# 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:** 8
**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, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/141 "2013-07-24T18:27:38Z")
“_Today, we are rescheduling the apocalypse!_” How’s a week from tuesday for everyone? ---
**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, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/142 "2013-07-24T18:33:44Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > “_Today, we are rescheduling the apocalypse!_” > > How’s a week from tuesday for everyone? Tuesdays aren’t good. That’s when I have my spinning class. How’s Thursday? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/143 "2013-07-24T18:40:53Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > 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. There is an issue of Wired with an article on the physics (or not) or Pacific Rim. This is a serious “turn of brain to enjoy” movie. However, anything in here less stupid than programming a virus for an alien computer on a Mac. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/144 "2013-07-24T19:41:40Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > 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. Don’t forget #3: Nitpicking “plot holes” that were actually explained in the text of the film, but you were so busy patting yourself on the back for your genius discovery of what the idiot writers overlooked that you missed the scene entirely. Which friend **moriah** has been demonstrating for us in marvelous capacity. ---
**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, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/145 "2013-07-24T20:50:42Z")
Yes, I’ll admit that my two categories of nitpicks were limited to ones where the nitpicker isn’t simply wrong. If I were adding a third category it would be nitpicks based on the idea that if it isn’t explicitly stated as true then it can’t be assumed regardless of how reasonable or rational it is. “And apparently in the crazy world of the Brady Bunch the alimentary canal does not terminate with excretory orifices since we never saw them go to the bathroom!” A fourth (and why should I not amend my own list which I initially stated as definitively two items long) would be Nitpicks Rejecting Shorthand So As Not to Bore the Audience. “In that scene where Jack McCoy received a call telling him all of the details of an appeal ruling, including a line by line reading of the 45 page appendix, we didn’t have to stare at him listening on the phone nearly long enough to actually have conveyed that information.” Or, in sitcom dining rooms why does everybody only sit at the three sides of the table not closest to the camera?" ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/146 "2013-07-25T03:34:27Z")
> [@Tanbarkie](#): > > Don’t forget #3: Nitpicking “plot holes” that were actually explained in the text of the film, but you were so busy patting yourself on the back for your genius discovery of what the idiot writers overlooked that you missed the scene entirely. Which friend **moriah** has been demonstrating for us in marvelous capacity. Oh, no! You’re going to hurt my feelings!! **Pacific Rim Nuclear Technology** : [Going Critical!](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoingCritical) ---
**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 25, 2013, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/147 "2013-07-25T12:53:19Z")
LOL, aren’t you precious. Revealing that a movie whose entire purpose is to translate the giant robot vs. monster trope onto the big screen… has other tropes in it. Simply astonishing. We look forward to more of your insightful water-is-wet style discoveries! ---
**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 25, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/148 "2013-07-25T13:23:09Z")
. . . I would have written that Gipsy Danger was off-line at the time of the EMP, and so none of her critical systems were affected. But they didn’t ask me to help with the screenplay. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/149 "2013-07-26T07:02:42Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > ‘Glinda’ > Not ‘Glenda.’ And not ‘Glen’. Not anymore. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/150 "2013-07-26T12:22:48Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > LOL, aren’t you precious. Yes, I am precious. Like a beautiful little girl. Who is the only one to survive a disaster. And be singled out by a thirty story monster who suddenly has a hankering to kill one tiny humanoid instead of wiping out hundreds of thousands more in the next town. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/151 "2013-07-26T12:59:44Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > Yes, I am precious. Like a beautiful little girl. Who is the only one to survive a disaster. And be singled out by a thirty story monster who suddenly has a hankering to kill one tiny humanoid instead of wiping out hundreds of thousands more in the next town. > > 😛 You’ve never watched a dog get fixated on a fly, have you? Secondly - that was as seen thru her eyes/memory of the event - not neccisarily the ‘reality’ of what happened that day… many people think/feel that the ‘monster was after them specifically’ when reality is the monster was just looking for a place to sit down and pick the crap out of his toes. ---
**Author:** ![Deleted\_Internet\_History](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dc4da7/32.png) [@Deleted\_Internet\_History](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deleted_Internet_History)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/152 "2013-07-26T13:45:20Z")
I have seen this movie twice, once in 3D and once in IMAX 3D - loved it both times. However, the one nagging question I have is this: Why did the Kaiju rip open the underground shelter and stick it’s glowing multi-tentacle flower-like thingy in and wave it over the head of that guy from Horrible Bosses, only to pull it back out and turn away? What was the point of that? I know, I know, Gypsy Danger is coming up behind to take batting practice with a ship, but I did not get the impression at all that the Kaiju was disrupted whilst doing whatever the hell it was doing with it’s super fancy tongue-like thingy. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/153 "2013-07-26T13:49:09Z")
