Line #84 YMMV/PacificRim


1	* 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?
2	* AmericansHateTingle:
3	** 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).
4	** 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 Rinko Kikuchi's controversial reputation. Ironically, many big names of the mecha/kaiju genres loved the film, particularly Creator/GoNagai (''Anime/MazingerZ''), Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', ''Anime/GunBuster''), Creator/HideoKojima (''VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders'') and Fumito Ueda (''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus''). Sadamoto's colleague Creator/HideakiAnno found it "not so interesting", although he admitted the things he finds interesting in the mecha genre are [[HardToAdaptWork very hard to do in live action cinema]].
5	* AwardSnub: Wasn't nominated for Best Visual Effects, nor Best Original Score, at the 86th [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Academy Awards]].
6	* BrokenBase:
7	** While few will question the entertainment value of the action set pieces, opinion is sharply divided on whether the writing and story are good, or whether the homage nature of the film fully justified its adherence to clichés at several points.
8	** Fans have debated whether the Pacific Rim universe should have a crossover with the Film/MonsterVerse (Legendary's shared universe centered around Godzilla and King Kong). Those in favor of it claim that the crossover would draw more fans and attention to the Pacific Rim brand and if anything else would be [[RuleOfCool really]], [[CoolVsAwesome really]] [[UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny cool]]. Those against it are worried that a crossover could lead to the [=Monster Verse=]'s characters and Kaiju overshadowing those of Pacific Rim and that the two franchises are stylistically incompatible with each other. As of the recent film ''Film/GodzillaXKongTheNewEmpire'' taking on a more lighthearted tone veering away from the darker and grittier ''Film/Godzilla2014'', the idea of them crossing over has once again become popular.
9	* 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 it's unlikely that anything in the movie will surprise you.
10	* EndingFatigue: Some have said that the entire Hong Kong fight was so intense and amazing that the climax was unable to top it, feeling like it was just resolving the plot rather than being its own well-developed sequence.
11	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
12	** Cherno Alpha, the Russian Jaeger, despite it and its pilots not getting a lot of focus in the film [[spoiler:and getting killed off]], it 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 pods. Cherno's pilots [[HuskyRusskie Aleksis and Sasha]] have also 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.
13	** [[{{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 its design being very memorable.
14	** Tendo Choi, the {{Adorkable}} MissionControl engineer behind the Shatterdome operation who looks like the secret love child of Creator/JosephGordonLevitt, [[Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossThe8thDimension Buckaroo Banzai]], and [[Series/DoctorWho The Eleventh Doctor]]. Oldschool mecha anime fans like Tendo because he looks like a Go Nagai character.
15	** And, of course, there's Hannibal Chau, courtesy of Creator/RonPerlman.
16	** Herc Hansen, an AwesomeAussie popular with those who like their eye candy a little older and more rugged. He also earns points for putting up with precisely none of his son's {{Jerkass}} moments and putting his life on the line in an (as far as he knew) futile attempt to defend Hong Kong from Leatherback.
17	** 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 each other]], so much so that both of them were brought back for the sequel film.
18	** And [[BigFriendlyDog Max]], of course. A big friendly English bulldog doted upon by the Hansens and Mako.
19	** Knifehead only appears in the prologue and has one of the more basic designs of the Kaiju, but its WakeUpCallBoss status and awesome goblin shark-esque head make it very memorable despite this. It got to the point where 'Knifehead-kun' became a craze in Japan.
20	** Trespasser too only appears in the prologue and gets little screen time, but the concept of a six-day war against a completely unknown foe in the pre-Jaeger days garnered quite some fan interest to see how it played out.
21	** Raiju appears to fall into more or less the same boat as Cherno Alpha. It's the first of the three Kaiju in the final battle to die, but it's also stated to be the fastest recorded Kaiju, with its design and fighting style working uniquely well for the underwater battle, and has a horrifically memorable NestedMouths head design.
22	* EpicRiff: The signature riff[[note]]courtesy of [[Music/RageAgainstTheMachine Tom Morello]][[/note]], [[https://youtu.be/sH_6iFYiryY 23 seconds into the title track]] that also turns up as a {{Leitmotif}} in other pieces on the soundtrack.
