History YMMV / PacificRim

* HarsherInHindsight: Four months after this film's release, Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) struck through the central islands of the Philippines, becoming the strongest and deadliest storm in the country's history and probably the most globally famous typhoon of all time; this happened to be one of the countries hit by the Kaiju in the film. It coincidentally is the very first Category 5 Storm ever to make landfall in the actual Pacific Rim. Some Filipino editorials even alluded this to the film.

* AmericansHateTingle: With the domestic NA box office not being especially high, the studio was counting on overseas markets to make the profit. While the movie was highly successful in China and did well in South Korea and Russia, it underperformed in Europe and Japan. Most European moviegoers didn't care about Japanese cinema and Hollywood blockbusters outside of the Superhero and Sci-Fi genre (this film ''is'' sci-fi, but it doesn't have the usual trappings). In Japan, the film suffered from many circumstances such as its release dates coinciding with one of the most popular conventions, the niche-appeal of movie genres in Japan (TV serials are more popular given how movie tickets are very expensive), and a tepid reaction to Rinko Kikuchi.

*** In the European Spanish film, Pentecost is voiced by Juan Carlos Gustems, who voiced his direct counterpart Gendo Ikari in ''Evangelion''.

** Just the fact that Jaegers from English-speaking countries have relatively anodine and conventional designs, while the ones from Russia and China sport shapes and adornments that make reference to national stereotypes. In particular, Cherno Alpha's head resembles a nuclear cooling tower while the name is one that westerners would associate with the UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}} disaster. (Though the head shape was intentional, "cherno" is the Slavic word for "black," and in this case was supposed to be an abbreviation of "Chernobog.")

** There's some minor resemblance to ''[[Anime/ShinkonGattaiGodannar Godannar]]'', which also features giant robots piloted by pairs of pilots from various nations who have strong romantic or familial bonds. And they fight a series of MixAndMatchCritters that come from the sea.

** Sadly, some ([[FriendlyFandoms but not all]]) fans of either ''Pacific Rim'' or ''Film/{{Godzilla|2014}}'' would rather antagonize each other over the very different takes and tones on the giant monster movie genre. This rivalry turned sour, given how ''Godzilla'' proved to be more financially successful and got its own cinematic universe while the sequel to ''Pacific Rim'' was repeatedly delayed until 2018. Even then, the sequel was mostly disliked by fans and performed poorly, while ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' was much beloved by fans, performed far better financially, and is set to be followed up by the much-hyped ''Godzilla vs. Kong''.

* TheScrappy: Gottlieb is disliked for being a poor man's attempt at a comic relief, and MrExposition with a ridiculously theatrical posh English accent whilst hobbling around exaggeratedly on a walking stick

* FanPreferredCouple:
** Mako and Raleigh's relationship may still be up in the air in terms of whether it's romantic or platonic in the film, but you'd never know that from the fandom. Apparently, not writing them as explicit love interests actually made fans ''more'' enthusiastic about the pairing.
** Newt and Gottlieb are a ''far'' more popular ship than any alternate couples involving either character, to the point that even Charlie Day has said that he thinks their relationship is more interesting if it's read romantically.

* FanPreferredCouple: Mako and Raleigh's relationship may still be up in the air in terms of whether it's romantic or platonic in the film, but you'd never know that from the fandom. Apparently, not writing them as explicit love interests actually made fans ''more'' enthusiastic about the pairing.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The thoughts and motives of the kaiju are open to endless speculation. Are the kaiju knowingly malevolent, sadistic beings that enjoy slaughtering humans? Are they animalistic, merely acting on instinct without understanding the suffering they cause? Are they tragic victims of the precursors, tortured and brainwashed into fighting to the death against their will? And how does the kaiju hivemind work? Do kaiju share experiences and memories while retaining individual personalities, or is the hivemind a wholly undifferentiated consciousness for whom kaiju bodies are interchangeable vehicles?

