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This article is about the 2013 Guillermo del Toro film. You may be looking for the Pacific Rim (disambiguation page).
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"Go Big or Go Extinct."
—Poster Tagline

Pacific Rim is an American science fiction film directed by Guillermo del Toro and co-written by Travis Beacham. Produced by Legendary Pictures, Pacific Rim is set the future of 2025 and follows the story of humanity on the brink of destruction after a fissure in the Pacific Ocean creates a portal that allows giant sea-dwelling creatures to wreak havoc across the Pacific Rim. At war with the Kaiju, humanity unites to create the Jaegers, gigantic humanoid mechas each controlled by at least two pilots, whose minds are joined by a mental link. At the end of days, Raleigh Becket, a washed-up Jaeger pilot, is called out of retirement and teamed with a rookie pilot, Mako Mori, in a last-ditch effort to defeat the Kaiju. Pacific Rim is regarded as a homage to classic monster movies in Japanese cinema, a genre known as "Kaiju".[3] Pacific Rim was released in North American theaters July 12, 2013.

Plot[]

"When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of mobile weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the most powerful and strongest Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes- a washed up former pilot and an untested trainee who are teamed up to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse."
—Marketsaw.com[4]

Summary[]

In the near future, colossal monsters identified as Kaiju have risen from an interdimensional rift in a crevice beneath the Pacific Ocean, resulting in a war that takes millions of lives and quickly consumes humanity's resources. To combat the monsters, a special type of weapon is designed; massive mechs, known as Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two or three pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge, sharing the mental strain which would overwhelm a single pilot.[5]

Raleigh and his brother Yancy Becket, are instructed to suit up to fight a Kaiju labeled Knifehead, a designated category III in danger and size. They wade out into the Pacific in their Jaeger, Gipsy Danger, with orders to kill the Kaiju and save the city. They are told to ignore the small fishing boat that is in the middle of the battle. Raleigh ignores the command, and attempts to save the ship. He and Yancy believe they are victorious after shooting Knifehead with the plasma cannon built into the right arm, and prepare to leave. Knifehead reappears and attacks as the Jaeger is turned, ripping off Gipsy Danger's left arm, and causing Raleigh permanent damage. Knifehead then attacks the head, ripping it open and killing Yancy. Raleigh pilots the Jaeger solo, killing Knifehead, but receiving severe damage to Gipsy Danger in the process. He limped the Jaeger ashore on the Alaskan coast, much to the amazement of a father and son who witness the event. Raliegh emerges from the broken hull of Gipsy Danger dazed and bloodied before falling to the ground unconscious while the father sends his son off to get medical help. Traumatized by the sudden loss of his brother while still mentally connected to him, Raleigh quits the Jaeger Program.[5]

Five years later, Marshal Stacker Pentecost, who was in charge of the Jaeger Program, is informed by the UN that the program is being decommissioned. His crew, with all remaining Jaegers, will be shipped to Hong Kong's Shatterdome with eight months of funding. In the meantime, they will concentrate efforts to the building of the Kaiju Wall, a tall structure protecting the Pacific cities from the Kaiju. Stacker plans to follow through with the initial Jaeger objective, regardless of the lack of funding. He flies to the Kaiju Wall, where Raleigh has been working for the past five years. Raleigh and the other workers are watching the news, which shows the Wall failing and a Kaiju named Mutavore attacking Sydney, Australia, before it's stopped by the Jaeger Striker Eureka, piloted by Herc and Chuck Hansen. Chuck asserts that the reason the Jaeger program failed was because of weak pilots. Stacker asks Raleigh to re-join the program, but he declines. He and his brother were still connected when he died and he cannot stand the mental pain another time. Stacker asks where he would rather die: building the Wall, "or in a Jaeger," fighting Kaiju. Raliegh reluctantly returns to the Jaeger Program.[5]

When they arrive in Hong Kong, they are greeted by Mako Mori, later revealed as Pentecost's adopted daughter. She shows Raleigh around the Shatterdome. They get into an elevator with two scientists, Newton Geiszler and Hermann Gottlieb, who comprise the entire research team for the base. The Jaegers stationed in the Shatterdome are all the remaining mechs; Crimson Typhoon, which features three arms and is piloted by the Wei triplets. The second is called Cherno Alpha, piloted by a pair of Russians, Sasha and Aleksis Kaidonovsky.  Herc and Chuck Hansen pilot the only Mark-5, Striker Eureka. Mako then shows Raleigh to Gipsy Danger, who has been rebuilt with additional weapons for the final mission.  She then shows him to his room, right across from hers.[5]

She tells him that he will meet with the candidates for his partnership soon, and that she hopes to be a pilot one day. Her record is impressive, but she makes it clear that Stacker will not allow her to fight. She then goes to her room, but watches him from the door as he changes. In the mess hall, Raleigh is invited by Herc to sit with him and Chuck, but Chuck takes an instant dislike to Raleigh because he believes him to be weak, and fears that he will endanger their mission. Herc apologizes for his behavior, making it known that his son is a hothead and very impulsive.[5]