23	* FandomRivalry:
24	** Some with ''Film/GrownUps 2'', given that they both premiered around the same time and while ''Pacific Rim'' has been critically acclaimed and made a killing in international markets, ''Grown Ups 2'' made more money domestically.
25	** 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 ''Film/GodzillaVsKong''.
26	* FanNickname:
27	** Some fans has called this movie ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Neon Genesis]] [[Franchise/{{Gundam}} Gundam]]: [[VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative Alternative]]''
28	** Due to controversy over the word "Gipsy," some fans prefer to call the main Jaeger "Lady Danger" or "G Danger."
29	** The name of [[spoiler: Otachi’s child]], the most common options are [[spoiler: Otachi Jr/Otachi Junior]], [[spoiler: Otachira/Otachirah, adding the classic Japanese kaiju-name suffix of ra/rah (though this is not grammatically correct)]], [[spoiler: Surpriju, for obvious reasons]], and [[spoiler: Kotachi, a portmanteau of kid and Otachi]]. Rarer options include Imoto, which is Japanese for “little sister”, and Nozomi, which is Japanese for “hope”. (Understandably, these last two are mostly used in AlternateUniverseFic where [[spoiler: the Kaiju break free of Precursor control or otherwise undergo a RedemptionArc]]).
30	* {{Fanon}}:
31	** The genders of the kaiju, given all are referred to with neutral pronouns in the film:
32	*** Otachi is the only one with a confirmed gender, with her [[spoiler: being pregnant]] and WordOfGod confirming she's female. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that ''otachi'' is Japanese slang for a masculine lesbian (Though the intent behind the name was because it's also Japanese for [[IronicName greatsword]]).
33	*** Aside from Otachi, Onibaba is also commonly considered female by the fandom, due to her name being Japanese for "demon hag".
34	*** Generally, most of the kaiju (Trespasser, Knifehead, Leatherback, Scunner, and Raiju) [[MenAreGenericWomenAreSpecial are interpreted as male]], though Scunner occasionally is interpreted as female. Leatherback in particular is also frequently headcanoned as the father of Otachi's child.
35	*** Yamarashi, while not seen in the film, is referred to as male by Newt, one of the world’s leading kaiju biologists and anatomists. It’s unknown if he was anthropomorphizing the kaiju via giving it human pronouns, though, giving Newt’s status as TheXenophile.
36	*** It’s also worth noting that Newt refers to Otachi as male at one point ([[spoiler: “He’s trying to get me! He knows I’m here and he’s trying to get me!”]]), though he also later uses it/its pronouns for her, and both these instances were before he knew [[spoiler: she was pregnant]].
37	*** Slattern and Mutavore change genders based on which fan you talk to. Slattern is considered male by some due to the fact that he’s the leader and the largest, while others say she’s female due to her name being an antiquated term for whore. Mutavore’s [[BizarreAlienBiology incredibly strange looks]], on the other hand, leave their gender up for individual interpretation, though it should be noted that their character folder on This Very Wiki uses female pronouns for her.
38	*** Some fans argue that because [[spoiler:the kaiju are genetically-engineered clones]], and the only one with a confirmed gender is female, then they should all be female (The usual response to this is to point out that gender and biological sex are not the same thing). Other fans stick to using it/its or they/them for all the kaiju, or point out that trying to assign human sexes and genders to extra-dimensional aliens is likely an exercise in futility.
39	** What Scott Hansen did to get fired from the Jaeger program is never specified in canon, but a large number of fans believe that he [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil raped someone]].
40	* FanPreferredCouple: Newt and Gottlieb are a ''far'' more popular ship than any alternate couples involving either character, even though the novelizations reveal that Gottlieb is married to someone else.
41	* FirstInstallmentWins: The movie launched a small franchise of comic books, licensed games, [[Anime/PacificRimTheBlack a spinoff anime]], and a sequel movie, ''Film/PacificRimUprising''. However, only the reception of the original movie is largely positive, while the reception to all the follow-ups and tie-ins ranges from forgettable to terrible, with the sequel in particular being a FranchiseKiller and [[FanonDiscontinuity many fans try not to think about its existence]].
42	* FriendlyFandoms:
43	** With the ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' fandom, mostly because of mutual Charlie Day presences. The film also [[IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine led to del Toro being cast]] in ''Sunny'' as the patriarch of the [=McPoyle=] clan.
