| Pacific Rim | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Guillermo del Toro |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by | Travis Beacham |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Guillermo Navarro |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | Ramin Djawadi |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 132 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States[2] |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $190 million[3] |
| Box office | $411 million[4] |
Pacific Rim[a] is a 2013 Americanmonsteraction film directed byGuillermo del Toro. The first film in thePacific Rim franchise, it starsCharlie Hunnam,Idris Elba,Rinko Kikuchi,Charlie Day,Robert Kazinsky,Max Martini, andRon Perlman. The screenplay was written byTravis Beacham and del Toro, from a story by Beacham. The film is set in the future, when Earth is at war with theKaiju,[b] colossal sea monsters which have emerged from an interdimensional portal on the bottom of thePacific Ocean. To combat the monsters, humanity unites to create the Jaegers,[c] gigantic humanoidmechas, each controlled by two co-pilots whose minds are joined by amental link. Focusing on the war's later days, the story follows Raleigh Becket, a washed-up Jaeger pilot called out of retirement and teamed with rookie pilot Mako Mori as part of a last-ditch effort to defeat the Kaiju.
Principal photography began on November 14, 2011, inToronto and lasted through to April 2012. The film was produced byLegendary Pictures and distributed byWarner Bros. It was released on July 12, 2013, in3D,RealD 3D,IMAX 3D and4DX, receiving generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its performances, direction, storyline, action sequences, visual effects, musical score, and nostalgic style. While it underperformed at the box office in the United States, it was highly successful in other markets, thus becoming a box office success.[12] It earned a worldwide total of $411 million—earning $114 million in China alone, its largest market—becoming Del Toro's most commercially successful film. The film is regarded as anhomage tokaiju,mecha, andanime media.[13][14]
A sequel titledPacific Rim Uprising was released on March 23, 2018, withUniversal Pictures as the film's distributor.
In 2013, massive alien monsters calledKaiju emerge from an interdimensional portal called the Breach at the bottom of thePacific Ocean and begin to attack coastal cities along thePacific Rim. They prove resistant to conventional military force, prompting humanity to construct massive mecha called Jaegers; each is co-piloted by two or more people who share the mental stress of piloting the machine through a mental link called the Drift. The machines initially prove highly effective, ushering in a new era of Jaeger stardom.
In 2020, brothers Yancy and Raleigh Becket pilot American JaegerGipsy Danger to defendAnchorage from a Category-3 Kaiju codenamedKnifehead. The Kaiju severely damagesGipsy, leading to Yancy's death. Raleigh killsKnifehead and pilotsGipsy to shore alone before collapsing. Traumatized by his brother's death and the stress of solo-piloting the Jaeger, he quits the program.
Five years later, world leaders divert funding from the Jaeger program in favor of coastal defense walls due to resurgent Kaiju attacks and the rapid attrition of Jaegers. However, the walls are soon proven ineffective when a Kaiju breaks through the wall inSydney in less than one hour before being brought down by Australian JaegerStriker Eureka, piloted by father-son duo Herc and Chuck Hansen. The remaining Jaegers are relocated to Hong Kong under Marshal Stacker Pentecost.
Now working in wall construction, Raleigh is recruited by Pentecost and brought to Hong Kong. There, he meets Mako Mori, director of the Jaeger restoration program. Four Jaegers remain: refurbishedGipsy Danger, RussianCherno Alpha, ChineseCrimson Typhoon, andStriker Eureka. Pentecost informs Raleigh of his plan to destroy the Breach by detonating a tactical nuclear weapon, to be escorted by Raleigh inGipsy; Raleigh searches for a new co-pilot and finds Mako is compatible. During their first test inGipsy Danger, Mako loses alignment while recalling a Kaiju attack in Tokyo, nearly dischargingGipsy's plasma cannon inside the Shatterdome. Consequently, Pentecost suspends Mako. Raleigh protests, having seen through Mako's memories that Pentecost had adopted and raised Mako after her parents died in the Kaiju attack, and suggests the real reason for Pentecost suspending Mako was to protect her. Pentecost remains unswayed.
