PACIFIC RIM: I have my ticket, do you?

[nightflameauto]

I guess I just somehow missed most of the hype/build-up for this flick somehow.

I suppose to be completely fair there's been almost none. I caught the blip trailer once in the theater, and the big trailer once in the theater and have seen absolutely ZERO other hype outside of hobby sites dedicated to giant robots. And some youtube stuff I suppose.

It's kinda sad. Like the studios decided it's gonna die right off the bat. It gets two screens, two showtimes each a day. Other shit openings get four screens, three to four shows a day each. I hope it makes some bank, but the predictors are saying under 30 mil opening weekend, and it seems like the theaters think it doesn't even have that potential.

[ShaneV]

I heard about it because I was watching a YouTube video on my phone (so no adblock like on my PC) a few months ago and there was an ad for Pacific Rim before it played. For some reason I decided not to skip it after the 5 seconds and I ended up getting hooked.

[theAntihero]

I guess I just somehow missed most of the hype/build-up for this flick somehow.

Me too. I had a card much like a subscripion card drop out of my latest sports illustrated and wondered why i hadnt heard about it.

It has giant robots beating up sea monsters, how could someone not wanna hype that

[nightflameauto]

Just got back.

MOTHER OF GAWD.

From the opening scene right on to the final end credit, this movie felt like a love letter to the creators and the fans of every giant monster movie, every mecha anime, every alien invasion story and every big-budget sci-fi ever. In fact the final second before the film ends and the lights come up is an actual dedication to the great monster movie makers of the past, including a sound effect from the old low-budget giant monster movies that haunted so many of our younger years.

The back-story build up is laid out, piece by piece, and reinforced throughout the film with sidebars and flashbacks. The fact there is a story is impressive enough. The fact it seems to be fairly self-consistent is almost unimaginable in this day and age for this type of movie. The fight scenes actually built and made sense, and were so much more than just a blur of motion that lasted ten minutes. That little clip I posted up-thread of a fight? That fight in the theater, in smooth, weighted, stunning motion was absolutely breath-taking. One of those movie moments where you catch yourself holding your breath and trying not to blink because you just want to drink it all in.

There were some cliches, of course. Marshall (Idris Elba) plays the prototypical asshole higher up almost too well for the first half or so of the film. In fact, I'd almost say he was channeling the anime cliche here rather than the Hollywood cliche. There's the young upstart, cocky bastard that needs his ass kicked and, of course, totally changes his tune in the course of the story. There's the usual love interest, but that love interest plays out in a not so typical way that makes it seem alright and not so over-bearing.

The suits/mecha are incredibly well thought out, and move with a fluid but very HEAVY motion. And you get to see almost all of those motions clearly, even in the underwater fight scenes. There's a mid-air battle that's just spectacular. The science nerds are funny, and their appearances are mostly brief enough to not leave you wanting more. Ron Perlman's character is flawlessly on-point.

The editing didn't stand out like the editing in certain other giant robot live-action films does, so it must not have been horrible.

There's so many things I want to share but I don't wanna go full spoiler here. I'll just give you two ways it dedicated itself to all that has come before without going completely cheese ball.
1. In the opening scene there's mentions of toys and mascots made from the kaiju and jaegers, and a child's toy shelf filled to the brim with them.
2. In the first part of the end credits, there's single-color models of both kaiju and jaegers against mottled two color backgrounds that felt so much like watching a mecha cartoon's end credits I thought they were gonna start singing Japanese pop songs. Including three of the main jaegers in an end shot standing in formation right before the crawl.

Were there flaws? Absolutely. But none of them detracted from being able to just enjoy the movie. It didn't pretend to be pretentious or preachy or anything it isn't. It's just a big bad story about big bad robots beating the shit out of big bad monsters. If you ever enjoyed a story like that, I can't think of a reason you wouldn't enjoy this movie.

This is the movie Michael Bay wishes he were capable of making. Instead of walking out feeling insulted, I walked out feeling like I got my money's worth, and found a film by someone that gets the mecha/anime fandom AND the giant monster fandom. People left the theater buzzing about it, many saying they're going again.

I will be too.

[RSBro]

sweet review mang.
not only did i grow up watching monster movies, i'd check out the children's book versions of said movies from the library and read them too lol.
if this is as good as you're saying, i too have been waiting for this kinda flick the last 20+ years.

[ovid9]

Must find time to go see this.

[nightflameauto]

Morning after, the stickies:

*Shippwnt
*Not everything, form the sword.
*It's been an honor, sir. *STONEFACE RESPONSE* instead of hollywood cliche brohugs.
*Mark I flashback sequences being a touch shadowy, with the hero reveal
*The opening SanFran ass whuppin'
*Underwater $super_weapon air pocket, fishes floppin' on ocean floor
*First suit up/head drop
*End credit scene

Fuck, so much more. The realism of these huge fight scenes is what kills me. We kept getting told, over and over, by Bay that the bluriness and the shaky cam is absolutely necessary to make the battles believable. Wrong. Pwnt. Suck it.

