Pacific Rim films

[Aspie]

Why was it that they only used their swords near the end? Those were by far the most effective weapons the Jaegars had. They one/two shotted almost everything. Why use a gun that takes 20 seconds to power up and then 20 shots to kill a Kaiju, or weakly punch one when the sword works so much better?

How many pilots and civilians could have been saved if they had just started with the sword rather than having a fist fight for 30 minutes each time, especially once the Kaiju became too strong to fight properly?

Because using a sword means getting up close and personal which in turn means potentially taking high damage. The plasma cannon was a great weapon but only became slightly less effective towards the end after they learned the kaiju were adapting.

The robots were fighting the monsters up close throughout the entire movie, not just the end. The creatures weren't there just taking the projectiles with grace, they ambushed the robots. But we only got the sword near the end.

I guess that's because up until then, like I said, the cannon was working well enough as an offensive weapon.

Spoiler

...but it wasn't though. Even at the very beginning where the guys brother gets killed by the monster they shot with the plasma cannon. They thought it was shot dead, but it just came right up and assaulted them.

[close]

That's what I was thinking. It's hand to hand combat, and a lot of their projectiles were proving to be useless. And they still continued just to punch away at the monsters. Where was the swords at?

It's a totally tongue-in-cheek deus ex machina; stuff like this happens in cartoons all the time. This film succeeded in being probably the most effective live-action cartoon aside from Pop-eye the movie, IMHO

...some trace of logic would've been nice...and preferable as well

[Ratchetcomand]

The movie open up on #2 this Friday

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/


Good to see the word of mouth is helping out the movie. There is still a market for giant robots since Real Steel made nearly 300 million worldwide on 80 million budget.

[Aspie]

The movie open up on #2 this Friday

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/


Good to see the word of mouth is helping out the movie. There is still a market for giant robots since Real Steel made nearly 300 million worldwide on 80 million budget.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-report-pacific-rim-584939

But it's now reportedly dipping, and is expected to open between 35-39 million again. Which puts it in third place overall.

[RagingDragon]

I'm with the tongue-in-cheek crowd dude. The entire premise is stupid and impossible, but it's an awesome fantasy, perfect for great entertainment.

In RL, the Kaijus would probably not be able to breathe in our atmosphere (unless they were specifically prepared like the movie implied) and we wouldn't build giant robots, we'd hit them with some sort of orbital, satellite-guided penetrator missile that would pierce the thick hide before igniting inside and vaporizing the monster in seconds, or something similar.

The only way you could ever get realistic with giant robots is if they were the only platform for launching massive, massive amounts of ordnance. No way in hell would they ever even come close to one of those things.

This is pure cartoon fun, man. That's all it ever can be until you get Christopher Nolan on it.

[shadowedge]

Why was it that they only used their swords near the end? Those were by far the most effective weapons the Jaegars had. They one/two shotted almost everything. Why use a gun that takes 20 seconds to power up and then 20 shots to kill a Kaiju, or weakly punch one when the sword works so much better?

How many pilots and civilians could have been saved if they had just started with the sword rather than having a fist fight for 30 minutes each time, especially once the Kaiju became too strong to fight properly?

Because using a sword means getting up close and personal which in turn means potentially taking high damage. The plasma cannon was a great weapon but only became slightly less effective towards the end after they learned the kaiju were adapting.

The robots were fighting the monsters up close throughout the entire movie, not just the end. The creatures weren't there just taking the projectiles with grace, they ambushed the robots. But we only got the sword near the end.

I guess that's because up until then, like I said, the cannon was working well enough as an offensive weapon.

Spoiler

...but it wasn't though. Even at the very beginning where the guys brother gets killed by the monster they shot with the plasma cannon. They thought it was shot dead, but it just came right up and assaulted them.

[close]

That's what I was thinking. It's hand to hand combat, and a lot of their projectiles were proving to be useless. And they still continued just to punch away at the monsters. Where was the swords at?

It's a totally tongue-in-cheek deus ex machina; stuff like this happens in cartoons all the time. This film succeeded in being probably the most effective live-action cartoon aside from Pop-eye the movie, IMHO

...some trace of logic would've been nice...and preferable as well

Right. The guns had a huge warm up time in which the Jaegars were completely vulnerable to attack and it took way to many shots to kill level 3/4 Kaiju. Plus all of the fighting was up close, no one blasted at the Kaiju from a distance in which the guns would be most useful.

If you must fight up close then use the most effective weapon you have, which was by far the sword. That or invent better guns with more penetrating power and less warm up.

Another effective weapon was the Jaegar's nuclear engine. That melted through Kaiju easily the couple of times they used it. They should have invented a gun that shot nuclear flames, since it even seemed to work underwater somehow.

[That Yellow Alien]

Saw this last night, and it was f**king awesome.