Pentecost consults Kaiju experts Newton Geiszler and Hermann Gottlieb. Hermann predicts that while Kaiju attacks will increase in frequency, the Breach will soon be stable enough to permit passage of the bomb. Disregarding Pentecost's advice, Newton drifts with a Kaiju's brain, learning that they are a hive mind of bioweapons created by an alien race, the Precursors, for the colonization of Earth. At Pentecost's instruction, Newton meets with black market dealer Hannibal Chau for another Kaiju brain to drift with. During the meeting, two Category-4 Kaiju,Leatherback andOtachi, attack the city; Hannibal deduces that the hive mind accessed Newton's memories during the drift, which prompted the two Kaiju to attack Hong Kong in search of him.
All Jaegers exceptGipsy Danger intervene.Otachi destroysCrimson Typhoon whileLeatherback annihilatesCherno Alpha and disablesStriker Eureka with anEMP blast, injuring Herc. The nuclear-poweredGipsy, with Mako reinstated, eliminates both Kaiju before Newton is harmed. Meanwhile, Newton and Hannibal attempt to harvestOtachi's secondary brain but find she is pregnant; the infant Kaiju bursts out, devouring Hannibal before strangling itself with its umbilical cord. Newton and Hermann drift with the infant's brain, discovering that the Breach only opens if it detects Kaiju DNA.
Pentecost reveals to Raleigh he hasradiation poisoning after piloting a first-generation Jaeger to save a young Mako, and that piloting again would prove fatal. With Herc injured, he nevertheless resolves to co-pilotStriker in his stead. When two new Kaiju,Scunner andRaiju, are detected at the Breach,Gipsy andStriker approach, where the first-ever Category-5 Kaiju,Slattern, appears.Gipsy killsRaiju, but is damaged. Pentecost and Chuck sacrifice themselves by detonating their nuclear warhead, killingScunner and allowingGipsy to defeatSlattern and ride its corpse into the Breach. Raleigh ejects Mako fromGipsy, triggers a meltdown in the Jaeger's nuclear reactor, and ejects before its detonation seals the Breach. Their escape pods surface as rescue helicopters arrive, and humanity celebrates the defeat of the Kaiju.
In a post-credit scene, Hannibal can be seen cutting his way out of the infant kaiju that swallowed him, complaining about his missing shoe.
Additional Jaeger pilots include Charles Luu, Lance Luu and Mark Luu as the Wei Tang triplets (China), andRobert Maillet andHeather Doerksen as Sasha and Alexis Kaidanovsky (Russia).Joe Pingue portrays Captain Merrit, the captain of a fishing boat caught in a battle between Jaeger and Kaiju.Santiago Segura plays an aide to Hannibal Chau.[40]Brad William Henke andLarry Joe Campbell portray members of an Alaskan construction team that Raleigh joins after retiring from the Pan Pacific Defense Corps.Robin Thomas, Julian Barnes, andDavid Richmond-Peck portrayU.N. representatives from the United States, Great Britain, and Canada, respectively.Sebastian Pigott appears as a Jaeger engineer and Joshua Peace appears as an officer, Jonathan Foxon appears as a frantic civilian.David Fox plays an old man on a beach, while Jane Watson portrays Raleigh and Yancy's mother in a flashback sequence.[41][42][better source needed] Producer Thomas Tull makes a cameo appearance.[43]Ellen McLain makes a vocal appearance as the A.I of theGipsy Danger, a nod to her role asGLaDOS in thePortal game series.[44][45]
In the film, a Jaeger's neural load is too much for a single pilot to handle alone, meaning they must first be psychically linked to another pilot—a concept called "drifting". When pilots drift, they quickly gain intimate knowledge of each other's memories and feelings, and have no choice but to accept them; del Toro found this concept's dramatic potential compelling. The director expressed his intention that the empathy metaphors extend to real life:
The pilots' smaller stories actually make a bigger point, which is that we're all together in the same robot [in life] ... Either we get along or we die. I didn't want this to be a recruitment ad or anything jingoistic. The idea of the movie is just for us to trust each other, to cross over barriers of color, sex, beliefs, whatever, and just stick together.