Raleigh then goes to meet his partnership candidates, who he beats easily in hand to hand combat. After noticing Mako staring at him in displeasure, he asks her what is wrong. She tells him that he isn't fighting to the best of his ability. He challenges her to a fight and Stacker approves. He and Mako trade blows on much more equal terms, but Stacker refuses to let them fight together, though he won't state his reasons.[5]

Stacker then goes to meet with the scientists. Gottleib tells him that, based on the data, they can expect a double event soon, and a triple soon afterward. Newton asserts that he believes he can connect with the Kaiju via Drift, the same as pilots in the Jaeger program do. Stacker dismisses him, telling him that it's impossible, and goes with Gottlieb's information instead.[5]

Against his better judgement, Stacker appoints Mako as Raleigh's partner, and they do a test run in Gipsy Danger. Stacker is called away by a frightened Gottlieb, who tells him that Newton attempted the link anyway, and has collapsed in seizures on the floor. Stacker runs to check on him, and Newton tells him that the Kaiju are a hive-mind, meaning that they were all mentally linked and that their masters are colonizers. He explains that they go from world to world, utilizing the Kaiju to eradicate the current inhabitants. They came to Earth once before during the time of the Dinosaurs, but there was too much oxygen in the atmosphere and that the humans practically terraformed it for them. Stacker instructs Newton to do another link, with a fresh brain, which he can get from the black market dealer Hannibal Chau.[5]

Meanwhile, after the link between Raleigh and Mako is established, Raleigh has a memory of his brother being taken from Gipsy Danger, causing the link to break. Since it is Mako's first run, she gets lost in the memories, living out one from her childhood, in which she wanders around Tokyo with the Kaiju, Onibaba, following her. She accidentally activates the plasma cannon while still in her memory, causing Herc and Tendo Choi, an engineer, to shut Gipsy Danger down. Stacker returns, deciding that it is far too dangerous for the two of them to work together, and talks with Herc and Chuck to determine the next steps.[5]

Chuck and Raleigh fight when Chuck insults Mako, but are broken up by Herc, while Raleigh and Mako go in to talk to Stacker. Stacker tells Mako that she is too inexperienced, and won't be piloting again, and Mako leaves. Raleigh strikes out at Stacker, saying that he knows why he won't let Mako fight, since he's been in her memories. The kaiju that was hunting Mako was killed by the Jaeger that Stacker piloted, and he took her under his wing after that. Raleigh says that he is only hindering Mako, but Stacker says that he has made up his mind.[5]

Tendo detects two Category IV Kaiju, Leatherback and Otachi. Striker Eureka, Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha are deployed to fend off the Kaiju. Herc and Chuck are supposed to remain back by the island as a last resort to avoid being damaged, while the Wei Tang triplets and the Kaidonovskys attack the two Kaiju. The Kaiju swiftly destroy Crimson Typhoon, prompting Herc and Chuck to assist.[5]

Striker Eureka arrives and joins the battle against Leatherback and Otachi, but not before the creatures overpower Cherno Alpha. Otachi then moved to attack Hong Kong. Leatherback triggers an EMP, disabling both Striker Eureka and the command center. Tendo says it will take two hours to get it all back online, so Stacker deploys Mako and Raleigh, as Gipsy Danger's nuclear core was unaffected by the EMP. They defeat Leatherback, saving the Hansens as well as Striker Eureka, though Herc breaks his arm after Leatherback lands a blow on the mech's head.[5]

Meanwhile, Newton has been walking around Hong Kong, searching for Hannibal Chau. When he finds him, he is astounded to see that Chau has equipment and specimens that even the government doesn't have. When Newton tells Chau that he wants to establish another link with a fresh secondary kaiju brain and Chau is the best possible source. However, the incredulous Chau shows Newton an injury he suffered drifting with a kaiju. He angrily informs Newton that the link operates both ways, connecting to the mind of anyone who attempted it, therefore the kaiju's creators will be able to track the human anywhere using their monstrous beasts. Chau forces Newton out of his sanctuary as Otachi storms the city, leaving Newton find a public Kaiju bunker.[5]

The bunker is attacked by Otachi, who breaks through the shelter's roof while searching for Newton but Gipsy Danger attacks and they fight through the city streets before Otachi flies up with Gipsy Danger in her clutches. Mako deploys Gipsy's sword, and they slice Otachi in half before falling back to the ground. They land safely and return to the Shatterdome. Stacker reveals after they return that he is very ill, due to radiation poisoning from piloting the Mark-1 Coyote Tango[5]

Having survived Otachi's attack, Newton marches back into Chau's store, and demands the brain from the dead Kaiju. Chau, seemingly more impressed with Newton, allows him to accompany his team when they go to harvest the parts from Otachi's carcass. Chau's men say that the secondary brain of the Otachi is damaged, but they hear a heartbeat, and Newton realizes that Otachi was pregnant. While running away, Newton slips as the infant asphyxiates itself with its umbilical cord. The haughty Chau brags that he could sense the infant monster was going to die from a prolapsed cord. However, the beast is only unconscious and lunges at Chau, swallowing him whole before it finally dies.[5] Only one of Chau's custom, toe-plated shoes is left behind.

