Pacific Rim
- Thread starter Batutta
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refocusedmedia
Veteran
This will be Navarro's first digital film - http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompson...-digital-on-del-toros-gargantuan-monster-epic
All this needs is a by the book story and it will be a super fun movie. We need a main character that will try to save the day, but then it looks like all is lost, when suddenly because he stuck to his guns (or alternatively learned a new lesson) he comes back and saves the day. Add in a love interest, and we're all set!
With no story the robot giant monster fights will get boring, like watching Transformers and going if I see one more robot fight I'm going to shoot myself.
With no story the robot giant monster fights will get boring, like watching Transformers and going if I see one more robot fight I'm going to shoot myself.
Postmaster
Dark Side of the Camera
....no sh...t!
Clash of the Titans, Independence Day, Godzilla, and Transformers - all in one flick.
Really?
..
I mean REALLY?!
Clash of the Titans, Independence Day, Godzilla, and Transformers - all in one flick.
Really?
..
I mean REALLY?!
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Derek Chingwell
Well-known member
Pretty much live action anime/mecha, IMO. I don't really see other movies influences in there... apart from Toho 60's Godzilla (etc).
It's more like 'shades' of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Mazinkaiser & Gasaraki (to name a few anime that spring to mind) and pretty much all of the Giant robo/mecha stuff from Japan in the 70's/80's/90's and still being made now.
It'll be very interesting to see if a mainstream audience can get 'into' the idea of Massive Mechs (driven by human pilots - normally kids in the anime) fighting monsters
Actually, I'm hopeful for this one, as this Summer's films have been a bit meh so far... my favourite (as I'm in the UK) was the experimental 'A Field in England'... a great antidote to Summer Blockbuster Madness!
But, I think Specific Dim (LOL) will actually turn out to be one of the better films of the year
It's more like 'shades' of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Mazinkaiser & Gasaraki (to name a few anime that spring to mind) and pretty much all of the Giant robo/mecha stuff from Japan in the 70's/80's/90's and still being made now.
It'll be very interesting to see if a mainstream audience can get 'into' the idea of Massive Mechs (driven by human pilots - normally kids in the anime) fighting monsters
Actually, I'm hopeful for this one, as this Summer's films have been a bit meh so far... my favourite (as I'm in the UK) was the experimental 'A Field in England'... a great antidote to Summer Blockbuster Madness!
But, I think Specific Dim (LOL) will actually turn out to be one of the better films of the year
Review that says it's bad, but the critics didn't like WWZ and I did, so who knows? One thing that does not sound promising is this:
These on-screen battles provide a few jolts — one of the film's strong points is that it isn't shot and edited in Michael Bay Confuse-o-Vision — but it's a jigsaw of random pieces. We get a robo-fist here and a monster face there, but none of the satisfying head-to-toe action of, say, Rodan or Mothra going toe-to-toe with another zipper-backed beast.
I am not a fan of Michael Bay Confuse-o-Vision, or jigsaw random pieces. I think it's lazy film making. For great fights see Kickass. You see every punch and kick, from head to toe, sometimes in slow motion, and they are bad ass, not just a mish mash of bits and pieces.
http://movies.yahoo.com/news/pacific-rim-review-monsters-somewhere-070219626.html
These on-screen battles provide a few jolts — one of the film's strong points is that it isn't shot and edited in Michael Bay Confuse-o-Vision — but it's a jigsaw of random pieces. We get a robo-fist here and a monster face there, but none of the satisfying head-to-toe action of, say, Rodan or Mothra going toe-to-toe with another zipper-backed beast.
I am not a fan of Michael Bay Confuse-o-Vision, or jigsaw random pieces. I think it's lazy film making. For great fights see Kickass. You see every punch and kick, from head to toe, sometimes in slow motion, and they are bad ass, not just a mish mash of bits and pieces.
http://movies.yahoo.com/news/pacific-rim-review-monsters-somewhere-070219626.html
jghenderson
Well-known member
Just got back from seeing it. I loved it. Sure it's not profound and it doesn't try to make political or social commentary, it just tries to entertain and does it extremely well. The action was fantastic, the effects were fantastic, the acting as spot on and it was a lot funnier than I expected. Overall one of my favorite films i've seen so far this year, and definitely one of the better blockbusters in recent years.
