually be harder to put guns that use that much power all along a wall. That means you have to be able to provide that much juice to any one of a hundred places along a stretch of wall on command. You'll need thousands of copies of some of those electrical components. The fact that the power plant is right there 20 feet from the gun on the jaeger is actually a huge design advantage vs the MASSIVE cabling project required to line a wall with them.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Think about the Mako cannon in FF7. That's the kind of cabling you would need and you'd have to put these guns all over the place to make them as effective as a single portable gun.
I have no clue what a Mako cannon is.
Also, I doubt cabling would be a massive issue when they are capable of making something like a jaeger. Also, they wouldn't have to place that many, you could just go for a few massive ones to extend their range, powerplant could be as big as they want.
Also, I doubt cabling would be a massive issue when they are capable of making something like a jaeger. Also, they wouldn't have to place that many, you could just go for a few massive ones to extend their range, powerplant could be as big as they want.
Because the solution to everything is just adding more powerplants, this is why we're launching spacecraft with ion lasers now
Also, I doubt cabling would be a massive issue when they are capable of making something like a jaeger. Also, they wouldn't have to place that many, you could just go for a few massive ones to extend their range, powerplant could be as big as they want.
Because the solution to everything is just adding more powerplants, this is why we're launching spacecraft with ion lasers now
Also, I doubt cabling would be a massive issue when they are capable of making something like a jaeger. Also, they wouldn't have to place that many, you could just go for a few massive ones to extend their range, powerplant could be as big as they want.
Because the solution to everything is just adding more powerplants, this is why we're launching spacecraft with ion lasers now
When in doubt, MOAR POWAH!
You know thats my solution too but darkinit really dislikes it when I crash his minecraft servers
Also, I doubt cabling would be a massive issue when they are capable of making something like a jaeger. Also, they wouldn't have to place that many, you could just go for a few massive ones to extend their range, powerplant could be as big as they want.
Because the solution to everything is just adding more powerplants, this is why we're launching spacecraft with ion lasers now
When in doubt, MOAR POWAH!
You know thats my solution too but darkinit really dislikes it when I crash his minecraft servers
I gotta admit that I normally loathe 3D movies because they rarely look like more than a magic eye puzzle to me, but Pacific Rim is one of the extremely rare cases where it actually looked fantastic in 3D. I was very surprised at that.
I loved the great angles on the big things which make them feel a lot bigger. But since everyone is gushing about how good it is, anything I say will be repeats, so here's what I disliked.
-The guy's before-battle speech. "Today, we cancel the apocalypse!" Really? How about "Today we trip over the apocalypse's power cord and SHUT IT OFF!"
-The two scientists. Both were walking stereotypes that didn't feel natural.
-Predictable story + action hero love interest. Everyone's gotta have one.
-No one was supporting the jaegers. Shouldn't there be entire squadrons of planes giving this robot some fire support?
-The opening scene that mentions and shows the kaiju being turned into toys. It's okay to say constant victories were making humanity take kaiju less seriously, but that was going too far. Took a lot of umph out of knifehead's big moment.
-Mentioning the dinosaurs were attacked by the Kaiju. I was like "what?" How does that add to the story? It's extra baggage that creates a ton of questions. So the alien civilization is 65 million+ years old and giant monsters is the best they can do?
CuddlySquig wrote:I loved the great angles on the big things which make them feel a lot bigger. But since everyone is gushing about how good it is, anything I say will be repeats, so here's what I disliked.
-The guy's before-battle speech. "Today, we cancel the apocalypse!" Really? How about "Today we trip over the apocalypse's power cord and SHUT IT OFF!"
-The two scientists. Both were walking stereotypes that didn't feel natural.
-Predictable story + action hero love interest. Everyone's gotta have one.
-No one was supporting the jaegers. Shouldn't there be entire squadrons of planes giving this robot some fire support?
-The opening scene that mentions and shows the kaiju being turned into toys. It's okay to say constant victories were making humanity take kaiju less seriously, but that was going too far. Took a lot of umph out of knifehead's big moment.
It's okay though, I still liked it *cuddles*
I think the lack of fire support is tied to the hubris (hence, it becoming akin to a sport) and thus it was never Knifehead's big moment, any more than Icarus' fall was the Sun's big moment..