Stacker decides to put the final plan into motion early, knowing that they won't survive the triple attack Gottlieb predicted. The final plan is to go through the portal and destroy it with a high-yield nuclear bomb, so that the Kaiju can no longer get through. Gipsy Danger is supposed to run protection, giving enough time for Chuck and Herc to get through the portal to deploy the bomb. However, with Herc injured, and little time to find another pilot, Stacker decides to partner with Chuck, knowing that they could all die if he didn't.

Herc and Chuck say goodbye to each other, knowing that Chuck will most likely not return. Meanwhile, Newton has decided to link with the newborn brain, and Gottlieb joins him. They realize that the plan to nuke the breach will not work, and return to the base. They inform the two Jaegers that the portal will only respond to the genetic code of a Kaiju, and that they must use a Kaiju or a part of one to pass through, or else the bomb would deflect like before and only affect Earth. The two Jaegers engage the Triple Event Kaiju - Scunner, Raiju and Slattern - with the latter the strongest of the three, the first Category V Kaiju. Both Jaegers take heavy damage in the process. Stacker and Chuck decide to deploy the bomb, sacrificing Striker and themselves to try and kill Scunner and Slattern to give Mako and Raleigh a chance to get through the portal.

A heavily damaged Gipsy approaches the portal but is attacked by a weakened, though not dead Slattern.  Gipsy tackles Slattern, killing it with her sword and chest turbine, then passes through the portal latched onto its corpse. The Gipsy Danger crew are losing oxygen rapidly, so Raleigh gives Mako his share, and deploys her ejection pod. He then proceeds to manually overload the nuclear reactor just as Gipsy enters the Anteverse. Raleigh ejects himself out and back to Earth seconds before the mech detonates, decimating the alien forces and sealing off the Breach.[5]

The two pods reach the surface, but Raleigh's is not responding with a pulse, and they fear that he is dead. Mako swims to Raleigh's pod, opening it, and hugging him in relief. He jokes that he couldn't breathe because she was holding him too tightly. Tendo tells them that helicopters are on their way to get them, and that they've done well. Herc then addressed the Shatterdome as "Marshal," telling them to stop the war clock that counted down how much more time until the next attack, and the PPDC breaks out in cheers.

After initial credits roll, a mid credits sequence shows Hannibal Chau slicing himself out of the belly of the infant kaiju that swallowed him whole, demanding his missing shoe, seemingly unharmed by Otachi's blood

Jaeger and Kaiju[]

The film featured approximately thirteen types of Kaiju and eight Jaegers.

"The robots – called the Jaegers – they have two or three pilots in a cockpit in their head. One pilot shares the ability to handle the right hemisphere, the other one handles the left hemisphere.”"
—Guillermo del Toro at Comic-Con 2012

Jaegers[]

Kaiju[]

Cast[]

Actor/Actress Character
Charlie Hunnam Raleigh Becket
Diego Klattenhoff Yancy Becket
Idris Elba Stacker Pentecost
Rinko Kikuchi Mako Mori
Charlie Day Newton Geiszler
Burn Gorman Hermann Gottlieb
Max Martini Herc Hansen
Robert Kazinsky Chuck Hansen
Clifton Collins Jr. Tendo Choi
Ron Perlman Hannibal Chau
Mana Ashida Young Mako Mori
Ellen McLain Jaeger A.I. (voice)
Mark, Charles and Lance Luu Cheung, Hu and Jin Wei Tang
Robert Maillet Aleksis Kaidonovsky
Heather Doerksen Sasha Kaidonovsky

Production[]

Development[]

In February 2006, it was reported that del Toro would direct Travis Beacham's fantasy screenplay, Killing on Carnival Row, but the project never materialized.[6] Beacham conceived Pacific Rim the following year. While walking on the beach near Santa Monica Pier, the screenwriter imagined a giant robot and a giant monster fighting to the death. "They just sort of materialized out of the fog, these vast, godlike things." He later conceived the idea that each robot had two pilots, asking "what happens when one of those people dies?" Deciding this would be "a story about loss, moving on after loss, and dealing with survivor's guilt", Beacham commenced writing the film.[7] On May 28, 2010, it was reported that Legendary Pictures had purchased Beacham's detailed 25-page film treatment, now titled Pacific Rim.[8]

On July 28, 2010, it was reported that del Toro would next direct an adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness for Universal Studios, with James Cameron producing.[9] When del Toro met with Legendary Pictures to discuss the possibility of collaborating with them on a film, he was intrigued by Beacham's treatment—still a "very small pitch" at this point.[10] Del Toro struck a deal with Legendary: while directing At the Mountains of Madness, he would produce and co-write Pacific Rim; because of the films' conflicting production schedules, he would direct Pacific Rim only if At the Mountains of Madness were cancelled.[11] Tom Cruise was attached to star in the Lovecraft adaptation.[12]

Coloso

Del Toro drew inspiration from Francisco Goya's The Colossus, and hoped to evoke the same "sense of awe" with the film's battles.[10]

On March 7, 2011, it was reported that Universal would not proceed with At the Mountains of Madness because del Toro was unwilling to compromise on the $150 million budget and R rating.[13][14] The director later reflected, "When it happened, this has never happened to me, but I actually cried that weekend a lot. I don't want to sound like a puny soul, but I really was devastated. I was weeping for the movie."[15] The project collapsed on a Friday, and del Toro signed to direct Pacific Rim the following Monday.[12]