Batutta
Major Contributor
LOUDEST...MOVIE...EVER...Seriously, between this and Man of Steel I may have to sue Warner Bros for pain and suffering...On to the movie. I felt it was merely okay. Yes, the robot vs monster fights are pretty awesome, but not much else is. There is nothing egregiously wrong with the movie, but there wasn't anything that really roused me or got me emotionally involved either. The script was very by the numbers. Nothing surprising in any way, even less so if you've seen any of the trailers. Some cool concepts, especially the idea of "the drift" where two pilots brains are linked together, but they didn't do as much with it as they could have. Actually, the whole script felt that way. For instance, Charlie Hunnam's character is established as a reluctant hero when...
SPOILER
...his brother dies in the opening scene and he doesn't want to pilot anymore because he could feel his brother die during the link. But the audience is never actually made to feel this. We see the event happen, but it's fast and loud and doesn't slow down enough to communicate the idea that he's feeling his brother die. Actually, I wasn't even sure the brother was dead until he mentioned it a few scenes later. Then his character is supposedly reluctant to pilot a robot again, but that reluctance lasts all of two seconds because he's off to fight monsters again in the next scene. There is no doubt for his character, no real emotional setbacks along the way for him, and consequently no emotional jeopardy for him or the audience for the rest of the movie. It's just watching the inevitable unfold. What pathos the movie has comes from the Japanese girl, who actually has more of an arc then the hero. They probably should have made her the lead character. Unfortunately, I wasn't crazy about the actress playing her. Some of her acting was weak and she didn't have much personality. The most engaging part for me was when you saw her as a little girl, lost amidst the chaos of the monster attack, and I could see a glimpse of a more interesting movie there. Something more like what we expect from Guillermo Del Toro. As is it's fairly generic. Even the monsters didn't have as much personality as I was hoping. Charlie Day was fun and livened things up, as did Ron Perlman, and Idris has tremendous screen presence. Some are eyeballing him as the first black James Bond and I could totally see that working. Hope he gets a great, leading man part soon. The technical aspects of the movie are off the charts awesome, with every dollar visible on the screen. This was the best all around IMAX 3D presentation I've seen, with no crosstalk or other 3D artifacts. I also dug the music score, especially that main riff.
SPOILER
...his brother dies in the opening scene and he doesn't want to pilot anymore because he could feel his brother die during the link. But the audience is never actually made to feel this. We see the event happen, but it's fast and loud and doesn't slow down enough to communicate the idea that he's feeling his brother die. Actually, I wasn't even sure the brother was dead until he mentioned it a few scenes later. Then his character is supposedly reluctant to pilot a robot again, but that reluctance lasts all of two seconds because he's off to fight monsters again in the next scene. There is no doubt for his character, no real emotional setbacks along the way for him, and consequently no emotional jeopardy for him or the audience for the rest of the movie. It's just watching the inevitable unfold. What pathos the movie has comes from the Japanese girl, who actually has more of an arc then the hero. They probably should have made her the lead character. Unfortunately, I wasn't crazy about the actress playing her. Some of her acting was weak and she didn't have much personality. The most engaging part for me was when you saw her as a little girl, lost amidst the chaos of the monster attack, and I could see a glimpse of a more interesting movie there. Something more like what we expect from Guillermo Del Toro. As is it's fairly generic. Even the monsters didn't have as much personality as I was hoping. Charlie Day was fun and livened things up, as did Ron Perlman, and Idris has tremendous screen presence. Some are eyeballing him as the first black James Bond and I could totally see that working. Hope he gets a great, leading man part soon. The technical aspects of the movie are off the charts awesome, with every dollar visible on the screen. This was the best all around IMAX 3D presentation I've seen, with no crosstalk or other 3D artifacts. I also dug the music score, especially that main riff.