** Cherno Alpha, the Russian Jaeger: Despite it and its pilots not getting a lot of focus in the film [[spoiler:and getting killed off]], has become a favorite across the fandom. Could be its unique head and that it apparently has [[ShockAndAwe Tesla-infused fists]]. Or because the Russian-designed Jaegers operate under the simple rule that either the Kaiju goes down or ''they'' do, preferably whilst taking the Kaiju [[TakingYouWithMe down with them]]. As such, they [[NoOSHACompliance don't come equipped]] with escape hatches. Cherno's pilots Aleksis and Sasha HuskyRusskie have been the subject of much fanart. And it seems like [[http://jaegercon.tumblr.com/post/58032749716/jaegercon-interviews-guillermo-del-toro del Toro himself]] agrees with the Cherno love.

** Both Newt (for the [[{{Keet}} levity he brings to the film]] and his Creator/JJAbrams look) and Gottlieb (for his quirky awkwardness and DeadpanSnarker tendencies) were liked individually and for their [[LikeAnOldMarriedCouple dynamic with eachother]], so much so that both of them were brought back for the sequel film.

** Knifehead, what with the whole 'Knifehead-kun' craze in Japan. All the major Kaiju are Darkhorses to varying degrees, with Raiju in particular falling into more or less the same boat as Cherno Alpha. Otachi is also popular due to its fight scene with Gipsy Danger being considered one of the best action scenes in the movie and its [[GiantFlyer wings]] and [[MonsterIsAMommy pregnancy]] both serving as [[GameChanger Game Changers]] to the established Kaiju threat.

** Sadly, some ([[FriendlyFandoms but not all]]) fans of either ''Pacific Rim'' or ''Film/{{Godzilla|2014}}'' would rather antagonize each other over the very different takes and tones on the giant monster movie. This rivalry turned sour given how ''Godzilla'' proved to be more financially successful and got its own cinematic universe while the sequel to ''Pacific Rim'' was repeatedly delayed until 2018. Even then, the sequel was mostly disliked by fans and performed poorly, while ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' was much beloved by fans, performed far better financially, and is set to be followed up by the much-hyped ''Godzilla vs. Kong''.
* FanPreferredCouple: Mako and Raleigh's relationship may be still be up in the air in terms of whether it's romantic or platonic in the film, but you'd never know that from the fandom. Apparently, not writing them as explicit love interests actually made fans ''more'' enthusiastic about the pairing.

** Raleigh and Chuck. It doesn't help that their relationship is often compared to [[Film/TopGun Maverick/Iceman]].

** ''''SIND SIE DAS ESSEN? NEIN, WIR SIND DIE JAEGER!''', another one of the many comparisons to ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' described above. The line comes form the first opening, and translates into "Are they the food? No, we are the hunters!" There's also mountains of crossover fan art featuring Jaegers trouncing many of the more powerful Titans, and characters from ''Attack on Titan'' piloting Jaegers, or the series' resident {{Monster Fangirl}}s Hange and Newt hanging out.

** Raleigh's 'c'mon let's do this together!' just because leaping and punching Leatherback in the head should be typical forced aesop on teamwork. But after the Kaiju calling almost all the shots during the Hong Kong battle, it's rather inspiring.

%%** Otachi Jr.
%%** [[http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/femalefortitude/Reader%20Requests/pacific-rim-10_zps230a958d.jpg Young Mako]], as played by Mana Ashida.

* WhatAnIdiot: Calling Marshal Pentecost's adopted daughter a bitch in front of her Drift compatible co-pilot that's been working heavy construction for five years and one of two people strong enough to single-handedly pilot a Jaeger is not the brightest idea.

** Sadly, some ([[FriendlyFandoms but not all]]) fans of either ''Pacific Rim'' or ''Film/{{Godzilla|2014}}'' would rather antagonize each other over the very different takes and tones on the giant monster movie. This rivalry turned sour given how ''Godzilla'' proved to be more financially successful and got its own cinematic universe while the sequel to ''Pacific Rim'' was repeatedly delayed until 2018.

*** Eren actually [[spoiler:"pilots" one of those "Giants" to battle]], as Titans are revealed to essentially be [[spoiler:organic mecha that grows around the user]].

* AmericansHateTingle: With the domestic NA box office not being especially high, the studio was counting on overseas markets to make the profit. While the movie was highly successful in China and did well in South Korea and Russia, it underperformed in Europe and Japan. Most European moviegoers didn't care about Japanese cinema and Hollywood blockbusters outside of the Superhero and Sci-Fi genre. In Japan, the film suffered from many circumstances such as its release dates coinciding with one of the most popular conventions, the niche-appeal of movie genres in Japan (TV serials are more popular given how movie tickets are very expensive), and a tepid reaction to Rinko Kikuchi.