Del Toro spent a year working with Beacham on the screenplay, and is credited as co-writer. He introduced ideas he had always wished to see in the genre, such as a kaiju birth and a kaiju attack seen from a child's perspective.[16] The script also received an uncredited rewrite from Neil Cross, who previously created the Idris Elba-starring drama series Luther and wrote the del Toro-produced horror film Mama.[17] Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan were enlisted to perform uncredited rewrites when their spec script Monstropolis caught the filmmaker's attention.[18] Drew Pearce also carried out uncredited work on the script.[19]

Principal photography[]

Principal photography began on November 14, 2011[20] and continued in Toronto into April 2012.[21] Del Toro gave an update after the second week on filming finished.[22] The film was referred to as Silent Seas and Still Seas during production.[23]

Del Toro had never shot a film in less than 115 days, but had only 103 to shoot Pacific Rim. In order to achieve this, del Toro scheduled a splinter unit that he could direct early in the day, before main unit, and on his off-days. The director worked 17 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, for much of the schedule. Del Toro took a new approach to directing actors, allowing "looser" movements and improvisation; the director maintained tight control over the production: "Everything, 100% goes through me sooner or later. I do not delegate anything. Some people like it, some people don't, but it has to be done that way."[24]

The film was shot using Red Epic cameras.[25] At first Guillermo del Toro decided not to shoot or convert the film to 3D, as the effect would not work due to the sheer size of the film's robots and monsters, explaining; "I didn't want to make the movie 3D because when you have things that big... the thing that happens naturally, you're looking at two buildings lets say at 300 feet [away], if you move there is no parallax. They're so big that, in 3D, you barely notice anything no matter how fast you move... To force the 3D effects for robots and monsters that are supposed to be big you are making their [perspective] miniaturized, making them human scale."[26] It was later announced that the film would be converted to 3D, with the conversion taking 40 weeks longer than most. Del Toro said: "What can I tell you? I changed my mind. I'm not running for office. I can do a [Mitt] Romney."[27]

Del Toro cut approximately an hour of material from the film. The unused footage explored the characters and their arcs in greater detail, but the director felt it was necessary to strike a balance, stating: "We cannot pretend this is [Henrik] Ibsen with monsters and giant robots. I cannot pretend I'm doing a profound reflection on mankind." Each character's arc was edited down to its minimal requirements.[28] The director wanted to keep the film around two hours, particularly for younger viewers. Alejandro González Iñárritu and Alfonso Cuarón helped with the editing; Iñárritu removed ten minutes of footage, while Cuarón removed "a few minutes" and rearranged several scenes.[29] Iñárritu and Cuarón receive a "special thanks" in the film's credits, as do James Cameron and David Cronenberg.

Design[]

Del Toro wanted to "honor" the Kaiju and mecha genres while creating an original stand-alone film, something "conscious of the heritage, but not a pastiche or an homage or a greatest hits of everything". The director made a point of starting from scratch, without emulating or referencing any previous examples of those genres. He cautioned his designers not to turn to films like Gamera, Godzilla, or The War of the Gargantuas for inspiration, stating: "I didn't want to be postmodern, or referential, or just belong to a genre. I really wanted to create something new, something madly in love with those things. I tried to bring epic beauty to it, and drama and operatic grandeur."[30][31] Rather than popular culture, he drew inspiration from works of art such as Francisco Goya's The Colossus and George Bellows's boxing paintings.[10][32] The film's designers include Wayne Barlowe, Oscar Chichoni, monster sculptors David Meng and Simon Lee, and Hellboy II and The Hobbit designer Francisco Ruiz Velasco.[10] Del Toro has acknowledged that some designs created for his cancelled At the Mountains of Madness adaptation may have been used in Pacific Rim.[16]

Kaiju[]

Approximately a hundred Kaiju and a hundred Jaegers were designed, but only a fraction of these appear in the film; every week the filmmakers would "do an American Idol" and vote for the best.[33] In designing Kaiju, the film's artists frequently drew inspiration from nature rather than other works. The director commented: "Kaiju are essentially outlandish in a way, but on the other hand they come sort of in families: you've got the reptilian Kaiju, the insect Kaiju, the sort of crustacean Kaiju... So to take an outlandish design and then render it with an attention to real animal anatomy and detail is interesting."[34] Del Toro avoided making the Kaiju too similar to any Earth creatures, instead opting to make them otherworldly and alien.[35] Del Toro called the film's Kaiju "weapons", stating that they are "the cleaning crew, the cats sent into the warehouse to clean out the mice." Certain design elements are shared by all the Kaiju; this is intended to suggest that they are connected and were designed for a similar purpose.[11] Each Kaiju was given a vaguely humanoid silhouette to echo the man-in-suit aesthetic of early Japanese kaiju films.[36] While del Toro's other films feature ancient or damaged monsters, the Kaiju lack scars or any evidence of prior culture, indicating that they are engineered creations rather than the result of an evolutionary system.[35]