The scientist who wasn't English (I don't even bother learning movie characters by name) was a total Egon Stetman clone (SC2). He even had a big tank full of throbbing alien tissue that had grasping tentacles
CuddlySquig wrote: The scientist who wasn't English (I don't even bother learning movie characters by name) was a total Egon Stetman clone (SC2). He even had a big tank full of throbbing alien tissue that had grasping tentacles
And SC2 totally ripped off 40k!
Saw it, enjoyed it. Especially when the flying Kaiju kept smashing the Jaeger into the tops of buildings.
CuddlySquig wrote: I loved the great angles on the big things which make them feel a lot bigger. But since everyone is gushing about how good it is, anything I say will be repeats, so here's what I disliked.
-No one was supporting the jaegers. Shouldn't there be entire squadrons of planes giving this robot some fire support?
-The opening scene that mentions and shows the kaiju being turned into toys. It's okay to say constant victories were making humanity take kaiju less seriously, but that was going too far. Took a lot of umph out of knifehead's big moment.
-Mentioning the dinosaurs were attacked by the Kaiju. I was like "what?" How does that add to the story? It's extra baggage that creates a ton of questions. So the alien civilization is 65 million+ years old and giant monsters is the best they can do?
It's okay though, I still liked it *cuddles*
To the first, remember all those old kaiju movies (if you've seen them), when the Japanese launch waves of missiles and their special anti-kaiju weaponry and it does nothing? Same thing here. It's explained in the book that it took 3 tactical nukes, in rapid succession, to bring down Trespasser, which was a Class I. By the time we get to Knifehead (the largest Class III by that time), conventional weaponry was completely useless. And the world decided that nukes weren't going to cut it after they managed to take down the first half dozen Kaiju that appeared.
Second, Knifehead appeared in 2020, which was after the whole Jaeger-craze, and when the Jaegers started to lose their effectiveness. If anything, losing Gipsy Danger to Knifehead was a bigger blow.
Third, dunno if it makes it any better, but the book takes it that the Dinosaurs were actually the Precursor's first experiments in creating Kaiju, but the Earth's atmosphere wasn't right yet so they waited, switched over to silicon-based lifeforms, and made them a whole lot bigger (apparently time moves differently on the other side of the Breach, too). And remember that those Giant monsters were pretty effective, especially when they started getting bigger and meaner.
I am often irritated at the implementation, but this was one of the ones I have been really happy with. It was obviously meant to be seen that way (at least as a deliberate thought, instead of a post-production gimmick) which made pieces simply amazing to watch.
I never really felt the odd disconnect that movies instigate when moved to 3d post-production. Occasional pieces seemed to move oddly in 3d but I am not certain they were not intentional - I talked with my lady about some odd paralax issues in some of the drift sequences, but we could not really determine if it was oddities in filming or deliberate shifting given the sequence.
Just saw it. This movie hit just about all the right buttons for me. I'm really struggling to find complaints that don't feel nit-picky to me. I tend to be one of those folks who have trouble with suspension of disbelief, so I knew I was watching some special when they dragged that boat in and instead of anything smarmy all I was thinking was "YEAH! HIT IT WITH THE BOAT!".
I'm thinking I really need to hit Barnes and Noble and get the book. It sounds like it is the usual case where the novelization adds tons more interesting commentary.
I tend to be one of those folks who have trouble with suspension of disbelief, so I knew I was watching some special when they dragged that boat in and instead of anything smarmy all I was thinking was "YEAH! HIT IT WITH THE BOAT!".
The people who enjoyed the movie are the ones who are satisfied with that being the entire point of the movie- to indulge you inner 10 year old. I mean, c'mon......shipping containers as brass knuckles? Hell yeah.
AegisGrimm wrote: I'm thinking I really need to hit Barnes and Noble and get the book. It sounds like it is the usual case where the novelization adds tons more interesting commentary.
I tend to be one of those folks who have trouble with suspension of disbelief, so I knew I was watching some special when they dragged that boat in and instead of anything smarmy all I was thinking was "YEAH! HIT IT WITH THE BOAT!".
The people who enjoyed the movie are the ones who are satisfied with that being the entire point of the movie- to indulge you inner 10 year old. I mean, c'mon......shipping containers as brass knuckles? Hell yeah.
Well there was bit more to it than that for me. Certainly it was simple movie by any standard, nothing deep or complex about it. However in addition to the action I just enjoyed the fact that in a sea of gritty, dark, somber and cynical here that this was willing to be unabashedly straight forward and positive in its themes.