Wife's sayin' she might wanna go this weekend after my diatribe about it to her. She's watched enough anime with me the mecha thing appeals to her a bit. Plus I'm pretty sure she wants to see Jax Teller in a skin suit.

I can't remember the last time I was this pumped about a movie AFTER seeing it. I mean, This is the End was pretty awesome, but this movie literally had me saying to myself over and over, "IS THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENING NOW?! AM I REALLY SEEING THIS?!" Plus the story was good.

And, you know, shippwnt.

"We have two choices: we sit here and do nothing, or we grab those flare guns and do something REALLY stupid." FUCK YEAH!

[Telephant]

This sounds awesome! I'm gonna have to see this. I hope Amy has a day off this weekend. If I go without her all hell will break loose.

[BrendanO]

This sounds awesome! I'm gonna have to see this. I hope Amy has a day off this weekend. If I go without her all hell will break loose. :D

You can be my wingman any time, bro.











Also, am I the only one waiting for the "Pacific Rimjob" porn parody? Be a hella hot all-girl thing.

[nightflameauto]

Also, am I the only one waiting for the "Pacific Rimjob" porn parody? Be a hella hot all-girl thing.

One of the video reviews I've seen of it of some dude losing his fucking mind about how incredible it is he says mid-rant, "plus it's like the only big summer blockbuster in history that can be made into a porn parody WITHOUT a title change. How great is that?"

[100 watt]

Also, am I the only one waiting for the "Pacific Rimjob" porn parody? Be a hella hot all-girl thing.

One of the video reviews I've seen of it of some dude losing his fucking mind about how incredible it is he says mid-rant, "plus it's like the only big summer blockbuster in history that can be made into a porn parody WITHOUT a title change. How great is that?"

First thing that came to mind when I saw the trailer

Salad..It's What's For Dinner

[nightflameauto]

Early returns from last night:
Pacific Rim: 3.6 million
Grown Ups 2: 2.3 million

Critics and fans alike were convinced Grown Ups 2 was gonna smash Pacific Rim. I really don't understand how GU2 got any audience at all excited enough to spend money opening night, but hey, it looks like Pacific Rim is actually making some coin for an early opening. I know our local theaters opened up two more early showings and two more late showings after early ticket sales started coming through.

An article stating PR is outpacing WWZ's opening week results at the moment. I hope word gets out on this and people flock to it. I want this fucker to succeed for so many reasons. Mostly though, Mountains of Madness bankrolled, and a motha-fookan sequel. If they get budget bumped on a sequel the way TF did from the box office success, and can maintain the heart and soul I saw in the first one with even BIGGER fights, I'd probably have to be pried out of the theater with a crowbar.

Coworker said they aren't gonna let their kids (10, 12, boys, into giant robots) see this movie. I told them I'm reporting them for child abuse.

[ovid9]

Adam Sandler and Grown Ups 2 can go snog goatse. Everyone HATED the first one (I didn't see it), so the naturally logic would be "LET'S MAKE ANUDDER ONE HAWHAWHAW". Fucking prick.

Sadly no.

Everyone with even a smidgin of taste hated the first one (I did not see it either the previews were cringe-worthy). However, like most recent Sandler piles of shit, it made money so obviously we need more.

Dude used to be funny and he can actually even make more nuanced comedies as well, I guess when you can make bank aiming for the easiest target, its what you do.

Thankfully I don't have to watch them.

[RSBro]

After Mr. Deeds, Sandler has been dead to me.
However I will rewatch and lulz Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy and aforementioned Deeds 1000x over. And actually I gotta throw The Wedding Singer in there too. Was supposed to be srs but has a lot of good bits.

[Yarbicus]

Also, am I the only one waiting for the "Pacific Rimjob" porn parody? Be a hella hot all-girl thing.

One of the video reviews I've seen of it of some dude losing his fucking mind about how incredible it is he says mid-rant, "plus it's like the only big summer blockbuster in history that can be made into a porn parody WITHOUT a title change. How great is that?"

Not true. Obviously, Mr. Lexington Steele could easily star in another blockbuster parody with no name change.

[Yarbicus]

Coworker said they aren't gonna let their kids (10, 12, boys, into giant robots) see this movie. I told them I'm reporting them for child abuse.

My son's 12th b-day is next Thursday. You can bet your ass we will be at the first show that day!!!

[nightflameauto]

Coworker said they aren't gonna let their kids (10, 12, boys, into giant robots) see this movie. I told them I'm reporting them for child abuse.

My son's 12th b-day is next Thursday. You can bet your ass we will be at the first show that day!!!