44	** The same applies to ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'', which shares Charlie Hunnam and Creator/RonPerlman.
45	** The ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' fandom is also friendly with this fandom, mostly for the whole "Jaeger" connection. Plus, it also allowed this [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome amazing]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj-edq36_gk video]] to be created.
46	** 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.
47	** If one or both are not trying to rip into each other for the different takes on giant monster movies, then fans of ''Pacific Rim'' and the new ''Film/{{Godzilla\| 2014}}'' have united together for more monster movies.
48	* 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.
49	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Domestically beaten during its opening week, having been beaten by the ''WesternAnimation/{{Despicable Me\|2}}'' and, yeah, ''Film/GrownUps'' sequels, to the point it's often referred to as a flop. Was met with greater success internationally. Especially in China where it made more money than in the United States, something still very rare for a Hollywood production. In general, the film did best in countries that had Jaegers to represent them.
50	* HarsherInHindsight:
51	** 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.
52	** The scene in the film where the Hansons defend Sydney from a Kaiju that broke through the Wall of Life was awesome in this film, but the premise of ''Pacific Rim: The Black,'' is that this was AllForNothing as the Precursors eventually opened Breaches all over Australia and caused the continent to be completely abandoned.
53	** Newt and Hermann's fire-forged friendship also counts, given [[spoiler: Newt's FaceHeelTurn in the sequel.]]
54	* HesJustHiding: [[http://www.deviantart.com/art/team-cherno-393318881 Plenty of comics]] [[http://pocketaimee.com/post/58790959258/this-is-what-happened-after-the-end-of-the-movie have been made]] [[http://pocketaimee.com/post/58912484064/they-are-not-so-good-with-directions-and-yes retconning]] [[spoiler:the Kaidanovskys']] death. Likewise there are many fanfics detailing how [[spoiler:Chuck survived.]]
55	* HilariousInHindsight:
56	** The film shares several parallels and similarities with ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''.
57	*** The giant bots share the name "Jaeger" with the main protagonist of ''Attack on Titan'' who fights a different kind of giant.
58	*** Both works contain a plan to contain the threat with giant walls, which fail miserably.
59	*** Eren actually [[spoiler:"pilots" one of those "Giants" to battle]], as Titans are revealed to essentially be [[spoiler:organic mecha that grow around the user]].
60	*** The similarities between Newt and Hange Zoë, the perky, Titan-obsessed mad scientist of that series, are not lost on fandom, either.
61	*** In Hong Kong, Kaiju bones are used as part of a building, while [[spoiler:Colossal Titans line the inside the Walls]] in ''Attack on Titan''.
62	** The Jaegers also [[http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Jagermech share a name]] with a ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' 'Mech. ''Battletech'' also features the rare Dual Cockpit upgrade that allows a pair of pilots to control one machine for great combat efficiency.
63	** The big battle in Hong Kong has multiple monsters fighting against a human-made mech designed to kill them. A great plot... and one that [[Film/GodzillaVsKong would be repeated nearly a decade later, though with some of the particulars changed.]] Bonus points for the same company making both films, and that Mechagodzilla is technically controlled by Drifting (sort of).
64	** '''Voice-acting wise''':
65	*** [[Creator/IrwinDaayan Raleigh's Mexican voice actor]] and [[Creator/TesshoGenda Stacker's Japanese one]] have one thing on common: Both voiced ''[[Manga/{{Naruto}} Kurama]]'' in their respective languages. Except this time, Kurama is now ''trying to stop'' an apocalypse, rather than being the one [[AnimalisticAbomination who cause it]] [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceTurn at first]]]]. Extra hilarity, at least in the Mexican Spanish dub, Mako's voice actress voiced [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Sakura Haruno]].
66	*** Another hilarious outtake from the Mexican Spanish dub: Raleigh and Newt's voice actors (Creator/IrwinDaayan and Victor Ugarte, respectively) voiced respectively Kensuke Aida and Shinji Ikari from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', Kensuke being the nerdy fan of the protagonist [[{{Mecha}} robots]] and Shinji the one who pilots them. In this film, Kensuke is the one who pilots them this time, while Shinji is now the nerdy fan.