This movie felt a lot like Independence Day to me. Another movie which I love, that the stuffy types just always seem to be willing to bash. Whatever. It's awesome, silly and is actually kind of saying something nice with all its OTT ham-fisted fun.
Sure, the acting was so hammy it made BRIAN BLESSED look modest, sure the story was extremely simplistic, but I don't care-I came for a B movie with today's technology, and that's what I got. And it was glorious.
No doubt this film will be ripped apart by the stuck-up, snobby, over-paid and often bribed scumbags that call themselves critics, much the same way the Transformers movies were, but they can get stepped on by a Jaeger for all I care. This movie was pure unadulterated awesome, and that's not something we see very often anymore.
The 3d was okay and action was good but I thought the rest was quite cringe worthy to be honest, and the plot was cheezy. I've seen better Mecha movies.
The Grumpy Eldar wrote: The 3d was okay and action was good but I thought the rest was quite cringe worthy to be honest, and the plot was cheezy. I've seen better Mecha movies.
Which ones? I honestly didn't think there were any non-anime mecha movies since Robot Jox. If there were, I'd love to see them.
Which ones? I honestly didn't think there were any non-anime mecha movies since Robot Jox. If there were, I'd love to see them.
The Iron Giant, Real Steel, Robocop. Well they ain't got giant robots in them so, except for The Iron Giant.
I rather keep my giant robots in my anime and games though where it's the most logical.
I ain't saying the movie was bad, but it certainly wasn't my cup 'o soup
The Grumpy Eldar wrote: The 3d was okay and action was good but I thought the rest was quite cringe worthy to be honest, and the plot was cheezy. I've seen better Mecha movies.
Which ones? I honestly didn't think there were any non-anime mecha movies since Robot Jox. If there were, I'd love to see them.
Robot Wars was a sequal to Robot Jox, so there's that.
Which ones? I honestly didn't think there were any non-anime mecha movies since Robot Jox. If there were, I'd love to see them.
The Iron Giant, Real Steel, Robocop. Well they ain't got giant robots in them so, except for The Iron Giant.
I rather keep my giant robots in my anime and games though where it's the most logical.
I ain't saying the movie was bad, but it certainly wasn't my cup 'o soup
azazel the cat wrote: With the exception of No Country For Old Men (thanks to its Oscar hype), all the films I listed bombed at the box office. However, the points still stands that they didn't need to make Batman-levels of money. Even Fight Club, whose budget ballooned, still didn't need to make all that much in order to turn a profit (comparatively). Pacific Rim, however, is closer to the Avatar levels of return required. Hence, the borderline-slapstick humour and pedestrian symbolism.
Yeah, I wasn't disagreeing with you. Your point that when you've got a film with this kind of investment then you need large audiences and international audiences, and unfortunately the only way to ensure a film works for all cultures is to use easy humour and simplistic storytelling.
I was just saying your list of films that feel like they were personally written for you is quite close to my own, and that Fight Club was actually a pretty big budget film for the time.
And yeah, Fight Club didn't need to make Batman level money to break even. But it fell miles short of the budget it did need, so much so that of all the films mentioned so far, it's the only one whose performance got about half the board of FOX fired.
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Soladrin wrote: Keep in in mind that in Japan, slapstick is still by far the most popular form of comedy.
As for the movie, yeah, most of the story elements could have been completely removed and it wouldn't have changed the movie.
The mis-use of equipment was annoying. (how about softening up targets before engaging in close combat?)
Something else that I find EXTREMELY annoying in almost any type of disaster/monster movie or whatever... Why are jet fighters/bombers always flying within 20 meters of the enemy to fire cannons with ranges of up to 5km and missiles with ranges of over 10km? There would never have lost a plane to these things if there was an actual pilot in there.
As usual, the military was wholly mis-represented like in every disaster movie.
With all that said, non of those issues impacted my actual enjoyment of the movie. I just hope it opens the door for more big budget mecha movies. I want a mechwarrior/battletech or Armored Core live action movie, now.
I've always wanted to a see a movie where the alien/demon/robot/whatever horde shows up, and the military just kicks in to gear and sets about beating them in a proper, honest to goodness war. None of this 'our planes are ineffective because we fly so close that the sea monsters can punch us' nonsense. Just proper, honest to goodness war porn, with a skilled and professional modern military taking on the alien/demon/robot/whatever horde.
