# Today, we are cancelling the Apocalypse! (Pacific Rim) SPOILERS! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355 "2013-07-12T20:22:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/121 "2013-07-23T20:17:54Z")
Any reason to expect they wouldn’t? He didn’t say it was human (or even Terrestrial) DNA. If we found extraterrestrial life, I’m guessing popular parlance for whatever DNA analog it had would still call it DNA. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/122 "2013-07-23T20:52:46Z")
**Pacific Rim Training** : To be a Jeagermeister, you have to be the best of the best of humanity, and we’ll put you to the test. You must be in top physical condition and a master of combat. You must be a genius that knows the Jeager systems inside and out. You must pass through rigorous simulations and score perfectly. And, most importantly, you must be able to ‘slide’ with your partner with your thoughts linked as one, _ **which will only be tested once in your life, when we put you into a fully armed Jeager with the fate of the world in balance knowing that many people fall apart under such conditions.** _ ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/123 "2013-07-23T21:05:29Z")
moriah; I do believe that Mako mentions that she’d done a ton of simulated missions, all of which she passed with flying colors. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/124 "2013-07-23T22:01:38Z")
> [@MostlyClueless](#): > > moriah; I do believe that Mako mentions that she’d done a ton of simulated missions, all of which she passed with flying colors. But they hadn’t tested Mako and Raleigh’s slide compatibility other than they did the stick test fight thing and thought they would work well as partners. It seems there should have been some simulation thing for them to do together, rather than getting in a Jaeger, since the first time they did she almost blew up the building. Or maybe they’re in the Jaeger head but it’s not attached to anything and can’t control anything, then that might have worked. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/125 "2013-07-23T22:08:00Z")
I loved the Russian team’s reaction to finding themselves on the pointy end of a plasma cannon. Shrug, and walk out of the way. They have clearly seen worse in their day. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/126 "2013-07-24T02:27:36Z")
I think the reason they needed to “drift” in the real Jaeger was that they were calibrating with it. And of course everyone knows that you can’t do that in a simulator. Or disconnect the weapons. Then it wouldn’t be the same as the real thing, and you wouldn’t want to risk that. \ ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/127 "2013-07-24T03:22:49Z")
> [@MostlyClueless](#): > > moriah; I do believe that Mako mentions that she’d done a ton of simulated missions, all of which she passed with flying colors. If the simulations included sliding, then why was her memory of the Kaiju when she was a child so traumatic? This had to be her first slide. Raleigh was giving her tips about it… you don’t do that to someone who’s done it before. Which brings me to… **Pacific Rim Onslaught of… Ordinary?.. Memory!** So, when she first slided, Mako becomes obsessed of a traumatic event in her past… which was in no way some sort of repressed memory or something not dealt with. When Marshal lets her know she can pilot, he sends Mako her shoe she dropped during the Kaiju attack. She knew what it meant. That would have brought up that painful memory at that moment. Mako has clearly been dealing with this memory her whole life. So… why would the invading memory and mind of someone else make it seem like she was unlocking a repressed memory? It would have made more sense for Raleigh to follow that memory and become entranced by it. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/128 "2013-07-24T12:40:51Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > **Pacific Rim Onslaught of… Ordinary?.. Memory!** Aw, you poor thing. Keep throwing stuff at the wall; surely something will stick. _Mako_ has been dealing with that memory all of her life. _This_ time she has Raleigh in her head, too, for the first time. Maybe a little bit different… which is the entire point of Raleigh’s advice in that scene just before they drift. And they had to throw Mako and Raleigh into the Jaeger together for their first drift because they had no time; the double event was coming _soon_. Which was the entire point of that scene with the German scientist explaining the math. And the point of Raleigh sparring with the other contenders was to figure out which of the contenders he was compatible with – Mako already knew how they all ranked in combat. Which was the entire point of _that_ scene, _and_ the scene with Raleigh and Stacker that follows. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/129 "2013-07-24T14:25:56Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > **Pacific Rim Onslaught of… Ordinary?.. Memory!** You do realise you are trying to nitpick a movie that is unashamedly about big robots punching big monsters? You could point out plotholes and nonsense all day, so could I, but the fact is that nobody really cares. Nobody wants to see Mako and Raleigh spending weeks together bonding before getting bringing the big Robot to a deserted wasteland for their first practice run, they just want them to get in the Robot and start punching monsters. This movie is chock full of nonsense and plotholes, I get the impression it revels in them, its a bit silly to worry about them even a little. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/130 "2013-07-24T15:12:51Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > You do realise you are trying to nitpick a movie that is unashamedly about big robots punching big monsters? No, no, **moriah** is raising some excellent points. Along the same lines, I’d like to offer some feedback on **The Wizard of Oz** , a movie even dumber than **Pacific Rim**. There are too many problems to cover them all, so I’ll just talk about one: the scarecrow. Set aside the obvious impossibility of a scarecrow getting up and singing and dancing, we’ll pretend for a moment that’s remotely plausible\*. So here we are, supposed to believe that the scarecrow needs a brain. Well, Dorothy, if you had a brain yourself, you’d see two problems straight off the bat. First, whatever eldritch powers that animate the scarecrow have obviously already gifted it with an intelligence roughly analogous to that provided by a brain. It can walk, dance, talk, sing, and reason. Its basic complaint is verbalized in the contrapositive subjunctive, for crying out loud. Obviously it has no need of a brain. Second, even if it did get