Knifehead, the first Kaiju to appear in the film, is a tribute to the plodding kaiju of 1960s Japanese films, and is intended to look almost like a man in a rubber suit; its head was inspired by that of a goblin shark.[28] Leatherback, the bouncer-like Kaiju which spews electromagnetic charges, is a favorite of del Toro, who conceived it as a "brawler with this sort of beer belly"; the lumbering movements of gorillas were used as a reference.[37] The Kaiju Otachi homages the dragons of Chinese mythology. The director called it a "Swiss army knife of a Kaiju"; with almost 20 minutes of screen time, it was given numerous features so the audience would not tire of it. The creature moves like a Komodo dragon in water, sports multiple jaws and an acid-filled neck sack, and unfurls wings when necessary.[33] It is also more intelligent than the other Kaiju, employing eagle-inspired strategies against the Jaegers.[37] Onibaba, the Kaiju that orphans Mako Mori, resembles a fusion of a Japanese temple and a crustacean.[37] Slattern, the largest Kaiju, is distinguished by its extremely long neck and "half-horn, half-crown" head, which del Toro considered both demonic and majestic.[37]

Jaeger[]

Gipsy Danger, the American Jaeger, was based on the shape of New York City's Art Deco buildings, such as the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building, but infused with John Wayne's gunslinger gait and hip movements. Cherno Alpha, the Russian Jaeger, was based on the shape and paint patterns of a T-series Russian tank, combined with a giant containment silo to give the appearance of a walking nuclear power plant with a cooling tower on its head.[33] Crimson Typhoon, the three-armed Chinese Jaeger, is piloted by triplets and resembles a "medieval little warrior"; its texture evokes Chinese lacquered wood with golden edges.[37] Striker Eureka, the Australian Jaeger, is likened by del Toro to a Land Rover; the most elegant and masculine Jaeger, it has a jutting chest, a camouflage paint scheme recalling the Australian outback, and the bravado of its pilots.[37]

Costumes[]

The film's costumes were designed by Shane Mahan and Kate Hawley, who spent several months on the costumes of the Jaeger pilots. The Russian pilot suits are old-fashioned and echo cosmonaut space suits.[32]

Visual effects[]

Great Wave off Kanagawa2

Del Toro used classic art such as Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa as a reference for the film's water battles.

Industrial Light & Magic was chosen to create the visual effects for Pacific Rim. Del Toro hired Academy Award winners John Knoll and Hal T. Hickel, both known for their work on the Star Wars prequel trilogy and the Pirates of the Caribbean films. Legacy Effects was hired to do the special and practical effects on the film. Shane Mahan, known for creating the armored suits for Iron Man, was hired on as effects supervisor. John Rosengrant was also brought in for his work on Reel Steel. Oscar winner Clay Pinney, known for his work on Independence Day and Star Trek, was also brought on board. Hybride Technologies, a division of Ubisoft, and Rodeo FX also contributed to the visual effects.[38][39]

Del Toro conceived the film as an operatic work: "That was one of the first words I said to the entire team at ILM. I said, 'This movie needs to be theatrical, operatic, romantic.' We used a lot of words not usually associated with high-tech blockbusters … We went for a very, very, very, very saturated color palette for the battle for Hong Kong. I kept asking John to tap into his inner Mexican and be able to saturate the greens and the purples and the pinks and the oranges." The classic Japanese woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai was a common motif in the ocean battles; Del Toro recalled, "I would say 'Give me a Hokusai wave' … we use the waves and weather in the movie very operatically."[40]

The director asked that Knoll not necessarily match the lighting from shot to shot: "It's pretty unorthodox to do that, but I think the results are really beautiful and very artistically free and powerful, not something you would associate with a big sci-fi action movie." Del Toro considers the film's digital water its most exciting visual effect: "The water dynamics in this movie are technically beautiful, but also artistically incredibly expressive. We agreed on making the water become almost another character. We would time the water very precisely. I'd say 'Get out of the wave [on this frame].'"[40]

The film also features extensive miniature effect shots provided by 32TEN Studios, under the supervision of ILM VFX Producer Susan Greenhow and ILM VFX Supervisors John Knoll and Lindy DeQuattro. Shot using RED Epic cameras on 3D rigs, the scenes produced by 32TEN involved the creation of a ¼ scale office building interior which was destroyed by the fist of a Jaeger robot which was on a separate pneumatically controlled rig, as well as a sequence which depicted several rows of seats in a soccer stadium being blown apart as a Jaeger lands in the stadium, which was created by using ¼-scale seats blown apart by air cannons. Additionally 32TEN provided several Practical effects for ILM’s compositing team including dust clouds, breaking glass and water effects.[41]

Marketing[]

Viral marketing for Pacific Rim began in November 2012; the website, Pan Pacific Defense Corps.com went live the 28th of November. Two viral videos depicting the attack on San Francisco were uploaded on YouTube.com by user rickglb455[42] and featured the voice of actor David Kaye.[43][44][45] Blueprints depicting the designs for the Jaeger machines were also released online.[46][47] The film was also promoted with its own panel at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2011 and 2012.

Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero[]

Main article: Tales From Year Zero

Written by screenwriter Travis Beacham, Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero was released through Legendary Comics and served as the establishing point of the film's universe; covering the backstories of Stacker Pentecost, Mako Mori, the first Kaiju attack and the creation of the Jaeger Program. Its hardcover features artwork by Marvel and DC Comics artist Alex Ross.[48][49]

Action Figures[]

Main article: Merchandise

Early July 2013, NECA announced the first series of Pacific Rim action figures.[50][51] The first wave includes Gipsy Danger, an eighteen inch Gipsy Danger, Crimson Typhoon and Knifehead.

