# 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:** 9
**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, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/161 "2013-07-27T05:13:49Z")
I wasn’t thinking of this as involving moral ambiguity or shades of gray. Just that it turned out the kaiju were piloted. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/162 "2013-07-27T08:25:01Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > …I kind of want to watch it again, imagining that it’s a brilliant retelling of a robot-and-monster battle enacted by kids. It was classic Calvin and Hobbes style make believe! ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/163 "2013-07-27T13:14:14Z")
I went for the Ellen McLain (yaay GLaDOS! Drift failed… Would you like to try again?) But stayed for Mako (not really, it was a good movie, but didn’t anyone else find her cute?). Things that affected my enjoyment were why were they fighting in hand-to-hand combat when they usually used their cannons in the end (in the other thread someone mentioned the monsters have corrosive blood, but this wasn’t mentioned), and I couldn’t make out some fight scenes. Glad I’m not the only one. It does seem a waste, though, to choreograph and animate them, when people can’t see them clearly? Surely they can tell what speed and angle viewpoint to use so people can see what’s going on? It reminds me of AVP2, which was much worse. Also like AVP, the first one this time, we have 4/3 machines/predators and immediately lose 2 in the first fight. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/164 "2013-07-27T16:22:18Z")
I know this is going to be sacrilege in a thread like this, but I NEVER love the action scenes in movies, because I can’t ever make out what’s going on. Kung fu is an exception…that is usually edited more clearly. I like seeing and hearing the monsters and the robots, but when the real action gets popping, I am lost until things slow down again. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky_the_Wonder_Spirit)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/165 "2013-07-27T18:23:45Z")
You know, usually I have trouble making out busy action scenes, but I didn’t have trouble with the ones in _Pacific Rim_. I wonder if it’s because I saw it in IMAX so everything was just that much huger. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/166 "2013-07-27T19:37:41Z")
I think it was easier to make out what was going one because of the contrast between robot and monster. If it had been monster on monster or robot on robot it would have been impossible. Which is another reason Transformers sucked. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/167 "2013-07-27T21:02:36Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I think it was easier to make out what was going one because of the contrast between robot and monster. If it had been monster on monster or robot on robot it would have been impossible. Which is another reason Transformers sucked. In addition, unlike Transformers, the robot and monster designs in Pacific Rim have distinctive silhouettes and color schemes, and don’t have whirling gears and tiny plates moving over every micron of their surfaces. It’s always very clear when Gipsy Danger is in frame versus Cherno Alpha, and you never confuse the ape-like Leatherback with the lizard-pterodactyl Otachi either. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/168 "2013-07-28T03:34:10Z")
Also, did they call it “slide” in the movie as well? I only remember “drift”. ---
**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 28, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/169 "2013-07-28T03:50:00Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Also, did they call it “slide” in the movie as well? I only remember “drift”. it was drift - a sliding drifting kind of mind thingy - ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/170 "2013-07-28T04:04:33Z")
Because some people are calling it “slide” so I’m wondering who’s confused. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/171 "2013-07-28T05:01:42Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Because some people are calling it “slide” so I’m wondering who’s confused. Would either term be actually explicative? ---
**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 28, 2013, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/172 "2013-07-28T06:00:46Z")
Just got back from seeing it again. It was only “drift”, and mostly as a noun. I only remember “when you’re in the drift”, not “when you’re drifting”. Also, the Pit of Chompy Doom in Gipsy’s cockpit was a bit more goofy on the rewatch. I kinda wanted Sigourney Weaver to show up pointing out that it made no logical sense to be there. Music was still awesome, though. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/173 "2013-07-28T12:58:39Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > Also, the Pit of Chompy Doom in Gipsy’s cockpit was a bit more goofy on the rewatch. I kinda wanted Sigourney Weaver to show up pointing out that it made no logical sense to be there. Oh good lord yes. But then, I recently watched the Doctor Who episode _The End of the World_ and felt the same way about the giant fans crossing the walk way. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/174 "2013-07-28T20:44:31Z")