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I have no idea how to feel about this movie, and I think I'm being influenced by other people's opinions... but, I know I wanted it to end very badly while sitting in the theater, and at the same time thought it was probably one of the best looking VFX displays I've ever seen. Being a fan of anime and style, solid homerun.
As the endeavor of creating is a very difficult one, good job to the team in bringing it home.
Just have to ask: are we so afraid of putting females in lead positions due to box office tracking and foreign sales that we're willing to ignore THE strongest story in a narrative just to satisfy the caucasian male lead sales pitch?
I already know the answer to this... but, this movie would have easily been a high lister if they had simple told Mako's story from start to finish. To me, there was pretty much noone to root for on the human side, and I found myself anticipating the different levels of Kaiju more than anything.
Notable moments for me (very light spoilers): very beginning of the movie (first kaiju attack), Charlie Day's first freak out scene (very well done for such a high-strung comedic actor), Ilba bringing life to very weird/bad dialogue, Second and Last Kaiju battles.
Edit: Battuta... I just sawr your post... pretty much? Yes.
Edit 2: Well not yes to everything. I didn't like the music at all, especially the Inception score rip off (Not the horns, this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0kGAz6HYM8 )
Sounded like someone had some REALLY hardcore temp love.
As the endeavor of creating is a very difficult one, good job to the team in bringing it home.
Just have to ask: are we so afraid of putting females in lead positions due to box office tracking and foreign sales that we're willing to ignore THE strongest story in a narrative just to satisfy the caucasian male lead sales pitch?
I already know the answer to this... but, this movie would have easily been a high lister if they had simple told Mako's story from start to finish. To me, there was pretty much noone to root for on the human side, and I found myself anticipating the different levels of Kaiju more than anything.
Notable moments for me (very light spoilers): very beginning of the movie (first kaiju attack), Charlie Day's first freak out scene (very well done for such a high-strung comedic actor), Ilba bringing life to very weird/bad dialogue, Second and Last Kaiju battles.
Edit: Battuta... I just sawr your post... pretty much? Yes.
Edit 2: Well not yes to everything. I didn't like the music at all, especially the Inception score rip off (Not the horns, this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0kGAz6HYM8 )
Sounded like someone had some REALLY hardcore temp love.
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Batutta
Major Contributor
Definitely agree with Kholi on that one... WTF is up with not giving leads to the characters that actually deserve it. The story would have been INFINITELY better with Mako's narrative at the forefront. I think as a whole... the acting felt a little over the top. I mean I know it's a super fun summer VFX extravaganza, but this movie could have definitely been tightened up a bit... I wasn't fond of the directing. It's only in some movies where becomes obvious that the directing itself is somehow hindering the production... where the story, action etc is right where it needs to be, but it somehow doesn't come together cohesively.
The true star in this film is whatever VFX house(s), took part in creating this world... it was downright jaw dropping. And in a day when we're seeing this stuff ooze out of every corner of the industry... it's amazing to see VFX still impress like this... totally amazing. I think there would have easily been just as much value in 2 hours of just the Jaegers and Kaijus going at it- without any pretense of a "plot"; just straight up, non-stop battling.
The dialogue was overly "fun" and "simplistic" almost to a fault... where it lacked the charm you'd expect from that kind of dialogue when it's done right... like it just went overboard on trying to make sure it wouldn't be anything not expected from from an amusement park theme ride. It's too bad... if they didn't overly dumb things down... it would have been easier to enjoy. I try to judge relatively, and here it would be a mistake to hold Pacific Rim up to some kind of gold standard... but the script could have seriously used a little work.
The true star in this film is whatever VFX house(s), took part in creating this world... it was downright jaw dropping. And in a day when we're seeing this stuff ooze out of every corner of the industry... it's amazing to see VFX still impress like this... totally amazing. I think there would have easily been just as much value in 2 hours of just the Jaegers and Kaijus going at it- without any pretense of a "plot"; just straight up, non-stop battling.