Del Toro acknowledged this message's simplicity, but said he would have liked to have seen adventure films with similar morals when he was a child.[31] The film's ten primary characters all have "little arcs" conducive to this idea. Del Toro stated, "I think that's a great message to give kids ... 'That guy you were beating the shit out of ten minutes ago? That's the guy you have to work with five minutes later.' That's life ... We can only be complete when we work together." The director noted thatHellboy andThe Devil's Backbone told the same message, though the latter conveyed it in a very different way.[46]
The film centers on the relationship between Becket and Mori, but is not a love story in a conventional sense. Both are deeply damaged human beings who have decided to suppress their respective traumas. While learning to pilot their Jaeger, they undergo a process of "opening up", gaining access to each other's thoughts, memories and secrets. Their relationship is necessarily one of respect and "perfect trust". Hunnam commented that the film is "a love story without a love story. It's about all of the necessary elements of love without arriving at love itself".[22][47] Both Becket and Mori have suffered profound personal tragedies; one of the script's central ideas is that two damaged people can metaphorically "become one", with their figurative missing pieces connecting almost like a puzzle.[48] Del Toro emphasized the characters' transition from mutual indifference to emotional intimacy by filming their training fight scene the way he would a courtship scene at a dance.[49]
Del Toro, a self-describedpacifist, avoided what he termed "car commercial aesthetics" or "army recruitment video aesthetics", and gave the charactersWestern ranks including "marshal" and "ranger" rather than military ranks such as "captain", "major" or "general". The director stated that he "avoided making any kind of message that says war is good. We have enough firepower in the world."[23] Del Toro wanted to break from the mass death and destruction featured in contemporary blockbuster films, and made a point of showing the streets and buildings being evacuated before Kaiju attacks, ensuring that the destruction depicted is "completely remorseless". The director stated:
I don't want people being crushed. I want the joy that I used to get seeingGodzilla toss a tank without having to think there are guys in the tank ... What I think is you could do nothing but echo the moment you're in. There is a global anxiety about how fragile the status quo is and the safety of citizens, but in my mind—honestly—this film is in another realm. There is no correlation to the real world. There is no fear of a copycat Kaiju attack because a Kaiju saw it on the news and said, "I'm going to destroy Seattle." In my case, I'm picking up a tradition. One that started right after World War II and was a coping mechanism, in a way, for Japan to heal the wounds of that war. And it's integral for a Kaiju to rampage in the city.[50]
Writing for theLos Angeles Review of Books,Wai Chee Dimock connected the film's central theme oftogetherness to its recurring image of missing shoes, stating the "utopian dream" driving the characters is
that puny humans like us could be "together"—not only in the specific neural melding that must take place between the two Jaeger co-pilots but also, more generally speaking, in afractal web of resemblance, filling the world with copies of ourselves at varying orders of magnitude and with varying degrees of re-expression, beginning with the shoes on our feet.[51]
In February 2006, it was reported thatTravis Beacham would directGuillermo del Toro's fantasy screenplayKilling on Carnival Row, but the project never materialized.[52] Beacham conceivedPacific Rim the following year. While walking on the beach nearSanta 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 withsurvivor's guilt", Beacham commenced writing the film.[53] On May 28, 2010, it was reported thatLegendary Pictures had purchased Beacham's detailed 25-pagefilm treatment, now titledPacific Rim.[54]
On July 28, 2010, it was reported that del Toro would next direct an adaptation ofH. P. Lovecraft'sAt the Mountains of Madness forUniversal Studios, withJames Cameron producing.[55] 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.[56] Del Toro struck a deal with Legendary: while directingAt the Mountains of Madness, he would produce and co-writePacific Rim; because of the films' conflicting production schedules, he would directPacific Rim only ifAt the Mountains of Madness were cancelled.[57]Tom Cruise was attached to star in the Lovecraft adaptation.[16]
