Pacific Rim (2013)
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Humanity must pilot massive mecha to defend the coastlines from colossal sea monsters emerging from an interdimensional portal.
The story
In the near future, Earth is under siege by Kaiju, massive sea monsters emerging from an interdimensional portal known as the Breach in the Pacific Ocean. To combat these threats, humanity has developed Jaegers, enormous humanoid mechas that require two pilots to operate via a neural link called the Drift. The story follows the efforts of these pilots and scientists as they struggle to defend coastal cities and find a way to close the Breach, while dealing with the physical and mental toll of the war against the monstrous invaders.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 2013, Kaiju emerge from the Breach in the Pacific Ocean. To fight them, humanity builds Jaegers, which are co-piloted via a mental link called the Drift. In 2020, brothers Yancy and Raleigh Becket pilot Gipsy Danger; Yancy is killed, and Raleigh retires. Five years later, Raleigh is recruited by Marshal Stacker Pentecost to rejoin the program in Hong Kong. He teams up with Mako Mori, a skilled pilot. They are joined by scientists Newton Geiszler and Hermann Gottlieb. The plot involves a plan to destroy the Breach with a nuclear weapon. During the conflict, they discover Kaiju are bioweapons from an alien race. In the final battle, several Jaegers are destroyed, and a massive Kaiju appears. Pentecost and Chuck Hansen sacrifice themselves to destroy a portion of the threat. Raleigh and Mako successfully pilot Gipsy Danger to the Breach, where a nuclear detonation seals the portal, ending the threat.
- First release year
- 2013
- Runtime (minutes)
- 132
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Guillermo del Toro
- Writers
- Travis Beacham · screenplay; Guillermo del Toro · screenplay; Travis Beacham · story
- Cast and characters
- Charlie Hunnam · Raleigh Becket; Idris Elba · Marshal Stacker Pentecost; Rinko Kikuchi · Mako Mori; Charlie Day · Dr. Newton "Newt" Geiszler; Ron Perlman · Hannibal Chau; Robert Kazinsky · Chuck Hansen; Max Martini · Hercules "Herc" Hansen; Burn Gorman · Dr. Hermann Gottlieb
- Genres
- military science fiction; monster
- Themes
- togetherness; trust; overcoming trauma
- Tone and mood
- epic; operatic
- Premise and plot tags
- mecha; kaiju; anime-inspired; sci-fi
- Franchise connections
- Pacific Rim
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its performances, direction, storyline, action sequences, visual effects, musical score, and nostalgic style.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 72% · scale: percentage · review count: 294; Metacritic · score: 65 · scale: 100 · review count: 48
- Production trivia
- The film was originally titled 'Silent Seas' and 'Still Seas' during production.; The character Hannibal Chau's name was inspired by a historical figure and a Sichuan restaurant in Brooklyn.; The Mako Mori test was created to measure gender equality in film.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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