* HolyShitQuotient: To the point where the action scenes from all three of the ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' films look ''tame''.

* AwardSnub: Wasn't nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 86th [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Academy Awards]].

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Newer viewers may wonder what all the fuss was about when it comes to Mako. Take a look at when the film was released - 2013, when there were no notable female action heroes in Hollywood. The Marvel Cinematic Universe had been around long enough for fans to notice that Black Widow didn't have her own movie. ''Film/TheHungerGames'' had only just come out and people could be forgiven for thinking it breaking out of the GirlShowGhetto was just a fluke. In the years since then ''The Hunger Games'' became a massive franchise, ''{{Literature/Divergent}}'' followed suit (also featuring many {{Action Girl}}s in the cast), ''Series/AgentCarter'', ''{{Series/Supergirl 2015}}'' and ''Series/JessicaJones'' were hits on TV, ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' made its protagonist a woman, ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'' was a feminist sensation, and of course ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' was finally released (with ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'' following closely). So it might be lost on some that Mako was seen as a huge step in the right direction at the time, even though today it's more noticeable that she's still [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the only woman to have a major role]] and her arc is still [[NeverASelfMadeWoman somewhat related to the men around her]].

** Almost literally; people will watch it just for giant robots fighting kaiju (though there are a surprising number of critics who ''do'' think there is value in the between-battle drama scenes, in a twist on this trope). Other critics have praised the film for its shameless ''[[TropesAreTools embrace]]'' of this trope. It's a movie about HumongousMecha fighting sea monsters, and it's not even pretending to be anything else.

* ClicheStorm: Part of the above, almost ''anyone'' who has seen a Kaiju movie (or a SuperRobot anime) can see everything coming from a mile away. Therein lies most of the BrokenBase: either this works because it's an homage to said material, or doesn't because it's utterly generic. You don't have to be a fan of Japanese media to see the movie's progression: if you've ever seen a Hollywood blockbuster then its unlikely that anything in the movie will surprise you.

** [[{{Samurai}} Tacit Ronin]], despite it being a OneSceneWonder [[TheCameo Cameo]] during the "Jaegers killing the Kaiju" sequence, appears to be ''very'' popular with fans on the internet. Especially the Japanese ones. It might have something to do with it's design being very memorable.

** Fans of ''Pacific Rim'' are often friendly with fans of ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' and ''Series/SleepyHollow'', due to all three containing a strong non-white Woman character and her white male companion.

* GeniusBonus: To understand all the entries on the web page for the Jaeger blueprints you need to be able to understand English, French, Latin American Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Japanese. The last three use their native writing systems.

** "Fat Otaku Heaven," a quote from Del Toro. For the Japanese release of the film, he was brought onto a Japanese talk show, where he talked about how much Japanese mecha anime influenced the film and was brought to Gundam World in order to see the life-sized Gundam.

** Raleigh's 'c'mon let's do this together!' just because leaping and punching Leatherback in the head should be typical forced aesop on teamwork. But, after the Kaiju calling almost all the shots during the Hong Kong battle it's rather inspiring.

* SignatureScene: Somewhere between Mako's memory, Trespasser destroying the Golden Gate Bridge and of course the Boat Sword.

* EarWorm: The theme music will never leave your head.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Newer viewers may wonder what all the fuss was about when it comes to Mako. Take a look at when the film was released - 2013, when there were no notable female action heroes in Hollywood. The Marvel Cinematic Universe had been around long enough for fans to notice that Black Widow didn't have her own movie. ''Film/TheHungerGames'' had only just come out and people could be forgiven for thinking it breaking out of the GirlShowGhetto was just a fluke. In the years since then ''The Hunger Games'' became a massive franchise, ''{{Literature/Divergent}}'' followed suit (also featuring many {{Action Girl}}s in the cast), ''Series/AgentCarter'', ''{{Series/Supergirl 2015}}'' and ''Series/JessicaJones'' were hits on TV, ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' made its protagonist a woman, ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'' was a feminist sensation, and of course ''Film/WonderWoman'' was finally released (with ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'' following closely). So it might be lost on some that Mako was seen as a huge step in the right direction at the time, even though today it's more noticeable that she's still [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the only woman to have a major role]] and her arc is still [[NeverASelfMadeWoman somewhat related to the men around her]].