On March 7, 2011, it was reported that Universal would not proceed withAt the Mountains of Madness because del Toro was unwilling to compromise on the $150 million budget andR rating.[58][59] 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."[60] The project collapsed on a Friday, and del Toro signed to directPacific Rim the following Monday.[16]
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.[61] The script also received an uncredited rewrite fromNeil Cross, who previously created the Idris Elba-starring drama seriesLuther and wrote the del Toro-producedhorror filmMama.[62]Patrick Melton andMarcus Dunstan were enlisted to perform uncredited rewrites when theirspec scriptMonstropolis caught the filmmaker's attention.[63]Drew Pearce also carried out uncredited work on the script.[64]
Filming began on November 14, 2011,[65] and continued inToronto into April 2012.[66] Del Toro gave an update after the second week on filming finished.[67] The film was referred to asSilent Seas andStill Seas during production.[68]
Del Toro had never shot a film in fewer than 115 days, but had only 103 to shootPacific 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."[69]
The film was shot usingRed Epic cameras.[70] At first Guillermo del Toro decided not to shoot or convert the film to3D, 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 noparallax. 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.[71]
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 aRomney."[72]
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 isIbsen 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.[46] The director wanted to keep the film around two hours, particularly for younger viewers.Alejandro González Iñárritu andAlfonso Cuarón helped with the editing; Iñárritu removed ten minutes of footage, while Cuarón removed "a few minutes" and rearranged several scenes.[73] Iñárritu and Cuarón receive a "special thanks" in the film's end credits, as doJames Cameron andDavid Cronenberg.[74] Cameron's role is unknown, but del Toro has explained that Cronenberg extensively helped with crewing the film in Toronto.[49]
Del Toro envisionedPacific Rim as an earnest, colorful adventure story, with an "incredibly airy and light feel", in contrast to the "super-brooding, super-dark, cynical summer movie". The director focused on "big, beautiful, sophisticated visuals" and action that would satisfy an adult audience, but has stated his "real hope" is to introduce the Kaiju and mecha genres to a generation of children.[60] While the film draws heavily on these genres, it avoids direct references to previous works. Del Toro intended to create something original but "madly in love" with its influences, instilled with "epic beauty" and "operatic grandeur".[75] The ending credits dedicate the film toRay Harryhausen andIshirō Honda, who helped to establish the giant monster genre with films such asThe Beast from 20,000 Fathoms andGodzilla, respectively.[76]The film was to honor the Kaiju and mecha genres while creating an original stand-alone film, something "conscious of the heritage, but not apastiche 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 likeGodzilla,Gamera, orThe War of the Gargantuas for inspiration, stating: "I didn't want to bepostmodern, 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."[75][77] Rather than popular culture, he drew inspiration from works of art such asThe Colossus andGeorge Bellows's boxing paintings.[56][78] The film's designers includeWayne Barlowe (who is the primary designer of the Kaiju),Oscar Chichoni, monster sculptors David Meng and Simon Lee, andHellboy II andThe Hobbit designer Francisco Ruiz Velasco.[56] Del Toro has acknowledged that some designs created for his cancelledAt the Mountains of Madness adaptation may have been used inPacific Rim.[61]
Approximately one hundred Kaiju and one hundred Jaegers were designed, but only a fraction of these appear in the film; every week the filmmakers would "do anAmerican Idol" and vote for the best.[8] In designing Kaiju, the film's artists frequently drew inspiration from nature rather than other works. The director commented: "Kaijus 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."[9] Del Toro avoided making the Kaiju too similar to any Earth creatures, instead opting to make them otherworldly and alien.[79] 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.[57] Each Kaiju was given a vaguely humanoid silhouette to echo the man-in-suit aesthetic of early Japanese Kaiju films.[10] 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.[79]