I mean, we've been doing this war thing for thousands of years now, and are now applying all kinds of crazy science and industrial skills to producing some incredible weapons of war. Let's celebrate that properly.
CuddlySquig wrote: I loved the great angles on the big things which make them feel a lot bigger. But since everyone is gushing about how good it is, anything I say will be repeats, so here's what I disliked.
-The guy's before-battle speech. "Today, we cancel the apocalypse!" Really? How about "Today we trip over the apocalypse's power cord and SHUT IT OFF!"
-The two scientists. Both were walking stereotypes that didn't feel natural.
-Predictable story + action hero love interest. Everyone's gotta have one.
-No one was supporting the jaegers. Shouldn't there be entire squadrons of planes giving this robot some fire support?
-The opening scene that mentions and shows the kaiju being turned into toys. It's okay to say constant victories were making humanity take kaiju less seriously, but that was going too far. Took a lot of umph out of knifehead's big moment.
-Mentioning the dinosaurs were attacked by the Kaiju. I was like "what?" How does that add to the story? It's extra baggage that creates a ton of questions. So the alien civilization is 65 million+ years old and giant monsters is the best they can do?
It's okay though, I still liked it *cuddles*
I was thinking the same thing about the Dinosaurs until a second later I started thinking, okay, I'm sitting here watching a movie with giant robots bashing monsters up the side of their head with ships. I guess I can say that there is some kind of effect where time is all scawompas between the dimensions. Either way it was a fun show, eh?
hotsauceman1 wrote: I know, but me and my friend starting making jokes about that when their final plan was a giant wall. Seriously why did they think a concrete wall would stop it?
If I recall correctly, when you see the first shots of the wall, you see some fairly massive gun emplacements on top as well. Remember how it took like 6 days and 3 destroyed cities to kill Trespasser? I believe the idea is to slow them down and pound them for hours with everything they've got mounted on the wall (along with conventional forces I suppose; artillery and aircraft, etc). Still might take hours to put them down.
As for what good was it for?
Spoiler:
Seems the Jaegers had been keeping them back, if at significant losses. This was the first test, and it failed spectacularly, especially since the Kaiju 'design team' had decided to throw down one specifically meant for battering through the ramparts.
As for why the 3D looked awesome, instead of the "month or two" rush job that a lot of post-conversion 3D upgrades take, GdT had a team spend 40 weeks doing the conversion.
Also, in a mere 9 days the international gross is now nearly $179m (over 62m domestic). Perhaps the chicken-little'ing can cease now? Yes, the studio only gets like 2/3 of that and it's before the marketing budget, but it's also not including merchandise and DVD sales, which I doubt will be a drop in the bucket. No, it's not the next billion dollar blockbuster, but unless we see a bunch of that "hollywood accounting" in action, it doesn't seem to be a giant money pit either.
Hell, it's not even out in a dozen countries yet, including China (July 31st) and Japan (August 9th).
Anyway, saw this film opening night with two friends, and we loved it. I agree that it's worth seeing in 3D, assuming such films don't leave you with a splitting migraine afterwards, as I know they do for some people. The performances were what I expected (with some surprise stand outs, particularly 'little Mako' and Idris Elba. The action was true to the roots they were drawing from, and done with a sense of scale and spectacle I really appreciated. Was it unrealistic? Of course. The bipedal form is terrible at that scale. Supporting that much mass on the rough 4% of its surface area (which I've read to be roughly what we do) would have the Jaegers plunging through any surface not specifically reinforced to support them, let alone coastal areas.
I also really liked how there was a relationship between characters that was intimate without feeling blatantly romantic, if you see my distinction, and from what I've read, that was intentional. At least aside from the sort of eyeroll worthy 'defending the maiden's honour' moment part way through (though delivering a butt kicking that was in dire need of happening).
Like, I'm not one to generally fall back on tvtropes and their ilk, but that's really how this whole movie was made, at least from what I've seen and read. As per GdT's standard, the monster designs were spectacular, and while obviously a lot of love went into the Jaeger designs, they specifically aimed to avoid homages, which I also appreciated.
Oh, and from everything I've read, Dinosaurs did not have "two brains". I've read theories that one specific dinosaur species (Stegosauria?) might have had a secondary nerve cluster, based on the size of the animal (a couple of tons?) in comparison to the cavity its brain would've occupied (roughly the size of a walnut?) But then again, crazy pseudo-science is kind of par for the course in the source material, so it's a weird position; do you take issue with something that is simply true to the insanity which spawned it?