67	*** In the European Spanish dub, Pentecost is voiced by Juan Carlos Gustems, who voiced his direct counterpart Gendo Ikari in the original dub of ''Evangelion''.
68	* HoYay:
69	** Raleigh and Chuck. It doesn't help that their relationship is often compared to [[Film/TopGun Maverick/Iceman]]. They also spend much of their screen time just giving each other really intense looks.
70	** Newt and Hermann. Apparently the novelization even describes them as "bickering like an old married couple."
71	** Herc and Stacker spend most of the movie waging a war on each other's personal space and exchanging meaningful looks. "Team Hot Dads" indeed.
72	* HypeBacklash: While the film itself is still generally understood to be a good one, it attracted a loud following on sites like Tumblr vocally touting it as a representational milestone for depicting the heroes as members of a MultinationalTeam working in harmony while being relatively lacking in racist stereotypes, and for having a female protagonist with a character arc that averted NeverASelfMadeWoman and AcceptableFeminineGoals. It was pushed so aggressively at the time that a kind of backlash emerged to mock the fandom, pointing out that while these aspects of the film were certainly praiseworthy enough, [[OlderThanTheyThink that plenty of movies have been doing that for a long time]] and the film isn't nearly as novel as they claim it to be, and accusing the ''Pacific Rim'' fanbase of overbearing FanMyopia. A lot of the hardcore fandom quieted down, taking the counterfandom with it, after ''Film/PacificRimUprising'' ended up being a heavily ContestedSequel.
73	* JustHereForGodzilla:
74	** 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 ''[[Administrivia/TropesAreTools embrace]]'' of this trope. It's a movie about HumongousMecha fighting sea monsters, and it's not even pretending to be anything else.
75	** Creator/LegendaryPictures is also heading up the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' [[Film/{{Godzilla 2014}} remake]], which is coming after this film, thus ''Pacific Rim'' is almost like a giant appetizer for Kaiju fans eagerly awaiting the Big G's return. Legendary has teased a crossover at some point.
76	** Some Portal fans came just to hear the voice of [=GLaDOS=].
77	** Fans of ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' also came to see Charlie Day as Newton Geizler, who brings the same manic chaotic energy as his other character, though here significantly more educated.
78	* LesYay: Minor, but Otachi is one of the few confirmed female kaiju, and her name just ''happens'' to be [[https://www.tumblr.com/thesundaytea/683805260356157440/otachi-is-a-lovely-lesbian-pass-it-out?source=share a Japanese slang term for a masculine lesbian.]] Only recently pointed out, though, and a fair number of fans are against the idea because it falls into BuryYourGays and queer-coded villain tropes.
79	* MemeticBadass: The Kaidanovskys seem to be [[http://lukemckinney.net/2013/08/21/pacific-rim-how-the-kaidanovskys-survived/ approaching this status]]. It may be deserved -- they apparently held the line in Siberia for six straight years on their own with a heavily outdated Jaeger that (as far as Jaegers go) was essentially a BadassNormal.
80	* MemeticMutation:
81	** Once Creator/EllenMcLain's voice appeared as the robots' AI system, plenty of jokes were made about her controlling the robots. And it's not just nerds flexing their voice actor knowledge, the AI sounds almost ''exactly'' like [=GLaDOS=]. The fact that the Kaiju come from a "portal" didn't exactly stem the tide of jokes either.
82	** The film became quite a meme in the Philippines, due to the scene in the prologue where a Kaiju attacks Manila and [[{{Squick}} defecates all over the city.]] Some took offense at the "disrespect", while others jumped on the meme to poke fun at the Philippines at least getting a shout-out in a Hollywood movie.
83	*** With the popularity of ''Anime/VoltesV'' in the Philippines, many joked that Voltes V would be the Philippines' Jaeger. Becomes HilariousInHindsight with the release of ''Series/VoltesVLegacy'', a Filipino live-action adaptation that heavily referenced ''Pacific Rim'' for its battle sequences.
84	** Some fans started jokingly calling Cherno Alpha "Cherno Bill" in honor of [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries William Chekhov]].
85	** Someone has thought of remaking the trailer [[http://youtu.be/dkz6kQQ8Xyg with EVA footage]]. Or putting the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A10Ngc2pjww Power Rangers theme]] over the video. And then there's the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWrzv6Z7uRc Megas XLR theme]]. And [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj-edq36_gk here]] we have the aforementioned HilariousInHindsight being capitalized on.