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 agoblin shark.[46] Leatherback, the bouncer-like Kaiju which spews electro-magnetic 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.[80] 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.[8] It is also more intelligent than the other Kaiju, employing eagle-inspired strategies against the Jaegers.[80] Onibaba, the Kaiju that orphans Mako Mori, resembles a fusion of a Japanese temple and a crustacean.[80] 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.[80]
Gipsy Danger, the American Jaeger, was based on the shape of New York City'sArt Deco buildings, such as theChrysler Building and theEmpire State Building, but infused withJohn Wayne's gunslinger gait and hip movements.[49]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 acooling tower on its head.[8]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.[80]Striker Eureka, the Australian Jaeger, is likened by del Toro to aLand 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.[80]
The elaborate launch sequences for the Jaeger were inspired by the complexity of the launch sequences in the British TV seriesThunderbirds.[49]
The film's costumes were designed byShane 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.[56]
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) was chosen to create the visual effects forPacific Rim. Del Toro hiredAcademy Award winnersJohn Knoll andHal T. Hickel, both known for their work on theStar Warsprequel trilogy and thePirates of the Caribbean films.Legacy Effects co-ownerShane Mahan, known for creating the armored suits forIron Man, was tasked with building the suits, helmets and conn-pods.[81] Academy Award winnerClay Pinney, known for his work onIndependence Day andStar Trek, was also brought on board.Hybride Technologies, a division ofUbisoft, andRodeo FX also contributed to the visual effects.[82][83]
Del Toro conceived the film as anoperatic 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 Japanesewoodblock printThe Great Wave off Kanagawa byHokusai 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."[84] 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].'"[84]
The film also features extensiveminiature 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 quarter-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 quarter-scale seats blown apart by air cannons. Additionally 32TEN provided severalpractical elements for ILM's compositing team including dust clouds, breaking glass and water effects.[85]
The film's score was composed byRamin Djawadi.[86] Del Toro selected Djawadi based on his works onPrison Break,Iron Man andGame of Thrones, stating: "His scores have a grandeur, but they have also an incredible sort of human soul." The director also stated that some Russian rap would be featured in the film.[87] The soundtrack was released on digital download fromAmazon on June 18, 2013, and CD on June 25, 2013.[88] The physical version of the soundtrack was released on July 9, 2013, byWaterTower Music, three days before the theatrical release of the film itself.[89] Guest musiciansTom Morello andPriscilla Ahn also feature as soloists on the score.[89] Two songs appear in the film which are not included on the soundtrack are "Just Like Your Tenderness" by Luo Xiaoxuan, and the ending theme "Drift", performed by Blake Perlman featuringRza.[90] The OST received mostly positive reviews.The Action Elite rated the album with a perfect five stars,[91] theEmpire gave four,[92] whileMSN andFilmtracks also gave the soundtrack four out of five stars.[93][94] On July 27, 2013, the soundtrack appeared at peak position number 7 on "USBillboard Top Soundtracks."[95]
On November 28, 2012, the official film website premiered alongside two viral videos—one depicting the initial Kaiju attack as captured by a handheld camera.[96] Blueprints depicting the designs for the Jaeger machines were also released online.[96] On June 5, 2013, the graphic novelPacific Rim: Tales from Year Zero was released. Written by Travis Beacham and featuring cover art byAlex Ross,Tales from Year Zero serves as an introductory prologue to the film, and is set twelve years before its events.[97][98] On June 18, Insight Editions publishedPacific Rim: Man, Machines, and Monsters, an art book written by David S. Cohen. The book chronicles the film's production with concept art, photography, the cast and crew's accounts of the shoot, and a foreword by del Toro.[99] On July 2, a viral video was released in which Ron Perlman's character, Hannibal Chau, advertises his fictional Kaiju organ dealership, Kaiju Remedies.[100]