Might just have to go grab the art book and precursor graphic novel. While I'm not counting on this becoming an unstoppable franchise, I'd certainly like to see more, and it sounds like GdT and team have some crazy ideas if they get there.
Thanks, azazel, I'll have to find Robot Wars! I did not know there was a sequel.
I think we define mecha movies differently Grumpy- if it isn't piloted by a human, I don't consider it a mech. And it must be at least 2 stories high to qualify as giant.
I certainly love some Robocop, but giant robots just have a goofy, glorious ridiculousness that even the most serious plots and dialogue cannot overcome. Cyborg movies tend to be gritty, and super serious.
Most of the flaws people point out are entirely valid, if even expected (though we were not irritated by the scientists).
The fact that it is STILL an awesome movie though makes it even better.
Yep, I took a couple of my kids to the show and there was a lot that could be picked apart in it but I just let it ride since the concept and overall execution was badass to the nth degree. It's one of those shows I will in all liklihood buy the DVD of
The rare use of the sword was pretty idiotic though. Reminded me of Voltron. Why not just use the sword all the time?
!
Because in pure cinematic terms it was a cool reveal much like Darth Maul's double ended light sabre. No it doesn't really make sense (although perhaps Mako had it installed while Gypsy Danger was being reconstructed hence Raleigh wouldn't have known about it), but in a film like this, who cares.
Gitzbitah wrote:Thanks, azazel, I'll have to find Robot Wars! I did not know there was a sequel.
I think we define mecha movies differently Grumpy- if it isn't piloted by a human, I don't consider it a mech. And it must be at least 2 stories high to qualify as giant.
I certainly love some Robocop, but giant robots just have a goofy, glorious ridiculousness that even the most serious plots and dialogue cannot overcome. Cyborg movies tend to be gritty, and super serious.
It is terrible. Like, This Island Earth level of terrible. This is the only version I can find on YouTube, but I know for a fact it's on Cinemageddon if you have a membership.
Sure, the acting was so hammy it made BRIAN BLESSED look modest, sure the story was extremely simplistic, but I don't care-I came for a B movie with today's technology, and that's what I got. And it was glorious.
No doubt this film will be ripped apart by the stuck-up, snobby, over-paid and often bribed scumbags that call themselves critics, much the same way the Transformers movies were, but they can get stepped on by a Jaeger for all I care. This movie was pure unadulterated awesome, and that's not something we see very often anymore.
I demand moar.
Actually, the critics liked it. Roeper himself said to go see it. His review is first on rottentomatoes.com.
Interviewer: The possibility of Kaiju/Jaeger hybrids?
Del Toro: I’ll tell you a couple of things. We will have Gipsy 2.0 for sure. We will have Gipsy 2.0 for sure. Second thing is you’re gonna see a merging of Kaiju and Jaeger. And that is quite special.
Interviewer: How is their going to be a hybrid, and who will it fight for?
Del Toro: Just think about it for a second. We sent Gipsy to the other side, right? It exploded, but whatever remains stays there.
Interviewer: Don’t just expect the robots and the monsters to evolve…
Del Toro: We’ve drifted with a Kaiju brain. Well, then start riffing on that and you’ll get to something.
Went and saw it for a second time in Imax 3d, sober this time. JUST AS AWESOME. I controlled myself better, less sky punching whilst yelling fethyea! But same level of enjoyment.
As for the sword thing, the way I read it both times - the plasma cannon is a better weapon - when they use the sword it's after the plasma cannon is disabled and then when they are under water and also, presumably can't use the cannon. And maybe by that point the Kaiju have evolved to resist the cannon, but aren't used to the sword.
Aside from being a clear shoutout to "Deploy the Laser Sword(that can kill the monster in one hit that we should have been using since the beginning)!" anime trope.
The rare use of the sword was pretty idiotic though. Reminded me of Voltron. Why not just use the sword all the time?
!
Kaiju Blue.
Spoiler:
They explain at the start that Kaiju blood is toxic, and creates a phenomena called Kaiju Blue. So the last thing you want is a Kaiju bleeding out in the harbour of a major remaining city from being cut in half by a sword. So they rely on good old fashioned blunt force trauma to pummel a Kaiju into the ground without making them bleed... too much.