Series Two included Striker Eureka, Leatherback and a battle damaged Gipsy Danger.[52] Shortly after the announcement of the Series Two figures, NECA announced they were working Series Three. Cherno Alpha was one of the Jaegers included in Series Three.[53] NECA also released the HeroClix series of figures.[54]

Sideshow Collectibles[]

Main article: Sideshow Collectibles

Alongside the NECA action figure series, world rewound specialty statue company, Sideshow Collectibles was collaborated with Guillermo del Toro and Legendary Pictures to create four, highly articulated statues of Gipsy Danger, Knifehead, Striker Eureka and Slattern. A contest to win all four statues was held from June to July 2013; Knifehead and Slattern are currently available for purchase, Gipsy Danger and Striker Eureka are expected to be released sometime during the fall of 2014.

Soundtrack[]

Main article: Pacific Rim (Soundtrack)

Pacific Rim (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) was composed by Ramin Djawadi and released for digital and physical media June 25 and July 9, 2013.[55] The film features music by Blake Perlman, RZA[56] and Luo Xiaoxuan.[57]

Artbook[]

Main article: Pacific Rim: Man, Machines & Monsters

Written by David S. Cohen, Man, Machine & Monsters details the production process of the film and provides background information on the Jaegers, Kaiju and the Pan Pacific Defense Corps. It was released June 18, 2013.[58]

Novel[]

Main article: Pacific Rim: The Official Movie Novelization

Written by Alex Irvine, the novelization of Pacific Rim expounds upon details centralized on character and universe, uncovered by the film as provided by the screenplay given to the author. The novel was released July 12, 2013, to coincide with the film's release.[59]

Video Games[]

Main article: Pacific Rim: The Video Game,
Main article: Pacific Rim: The Mobile Game

Yuke's and Reliance Games, Pacific Rim: The Video Game and Pacific Rim: The Mobile Game are platform exclusive fighting games were released July 12, 2013. Yuke's Pacific Rim: The Video Game was released for the X-BOX 360's arcade and features downloadable content that can be added to the game.[60] Reliance Games' Pacific Rim: The Mobile Game features a similar one-on-one fighting game system and a system that unlocks Kaiju stats and Jaegers as you progress.[61]

Home Video[]

Main article: Pacific Rim (DVD)

Pacific Rim was released October 1, 2013 on iTunes.com as a digital release[62] and later on October 15, 2013 for DVD and Blu-Ray[63]. All three physical releases (DVD, Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray 3D) are available for purchase on Amazon.com and other online retail stores.[64]

Sequel[]

Main article: Pacific Rim: Uprising

Informally announced by Thomas Tull before to the theatrical release of Pacific Rim, writers Guillermo del Toro and Travis Beacham were given permission to write the script for the sequel to before it was officially greenlit. Sometime in early 2014, rumors about the sequel involving combining Jaegers similar to Voltron began to circulate.[65]

However, the sequel was not officially announced by Legendary Pictures until June 26, 2014, via Legendary's official YouTube account.[66] The announcement was made by Guillermo del Toro himself and reported exclusively by BuzzFeed.com.[67]

Both the video and the subsequent twitter announcement originally confirmed the sequel to Pacific Rim would be released in theaters April 7, 2017[68], however, after the April 2015 announcement of an eighth sequel to The Fast and The Furious franchise, the sequel was moved to its new release date, August 4, 2017.[69][70][71]

The film was delayed between 2015 and 2016, before Steven S. DeKnight was announced as the new director[72][73], while del Toro remained executive producer only. The title of the film, Pacific Rim: Uprising, was later announced[74], and the film was given a February 2018 release.[75][76] Uprising was pushed back again by one month, and later released March 23, 2018[77] to mixed-to-average audience reception.

Critical Reception[]

Pacific Rim has received largely positive reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Metacritic gives a rating of 64 out of 100 based on reviews from 48 critics, which indicates "generally favorable" reviews.[78] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 72% approval rating with an average rating of 6.7/10 based on 233 reviews.[79] The site's consensus reads: "It may sport more style than substance, but Pacific Rim is a solid modern creature feature bolstered by fantastical imagery and an irresistible sense of fun."[5]

Japanese game director Hideo Kojima, called it the "ultimate otaku film" and stated he "never imagined [he] would be fortunate enough to see a film like this in [his] life".[80] Go Nagai, who pioneered the idea of mecha piloted from an interior cockpit, praised the film's fun and intense action, while game developer Fumito Ueda (Shadow of the Colossus and Ico) said its battle scenes surpassed memories of the tokusatsu films he saw as an impressionable child.[81][5]

Science fiction author William Gibson called the film "A ravishing display of intelligent, often wonderfully witty visual design, every frame alive with coherent language, in the service of what is at heart a children's story... A baroque that doesn't curdle, that never fetishizes itself."[82][5]

Box Office[]

Pacific Rim grossed an estimated $101.8 million in North America, and has had a favorable foreign release, grossing $309.2 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $411,002,944.[5] The film grossed $3.6 million from Thursday night showings, 23 percent of which came from IMAX showings. It then faced tough competition from Grown Ups 2 and ultimately fell behind it on opening day, earning $14.6 million.[83] The film reached the #3 spot during the opening weekend with $37.2 million, behind Despicable Me 2 and Grown Ups 2.

