Pacific Rim (2013 film)

History of the film

Pacific Rim is a 2013 science fiction film directed by Guillermo del Toro, and starring Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Robert Kazinsky, Max Martini, and Ron Perlman. The screenplay is by Travis Beacham and del Toro, with a story by Beacham.

The film is set in the 2020s, when Earth is at war with the Kaijus, colossal monsters which have emerged from an interdimensional portal on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. To combat the monsters, humanity unites to create the Jaegers, gigantic humanoid mechas each controlled by at least two pilots, whose minds are joined by a neural bridge. 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 Kaijus.

Principal photography began on November 14, 2011 in Toronto and lasted through April 2012. The film was produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was released on July 12, 2013 including releases in 3-D and IMAX 3D, receiving generally positive reviews; the visual effects and action sequences were highly praised.

While the film was a box office disappointment in the United States, it was highly successful in other territories. It earned a worldwide total of more than $411 million, including $114 million in China, its largest market, becoming Del Toro's most commercially successful film to date.

A sequel with the working title Maelstrom was announced in 2014, and was scheduled to be released by Universal Studios on August 4, 2017. In September 2015, the sequel was reported to have been "halted indefinitely" however, Del Toro and Universal Pictures confirmed that the sequel has only been delayed and will continue to proceed forward.

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Synopsis

In 2013, an inter-dimensional portal, the Breach, appears at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. From the Breach, giant monsters called Kaiju periodically emerge and attack cities on the Pacific Rim. The United Nations fund the Jaeger Program to construct the Jaegers, giant mecha robots, to fight the Kaiju. Each Jaegers is controlled by two or more pilots, who are mentally linked (called "drifting") to share the mental burden of piloting the machines.

In 2020, pilots Raleigh and Yancy Becket are assigned to protect the Alaskan coastline from a Kaiju in their Jaeger, Gipsy Danger. The Kaiju survives their initial assault and blindsides Gipsy Danger, wrecking it and killing Yancy. Raleigh is able to single-handedly kill the Kaiju and pilot the heavily damaged Gipsy Danger back to shore. Traumatized by Yancy’s death, he quits the program.

By 2025, the Jaeger Program is deemed inefficient by world leaders, as the increasing numbers and strength of the Kaiju are destroying them at a faster rate than they can be built. They decide to shut down the program and construct defensive coastal walls instead. Marshal Stacker Pentecost, commander of the Jaegers, plans to launch a final assault on the Breach with a nuclear bomb, despite past attempts being unsuccessful. He tracks down Raleigh and recruits him back into the program.

At the Hong Kong base, Raleigh meets the crews for the remaining Jaegers, and Pentecost’s adopted daughter Mako Mori. She shows great potential as a pilot, and Raleigh manages to convince Pentecost to let her drift with him. In their first drift in the repaired Gipsy Danger, Raleigh briefly falls out of synch. Mako becomes lost in her childhood memory of the Kaiju attack on Tokyo that orphaned her, and nearly activates Gipsy Danger's plasma cannon until the Jaeger is shut down. Pentecost grounds an ashamed Mako, leaving Raleigh without a copilot.

Meanwhile, scientist Newton Geiszler creates a device that allows him to drift with a Kaiju brain fragment. He discovers that the Kaiju are bioweapons created by extraterrestrial colonists to wipe out humanity. Pentecost sends him to find Kaiju black market dealer Hannibal Chau, who operates within Hong Kong, to obtain an intact Kaiju brain and acquire more information. He soon learns that, during the drift, the Kaiju hive mind becomes aware of his consciousness. As a result, two Kaiju are unleashed upon the city.