I genuinely don't understand how anyone can say it lacked heart. It's heart was on its sleeve and beating the entire time. It had a very explicit theme of unity and understanding, the entire operation of the Jeager program depended on it. Was it complicated, hell no, but since when has simple been bad? If anything, plots to blockbuster movies these days try to complicate their plots to ridiculous degrees, it was refreshing to see such a simple movie. No angst, no self-loathing, no bullshit, just people standing up and becoming heroes in the most unabashedly childish way possible.

[Vecrotus]

Spoiler

For those who have seen the movie I have one question: Do the Chinese Crimson Typhoon and Russian Cherno Alpha put up a decent fight against the Kaiju or are they completely underused?

[close]

[Bat Chain Puller]

I was hoping the international Jaeger pilots had more to do. I don't know what I was expected. Maybe some adult version of the dynamics that transpired in Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire with all those Wizard schools coming together.

People keep saying "Top Gun" as if that would have been a bad thing. Would have preferred the cheesy macho shenanigans that we got in Top Gun actually. Also ... dat music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKgL17Rwqd4#ws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKC_P6QDOTk#ws

Spoiler

For those who have seen the movie I have one question: Do the Chinese Crimson Typhoon and Russian Cherno Alpha put up a decent fight against the Kaiju or are they completely underused?

[close]

Spoiler

Underused in my opinion. Hope the Directors cut will flesh them out a bit.

[close]

[Alien³]

Spoiler

For those who have seen the movie I have one question: Do the Chinese Crimson Typhoon and Russian Cherno Alpha put up a decent fight against the Kaiju or are they completely underused?

[close]

Spoiler

They're used as much as they're needed to be.

[close]

[Aspie]

I'm with the tongue-in-cheek crowd dude. The entire premise is stupid and impossible, but it's an awesome fantasy, perfect for great entertainment.

In RL, the Kaijus would probably not be able to breathe in our atmosphere (unless they were specifically prepared like the movie implied) and we wouldn't build giant robots, we'd hit them with some sort of orbital, satellite-guided penetrator missile that would pierce the thick hide before igniting inside and vaporizing the monster in seconds, or something similar.

The only way you could ever get realistic with giant robots is if they were the only platform for launching massive, massive amounts of ordnance. No way in hell would they ever even come close to one of those things.

This is pure cartoon fun, man. That's all it ever can be until you get Christopher Nolan on it.

Absolutely, and I think this sums it up perfectly:

Bay's the kind of hyperactive brat who'd come over to your house and break all of your toys; del Toro is the good-hearted dreamer with boundless imagination who'd spin out some crazily expansive narrative incorporating every action figure at your disposal, no matter how disparate. You have fun with del Toro; you get grounded because of Bay.

I'm not knocking the movie for it's implausibility. I just think that, much like a kid who would "spin out some crazily expansive narrative incorporating every action figure at your disposal", characterization, humor, and storytelling took a back seat and was largely ignored while del Toro embraced is inner child and unleashed a movie that caters to action and monster junkies. It just didn't aspire to be more than that.

Saw this last night, and it was f**king awesome.

I genuinely don't understand how anyone can say it lacked heart. It's heart was on its sleeve and beating the entire time. It had a very explicit theme of unity and understanding, the entire operation of the Jeager program depended on it. Was it complicated, hell no, but since when has simple been bad? If anything, plots to blockbuster movies these days try to complicate their plots to ridiculous degrees, it was refreshing to see such a simple movie. No angst, no self-loathing, no bullshit, just people standing up and becoming heroes in the most unabashedly childish way possible.

Simple is not bad. Predictable, cliche, and antiquated is bad. An unexplored theme is bad. And that simple theme was not effective enough to even be characterized as gushing with heart. Which we can thank the loose characterization for.

no bullshit

[RagingDragon]

Great review, Yellow! And that succintness.. no droning on for pages like the rest of us.

Bat Chain I couldn't agree more about the soundtrack. Some of it I really liked, the drumming and more mysterious music, but the main theme was kind of a cobbled-together mix of many generic action movie themes. Top Gun is kind of fitting too, and a hefty compliment.

Vecrotus:

Spoiler

Cherno Alpha was my favorite.. she had a good run I suppose. Pretty tough, took 2 Kaijus to finally bring it down. Crimson Typhoon's presence was a bit more brief, and you might feel that it was underused. At that point in the film, though, they make it clear that these new Kaiju are bad mothers, and they've also never had a double event with 2 of them.

I bought it that they were badasses, protecting their home countries for years. It kind of made it harder to watch them just get stomped. Expect some incoming Cherno fan art from me later, damn straight.

[close]

[Alien³]

About to watch it a 2nd time.

Round 2...FIGHT!

[Aspie]

About to watch it a 2nd time.

Round 2...FIGHT!

...that's cheating, damn it. GU2 should be given a fair chance to win the box office game

[Alien³]

GU2?

Is that a film about U2 coping with life in the hood?

[Aspie]

GU2?

Is that a film about U2 coping with life in the hood?

No, it's a new Adam Sandler film that's equally as enjoyable, and more charming, than Pacific Rim.