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Pacific Rim (Blu-ray+DVD+UltraViolet Combo Pack)
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 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 Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defendi
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October 10, 2013 at 10:43 am
Non-spoiler – Big Robots vs. Big Monsters = BIG FUN!,
If you ever watched a Godzilla movie, or any other giant monster movie, and wanted to see what it might look like with today’s special effects, grab your popcorn and check out Guillermo del Toro’s “Pacific Rim.”
In the near future, Earth faces invasion from giant monsters (Kaiju), who emerge from the ocean and wreak havoc on coastal cities. The humans create giant robot Jaegers to fight them. For a while this works, but the monsters grow stronger and once again overwhelm the humans. Pacific Rim follows a former robot jockey who is called back to duty as the human defenses dwindle…..
I’ve looked forward to this movie for a long time, as I loved the giant monster movies of my youth. This didn’t disappoint. Interesting and intimidating Kaiju, unique and powerful Jaegers, well choreographed fight scenes, and awesome special effects combine to make this a fantastic summer movie. There were several scenes which had the audience cheering and applauding.
I’ve rated this 5 stars because it was exactly what I was looking for. If you are looking for a deep character-driven film, this might not be for you. I would question why you are going to a giant monster vs. giant robot movie for that. If you want to see utter destruction and great fight scenes, you really cant’ go wrong with Pacific Rim.
I saw this in the theater in 3D, and while the 3D was prevalent and pretty good, it faltered when the scenes called for 3D and subtitles. Nevertheless, it is highly worthy not only of seeing in a theater (the scenes will not play as well on a smaller screen) but it is also worth paying the extra price for 3D (something I don’t say often).
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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|Moviedude
October 10, 2013 at 10:23 am
A fantastic adventure with Del Toro’s great polish throughout,
Pacific Rim got hammered pretty hard by a lot of confused critics who apparently only know Guillermo del Toro from his more artistic magical realism work and somehow missed Hellboy, Mimic, and Blade 2. Pacific Rim belongs solidly to the latter camp, but it’s a labor of love and is missing none of the flair that makes del Toro films so special. At its core it is essentially a Western Super Sentai film; heroes suit up in giant robots to battle monsters that are invading our dimension… And that’s it. You can foist all sorts of allegory onto this movie if you want, and you can plumb it for deeper meaning- it’s rich enough- but at the end of the day it’s a thrilling adventure about friendship, big robots, and monster punching. Wet blankets need not apply.
Short summary: a portal to an alien world opens under the ocean and giant monsters come out. The governments of the world team up to battle them, eventually doing so with Jaegers, huge robots piloted by two psychically linked pilots who must act in tandem to control their war machines. For a while this goes swimmingly, but the money dries up and the monsters keep coming, and soon the fate of the world rests on crusty and intensely likeable Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) who runs the world’s last 4 jaegers in an endless war against the monsters out of Hong Kong. Pentacost has a plan to destroy the portal that brings the monsters to earth but to do that he recruits emotionally scarred Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) who must copilot with the impetuous and vengeful Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) for one last big mission. Cue a ton of fighting and explosions.
This film showcases a lot of newcomer actors to great effect. The burgeoning friendship between Mori and Becket is particularly well done (it is best described as a guy-girl bromance really) and the rest of the cast does science, runs from monsters, or is Ron Perlman (yes that’s a role now) very effectively. Idris Elba gets to play to his strengths very well here and chew a lot of scenery as an AGING HERO with SAD SECRETS, and lest you think that del Toro will craft a strong black lead then stick him in an office like every other director, rest assured that Pentacost punches monsters in a big robot too.
Of course the fights are the meat of the film and they do not disappoint. The robots and monsters convey a powerful sense of size and weight, as their enormous fists, tails, and jaws gnash and hit with weight and authority. Fights are almost wholly digital affairs and perhaps to save money they are usually in rainy darkness, but they are still exciting and tense. The multi-stage throwdown in Hong Kong at the film’s peak is one of the best giant monster battles ever committed to film and I say that as a die-hard Godzilla fan.
Some critics have panned this film for a lack of depth, but the truth is that it does what it wants to- deliver a summer blockbuster- and it does so with unprecedented depth. Its writing, performances, and effects easily put it on par with The Avengers as a smart summer action romp, and to disrespect this film because it’s not another Pan’s Labyrinth is sort of like saying a really good ice cream sundae is undeserving of your time because it’s not a baked Alaska. Lest we overlook it too, Rim is also an ORIGINAL film in an industry plagued by remakes, sequels, and general unoriginality. You don’t have to buy it (although I would) but you should absolutely see it in theaters or rent it at least once. Don’t miss out.
PROS
-Endearing performances from a young cast (with help from some veterans)
-Way, way better than Cloverfield
-Blends Artsy del Toro’s flair for eerie creatures and dream imagery with comic geek del Toro’s love of SMASH POW BAM
-Effective ear bug soundtrack will stick with you
-Really good 3D if that’s your thing
CONS
-Some of the other Jaeger crews are not very well developed
-The very beginning crams a lot of exposition in pretty fast
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