86	** Plenty of jokes have been made about the movie being mistaken for a porno. [[AccidentalInnuendo Just look at the title]].
87	*** Further invoked with the release of ''Film/TheShapeOfWater'', another Guillermo del Toro film about a human woman having sexual relations with an aquatic humanoid. Some joked that the title would have been more fitting for ''that'' film instead.
88	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbd_6oskZ9Y Boat Sword]][[note]]Coined by [[Creator/TheCynicalBrit TotalBiscuit]] in one of his VLogs in reference to Gipsy Danger wielding an Oil Tanker like a club.[[/note]]
89	** After Rinko and Mana both commented on how sweet Guillermo was on set (and how he would tell them to call him Totoro), fan art ensued of [[http://oxboxer.tumblr.com/post/58309340901/guillermo-totoro Guillermo]] [[http://kadeart.tumblr.com/post/57511359862/the-director-is-really-kind-to-me-and-he-told-me Totoro]]
90	** ''''SIND SIE DAS ESSEN? NEIN, WIR SIND DIE JAEGER!''', another one of the many comparisons to ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' described above. The line comes from 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.
91	** [[spoiler:"Where is my goddamn shoe?!"]] from TheStinger.
92	** "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.
93	** The movie has its own meme-generator. The Pacific Rim website has its own Jaeger Builder, in which fans can design and name their own Jaegers and create posters for them, with amusing results.
94	** Team Hot Dad, composed of Stacker Pentecost and Herc Hansen, a wish to see these two single fathers pilot a Jaeger.
95	** A group of fans who had grown dissatisfied with the Bechdel Test's ability to properly gauge a story's use of female characters suggested that we should instead use the Mako Mori Test: A female character has her own narrative arc that is not at all about propping up a male character.
96	** "Drift Compatibility" has since turned into a popular stock plot for {{Shipping}} fanfiction. Typically such stories will feature the OneTruePairing in a crossover AlternateUniverseFic where they are drift-compatible Jaeger pilots.
97	** Due to the general disappointment the fandom has for ''Film/PacificRimUprising'' it has become a common in-joke to pretend that the sequel simply never existed. Comment sections on videos of the first film are full of jokes saying ''"What a great movie! Too bad it never had a sequel."'' and other similar discontinuity jokes.
98	* MoneyMakingShot: Any extended sequence involving the Jaegers, or the Kaiju for that matter.
99	* {{Narm}}:
100	** Just the fact that Jaegers from English-speaking countries have relatively anodyne and conventional designs, while the ones from Russia and China [[CultureEqualsCostume sport more bizarre 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.")
101	** Ron Perlman doing a naff black market dealer impression is a funny touch (albeit one rather narmy by itself), but for Spanish viewers, finding Spanish actor Creator/SantiagoSegura as his appropriately creepy henchman might kill the scene. 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 actually very necessary to understand the rest of the plot.
102	** Leatherback is a genuinely imposing Kaiju due to how burly and fast for his size he is, but his jiggling, hanging belly is easy to notice every time he's charging towards the camera, which can deflate the scene quite badly.
103	** Mako's flashback, in which she appears as a little girl being stalked by Onibaba, is NightmareFuel incarnated. However, the fact that she is casually holding one of her shoes in her hands while ''strolling'' astray (that is, she neither lost the shoe nor was running too fast to put it back on) adds an unintentional silly element to the scene, even if it is presumably meant to convey her recent trauma.
104	** The fact that the largest, deadliest Kaiju on record, whose entrance is played off as the Devil himself rising from the gates of Hell, is named ''Slattern'', an antiquated term for a ''whore''.
105	*** Really, many of the Kaiju names could count. "Knifehead" is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, "Mutavore" is nonsensical, "Raiju", the Kaiju, almost borders on ALizardNamedLiz and "Scunner" is an Scottish slang term meaning "disgusting".
106	* NarmCharm:
107	** "TODAY WE ARE CANCELLING THE APOCALYPSE!" One of the most cliche-ridden, trope-tastic movies in recent history, but the giant-robots-fighting-giant-monsters parts are just so awesome you can't help but love it.