> [@Deleted\_Internet\_History](#): > > I have seen this movie twice, once in 3D and once in IMAX 3D - loved it both times. However, the one nagging question I have is this: > > Why did the Kaiju rip open the underground shelter and stick it’s glowing multi-tentacle flower-like thingy in and wave it over the head of that guy from Horrible Bosses, only to pull it back out and turn away? What was the point of that? > > I know, I know, Gypsy Danger is coming up behind to take batting practice with a ship, but I did not get the impression at all that the Kaiju was disrupted whilst doing whatever the hell it was doing with it’s super fancy tongue-like thingy. I took it to show that his ‘slide’ worked with the critters - it may have originaly just wanted to find him (wasn’t attacking, but looking for) and then, as you say, it had to go deal with Gypsy Danger - it’s also possible it turned to ‘protect’ its new little buddy. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/154 "2013-07-26T13:58:36Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > Yes, I am precious. Like a beautiful little girl. Who is the only one to survive a disaster. And be singled out by a thirty story monster who suddenly has a hankering to kill one tiny humanoid instead of wiping out hundreds of thousands more in the next town. > > 😛 I don’t really want to justify your silly little nitpicking, but I am starting to doubt you actually even watched the film. Forgetting even that the scene in question was a stylised memory of Mako’s from when she was a child and so of course would focus on her, how did you miss that the Kaiju repeatedly focused on those single tiny humanoids? The Kaiju that attacked Gypsy Danger originally stopped its approach on Anchorage to attack one little fishing boat. The flying Kaiju spent its whole time in Hong Kong looking for one, specific, tiny little humanoid. The Leatherback seemed very interested in the two tiny humanoids standing on top of Striker Eureka with flareguns. Are you sure you didn’t watch Robot Jox instead by accident? ---
**Author:** ![Deleted\_Internet\_History](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dc4da7/32.png) [@Deleted\_Internet\_History](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deleted_Internet_History)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/155 "2013-07-26T14:09:15Z")
> [@simster](#): > > I took it to show that his ‘slide’ worked with the critters - it may have originaly just wanted to find him (wasn’t attacking, but looking for) and then, as you say, it had to go deal with Gypsy Danger - it’s also possible it turned to ‘protect’ its new little buddy. It was obvious that his slide worked, and it was equally obvious that it was after him - but why? I just didn’t get the impression that it was Gypsy Danger that caused the Kaiju to retract. I guess it’s becoming clear to me that this was the intent, but I think it was poorly executed. Bad editing? ---
**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 26, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/156 "2013-07-26T14:18:10Z")
Otachi pulled its glowtongue away, and then the scene cut to Gipsy Danger approaching. So it’s strongly implied that’s why Otachi didn’t eat the nebbish. Although I wonder if it’s left ambiguous to keep the alien motivations mysterious. I downloaded the soundtrack. I hadn’t noticed before the recurrent deep bass horn in the main theme that matches Gipsy Danger’s attack horn; nice touch. Some of the other themes are amusing – there’s a part with a Russian chorus during the Shatterdome theme, for example. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/157 "2013-07-26T14:22:09Z")
> [@Deleted\_Internet\_History](#): > > It was obvious that his slide worked, and it was equally obvious that it was after him - but why? > > I just didn’t get the impression that it was Gypsy Danger that caused the Kaiju to retract. I guess it’s becoming clear to me that this was the intent, but I think it was poorly executed. Bad editing? what I was trying to say was that ‘because’ the slide worked the kaiju had a ‘connection’ with him and was looking for him - just not as someone to squash. It (the Kaiju) felt a connection to him based on the slide. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/158 "2013-07-27T01:18:19Z")
> [@Deleted\_Internet\_History](#): > > It was obvious that his slide worked, and it was equally obvious that it was after him - but why? I got the impression that it was a subplot that got cut. The black market dealer made a big deal of the fact that the slide goes two ways. When he said that, I assumed this meant the Kaiju would have learned as much about us as we learned about them. That’s why the last few were so devastating versus the Jaegers, because they learned what they were from that connection. (Hey, we learned you’re weak to electric, so, take this!) But you know, that would have been actual logical plotting. So, rather, that whole subplot got shifted to just going after Charlie simply because, “Hey, you hacked us!” But then again, the whole movie could have be shortcircuited by a giant robot auto punching machine / meat grinder parked over the portal. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/159 "2013-07-27T01:44:52Z")
I was certain we were going to discover that the kaiju were also, basically, jaegers–piloted by the aliens–and that the “brain” section which had always dissolved too quickly before they hacked through to it didn’t contain a brain at all but a pair of aliens. I felt like the slide subplot was leading to some such “we’re not so different” twist, and then when they detected a heartbeat while inside the dead kaiju I thought I had nailed it. But nope. ---
**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 27, 2013, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/160 "2013-07-27T04:46:49Z")
Del Toro specifically portrayed the aliens as The Enemy. I don’t think he wanted any moral ambiguity or shades of gray. They’re the Bad Guys, and that’s it. Had the kaiju been jaegers of a different color, that would’ve brought back that whole “just like us” dynamic which was refreshingly missing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355.md?page=9)