On the day of the film's release, July 12, 2013, another viral video was released to promote the film. It involved the collaboration of the film studio (including del Toro himself) and theYouTube network Polaris (also known as The Game Station). It featured members of the YouTube network (such as theGame Grumps) as Jaeger pilots fighting Kaiju.[101] On July 16, a novelization byAlex Irvine was released.[102]NECA began sellingaction figures of the film's Kaiju and Jaegers.[103]
Pacific Rim was initially expected to reach theaters on July 12, 2013. However, Warner Bros. decided to move up the film's release date to May 10, 2013.[104] In March 2012, it was announced that the film would be released on the original release date of July 12, 2013.[105] The film premiered inMexico City on July 1, 2013.[106]
Pacific Rim became available for download on theiTunes Store andVudu on October 1, 2013.[107] The film was released onDVD,Blu-ray andBlu-ray 3D in the United States on October 15, 2013, and in the United Kingdom and other countries on November 25, 2013.[108] A collector's edition was also available on the same date.[109] To help promote the home media release, Bryan Harley and Roque Rodriguez ofFresno, California, produced a "sweded" version of the film'sGipsy Danger vs. Otachi battle scene, after del Toro was impressed by the duo's "sweded" trailer released on YouTube in March 2013.[110] As of March 2014, Pacific Rim has sold 961,845 DVDs along with 1,427,692 Blu-ray Discs in the United States for $10,045,530 and $24,634,992 in revenue, respectively, for a total of $37,079,122.[111] Pacific Rim was released onUltra HD Blu-ray on October 4, 2016.[112]
Pacific Rim grossed $101.8 million in North America, and has had a favorable international release, grossing $309.7 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $411.5 million.[4]
The film grossed $3.6 million from Thursday night showings, 23 percent of which came from IMAX showings. It then faced competition fromGrown Ups 2 and ultimately fell behind it on opening day, earning $14.6 million.[113] The film reached the #3 spot during the opening weekend with $37.2 million, behindDespicable Me 2 andGrown Ups 2. This is the highest-ever opening for a film by del Toro, surpassingHellboy II: The Golden Army. Around 50 percent of tickets were in 3D, which makes it the second-highest 3D share of 2013, behindGravity.[114] During its second weekend, the film dropped a steep 57% with a gross of $16 million, and during its third weekend, had dropped a further 52% with a gross of $7.7 million.[115][116]On July 22, 2013, it was reported that the film had reached #1 at the international box office over the weekend.[117] The film had a successful opening in China, grossing $45.2 million, until it was overtaken byThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.[118] It was the largest opening in China for a Warner Bros. title, and the sixth-largest Chinese debut of all time for any Hollywood film.[119] On August 19, 2013, its gross crossed $100 million in China alone, becoming the sixth-highest-grossing American film ever in China.[120] It grossed a total of $114.3 million in the country, making China the largest market for the film.[121] In Japan, the film landed in the fifth position on opening weekend, with an initial earning of $3 million (behindWorld War Z's gross of $3.4 million).[122][123]
In September 2013,Forbes highlightedPacific Rim as "the rare English-language film in history to cross $400 million while barely crossing $100 million domestic".[12]
Pacific Rim received generally positive reviews from critics. Thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes gives the film a 72% approval rating based on 294 reviews, with an average rating of 6.60/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "It may sport more style than substance, butPacific Rim is a solid modern creature feature bolstered by fantastical imagery and an irresistible sense of fun."[124] Review aggregation websiteMetacritic gives the film a rating of 65 out of 100 based on reviews from 48 critics, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[125] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[126][127][128]
