Pacific Rim

Giant mechas versus colossal extradimensional monsters - what's not to love? Okay, so maybe the concept sounds a bit campy, and certainly could have come off that way if handled the same way as a Syfy movie of the week. But Pacific Rim delivers pure cinematic fun. The special effects were amazing and certainly one of the great attractions of this movie. The design of both the giant mechas, the Jaegers, and the monsters, the Kaijus, was spectacular with great attention to detail. The look and movement of both seemed realistic for machines and creatures of their size.I thought the acting was solid all the way around, with lots of interesting characters thrown into the mix. The need to have 2 pilots controlling a mecha, while a bit of a contrivance, does help lend itself to more character interaction and emotional interplay. These aren't just soldiers fighting together on a battlefield (which itself is a strong bond) - these are warriors who have their very minds linked in order to seamlessly control a 200 foot tall death machine.Now granted you can't too tangled up in logic if you are going to enjoy this movie. For instance, the Kaijus always emerge from the exact same spot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, so why not just have bombers on station ready to nuke the suckers as soon as they come through the portal while they are safely out in the middle of nowhere - well because then you wouldn't be able to make an awesome movie about giant robots fighting alien monsters. Also, the leaders of the world decide that instead of continuing to build more Jaegars, they should instead invest all their energy into building giant walls around civilization. Ignoring the fact that it takes your typical city traffic authority 5 years and 20 million dollars to fix a 5 mile stretch of road, why would anyone think a wall would be a better defense than giant robots. Clearly those in power didn't take the coolness factor into their calculations. Giant mechas always beat giant walls. Remember that if you ever find yourself on a city planning council.So as long as you can leave the critical analysis at the theater door (or save it for the internet chat rooms afterwards), and you are someone who enjoys an action movie full of epic monster battles, you are sure to enjoy Pacific Rim.

Beside being a great action movie, the release of this movie with 4K and Dolby Atmos is very good. This movie almost mimic's The Transformers only it's not as wild and visually easier to follow. Great cast of actors who make a sci-fi movie fun to watch.

I should say that I'm not a huge fan of science fiction (my experience is pretty limited to Firefly and a handful of other shows that don't quite count as science fiction), nor have I seen any del Toro films until Pacific Rim. I'm a film studies major though, so when a friend recommended it to me, I rented it. I watched it once and knew what I was going to get my dad for Christmas. I watched it again, and knew what I wanted for Christmas.Here's the gist: it's 2025 and the world (specifically the countries bordering the Pacific Ocean) has been ravaged by attacks from monsters, Kaijus, that are coming from a breach in the Pacific Ocean to inhabit Earth because we've "terraformed" it for them with our pollution (the film does NOT focus on that idea, though). People designed huge machines, Jaegers, to combat them and they were doing pretty well up until the monsters started adapting to their fight methods. The Jaeger program is on the fritz. Basically, all signs are pointing to everyone winding up Kaiju snacks.I usually try to avoid films that point towards apocalypse - I didn't watch Armageddon for years because of it - but Pacific Rim is different. It does exactly what a film is supposed to do. It establishes the world and the situation well, and there is tension in every scene - from Raleigh and Yancy vs. Knifehead to Herc and Chuck's argument in the Jaeger. Every character is established well just by their first appearance and the film doesn't stray from their characterization (I'm a big stickler for continuity, especially about characters, so I loved this). They aren't crude, either (save for maybe Chuck but he's the lovable jerk...right?), which is awesome.The sole female character (save for the female Kaidonovsky) is a badass and she's never looked at as a sexual object, she's viewed as a person. When Stacker won't let her pilot a Jaeger, it's not because she's a woman and she might not be able to handle it, or because she's weak, it's because she has a motive that could threaten the whole mission. Okay, I could write whole books about Mako, so I'll stop there, but she's amazing.In terms of plot, characters, and theme, it surprised me how well it did for a sci-fi film. I wouldn't say it's character-driven, but the characters are certainly a plus (did I mention Charlie Hunnam's shirtless? A lot? Charlie Hunnam's shirtless a lot.).As for how it's directed, it doesn't get distracting with any strange camera angles or Michael Bay-esque explosions. There are a few sequences that I had trouble focusing on, simply because it's dark and there are many things going on. The special effects are, of course, amazing. The Kaijus are intricately designed yet terrifying, and the Jaegers are awesome (wait till you find out how they work, it's cool and also curiously sentimental).The special effects give a look into the designing of the Jaegers and the Kaijus, and you can see just how devoted del Toro was to this project. There are only a handful of deleted scenes, which was somewhat disappointing to me. However, the other special insights in the interviews and features on the second disc are definitely worth it for anyone interested in the world of Pacific Rim.In a nutshell, this is probably one of the best films I've watched in a while. Had I known I would love it so much, I would have gone to see it in 3D.

Pacific Rim (2013) takes monster movies to another level with its visual feast, courtesy of top-notch CGI animation. The movements in the battle scenes this film are jerky and choppy, taking the audience with each movement. I guess Director del Toro wanted the audience to feel the full effect. The ground shakes, as does the camera, a landed ‘hit’ moves the camera, etc. What I like and appreciate the most about this film is its massive scale; the robots and monsters are tall, overwhelming, and intimidating. The sound effects are first-rate, and add to the excitement. While the characters aren’t that compelling, I consider it a relatively minor factor, because the visual experience is what drives this film. The blu ray/DVD combo offers the finest in picture and sound quality, and the special features are nice. ****Notice: The packaging for this 3-disc set is poor. When opening the case, the DVD is on the left side, but on the right side, the blu ray disc is stacked on top of the special features disc. I found it somewhat difficult and awkward trying to pull them off the prong, not to mention the potential of scratching the discs in the process.

Amazing movie period. Absolutly loved it, the actors were amazing and the story was great. Would DEFINITELY watch it again!