Pacific Rim

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I saw Pacific Rim last week and really enjoyed it. What did anyone else think?

I thought that the tone was just right - it avoided the tiresome adolescent angst of a lot of Anime and also the brain dead goofy slapstick of most mainstream blockbuster movies.

It also struck me that it might be a very "Aspie" movie in that the human element is pushed into the background and the focus is instead on the fantasy element - the Kaiju and the Jaegers. A lot of the pleasure of the movie for me was enjoying the design of these creatures, observing the way they moved, they way they interacted with (i.e. smashed up) the environment, marveling at the little details of the textures and weathering on them and so on. It was rather like enjoying looking at a fantastically detailed model railway.

I realise that most people don't watch movies like this and that they are more interested in watching the people. Certainly the movie is polarising opinion and it's getting just as much hate as love.

I didn't grow up with Anime and Japanese Kaiju movies but I did adore Ray Harryhausen movies and also Gerry Anderson's TV shows like Thunderbirds and there seemed to be a lot of them in Pacific Rim (I admit I got a lump in my throat when I saw the onscreen dedication to Ray Harryhausen and Ishiro Honda).

I'll grant that it's a simple (not actually dumb) movie but I don't understand the hate/lack of box office success. Maybe people are put off by the rather anonymous title, maybe people won't go and see something without a familiar brand or big name star attached or maybe people are just seeing it as a Transformers rip off (when of course this is a much better film).

I think that movies like this should be the "bread and butter" of Summer blockbusters. The fact that Pacific Rim stands head and shoulders above almost all recent efforts is an indication of how p*ss poor the general standard is

Let me know what you thought of it.

I thought that it was amazing, I was really drawn in by the CGI which had me with my mouth open in aw very often. It was everything I wanted from it, there is some dislike for it, but I thought it was great, an instant favourite for this geek.

I enjoyed it immensely, it makes Transformers look like Sesame Street. At least there's no ridiculous toilet humour!

Something about this movie managed to convey the Titanic size of these beings. The way they moved seemed to consider the momentum involved. Including trying to compensate and move faster with a rocket powered punch.

As for negative feedback, I've heard grumbling about lacking character development with the Pilots. I think this is partly because more time was given to the scientists and Hannibal Chau.

I will admit, I was hoping to see more of the other teams as characters, but I think Del Toro avoided trying to making his movie feel crammed and rushed.

Overall, I was still very pleased with it and would like to see it again. Also, I really enjoyed this film score.

When I first saw a preview for it in theaters, it looked to be almost like sci-fi/horror. I was disappointed to find out that it was a very visual, action-packed mech film, but for what it was it was enjoyable.

I saw this movie today and I thought it was boring. I didn't like any of the characters, I don't remember any of their names, I didn't really care who was gonna live or die and I can't believe that it got a higher rating on rotten tomatoes than Man of Steel.

Still better than the Transformers trilogy though.

LexingtonDeville wrote

Honestly I'd rather watch those movies than Pacific Rim. At least they had Optimus Prime.

I want to see this. It looks like good fun, and reminds me of Japanese anime/monster movies. Plus the director did Pan's Labyrinth, which I loved. It's a pity it bears a passing resemblance to the Transformers films, which are crap.

I am a fan of Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla and Tokyo S.O.S. so I came into it with a ridiculously favorable bias.

Yet they are completely different and at least Gulliermo Del Toro didn't go overboard with toilet humour, annoying characters and making the Decepticons faceless drones with little or no characterisation. One character DOESN'T make a whole movie.

I really liked it overall, but agree with the criticism and felt like it could have had a bit better character development, especially for the main characters. Mako in particular just wasn't developed well enough for me, it seemed like they sort of tried giving her a backstory but she still felt really superficial and one-dimensional. I'm not sure if it's because the actress couldn't speak english well enough to be given more lines or what. The main guy seemed a little bit flat too. Not sure if it was really the actor's fault though.

But yeah, even with the character development issue, it was a million times better than any of Michael Bay's Transformers movies. And I'm saying that having grown up watching and collecting G1 Transformers, and am still a huge fan of it today.

Those giant Jaegers were amazing. Terrific visuals.

I liked it because it delivered on what it promised. It promised to be about giant robots fighting giant monsters.. And we got giant robots fighting giant monsters. Yeah, the characters were kind of over the top and a bit silly, but you don't watch a film like this for the deep characters. You watch it for the giant robot/giant monster battles.

Unlike with Transformers.. which was SUPPOSED to be about giant robots.. Instead you got something completely different and riddled with racist jokes and toilet humor.

It delivered on what I went to see it for, giant robots battling giant monsters. I could let the rest slide, and didn't sweat the lack of character development.

Pacific Rim is certainly 2013's geekiest movie. When the Jaegers are fighting the Kaiju it's some of the finest CGI ever put to screen.

My inner 12 year old was squealing with delight while my cynical 32 year old outer self was saying: "wish the characters had been a bit more fleshed out."

A part of me wanted it to have the existential angst of Neon Genesis Evangelion, but then the other parts thought "there are too many serious movies out there right now, bring on the fun."

Definitely on my Christmas List.