The Daily Telegraph'sRobbie Collin awarded the film five stars out of five, likening the experience of watching it to rediscovering a favorite childhood cartoon. He praised del Toro for investing his own affection for the genre and sense of artistry into the project in such a way that the viewer found themselves immersed in the film rather than watching from afar, noting the director had catered to younger and older audiences alike and expressed surprise that the film could rise above the sum of its parts.[129]Todd McCarthy ofThe Hollywood Reporter gave a positive review, describing the film as the sum of the potential every monster film had ever tried to fulfill.[130] Drew McWeeny ofHitFix highlighted other aspects of the film, paying particular attention to the production and art design. He also praised the cinematography for "perfectly capturing" the film, and described the score as "ridiculously cool".[131]Rolling Stone'sPeter Travers called the film "the work of a humanist ready to banish cynicism for compassion", saying that del Toro "drives the action with a heartbeat".[132] Keith Uhlich ofTime Out called the film "pure, pleasurable comic-book absurdity", and noted that del Toro had lent the proceedings a "plausible humanity" lacking in most of summer 2013's destruction-heavy blockbusters. He said the Kaijus' civilian victims make a "palpably personal impression", deeming one scene with Mako Mori "as mythically moving as anything in the mecha anime, likeNeon Genesis Evangelion, that the director emulates with expert aplomb."[133]The Village Voice's Stephanie Zacharek called it "summer entertainment with a pulse", praising its "dumbly brilliant" action and freedom from elitism, but noted the story is predictable and suggested del Toro's time would be better spent on more visionary films.[134] Angela Watercutter ofWired called it the "most awesome movie of the summer", a "fist-pumping, awe-inspiring ride", and opined that its focus on spectacle rather than characterization "simply does not matter" in the summer blockbuster context.[43]Richard Roeper gave the film a B, commenting that either the Jaegers or Kaiju "can take down any of theTransformers."[135]Leonard Maltin gave the film two-and-a-half out of four stars, calling it "three-quarters of a really good movie that doesn't know when to quit."[136]
The Guardian's Andrew Pulver was less enthusiastic, calling the film a mix of "wafer-thin psychodrama" and "plot-generator dialogue".[137]Time'sRichard Corliss said the action was let down by "inert" drama, describing the film as "45 minutes of awesome encased in 90 minutes of yawnsome."[138] Justin Chang ofVariety criticized it as loud and lacking the nuance and subtlety of del Toro's previous films.[139]The New Yorker's Anthony Lane's verdict read as "It is possible to applaudPacific Rim for the efficacy of its business model while deploring the tale that has been engendered—long, loud, dark, and very wet. You might as well watch the birth of an elephant."[140] TheSan Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle reacted extremely negatively by stating "If this is the best we can do in terms of movies—if something like this can speak to the soul of audiences—maybe we should just turn over the cameras and the equipment to the alien dinosaurs and see what they come up with ... Director Guillermo del Toro, who gave usPan's Labyrinth not too many years ago, used to be known as an artistic and discerning filmmaker, despite his affection for blockbuster action and grotesqueness. But too often he gets lost in his computer ... Why go to the movies to look at somebody else's computer after looking at your own all week? ... The actors can't makePacific Rim any better. They can only relieve some of the pain."[141]Slant Magazine's Ed Gonzalez, who said the film lacked poignancy, compared it to a video game: "a stylish but programmatic ride toward an inevitable final boss battle".[142]TheWrap'sAlonso Duralde criticized the choice to set most battles at night or during the rain, feeling it detracted from the action, and said the comic relief actors—Day, Gorman, and Perlman—stole the film from the less interesting leads.[143] Jordan Hoffman ofFilm.com identified Hunnam as the weak link in the cast, calling him a "charisma black hole".[144] Giles Hardie ofThe Sydney Morning Herald was particularly critical of the film, awarding the action sequences "fiveIQ points out of five" as he described the film as an hour and twenty minutes of fight sequences vaguely connected by ten minutes of story.[145]
DirectorRian Johnson praised the film,[146] as did Japanese game directorHideo Kojima, who called it the "ultimateotaku film" and stated he "never imagined [he] would be fortunate enough to see a film like this in [his] life".[147]Go Nagai, who pioneered the idea of mecha piloted from an interior cockpit, praised the film's fun and intense action, while game developerFumito Ueda said its battle scenes surpassed memories of thetokusatsu films he saw as an impressionable child.[148] Science fiction authorWilliam 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."[149]
