Reminds Me Of 'Jurassic Park'

The VFX in 'Jurassic Park' were ahead of their time. My jaw dropped. I could not believe what I was seeing. Those dinosaurs looked better than anything that came before and, in fact, most of the stuff that came after. Even today, often, CGI doesn't look as good.

It was quite a ride and, I believe, the reason for that is simple. Steven Spielberg demanded it. He pushed the tech of the day to the limits and constantly asked if there was any way to clean it up, make it more real, make it better. It was the passion of the director that made T-Rex so scary. Other less involved directors did not (and do not) get similar results. 'Jurassic Park' came out in 1993 and even twenty years later we see cheesy effects in movies all the time.

The CGI in 'Pacific Rim' may not be as revolutionary as those in 'Jurassic Park' but, still, you can see the influence and high standards of the director, Guillermo del Toro. These monsters are something to behold and they do look better than I would have expected.

Wonderful work by ILM both technically of course, but also artistically. Yes, this is beautiful. 'Pacific Rim' sets a new standard.




















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Flat Buzz But Great Reviews

I thought 'Pacific Rim' was a great idea. Giant robots fighting monsters from the other side of the universe -- had never been done, sounded like fun. Then, I heard about the whole 'drift' thing and the way it takes two psychically bonded pilots to control the Jaegers. Something about that seemed off -- fresh, new, but a bit too complex and subtle an idea for a summer popcorn movie. I had my doubts. Buzz flattened and I think it's because of the drift concept. People weren't interested in such an involved idea. It came off too touchy-feely.

Things were looking grim for 'Pacific Rim'. At one point they were forecasting a $30m opening weekend.

At the same time, though, footage was some of the best I've seen. That, plus the fact that the monster design is, how to say this?...innovative, scary, while maintaining an organic realism that makes your jaw drop. The monsters looked awesome. The robots were good, but sort of same ole same ole, but the monsters rocked. I was looking forward to seeing 'Pacific Rim' again.

Even if PR doesn't do well in the US, I'm thinking it will rake overseas. The European and Asian markets love stuff like drifting. They live for touchy-feely. Makes us squeamish, they eat it up. And, robots fighting monsters plays huge, especially in China and Japan.

Reviews are rolling in and they're over the top. These guys loved the movie. They're totally wowed by the monsters and fight sequences. Hopefully, buzz will pick up and PR will do some (domestic) business. There's still time. It could happen.
























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'Pacific Rim' Delivers Its Best Trailer Yet But I'm Still Not Sure. So Not Sure

There's just something off about 'Pacific Rim'. Perhaps that's because the plot has such a fresh twist, however that wouldn't explain the odd feeling I get watching trailers. This latest is no exception. It's put together well -- the best, most compelling one yet to be sure -- but watching it I'm...confused. It's like a deep philosophical exploration jammed together with a robot movie and, somehow, that leaves me wondering.

I hope the flick scores. Surely, we could use an injection of intellect during the summer months. (See what I mean? I'm talking about a robots-vs-monsters-from-another-dimension movie and use turns of phrase like 'injection of intellect'. That's weird).

As I was saying, yes, I'd like to see smarter popcorn CGI crash-bang summer movies. We get so much glimmering fluff every year... However there's something about the conceit of melding your mind with another pilot in order to control a giant robot and the inherent implications regarding identity, surrender of personal freedoms and privacy to keep society free, and general mental/emotional mumbo-jumbo in 'Pacific Rim' that gives me pause.

That said, I freaking love the monsters. Wow, they did a good job with those. Can't wait. I might have to turn the sound off whenever there's dialogue to avoid existential brain-freeze, but -- can't wait.



















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'Pacific Rim' Featurette -- or -- You Kaiju, You

I had my doubts about 'Pacific Rim'. Still do. I'm thinking the depth of character they're going for might not be attainable in a summer blockbuster (especially a pure genre monster flick) without coming off too involved or even hokey to the target audience. That's neither here nor there, really. We'll see.

But, gotta hand it to Guillermo del Toro. He and his team designed and rendered some very cool looking monsters. Possibly the best CGI yet. I can't remember seeing anything like this before.

After seeing this featurette I'm thinking 'Pacific Rim' has a shot at huge box office.





















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Guillermo del Toro Talks Jaegers

'Pacific Rim' has more potential than any recent movie of its kind I can remember. The Superman reboot comes to mind as far as being a fresh take, however 'Pacific Rim', though it has giant robots like a certain other franchise, deals with something that hasn't been done in feature films. We've seen robots vs. monsters from space in cartoons and maybe some TV shows (especially the Japanese stuff) but not movies. And, this is certainly differs from the Godzilla template.

Could be a lot of fun. Could have depth. Del Toro, as usual, has gone all-out in developing the look of the film which, at the least, makes 'Pacific Rim' a must-rent. Should do very well at the box office in its first week.























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'Pacific Rim' Giant Robot Action Figures = Box Office Safety Net

'Pacific Rim' might do well at the box office but the real money will come from action figure sales. And, why not? These robots are way cooler than Transformers. If the robots don't sell, the monster figures will.























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'Pacific Rim' Drifting Explained

Fairly good hook. Original, intriguing. That two people must meld minds in order to fight a monster is a pretty effective allegory of our need to work together to solve global problems. That each character faces the demons locked away in memory, and these memories are known to another person in their totality, will resonate with audiences.

Lot of potential in this movie. So much. If 'Pacific Rim' delivers the depth of story it hints at we'll have a great new franchise. Sort of 'Transformers with Soul'.
























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Next Trailer for 'Pacific Rim'

I don't think you can watch a movie like this without a $15 bucket of popcorn. With lots of that 'butter-like' topping. And one of those bathtub-sized sodas.

So electric. So blue. So loud. So wtf. Should be fun.























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'Pacific Rim' Eye Candy

Am I mistaken or is this a new level of CGI?


























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So Dorky But, Yeah, Fun

"And he could have rockets that shoot out of his chest! Yeah, that would be cool!"

Looking forward.





















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A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Work

Or -- sorry I'm late, but...

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Trailer for 'Pacific Rim' Now With More Giant Robots

Really, we should forget superheros and just have giant robot movies. I don't care about SuperSpiderBatWhateverMan, but giant robots and monsters from another dimension...yeah, I'm down with that. Gimme more that.






















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Yeah, This Should Work

I'm thinking 'Pacific Rim' will deliver. Should do well in the US but could score overseas. The Japanese, especially, like big robots. They were doing big robots way before we were. Really, they invented the whole 'big robot' thing. We copied them on this one.

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Big Ass Monsters Trailer for 'Pacific Rim'

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'Pacific Rim' Action Figures To The Rescue

With a budget of $200 million (not counting global marketing) Warner Bros. needs all the help they can get just to get back to zero on this movie.

The 'blueprints' for giant robots which are used to combat the Kaiju serve as viral marketing for the movie, to be sure, however it's pretty clear these are ads for action figures as well. In fact, at $30 a pop (with 4 or 5 needed to make a complete set) the toys may be what makes 'Pacific Rim' profitable.

It's fair to wonder whether 'Pacific Rim' would have gotten the green light if the plot did not include robots that every kid would want a toy version of.

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OMG! 'Pacific Rim' Kaiju Attack! Caught On Video!

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Poster for 'Pacific Rim'

They always look so promising at first. Here's hoping.

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