a brain, what a disaster that’d be! Scarecrows lack circulatory systems, and without blood to nourish the brain, the brain would quickly die and begin to rot, attracting all sorts of maggots and stinking to high heaven. It would almost immediately become a liability. I simply cannot see how people can enjoy watching such a dumb movie. - Don’t get me started on the fact that it’s obviously not a scarecrow, but rather some creepy guy who’s painted his face and stuffed straw in his sleeves and then waited for a girl to come along the road to talk to. His motivations are obvious and horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/131 "2013-07-24T15:38:11Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Any reason to expect they wouldn’t? He didn’t say it was human (or even Terrestrial) DNA. > > If we found extraterrestrial life, I’m guessing popular parlance for whatever DNA analog it had would still call it DNA. On reflection, I can see Newton announcing that he had isolated the kaiju’s genetic material. Pentecost “So you have a sample of their DNA?” Newton “No. it’s not DNA, but a (technobabble organic chem gibberish) that is an analogue of terrestrial DNA.” Pentecost “Just call it DNA. We all know what that means.” Newton "But it’s really. . . " Pentecost “Stop that. Now. And get back to work.” ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/132 "2013-07-24T16:16:22Z")
Now you all sound like Star Wars fans explaining how Han’s use of ‘parsec’ was not a mistake at all. 😛 You know, you can like the movie and still think it’s pretty stupid that throwing a swimming sea monster into the sea two body lengths away is a move that would do actual harm. And what’s up with Glenda who knew that Dorothy could go home at any time but didn’t tell her but instead sends her to a Wizard she must know is a big quack? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/133 "2013-07-24T16:19:55Z")
‘Glinda’ Not ‘Glenda.’ ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/134 "2013-07-24T16:23:39Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > You know, you can like the movie and still think it’s pretty stupid that throwing a swimming sea monster into the sea two body lengths away is a move that would do actual harm. Your grasp on phyiscs is as tenuous as your understanding of the movie. How far do you think a “two [kaiju] body lengths” fall is? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/135 "2013-07-24T16:50:41Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > Now you all sound like Star Wars fans explaining how Han’s use of ‘parsec’ was not a mistake at all. 😛 Whereas you sound like someone who hates Casablanca because nobody in real life talks that way without any “ums” or stammers. I’m not explaining away the silliness of the movie; I’m suggesting that criticizing the movie for that silliness is itself bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/136 "2013-07-24T16:58:56Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > Your grasp on phyiscs is as tenuous as your understanding of the movie. How far do you think a “two [kaiju] body lengths” fall is? You mean for a creature that can withstand rocket blasts? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/137 "2013-07-24T17:23:21Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > And what’s up with Glenda who knew that Dorothy could go home at any time but didn’t tell her but instead sends her to a Wizard she must know is a big quack? > **[5 Reasons The Greatest Movie Villain Ever is a 'Good' Witch](https://www.cracked.com/article_18881_5-reasons-greatest-movie-villain-ever-good-witch.html)** > > Glinda, not the Wicked Witch of the West, is the cause for everything that goes wrong for Dorothy and her new friends in the land of Oz, and she starts instigating the film's central conflict the second Dorothy shows up. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/138 "2013-07-24T17:43:34Z")
To me, there are two broad categories nitpicks: 1. Nitpicking that something in the movie does not make sense within the framework of the reality created by the movie. To me, these are the more legitimate kind and may reflect slopping writing, editing, directing, etc. An example of this, to me, is the EMP-like blast taking out all the other jaegers except the one that is “analog” even though we’ve seen it be operated by computers repeatedly. And the EMP-like blast also took out other analog electronic system. 2. Nitpicking because you don’t agree with the rules of the reality defined by the movie. Often done in comparison with our reality. Yes, creating giant robots in response to invasion by giant monsters is stupid…in our reality. But the reality of the universe created by the movie is one where that was a logical response. That may be compelling or not, but it isn’t a flaw. It may be possible to make a great movie involving three-legged unicorns that poop cinnamon-flavored Jolly Ranchers and the world will end if one ever poops a brocolli-scented Mike & Ike. The ridiculousness of the premise compared to our reality is not a flaw. It may not be a good movie, but it isn’t a flaw. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/139 "2013-07-24T18:10:11Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > You mean for a creature that can withstand rocket blasts? That would be the same creature damaged by being _punched_, yes? ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/140 "2013-07-24T18:20:56Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > 1. Nitpicking because you don’t agree with the rules of the reality defined by the movie. Often done in comparison with our reality. Yes, creating giant robots in response to invasion by giant monsters is stupid…in our reality. But the reality of the universe created by the movie is one where that was a logical response. Don’t forget #3: nitpicking the rules of the movie’s reality in comparison to our reality – _and not understanding our reality’s rules_. E.g., thinking that throwing a 600 ton critter ~400 ft isn’t going to hurt it, when robot _punching_ does. (Although there’s probably a “water is soft” fallacy in there, too.) Although, really, the physics of Pacific Rim are so whacked out, it’s like complaining about Loony Tunes physics – do they even _have_ a square cube law? what the heck is going on with their gravity that Otachi can not only fly, but carry a 1000 ton robot into orbit while doing so? Frankly, Pentecost’s plan should’ve been to drop a big anvil onto the next coyote/kaiju that came through. Pentecost: I blow up a nuclear bomb _in your face_! Slattern: Nuh-uh! Pentecost: _sigh_. Fine. I drop an anvil on you. Meep Meep. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355.md?page=8)