| Award | Category | Recipients | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABFF Hollywood Awards | Artist of the Year | Idris Elba (also forMandela: Long Walk to Freedom andThor: The Dark World) | Nominated |
| Annie Award | Outstanding Achievement, Animated Effects in a Live Action Production | Won | |
| Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation in a Live Action Production | Nominated | ||
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Special Visual Effects | Nominated | |
| Critics' Choice Movie Award | Best Visual Effects | Nominated | |
| Denver Film Critics Society | Best Science Fiction/Horror Film | Nominated | |
| Empire Awards | Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy | Nominated | |
| Hollywood Film Awards | Best Visual Effects | John Knoll | Won |
| Las Vegas Film Critics Society | Best Horror/Sci-Fi Film | Won | |
| Saturn Award | Best Science Fiction Film | Nominated | |
| Best Director | Guillermo del Toro | Nominated | |
| Best Production Design | Andrew Neskoromny andCarol Spier | Nominated | |
| Best Editing | Peter Amundson and John Gilroy | Nominated | |
| Best Special Effects | John Knoll, James E. Price, Clay Pinney and Rocco Larizza | Nominated | |
| St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association | Best Visual Special Effects | John Knoll | Nominated |
| Teen Choice Awards | Summer Movie Action | Nominated | |
| Visual Effects Society | Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture | John Knoll, Susan Greenhow, Chris Raimo, Hal Hickel | Nominated |
| Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture | Jakub Pistecky, Frank Gravatt, Cyrus Jam, Chris Havreberg for Kaiju - Leatherback | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture | Johan Thorngren, Jeremy Bloch, David Meny, Polly Ing for "Virtual Hong Kong" | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture | Colin Benoit, Nick Walker, Adam Schnitzer, Victor Schutz for "Hong Kong Ocean Brawl" | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Models in a Feature Motion Picture | David Fogler, Alex Jaeger, Aaron Wilson, David Behrens | Nominated |
Named after the female character from the film, Mako Mori (played byRinko Kikuchi), theMako Mori test is a set of requirements designed to measure the level of gender equality in a film or TV show. Derived from theBechdel test, it was born from the following observation: even though the filmPacific Rim gives a rather good representation of women, it fails the Bechdel test. The criterion of the Mako Mori test is as follows: there is at least one female character; with her own narrative arc; independent to that of a male character.[150][151]
A sequel titledPacific Rim Uprising, directed bySteven S. DeKnight and produced by Del Toro, with Kikuchi, Day, and Gorman reprising their roles, andUniversal Pictures taking over the film distribution, was released on March 23, 2018.[152][153]
A single-player fighting video game based on the film was announced by theAustralian Classification Board forXbox Live Arcade andPlayStation Network. Published and developed byYuke's,Pacific Rim: The Video Game was released along with the film on July 12, 2013.[154] The game received generally negative reviews.[155]Reliance Games developed aPacific Rim tie-in game forsmartphone platforms, such asiOS andAndroid devices;[citation needed] this version also received negative reviews.[156]
On November 8, 2018, Netflix announced an original anime series[157][158] that expands upon the story and universe of the two live-action movies. On October 27, 2020, the anime was officially titledPacific Rim: The Black, and would follow two siblings that are forced to pilot an abandoned Jaeger "across a hostile landscape in a desperate attempt to find their missing parents". The anime would be animated byPolygon Pictures, with Marvel Comics writerCraig Kyle and Greg Johnson serving as the showrunners.[159] The first season released on March 4, 2021[160] and the second and final season was released on April 19, 2022.
A 3D amusement park ride, titledPacific Rim: Shatterdome Strike, opened in 2019 at Trans Studio Cibubur in collaboration with Legendary Entertainment.[161] The ride guides audiences through a battle between the Jaegers and the Kaiju.[162] The ride features walkthrough sections with actors in the middle of the ride. Over the course of its 20-minute run time, audiences are introduced to 3 new Kaiju's and Indonesia's own Jaeger: Storm Garuda.
On August 19, 2024, it was announced that Legendary is developing a prequel TV series with screenwriterEric Heisserer.[163][164][165]
Mirroring strong reviews, Pacific Rim received an A- CinemaScore.
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