The dialogue was overly "fun" and "simplistic" almost to a fault... where it lacked the charm you'd expect from that kind of dialogue when it's done right... like it just went overboard on trying to make sure it wouldn't be anything not expected from from an amusement park theme ride. It's too bad... if they didn't overly dumb things down... it would have been easier to enjoy. I try to judge relatively, and here it would be a mistake to hold Pacific Rim up to some kind of gold standard... but the script could have seriously used a little work.
There's female leads out there in sci fi and action. Look at Milla Javovich in the Resident Evil franchise or the Underworld franchise with Kate Bekinsale. Both very successful franchises with female leads. I'm sure there's others I can't think of right now. Well, the classic Alien franchise comes to mind with Sigourney Weaver.
Edit: here's a list:
http://www.complex.com/girls/2011/03/the-15-hottest-lead-women-in-action-movies
Some obvious one's like Lara Croft, but they left out some like Prometheus starring Noomi Rapace.
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I'm not saying that there was not, will not, have not been female leads in these positions. I'm speaking about this one in particular, where it seems (from the outside) that the decision was to satisfy a checklist which may not have included "really solid lead character" on it.
The newer "The Thing" -- bad or good, did pretty much have a female lead as well.
The newer "The Thing" -- bad or good, did pretty much have a female lead as well.
Batutta
Major Contributor
Note, all those other examples are CAUCASIAN females, although the Alien Vs. Predator had a black, female lead character so even that ground has been tread. Certainly Life of Pi has proven you can make a blockbuster with a non-white, culturally non-western hero in the lead. And Django Unchained kind of blasted two old stereotypes, that foreign audiences won't go see Westerns or films with black heroes.
CallaghanFilms
Veteran
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark was del Toro's Lady in the Water. I got off the ascensor on that floor...
Sage
Well-known member
How cool would that be?
Well... he's not that bad. DBAOTD was bad but - del Toro didn't direct*
M Night's 'The Happening' wasn't half bad. 'Lady in the Water' was awful though. 'The Village', 'Unbreakable', & 'Sixth Sense': A+
Pacific Rim Rocked!
Pacific Rim Rocked!
I had seen the previews for Pacific Rim and wasn't really motivated to see the movie. Giant robots fighting giant aliens? If somehow giant aliens from another dimension were stomping around Earth, simple bunker-buster bombs with high explosives, tactical nukes (actually overkill), would be sufficient to stop them. Even current lasers would work- these slow moving creatures could be cooked slowly as they approached cities. Microwaves or masers could also work, as could biological agents. That's what flashed through my mind after seeing the previews and I gave it no further thought.
A director friend of mine called me today and asked if I wanted to see a screening of Pacific Rim at the Linwood Dunn theater in Hollywood, with a Q&A afterwords with the director Guillermo del Toro and VFX superviser and head of ILM, John Knoll (who also created Photoshop back in the 90's). I hadn't seen my friend in a while and the Q&A sounded interesting, so I went. At the beginning of the screening we were told Guillermo was sick, but John Knoll would still be available for Q&A.
The movie was presented in Dolby 3D, which uses glasses that have a metallic orange and greenish reflection (dichroic filters). I have found the Real 3D circular polarized 3D glasses provide the best stereo 3D experience, however a special silver screen which preserves light polarization is required (not needed with Dolby 3D). The Dolby 3D glasses use 'wavelength multiplex visualization' which is somewhat like anaglyph in that it uses a color filter, but unlike anaglyph, provides full color. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_3D.
With very low expectations, the movie started. The stereo 3D effect was excellent, and well done: no eyestrain and the use of depth actually helped the presentation. There was action immediately, with amazing special effects. As a guy who has written a great deal of code for graphics rendering and physics simulation, I was blown away by the sheer amount of physics simulation and rendering effects happening at once. Rigid bodies, fracturing, soft bodies, tearing, skin simulation, light scattering, radiosity, large and small scale fluid dynamics, smoke & gas simulation, dust & clouds, character IK, and the list goes on. Pretty much every VFX effect was used and for an incredible story telling and entertaining effect. The music and sound FX were also excellent, building emotion and maintaining pace all the way through to the end. It was easy to ignore some of the weaker acting as there was so much entertainment and excitement. To sum up the plot: a mix of Armageddon and Independence Day with a touch of Godzilla (other than giant robots, nothing like Transformers except the destruction). Ridiculous plot? Yes! Great movie? Yes!