108	** The Elbow Rocket. Absolutely wacky in concept, but in practice makes the big punching robot punch even ''harder''.
109	** A lot of the worldbuilding elements are wacky in concept, from the Bone Slums ''literally built into the skeleton of a dead Kaiju,'' to Hannibal Chau's kaiju organ black market, which even sells the ''feces and skin parasites''. Yet strangely they work, helping flesh out the world and how society would respond to giant monsters.
110	** The very idea of the Jaegers and Kaiju being ''merchandised'' in-universe, with action figures and shoes based off them. Especially the Kaiju, which are ''living natural disasters that kill thousands of people.'' However, it does show humanity's complacency and overconfidence, until the Kaiju start sending in the second wave.
111	** Raleigh's "C'mon, let's do this together!", just because leaping and punching Leatherback in the head should be a typical forced aesop on teamwork. But after the Kaiju calling almost all the shots during the Hong Kong battle, it's rather inspiring.
112	** "Stacker Pentecost" is absolutely nonsensical as a person's name, but at the same time it sounds so incredibly bombastically manly that you can't help but want to bellow it in the hammiest, most dramatic fashion possible.
113	* OlderThanTheyThink: Many fans think ''Pacific Rim'' is based off ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', while Del Toro has explicitly stated that he had never seen the series and was basing the film off older super robot shows he had seen in his youth. His co-writer Travis Beacham might have been familiar with EVA and included some references, but the point that it's a more general genre homage still stands.
114	* OneSceneWonder:
115	** Trespasser appears for only a few seconds, but it establishes the start of the Kaiju war. Its six-day rampage and eventual death by three nukes are enough fuel for an entire movie on its own.
116	** Romeo Blue and Hardship, who only appear in a night-vision scene for a few seconds yet were liked enough to get action figures (and in-universe get merchandised as shoes themed after them).
117	** Onibaba is rather popular even though it only appears once and its fight is off-screen, mostly remembered for its non-alien/dinosaur design, instead being based on a crustacean.
118	** Otachi Jr. for providing one of the film's biggest OhCrap moments, and for swallowing Hannibal Chau alive.
119	** [[http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s462/femalefortitude/Reader%20Requests/pacific-rim-10_zps230a958d.jpg Young Mako]], as played by Mana Ashida.
120	* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: The movie can be described as 2500 tons of awesome. As for the game based on the movie, opinions might be mixed, especially considering the name it has to live up to.
121	* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/SimuLiu was an extra in this film prior to his StarMakingRole in ''Series/KimsConvenience''.
122	* RomanticPlotTumor: Defied. Guillermo del Toro stated in numerous interviews that he dislikes how movies -- particularly big-budget action movies -- tend to shoehorn a romance in simply because one lead is male and the other is female. Despite a few ShipTease moments, Raleigh and Mako end up close friends and partners, but not romantically involved.
123	-->'''Guillermo del Toro:''' I wanted to show that men and women can be friends without having a relationship.
124	* TheScrappy: Gottlieb has his share of haters 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. He gets better at least when he has Newton to play off against as a comic-relief duo.
125	* SignatureScene:
126	** Trespasser destroying the Golden Gate Bridge, establishing within two minutes that this is ''not'' your average {{Kaiju}} film.
127	** Mako's childhood memory of Onibaba attacking Tokyo.
128	** Slattern rising up from the portal, looking every bit as hellish and demonic as the first known Category V.
129	** And of course the Boat Sword - Gipsy Danger making a MenacingStroll towards Otachi through Hong Kong, dragging a tanker behind it before beating the stuffing out of the Kaiju.
130	* SpiritualLicensee:
131	** Humanity building giant robots to combat an alien threat. While this may be a common plot in the mecha genre of anime, [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion one show probably comes to mind for many, at least younger, anime fans]], especially considering the following parallels: TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture (as opposed to the more common "far into the future" and "another world entirely" settings) aliens, that are specifically interested in human extinction, come, not from space, but from the depths of the earth itself. These aliens are giant monsters who fight humanity directly, instead of using robots themselves. To combat these humanity creates equally gigantic robots that requires the pilot to mentally synch not only with the robot, but also with a co-pilot (while this is only done literally in [[Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion Evangelion 3.0]], in the original series [[spoiler:the "robots" had to have a human soul implanted in them to function and both this soul and the actual pilot had to synch with each-other and the "robot"]]). The monsters also appear one-by-one instead of organizing in an army. Oh, and let's not forget the yellow fluid, the blue blood of the monster aliens and the journeys into characters' minds.
