Reel Facts: All You Need to Know about PACIFIC RIM

 

By now, most of you have likely seen several trailers, TV spots, and perhaps a few posters for the upcoming visual-effects heavy sci-fi film, PACIFIC RIM. For your reading pleasure and education, Reel Speak presents all you need to know about this film by way of answering (no spoilers) a few frequently asked questions.

Who is directing this? – PACIFIC RIM is helmed by Guillermo Del Toro, whose past directing credits include PAN’S LABYRINTH, HELLBOY, and HELLBOY II.

Who are the actors? – Although the tagline for PACIFIC RIM is “go big”, Del Toro has raided the small-screen for his actors. TV stars Charlie Hunnam (SONS OF ANARCHY) and Charlie Day (ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA) will be here, along with TV and film veteran Ron Perlman (HELLBOY I & II, SONS OF ANARCHY). Idris Ibra also stars (he was the gatekeeper in THOR), along with Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi.

WTF is this about? – A dimensional portal opens underneath the ocean, unleashing legions of giant monsters, called Kaiju, upon the world. Unable to fight them using conventional weapons, mankind invents equally-sized robots, called Jaegers, to combat them hand-to-hand. The Jaegers are controlled simultaneously by two pilots, whose minds are locked in a neural bridge, forming the left and right sides of the robot’s “brain”.

Is this an original idea, or a remake? – Although PACIFIC RIM is credited as an original story by Del Toro and screenwriter Travis Beacham, it is clearly influenced by old Japanese giant-monster films such as GODZILLA, and smaller-screen properties such as SHOGUN WARRIORS and VOLTRON. Although the film is rated PG-13, the film speaks to any kid who ever kicked over a sand castle or doodled monsters and robots on the inside of their Trapper Keeper.

What are my viewing options? – PACIFIC RIM will be presented in 2D, 3D, and 3D IMAX.

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PACIFIC RIM makes landfall on July 12. Select theatres will be running midnight shows, along with “early bird” showings 7-10pm on July 11^th.