Notice they primarily engage them in the water, due to wanting to stop them getting to a city. You have primary engagements taking place in an area where you absolutely do not want them using things like swords. The bladed weapons they have are a last resort.
But crimson thunder used a blade saw thingy right away
Also, Im not an expert on nuclear weapons, but doesnt a nuke go so hot at the point of impact it vaperizes anything near it, should the Cat 5 kaiju just have been evaporated?
But that's not how you write a nuclear explosion for a lowest-common-demoninator moviegoer audience. They will just assume that a nuclear bomb is a really, really big boom -that's also why its effect is always exposited in terms of how many sticks of dynamite it is equivalent to.
hotsauceman1 wrote: But crimson thunder used a blade saw thingy right away
Also, Im not an expert on nuclear weapons, but doesnt a nuke go so hot at the point of impact it vaperizes anything near it, should the Cat 5 kaiju just have been evaporated?
No. Giant Monsters are always subject to a "Nuclear Resistance, Greater" effect.
hotsauceman1 wrote: But crimson thunder used a blade saw thingy right away
Also, Im not an expert on nuclear weapons, but doesnt a nuke go so hot at the point of impact it vaperizes anything near it, should the Cat 5 kaiju just have been evaporated?
No. Giant Monsters are always subject to a "Nuclear Resistance, Greater" effect.
Indeed, a 20 meg fusion bomb doesn't touch them, so lets punch them repeatedly in the face!
hotsauceman1 wrote: But crimson thunder used a blade saw thingy right away
Also, Im not an expert on nuclear weapons, but doesnt a nuke go so hot at the point of impact it vaperizes anything near it, should the Cat 5 kaiju just have been evaporated?
No. Giant Monsters are always subject to a "Nuclear Resistance, Greater" effect.
Indeed, a 20 meg fusion bomb doesn't touch them, so lets punch them repeatedly in the face!
[spoken by some who really don't understand the destructive powah of nukes]
If it took 3 days for the military to bring down a Kanji... would a single nuke be able to?
hotsauceman1 wrote: But crimson thunder used a blade saw thingy right away
Also, Im not an expert on nuclear weapons, but doesnt a nuke go so hot at the point of impact it vaperizes anything near it, should the Cat 5 kaiju just have been evaporated?
No. Giant Monsters are always subject to a "Nuclear Resistance, Greater" effect.
Indeed, a 20 meg fusion bomb doesn't touch them, so lets punch them repeatedly in the face!
It's their the best way to get past their DR 20,000/Fist or Sword.
hotsauceman1 wrote: But crimson thunder used a blade saw thingy right away
Also, Im not an expert on nuclear weapons, but doesnt a nuke go so hot at the point of impact it vaperizes anything near it, should the Cat 5 kaiju just have been evaporated?
No. Giant Monsters are always subject to a "Nuclear Resistance, Greater" effect.
Indeed, a 20 meg fusion bomb doesn't touch them, so lets punch them repeatedly in the face!
okay there captain realism, how does a /reactor/ explode at all ?
whembly wrote: [spoken by some who really don't understand the destructive powah of nukes]
If it took 3 days for the military to bring down a Kanji... would a single nuke be able to?
Actually, that was part of what finally stopped the first Kaiju (this auto-correct thing remains hillarious); they hit it conventionally for 6 days (during which time it destroyed 3 cities) and then started dropping tactical nuclear weapons on it. I think it took at least 3, and I'm sure at tremendous further loss of life, and the cost of irradiating a zone that was likely inhabited. Not something you want to be doing regularly.
It's kind of a moot point anyway, trying to view it from reality kills it the instant you try. Nothing that big can live on Earth. The largest thing that has ever lived on our planet is a good 2 orders of magnitude smaller than mid sized Kaiju. Anything bipedal that focused 2-3,000 tons on 4% of its surface area (which I've read is around our average) couldn't go anywhere that wasn't specifically reinforced to bear that load, it'd likely punch through the ground (not to mention when it's wandering through a city, many roads aren't designed to handle 25 tons, let alone 2,500+ brawling with a similarly sized creature.