Pacific Rim is the highest ever opening for a film by del Toro, surpassing Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Around 50 percent of tickets were in 3D, which makes it the highest 3D share of 2013.[84] During its second weekend, the film dropped a steep 57% with a gross of $16,002,231, and during its third weekend, had dropped a further 52% with a gross of $7,703,461.[85] On July 22, 2013, it was reported that the film had reached #1 at the international box office over the weekend.[86][5]

The film had a successful opening in China, grossing $45,200,000, the largest opening in China for a Warner Bros. title, and the sixth-largest Chinese debut of all time for any Hollywood film.[87] On August 19, 2013, its gross crossed $100,000,000 in China alone, becoming the sixth-highest grossing American film ever in China.[88][5]

In Japan, the film landed in the fifth position on opening weekend, with an initial earning of $3.04 million (behind World War Z's gross of $3.38 million).[89][85] In September 2013, Forbes highlighted Pacific Rim as "the rare English-language film in history to cross $400 million while barely crossing $100 million domestic."[90][5]

September 25, 2013, Pacific Rim was named "the highest grossing live action movie worldwide based on a brand new intellectual property".[91]

Trivia[]

  • The working title for Pacific Rim during production was "Still Seas".[92][93]
  • Guillermo del Toro expressed an interest in seeing a crossover with Godzilla and Pacific Rim.[94]
  • When asked, Travis Beacham confirmed that Legendary Pictures's Godzilla was not in the same continuity as Pacific Rim.[95]
  • Prior to Pacific Rim, the visual effects company, Imaginary Forces, worked with del Toro in 1997 on the Mimic opening title[96] and later in 2002 to produce the opening title of Blade II.[97]
  • The film's budget was estimated to be $200 million according to Variety.com.[89]

External Links[]

References[]