The Q&A with John Knoll was cool. The best quote perhaps was it would take 7000 years to render the movie on a single modern fast workstation. John explained what we saw: an insane amount of effects were used in the movie. It sounded like the most complex VFX work done by ILM to date.
The box office hasn't been great for Pacific Rim yet, however an 8/10 at IMDB is pretty good: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1663662/. Read some of the reviews- passionate! This movie is so cool with so many amazing shots/scenes, I'm motivated to see it again. I can't remember the last time I wanted to see a movie again. I would think that once word gets around that this is actually a great movie, it will have legs and perhaps be a top movie of the summer. This movie is also a lot deeper than many folks realize- paying homage to many other movies, genres, & cultures. 10 out of 10!
Pacific Rim Rocked!
I had seen the previews for Pacific Rim and wasn't really motivated to see the movie. Giant robots fighting giant aliens? If somehow giant aliens from another dimension were stomping around Earth, simple bunker-buster bombs with high explosives, tactical nukes (actually overkill), would be sufficient to stop them. Even current lasers would work- these slow moving creatures could be cooked slowly as they approached cities. Microwaves or masers could also work, as could biological agents. That's what flashed through my mind after seeing the previews and I gave it no further thought.
A director friend of mine called me today and asked if I wanted to see a screening of Pacific Rim at the Linwood Dunn theater in Hollywood, with a Q&A afterwords with the director Guillermo del Toro and VFX superviser and head of ILM, John Knoll (who also created Photoshop back in the 90's). I hadn't seen my friend in a while and the Q&A sounded interesting, so I went. At the beginning of the screening we were told Guillermo was sick, but John Knoll would still be available for Q&A.
The movie was presented in Dolby 3D, which uses glasses that have a metallic orange and greenish reflection (dichroic filters). I have found the Real 3D circular polarized 3D glasses provide the best stereo 3D experience, however a special silver screen which preserves light polarization is required (not needed with Dolby 3D). The Dolby 3D glasses use 'wavelength multiplex visualization' which is somewhat like anaglyph in that it uses a color filter, but unlike anaglyph, provides full color. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_3D.
With very low expectations, the movie started. The stereo 3D effect was excellent, and well done: no eyestrain and the use of depth actually helped the presentation. There was action immediately, with amazing special effects. As a guy who has written a great deal of code for graphics rendering and physics simulation, I was blown away by the sheer amount of physics simulation and rendering effects happening at once. Rigid bodies, fracturing, soft bodies, tearing, skin simulation, light scattering, radiosity, large and small scale fluid dynamics, smoke & gas simulation, dust & clouds, character IK, and the list goes on. Pretty much every VFX effect was used and for an incredible story telling and entertaining effect. The music and sound FX were also excellent, building emotion and maintaining pace all the way through to the end. It was easy to ignore some of the weaker acting as there was so much entertainment and excitement. To sum up the plot: a mix of Armageddon and Independence Day with a touch of Godzilla (other than giant robots, nothing like Transformers except the destruction). Ridiculous plot? Yes! Great movie? Yes!
The Q&A with John Knoll was cool. The best quote perhaps was it would take 7000 years to render the movie on a single modern fast workstation. John explained what we saw: an insane amount of effects were used in the movie. It sounded like the most complex VFX work done by ILM to date.
The box office hasn't been great for Pacific Rim yet, however an 8/10 at IMDB is pretty good: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1663662/. Read some of the reviews- passionate! This movie is so cool with so many amazing shots/scenes, I'm motivated to see it again. I can't remember the last time I wanted to see a movie again. I would think that once word gets around that this is actually a great movie, it will have legs and perhaps be a top movie of the summer. This movie is also a lot deeper than many folks realize- paying homage to many other movies, genres, & cultures. 10 out of 10!