Look, it's the conceit of the genre and this film in particular. Conventional forces didn't work, someone decided to try giant robots, giant robots worked. If you get stuck on the "but giant robots wouldn't work" part, then I suspect there's no way to enjoy the movie. And that's cool, that's fine, not everyone has to like every movie. But it's the same conceit shared by dozens (hundreds?) of anime series and other cartoons. That instead of doing the sensible thing and simply putting serious firepower on those jets/helicopters/tanks, or just instituting the "Tungsten Rods From God" approach (which would probably punch through anything), they find that punching monsters in the face works well.
My take on these things is that trying to say "but it doesn't work in reality for X, Y and Z reasons" is viewing the issue from the wrong side. Instead I see these things as "clearly this works for A, B and C reasons, which are superior to X, Y, and Z, which were tried (or presumably tried) and didn't work very well, hence why we're here". As long as A, B, and C remain internally consistent, that's great.
Maybe there are forces at work beyond those we currently understand, some aspect of being silicon based lifeforms, or being from another dimension, or an adaptation from travelling through the rift/portal to get here, it really doesn't matter to me. It's nice when a nod is made towards some explanation or another, but that's generally just bad science and pseudoscience gussied up with technobabble. If I wanted to hear about jeffries tubes and inverse tachyon fields being redirected through the deflector array to produce a quantum singularity capable of tearing space and time in twain, I'd watch some Star Trek (and man, do I love me some Star Trek).
Also, spoiler;
Spoiler:
The 20 megaton bomb most certainly does touch them. As I recall, the two Kaiju at point blank range are badly wounded, but yes, one Cat IV and the only Cat V are still moving after the detonation.
Some see that as "ugh, so unrealistic". Instead, I grinned ear to ear as Gipsy Danger went to work on them.
Forar wrote:Look, it's the conceit of the genre and this film in particular. Conventional forces didn't work, someone decided to try giant robots, giant robots worked. If you get stuck on the "but giant robots wouldn't work" part, then I suspect there's no way to enjoy the movie your miserable, giant-robot-less life, devoid of joy and happiness.
Fixed that for greater accuracy.
Also, good point about the silicon-based lifeforms.
You know some little part of my brain is thinking "You know, if this movie does really well in japan maybe we'd get Gipsy Danger showing up in Super Robot Wars", even though the rest of my brain knows it's probably very wrong. Not that we get to have those games in america.
generalgrog wrote: Just saw it and I didn't read many posts here but this movie was about
As appealing as watching Saturday morning power rangers and transformers part2
Terrible movie.
I haven't felt like walking out of film in a long time. The
Only thing that kept me in was the Hong Kong battle.
I would give it an E but the CGI was pretty good so I give it a D
GG
I have rarely been this happy to see somebody disagree with me about a movie I thought was awesome.
generalgrog wrote:Just saw it and I didn't read many posts here but this movie was about
As appealing as watching Saturday morning power rangers and transformers part2
Terrible movie.
I haven't felt like walking out of film in a long time. The
Only thing that kept me in was the Hong Kong battle.
I would give it an E but the CGI was pretty good so I give it a D
GG
So in other words: you weren't the film's target audience, and the expected result ocurred.
generalgrog wrote: Possibly...however del toro could have made an
Attempt at making a coherent unsilly film while making
His power rangers movie.
CJ
You know of all the criticisms one could possibly bring about pacific rim, saying the film was incoherent is probably the furthest from valid I could imagine. It's got easy to understand and cohesive themes and presents them in a very straightforward manner. "Silly" yeah in some ways, but we're dealing with 200' tall robots here, we're already at silly with just the premise. I mean you can certainly valid things to criticize about the movie, both things that are probably real flaws and others that are kind of a matter of stylistic taste. You complaints seem to be along the lines of:
"They made a giant mecha movie"
Also just an as an aside I'd like to tell
you that
this is a really an odd way 2 to format
Your Posts.
-C
But aside from that..I used incoherent because the film took some really odd turns at places. The two scientists (although I did like the performance of the "sunny in Philly" actor.
If people liked it good for them. Just wasn't my cup of tea.
WTFFFFFFF!!!
the whole first bit of the movie I was like
"why do these giant robots not just have swords/axes/big guns/ect to shoot the kajus back into oblivious... why rock em sock em style"
halfway through, when whats her pickcle engages the sword arm.. Im like why wasnt that done ages ago...
other then that great movie, needs more robot on monster and monster on monster and robot on robot fight scenes, also more random destruction of city scenes.
You mad, bro. Sorry you had a bad time....
. I'm pretty sure that w/ all the other stuff included in the budget they've probably already made MOST of their money back.