  1. Pacific Rim - BBFC
  2. 2.0 2.1 according to Box Office Mojo, circa August 25, 2013
  3. Pacific Rim: A Beautiful Poem to Monsters
  4. What's Guillermo del Toro's "Pacific Rim"?
  5. 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 5.21 5.22 Content taken from Wikipedia.org: Pacific Rim
  6. Guillermo Del Toro Directing Carnival Row
  7. Monsters in the Mist
  8. Legendary Pictures Re-Teams With Clash Of The Titans Scribe On Pacific Rim
  9. Guillermo Del Toro And James Cameron Ready To Climb ‘Mountains Of Madness’
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Exclusive Sneak Peak of the Costumes From Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim and Interview
  11. 11.0 11.1 Quint reports on the latest from Legendary Pictures! Pacific Rim, Mass Effect, Warcraft, Seventh Son, Godzilla and more! Plus a photo tour of the Kubrick Exhibit!
  12. 12.0 12.1 "Guillermo del Toro Talks Getting Back in the Director’s Chair, the Evolution of the Script, Creating the World on a Giant Scale, and More on the Set of PACIFIC RIM".
  13. Competition For Guillermo Del Toro’s Next Picture: Legendary Preps ‘Pacific Rim’
  14. Q&A: Guillermo Del Toro On Why He Will Next Direct Pacific Rim After At The Mountains Of Madness Fell Apart
  15. Guillermo del Toro edges toward greater success with ‘Pacific Rim’
  16. 16.0 16.1 TONY Q&A: Pacific Rim’s Guillermo del Toro
  17. Luther Creator Neil Cross Set to Grow Ghost House's Day of the Triffids Adaptation
  18. Pacific Rim Writers Tapped for God of War Adaptation (Exclusive)
  19. ‘Pacific Rim’ Production Update From Guillermo del Toro
  20. del Toro gives Update on PACIFIC RIM – Production has Begun
  21. Productions currently filming in Toronto
  22. Guillermo Del Toro Offers Pacific Rim Update
  23. New Video and Photos from the PACIFIC RIM Set Show How Guillermo del Toro Turned Toronto Into Tokyo
  24. Inside Pacific Rim with Guillermo del Toro
  25. Guillermo del Toro Talks PACIFIC RIM, Why They Used the RED EPIC & Didn’t Do 3D; Reveals Blu-ray Will Have 30 Minutes of Deleted Scenes
  26. Guillermo del Toro: Pacific Rim Is Not Japanese Monster Movie Homage; No 3D
  27. Guillermo del Toro Talks The Strain and Pacific Rim 3D Conversion
  28. 28.0 28.1 Mr. Beaks Talks PACIFIC RIM, World Building And Gargantuas With Guillermo del Toro And Travis Beacham! Part One Of Two!
  29. Pacific Rim - Guillermo del Toro on 3-D, Long Movies, and Mexican Matinees
  30. Why Del Toro warned Pacific Rim designers never to watch Godzilla
  31. Guillermo del Toro wants Pacific Rim Kaiju to 'start from scratch'
  32. 32.0 32.1 Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim Brings Back The Monster Movie
  33. 33.0 33.1 33.2 The Kaiju and Jaegers of Guillermo del Toro's 'Pacific Rim' are modern updates on classic movie monsters like Godzilla
  34. Guillermo Del Toro And Mr. Beaks Discuss DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, PACIFIC RIM And The Far-From-Used-Up Future Of AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS!
  35. 35.0 35.1 Why Pacific Rim Doesn't Look Like Any Movie You've Ever Seen Before
  36. Unbelievable Pacific Rim video reveals all of the Kaiju's secrets
  37. 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 37.4 37.5 Pacific Rim: A monster challenge for special effects
  38. Hybride Delivers VFX for Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim
  39. Rodeo FX Once Again Teams with ILM to Deliver Innovative and "Incredibly Realistic" VFX for "Pacific Rim"
  40. 40.0 40.1 Pacific Rim Visual Effects Get Operatic Twist
  41. 32TEN Studios Provides Practical Effects for Pacific Rim
  42. User Profile: ricklb455
  43. TWF2005: Pacific Rim: Guiliermo del Toro
  44. BREAKING NEWS: KAIJU ATTACK
  45. Test of the Kaiju Emergency Alert System
  46. PACIFIC RIM Viral Marketing Continues with Video of Kaiju Attack Updated with Two New Jaeger Blueprints
  47. PACIFIC RIM Viral Campaign Begins; Hints at Trailer’s Release in Two Weeks
  48. EXCLUSIVE: 'Pacific Rim' Writer Travis Beacham On 'Year Zero' And The Psychic Bonds Of Kaiju Killers
  49. Pacific Rim: Tales from Year Zero
  50. NECA Unleashes Their 'Pacific Rim' Action Figure Line EXCLUSIVE
  51. 7″ Pacific Rim Action Figures Series 1 – Assortment
  52. Pacific Rim – 7″ Action Figure – Series 2 Asst (Case 14)
  53. NECA working on Pacific Rim Series 3, Cherno Alpha to be part of it
  54. Pacific Rim: HeroClix
  55. Pacific Rim Soundtrack from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
  56. WaterTowerMusic on SoundCloud
  57. Just Like Your Tenderness - Single
  58. BOOK TRAILER AND INSIDE LOOK AT PACIFIC RIM: MAN, MACHINES & MONSTERS
  59. Pacific Rim: The Official Movie Novelization
  60. Official Website
  61. Pacific Rim Mobile Game Revealed
  62. iTunes.com: Guillermo del Toro - Pacific Rim
  63. Pacific Rim DVD release date set
  64. 'Pacific Rim' Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D Up for Pre-Order!
  65. Pacific Rim 2 Possibly Confirmed
  66. Guillermo del Toro - Special Message about Pacific Rim
  67. “Pacific Rim 2” Will Storm Into Theaters On April 7, 2017
  68. Legendary Pictures Sequel Confirmation
  69. WARCRAFT and PACIFIC RIM 2 Pushed to Summer; THE MUMMY Reboot Delayed
  70. Universal Pushes ‘Warcraft’ and ‘Pacific Rim 2′ Back Into Summer Season
  71. @Legendary - April 23, 2015
  72. @RealGDT: Pacific Rim 2 1/2
  73. @RealGDT: Pacific Rim 2 1/2
  74. Pacific Rim and Godzilla Sequels Have New Titles
  75. Pacific Rim Sequel Is Coming in 2018
  76. ‘Pacific Rim 2’ Starring John Boyega Gets Release Date
  77. Pacific Rim: Uprising' Release Pushed Back One Month
  78. Pacific Rim Reviews
  79. Rotten Tomatoes.com
  80. Hideo Kojima Reviews Pacific Rim In Eight Tweets
  81. Metal Gear's Shinkawa Draws Pacific Rim Poster & Japan's Creators Laud Film
  82. Pacific Rim, over 140 characters
  83. Pacific Rim' Goes to War With 'Grown Ups 2' This Weekend
  84. Weekend Box Office Results for May 24-26-2013
  85. 85.0 85.1 Pacific Rim: Box Office Gross Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "boxofficemojo3" defined multiple times with different content
  86. Pacific Rim #1 Internationally Over Weekend
  87. Box Office Report: Pacific Rim Scores Massive $45.2 Million China Debut
  88. Weekend Box Office: 'The Butler' Opens To $25m, 'Kick-Ass 2', 'Jobs', And 'Paranoia' Crash|publisher=Forbes
  89. 89.0 89.1 Pacific Rim Fails to Wow Auds Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "variety" defined multiple times with different content
  90. Pacific Rim And More Domestic "Flops" That Became Global Hits
  91. Pacific Rim Now Ranks As 2013's Highest-Grossing, Live-Action Original Film
  92. Guillermo del Toros' Monster Epic Now Called Still Seas?
  93. Del Toro’s monster movie will be called ‘Still Seas’, according to domain names
  94. Guillermo del Toro Talks Hypothetical PACIFIC RIM vs. GODZILLA Movie, and His HEAVY METAL Approach
  95. Travis Beacham: Re: Godzilla (2014)
  96. Art of the Title: Mimic (1997)
  97. Art of the Title: Blade II (2002)

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