And Sandler needs to fuck off. The people he keeps around him are twenty times funnier when not interacting with him. Slink into the background and let them breathe. Thank gawd the wife hates him as much as I do.

Saturday Night Live really breeds this, "I'm so fucking funny I don't even have to try," thing in the newer generation comedy dudes. It really gets to me. They start out fine, then turn into parodies of themselves, then turn into sad middle-aged failures that are still sniffing their own farts because they're convinced they smell like roses.

But fuck all that. Pacific Rim has giant robots AND better jokes than any Sandler movie since Happy Gilmore. "Listen up, you one eyed BITCH! You owe me a kaiju brain."

[nightflameauto]

Went to it in 3D today with the wife. Her one and only complaint about the movie: There were too many monster/robot fights.

Because that's possible.

She referred to it after as a "guy's movie" because she likes fights, but only if it's humans fighting humans. She loved the rest of it.

The 3D was REALLY smooth and well done. There are scenes where it actually makes a difference, but for the most part you don't even notice it's there. There's no point where stuff reaches out to you so much it throws you out of the movie, and several points where it feels like you're looking through a window into an actual event happening right outside of it. I will be going to this again before it leaves theaters. It's just a huge spectacle of all the things I've been waiting 30 years or more to see on the big screen. The points where it references anime scenes really hit me this time around. I know GDT told the production team they were not allowed to watch or reference any specific anime or older film during development, production, and post production on the film, and the result is a movie that hits all the right general beats without being tied to any one previous fictional world, but somehow references all of them in the end.

I'm beginning to lose my ability to remain objective towards this movie. It's just so damn fun to watch.

"Where is my god damned shoe?"

[ShaneV]

I liked it, but not quite as much as you guys did.

My few small issues aside, it definitely feels like a movie that has its own identity and will still be watched and talked about years from now, instead of forgotten when the next block buster busts blocks.. That's sadly unique these days and really refreshing to see.

[wrongnote85]

it was infuckingcredible.

[Dickarms]

I liked it, but not quite as much as you guys did.

My few small issues aside, it definitely feels like a movie that has its own identity and will still be watched and talked about years from now, instead of forgotten when the next block buster busts blocks.. That's sadly unique these days and really refreshing to see.

this was more of what i was hoping for

i dont trust NFA's glaring review. i hope im wrong.

[nightflameauto]

this was more of what i was hoping for

i dont trust NFA's glaring review. i hope im wrong.

Let's face facts. We're at a point where me saying water is wet would piss you off. I'm not sure what point you're trying to prove, but there does come a point where continually throwing shit at someone eventually stops being funny. So keep pushing. See how much more it takes.

[ShaneV]

Looks like Pacific Rim finished the weekend in 3rd place behind Despicable Me 2 and Grown Ups 2. I found this quote in an article about teh weekend box office results:

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.

Am I the only one who thinks that's an incredibly sad statement about the state of movies today?

"What do you mean we can't tell people to watch this because the director keeps cranking out the same film every summer? AND we can't tell people to watch it because the actors have also been in other movies that were successful but completely unrelated? You mean we have to tell people to watch it based on... the film's content... That's impossible. Can't be done."

[Gunslinger]

Looks like Pacific Rim finished the weekend in 3rd place behind Despicable Me 2 and Grown Ups 2. I found this quote in an article about teh weekend box office results:

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.

Am I the only one who thinks that's an incredibly sad statement about the state of movies today?

"What do you mean we can't tell people to watch this because the director keeps cranking out the same film every summer? AND we can't tell people to watch it because the actors have also been in other movies that were successful but completely unrelated? You mean we have to tell people to watch it based on... the film's content... That's impossible. Can't be done."

Sadly, I kind of expected this. Judging from how many people were in the theater when I saw it(which was almost empty), I didn't expect this one to bring in the big bucks at the box office. Whatever chance this film has to make decent money will likely happen oversea's in China and Japan. I figure they'll eat this kind of film right up.

[Dickarms]

this was more of what i was hoping for

i dont trust NFA's glaring review. i hope im wrong.

Let's face facts. We're at a point where me saying water is wet would piss you off. I'm not sure what point you're trying to prove, but there does come a point where continually throwing shit at someone eventually stops being funny. So keep pushing. See how much more it takes.

woah, NFA. i aint got nothing against you. at all. just playing devils advocate for the dissenting opinion on this film alone, you have great taste in everything i've seen on this forum. one of my favorite dudes actually. what i meant was, as feverishly as we were debating this movie (mostly in jest), your review is not the strongest thing i am going to go by, having not seen it myself, just out of bias, you know? dont go opether on me.

what i really think: your review is spot on to what you actually felt, and hopefully i'll have the same one.

cheers dude










































joss whedon can still lick my sack though