Godzilla 2014 or Pacific Rim

[HannibalBarca]

Even though it's a giant monster movie, it's suppose to read as a war movie, just like how LPG reads like a disaster movie.

What it's supposed to read and what it DOES read are two very different things, however. I never once got the feeling I was watching a "war movie," in any meaningful sense, during Pacific Rim. Saying that G'14 is a disaster movie is another can of worms that I don't feel like opening, but suffice to say I'm not exactly 100% in agreement with that idea either.

[HayesAJones]

*shrug*

I never said I agreed with him. In fact, I said that particular point of his was the only one I disagreed with.

I can just see where he's coming from and don't feel the need to saying anything like, "Are you high?"

[three]

hey, people, there's a way something's intended to be read, the way it *is* read, and the way you *want* to perceive it.


goin' for the juggular: hannibal, i'm not saying it felt like a war movie. i'm saying it was such a generic action flick in terms of plot direct/story development that you could interchange the characters and enemy with another generic plot/story, such as a war story, and come to the exact same ending. obvious things like the absence of kaiju i'd expect most to fill in on their own, but hey, if you can't think critically (not taking a shot at varatian here because i know him from the FM section and generally he knows what he's talking about) then i'd be hapy to clarify any points you had trouble understanding.


and thank you, hayes.

[G2000]

/\ Are you going to do this on every thread?

Anyway, I prefer Godzilla. Don't get me wrong, I love Pacific Rim, but the monster fights in Godzilla were more exiting, and I prefered the story in Godzillla, too-a lot more like a techno-thriller.

[Plexton]

Even though it's a giant monster movie, it's suppose to read as a war movie, just like how LPG reads like a disaster movie.

Actually (and surprisingly), de Toro has said that Pacific Rim draws inspiration from sports movies, with the Jaeger pilots essentially being a down on their luck sports team, from an allegorical standpoint.

A lot of classic toku shows are like that as well.

[Plexton]

That's what del Toro said on the film commentary.

[PRIMEVAL]

what the hell are you talking about!? PR was nothing like a sports movie!

So are you saying Del Toro was wrong in his own commentary? If you look at it, Gipsy / Raleigh was the washed up rookie, Cherno and Typhoon were star players who were defeated, Striker was the big superstar that, in the end, needed help from Gipsy, and Gipsy became victorious. The tension between Raleigh and Mako was very high-school-drama like (especially the cafeteria scenes). It definitely was a sports movie. x)

[Noble Saber]

Pacific Rim for me felt like a more enjoyable movie.

[phaz0ngoji]

Both movies compliment each other so well. If I want something more extravagant and fun, I have PR. If I want something that's more about tension and buildup, I have Godzilla.

[Gothicserpent]

Pacific Rim. Godzilla was decent, but had a TON of problems.

[Tomzilla]

I absolutely love both films. Choosing one over the other would be a difficult choice for me to make.

Wish me luck.

Pacific Rim is one of the most visually stunning movies I've seen in years. Better yet, it's a giant monster movie directed by Guillermo del Toro, one of my favorite storytellers. It's a fun loving movie that embraces what it is, while at the same time providing a great deal of attention to detail. It's extremely rare to watch an entertaining giant monster movie that somehow manages to have symbolic, deeper messages within its narrative. The human characters are both memorable and likable, especially Stacker Pentecost (played by the great Idris Elba). The Jaegers are fantastic designs. They're handled with so much care and class, they're practically characters themselves. Gipsy Danger rocks! Of course, what's a giant monster movie without the kaiju? Otachi stole the show me. What a fantastically devious creature she is! I wanted more of her. The part where she takes down Gipsy and spreads her wings made me almost fall out of my seat.

Overall, Pacific Rim made monster movies fun again. I'll always be thankful!


Godzilla '14 is a beautiful rebirth of the titular character we all know and love. It has great pacing, engaging characters, spectacular visuals, and the action and suspense sequences are aplenty. What makes this movie a unique experience is it feels like we, the viewers, are visiting another world, one very much like ours. We see what I think is an accurate portrayal of how the world of Man would respond to a world of monsters. This is more than your common creature flick, or even a disaster flick. This film manages to be that and more. What it ultimately is is a story about survival. Our great human cast is joined by an even more marvelous monster roster. The MUTOs are fearsome, frightening, and, at times, sympathetic. Godzilla lives up to his King of the Monsters reputation. Even though we didn't see nearly as much as Godzilla as we would've liked, I enjoyed every second of his onscreen presence. Upon multiple viewings, I'm no longer disappointed about not getting more screen time of him, as it doesn't hurt the story nor the viewing experience at all in my opinion.

Overall, Godzilla '14 is the Godzilla movie I've been waiting to for most of my life.