Saw this last night! Robots fighting monsters! Wooo! > [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Frankly, just the design of the mechs was pitiful. There’s a REASON we build armored fortresses with treads instead of legs. Wrong on many levels. First of all, the robots had to be approximately as mobile as the kaiju. Treads wouldn’t cut it. Second, the mechs were supposed to be extensions of the pilots, mimicking and amplifying their movements. They had to be humanoid in shape. Sure, they could have had a different pilot/machine interface, but that would have been an entirely different movie. Third, by making the robots humanoid, the audience could relate to them and root for them more directly than if they were in some other shape. This device has been used in one way or another since forever. Fourth, and most importantly, the entire plot, purpose, and raison d’etre of this movie was “Robots fighting monsters! Wooo!” If the robots didn’t look like stereotypical robots, it wouldn’t have worked as well. > [@cainxinth](#): > > Why didn’t the humans build the robots to be bigger than the monsters? I think they did do that originally. The monsters got bigger in relation to the existing Jaegers. Why they didn’t build bigger Jaegers or send them out in pairs as a matter of course, I dunno. My thoughts: The Good: – Robots fighting monsters! Wooo! – Good casting. I liked the use of lesser-known actors. They were far from “unknowns,” but the only one I recognized right off the bat was Ron Perlman. I liked that. – Like others, I liked the world-building and the way the deterioration of the economy and society was shown to us without making a big deal of it. I also agree that the story of that deterioration would make a fascinating movie in and of itself. It would have to be a very different sort of movie. I wonder if that sort of thing has ever been done. The Bad: – The scientists. Just badly acted and overdone all around. I can just imagine the director shouting “clutch at your glasses more!” I did like how Newt was a kaiju fanboi at heart. I could see that happening in real life. – I wanted to see how the Chinese triplets handled that third arm on their robot, dammit! And a question–maybe I missed it but if they discontinued the Jaeger program, what were they doing in its place? They surely weren’t going to depend on those walls, were they? And whatever the new system was, why was it completely absent from the fights shown after the Jaeger program was put on notice. Narratively, the fights needed to be Jaeger-only, but a throwaway line of explanation would have been nice. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/175 "2013-07-28T21:16:54Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > The Bad: > > – The scientists. Just badly acted and overdone all around. I can just imagine the director shouting “clutch at your glasses more!” As others have said above, this movie was a kids’ cartoon. You have to judge this stuff in that light. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/176 "2013-07-28T21:32:18Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > They surely weren’t going to depend on those walls, were they? Yes, the wall was the entire plan. ---
**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 28, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/177 "2013-07-28T21:44:17Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Yes, the wall was the entire plan. shocka, the walls fell. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/178 "2013-07-28T21:50:30Z")
Seems to me that squadrons of A10 Warthogs [Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Republic_A-10_Thunderbolt_II) would tear a whole army of the monsters to pieces with their 30 mm depleted uranium rounds served up on a Gatling cannon. But that would spoil the giant monsters vs. giant robots cartoon. ---
**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 28, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/179 "2013-07-28T23:15:55Z")
Tearing the monsters to pieces is what they were trying to _avoid_ by making Jaegers. That was the whole point of Kaiju Blue. Presumably, the Jaegers draw Kaiju into a limited engagement area, rather than roaming around bleeding while the aircraft come round for another strafing run. (Since Strike Eureka has missiles, and Crimson Typhoon has _buzzsaws_, they’re obviously not designed to limit monster bleeding.) ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355/180 "2013-07-29T00:56:50Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > As others have said above, this movie was a kids’ cartoon. You have to judge this stuff in that light. Thank you for telling me how to watch a movie. :rolleyes: Did you even READ the rest of my post? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-we-are-cancelling-the-apocalypse-pacific-rim-spoilers/663355.md?page=10)