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Newer viewers may wonder what all the fuss was about when it comes to Mako. Take a look at when the film was released - 2013, when there were no notable female action heroes in Hollywood. The Marvel Cinematic Universe had been around long enough for fans to notice that Black Widow didn't have her own movie. ''Film/TheHungerGames'' had only just come out and people could be forgiven for thinking it breaking out of the GirlShowGhetto was just a fluke. In the years since then ''The Hunger Games'' became a massive franchise, ''{{Literature/Divergent}}'' followed suit (also featuring many {{Action Girl}}s in the cast), ''Series/AgentCarter'', ''{{Series/Supergirl 2015}}'' and ''Series/JessicaJones'' were hits on TV, ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' made its protagonist a woman, ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'' was a feminist sensation, and of course ''Film/WonderWoman'' was finally released (with ''Film/CaptainMarvel'' following closely). So it might be lost on some that Mako was seen as a huge step in the right direction at the time, even though today it's more noticeable that she's still [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the only woman to have a major role]] and her arc is still [[NeverASelfMadeWoman somewhat related to the men around her]].

** Just the fact that Jaegers from English-speaking countries have relatively anodine and conventional designs, while the ones from Russia and China sport shapes that make reference to country stereotypes. It doesn't help that those range from hysterical (Crimson Typhoon looks like [[CultureEqualsCostume an ancient Chinese warrior]] and fights in a [[AllAsiansKnowMartialArts kung fu-like style]], while Cherno Alpha has [[HuskyRusskie big fists]] and a cylindrical cooling tower that makes it look like it is wearing an oversized [[RussianFashion ushanka hat]]) to outright BlackComedy (Cherno Alpha's name and shape clearly reference the nuclear disaster of UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}}, which is not exactly a national pride for any ex-Soviet countryman).

** ''''SIND SIE DAS ESSEN? NEIN, WIR SIND DIE JAEGER!''', another one of the many comparisons to ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' described above. The line comes form the first opening, and translates into "Are they the food? No, we are the hunters!" There's also mountains of crossover fan art featuring Jaegers trouncing many of the more powerful Titans, and characters from ''Attack on Titan'' piloting Jaegers.

* InternetBackdraft:
** Do not mention this movie and ''[[Film/GrownUps Grown Ups 2]]'' in the same conversation with fans in the US. It will bring more hate towards the latter.[[note]]''[[Film/GrownUps Grown Ups 2]]'', despite being critically trashed, managed to gross more than Pacific Rim domestically.[[/note]]
** Also do not say that ''Pacific Rim'' is overrated. When Spoony reviewed the movie he received a lot of flack for saying ''Pacific Rim'' wasn't as impressive as everyone says, despite him repeatedly saying he isn't completely bashing the movie.
** To say this film is a rip-off of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is bad enough, but never, under any circumstances, say this movie is one of of Creator/MichaelBay's ''Film/{{Transformers}}''.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Charlie Hunnam's American accent wavers in the very first line of the film and doesn't get much better from there.

** Ron Perlman doing an incredibly naff black market dealer impression is a funny touch (albeit one rather narmy by itself), but for a Spaniard, seeing a vulgar comedic actor like Santiago Segura trying to act like his creepy but otherwise professional henchman might be just too much. Even worse, given that Segura's collaborations with Guillermo del Toro are actually not very known to Spanish audiences, his sole appearance in ''Pacific Rim'' may be shocking and hilarious enough to distract from all the surrounding scenes, which are precisely very necessary to understand the rest of the plot.

** Newt's quite popular as well, the little {{Keet}}! His being played by the eminently lovable Creator/CharlieDay, the amount of levity he brings to the film and his Creator/JJAbrams look certainly help quite a bit.

** Knifehead, what with the whole 'Knifehead-kun' craze in Japan. All the major Kaiju are Darkhorses to varying degrees, with Raiju in particular falling into more or less the same boat as Cherno Alpha.

* FanPreferredCouple: Mako and Raleigh's relationship may be still be up in the air in terms of whether it's romantic or platonic in the film, but you'd never know that from the fandom. Apparently, not writing them as explicit love interests actually made fans ''more'' enthusiastic about the pairing