Pacific Rim: Jaegerbomb Edition

Wow! What can i say? Awesome awesome edit! I loved the original version. Big stompy robots vs big stompy monsters. Whats not to like? Yes, there were parts that bogged it down too much, but this edit removes all that for a much better flowing narrative, less goofy characters, less Rob Kazinski acting like a complete ass. It all adds up to 100 minutes of pure fun. Download, grab the popcorn, sit back and enjoy what Pacific Rim should have been (even though I think its a great film already!)

Pacific Rim, for me, wasn't a film that really needs a definitive version. I walked into the cinema wanting Totally Not Transformers Vs Definitely Not Godzilla, and that's what I got. And I thought it was exactly the kind of exhilarating fun it should have been.

However, I'm not always in the mood to watch the whole thing including the wacky scientist parts. And so this version from RangerKris suits me down to the ground - this is the 90-odd minute version that I'll watch when what I really want is to see big robots kicking not-Godzilla ass, and no comedic relief parts. It might be possible to trim the original film down even further, but I don't think it's really necessary.

Visual quality is great - as others have mentioned, there are a couple of IMO minor issues with the audio, though they didn't bother me much. And enjoyment, for me, is up there with the original release.

I'll start off by saying that I loved Pacific Rim. I watched it multiple times in the theater and bought it the day it came out. Overall I liked this edit but I will probably stick with the theatrical version.

There were a few things that I noticed and that didn't work for me. The only scene I could actually tell there was a cut was the scene when Becket is looking at the specimens in the elevator when he first arrives in Hong Kong.

The only particular scene that didn't work for me was the Charlie Day scene in the bunker. He was cut out of almost the whole movie and I was surprised to see that scene was kept intact. It was a little jarring just having Charlie Day show up randomly and then never being seen from again.

The last thing is near the end, it doesn't make much sense why Gypsy Danger is dragging the dead Kaiju as he walks towards the breach; this is only a nitpick because I know the real reason.

Other than those few things, I did liked this edit. Its quick and filled with all the exciting bits from the movie. I'm a big fan of Charlie Day and Ron Perlman so I missed their scenes, but this edit works without their subplots which I admit were on the slapstick side.

This is a great edit for those who may have found the certain comedic elements of the original not to their liking or just want a faster paced version. However, I adore the original and that is the only reason I deducted a couple of points for enjoyment because I enjoy all of the cut material.

I skipped Pacific Rim in the theaters, in fact this edit was my first viewing (BD sits unopened in my boxes). I can't comment on how this compares to the theatrical, but by itself it was a pretty kick-ass robots vs monsters blockbuster. While one could cut more, I don't think anything further is really needed. Definitely recommend checking out this cut.

I have a couple nitpicks though. Video quality was really nice, with just a little artifacting at times. There were instances of audio clipping (as noted by an earlier reviewer) and one or two audio transitions that stood out. And now I'm going to get really nitpicky, but the cinema nerd inside couldn't help but feel irked... the opening titles you re-jiggered from the end titles were nice, but out of order. Writers and Producers come after the production crew (effects, costumes, editing, etc.) and right before the Director. Of course, when opening credits are put at the end, they're in backward sequence, and it was obvious to me you just switched the Cast and Director credits and left the rest the way they were. Again, super nerd nitpick, but small details like that stand out to me. Also, speeding up the end credits looked kinda ugly, don't do that.

Regardless of the above, a very enjoyable flick!

Typing this as I watch, forgive the train-wreak of flow.

Spoiler:

Around 5:00, the the thumping bass is clipping. I don't think it was like that in the original.

This continues till around 5:36

The clipping continues through for quite some time, actually.

The exiting animations put in earlier seems cool, but it also seemed very late for an intro. 17 minutes in.


@ 20:00, the little talk between Marshall and the congressional people... This has nothing to do with the edit, but I felt the entire coastal wall thing was stupid. Why couldn't the coastal wall just be the thing that's being constructed to slow down Kaiju? Why not just show the hammer head one busting through it like the kool-aid man? And everyone could just be like, GOOD THING that big ass wall was there to slow it down!!

So, if this edit was to be revised further, I'd say cut the unnecessary coastal wall bit pieces, and leave the construction scene, and the scene where the hammer head busts through it.

I think the coastal wall bits could be cut up to 21:06ish.

38:21ish to 38:50, maybe the sub-plot of Marshall dying from cancer can be removed? This small chunk also (conveniently) contains pointless talk about the coastal wall and how the Jager program was discontinued.

39:05 - more mentions of the 'wall of life', perhaps that can be taken out? Or the entire chunk of video there altogether?


Is it just me, or does the Kaiju that appears in Marco's memory seem waaaay smaller than the very first Kaiju that came through the breach?? I thought they got bigger as time went along?

I really like how the 2nd half of Marco's memory was integrated in earlier. It wasn't one huge long chunk of her memories - like how I was expecting - it was spliced in with a bit of other video between it. It came out really nice.

54:00 exactly, the Jager has no latissimus dorsi (lats). Nothing to do with the edit, but I had to say something. It just looks so unnatural, even for a gigantic robot.

1:06:24, The scene of the Kaiju breaking into the bunker. This flows really nicely and has some great CG in it, but I wonder if the entire thing couldn't just be cut? With all the other scenes of drifting with a Kaiju being cut, why does the Kaiju dig into a bunker?? Shouldn't he be pre-occupied with destroying the city, or the last remaining Jager outpost? Or... Gypsy Danger?

1:08:33 Surprised to see that the Jager fist starting the physics-balls is still in... Sort of silly but it's comic relief.

From 1:14 to about 1:15:23 is more stuff about Marshall and his radiation exposure. It leads into the triple event though. I feel that bit could be cut, but it could go either way. You could introduce his illness at 1:14 and it'd work.

1:18:42 - This is way, way out of left field - after having all of the other scenes of bullying taken out. Marshall calls Striker's younger co-pilot a lot of seemingly off-the wall names as he describes how he has him "figured out" and it just doesn't fit well with all the pertaining back-story removed. Maybe this can be cleaned up, while still maintaining the Father-Son talk?


Another movie issue: nothing to do with the fan edit, but how did that big-ass Category 5 Kaiju survive a direct blast from a 2,400lb Thermal-Nuclear Warhead ???? but the ENTIRE Kaiju manufacturing facility is just blasted to bits from Gypsy Danger's meager dual-core nuclear reactors???? MAKES NO SENSE! NO SENSE!





Overall, great edit. I feel it can be improved a bit more though, especially with the audio. It noticeably clips throughout the earlier scenes and in some parts it's fairly distracting because the audio is distorted. The cut choices were on-target, and the scene swaps flowed fine. I think a few more (very short) sub-stories can be removed though.