132	** Alternatively, it's a better American ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' film than the [[Film/{{Godzilla 1998}} 1998 Godzilla]] film.
133	** ''Alternatively'' alternatively, it's the best ''Manga/GetterRobo'' movie we're ever gonna get.
134	** Go back a bit more, to the beginning. Rocket Punch. Breast Fire. Pilots in the head docking with the body. Hell, the whole drivable robot concept. It's ''Anime/MazingerZ'', all the way. By extension to almost all the spiritual licensee above makes this the closest to a ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' film ever.
135	** The movie has several (coincidental) similarities to the ''VideoGame/XCom'' franchise as well. Alien threat that forces the nations of the world to band together and form an organisation dedicated to fighting them? Check. Council of nations that threatens to pull their funding because they're not getting results? Check. The alien-fighting organization forced to sell alien components on the black market to make ends meet? Check. Researchers vivisecting alien corpses in order to better understand what they're fighting against? Check. [[spoiler: A final assault on the aliens' homeworld? Check.]] Extra amusingly, the ''Enemy Within'' expansion for ''X-COM'' includes cybernetic MiniMecha pilots complete with rocket fists.
136	** There's some minor resemblance to ''Anime/{{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.
137	** ''[[RuleOfThree Alternatively]]'', this movie can also be the best screen-adaptation of ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative'' we can ever get, due to the many similarities (especially the nature and origins of the Kaiju).
138	* SuspiciouslySimilarSong:
139	** The main theme leitmotif is ''extremely'' similar to the ''[[Videogame/{{Crysis}} Crysis 2]]'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph1Sn3li54I one (starts around 1:10)]].
140	** The main theme also has lots of similarities to this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62ctk9pa48k track]] from ''Franchise/MuvLuv''
141	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Even fans of the movie tend to agree that [[spoiler:the pilots of Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha]] should've, at the very least, had more time to shine before being killed off early into their first action scene.
142	** On the Kaiju side, many express disappointment with Raiju's scant screentime and early demise, as its speed, agility, streamlined shape and split head with NestedMouths made it a quite memorable opponent that just ends up cleaved in two by Gipsy's sword after only two attacks.
143	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
144	** There's enough room to do a film or two on those first four attacks and on the Golden Age of Jaeger combat. Of course, given that the Golden Age stock footage resembles scenes from ''Film/ItCameFromBeneathTheSea'' (attacking San Francisco, arguing about toxic blood disposal) you could argue that that movie has already been made.
145	** The cult of Kaiju worshipers, who could have made very good secondary villains. Imagine an entire subplot following a different division of the Jaeger program dedicated to stopping terrorist members of the Kaiju cult from attacking Shatterdomes from the inside. It's tangentially addressed, at least -- there seem to be a lot of troops around inside the Hong Kong Shatterdome carrying small arms that don't seem to do much on-screen, but considering that there is a definite Kaiju cult around, it's possible that's what they're there for.
146	* TooCoolToLive:
147	** [[spoiler:Aleksis and Sasha Kaidanovsky, the Cherno Alpha pilots. Also, the extremely talented triplets of Crimson Typhoon, and, lastly, Stacker.]]
148	** Subverted with [[spoiler:Hannibal Chau, who survived getting EatenAlive, [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments and he wants his Goddamn shoe back]].]]
149	* UglyCute:
150	** Leatherback's grumpy personality and surprised OhCrap reaction when Gipsy enters the fray could make him somewhat qualify for this.
151	** Otachi Jr., which is just undeveloped enough not to be monstrous and just developed enough not to be [[FetusTerrible creepy.]]
152	** The Kaiju parasites (or Skinmites) also look pretty adorable as well.
153	* {{Woolseyism}}: Because in the Italian language the historical general Hannibal is referred to as "Annibale", the dub changes the origin of Hannibal Chau's first name by having him say "I took it from my favorite [[Franchise/HannibalLecter character]]".

Context YMMV / PacificRim