In conclusion, I don't see any reason why I should choose one film over the other. Both have brought honor to the kaiju genre. In many ways, both films complement the other. Do you want to see gratuitous amounts of monster mayhem? Go watch Pacific Rim. Do you want to see a more realistic take on the genre, with an incredible story? Go watch Godzilla '14. Are you interested in seeing a little of both?

Well, what are you waiting for? Go have a GODZILLA/PACIFIC RIM marathon! Go watch 'em back to back!

[Janjira54]

I absolutely love both films. Choosing one over the other would be a difficult choice for me to make.

Wish me luck.

Pacific Rim is one of the most visually stunning movies I've seen in years. Better yet, it's a giant monster movie directed by Guillermo del Toro, one of my favorite storytellers. It's a fun loving movie that embraces what it is, while at the same time providing a great deal of attention to detail. It's extremely rare to watch an entertaining giant monster movie that somehow manages to have symbolic, deeper messages within its narrative. The human characters are both memorable and likable, especially Stacker Pentecost (played by the great Idris Elba). The Jaegers are fantastic designs. They're handled with so much care and class, they're practically characters themselves. Gipsy Danger rocks! Of course, what's a giant monster movie without the kaiju? Otachi stole the show me. What a fantastically devious creature she is! I wanted more of her. The part where she takes down Gipsy and spreads her wings made me almost fall out of my seat.

Overall, Pacific Rim made monster movies fun again. I'll always be thankful!


Godzilla '14 is a beautiful rebirth of the titular character we all know and love. It has great pacing, engaging characters, spectacular visuals, and the action and suspense sequences are aplenty. What makes this movie a unique experience is it feels like we, the viewers, are visiting another world, one very much like ours. We see what I think is an accurate portrayal of how the world of Man would respond to a world of monsters. This is more than your basic creature flick, or even a disaster flick. This film manages to be that and more. What it ultimately is is a story about survival. Our great human cast is joined by an even more marvelous monster roster. The MUTOs are fearsome, frightening, and, at times, sympathetic. Godzilla lives up to his King of the Monsters reputation. Even though we didn't see nearly as much as Godzilla as we would've liked, I enjoyed every second we did get of him. Upon multiple viewings, I'm not longer disappointed about not getting more of him, because it doesn't hurt the story nor the viewing experience at all.

Overall, Godzilla '14 is the Godzilla movie I've been waiting to for most of my life.

I like you
In conclusion, I don't see any reason why I should choose one film over the other. Both have brought honor to the kaiju genre. In many ways, both films complement the other. Do you want to see gratuitous amounts of monster mayhem? Go watch Pacific Rim. Do you want to see a more realistic take on the genre, with an incredible story? Go watch Godzilla '14. Are you interested in seeing a little of both?

Well, what are you waiting for? Go have a GODZILLA/[/i]PACIFIC RIM[/i] marathon! Go watch 'em back to back!

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

The more I listen to the soundtrack and watch clips on Youtube the better Pacific Rim gets. Godzilla on the other hand is becoming the complete opposite, the more I think about it the more my disappointment grows. Godzilla had all the ingredients to be a great movie, it really did, and even had some flashes of greatness here and there. Sadly it was all hampered by a mostly lackluster script and personally unengaging characters (save Cranston and Olsen to a lesser extant). So many great actors and most were given nothing to work with. By films end I didnt care what happened to a single character and didnt feel I was given any real reason to do so. Since for the most part none of the primary characters were ever put in any real danger that I knew for a fact wouldn't make it out almost unscathed. After Joe's death every other person killed were basically faceless nobodies.

[HannibalBarca]

I don't see how you can hold a lackluster script and unengaging characters against Godzilla when you're comparing it to Pac Rim, personally.

[GR8GODZILLAGOD]

I don't see how you can hold a lackluster script and unengaging characters against Godzilla when you're comparing it to Pac Rim, personally.

I actually liked PR's characters.

[HannibalBarca]

I thought they were either too serious or too "lol so random XD" (like the scientists) for their own good. Then again, I confess I've never been the biggest fan of del Toro's work, so *shrug*

[three]

I thought they were either too serious or too "lol so random XD" (like the scientists) for their own good. Then again, I confess I've never been the biggest fan of del Toro's work, so *shrug*

i got the "lol so random" vibe from the scientists as well, and their troupe was over played (though, that's their fault and not del toro's).

[he-ba]

I love both- Pac was like "the new kaiju movie of our times" kind of thing, while Godzilla was a spectacularly fantastic reboot of the franchise. They're aim was different, yes, but when compared, I like Godzilla better.

[Mr. Xeno]

I don't see how you can hold a lackluster script and unengaging characters against Godzilla when you're comparing it to Pac Rim, personally.

Several reasons:

Pacific Rim wasn't so pretentious. It's existence was predicated upon classic kaiju brawls and giant robot animes. It wanted to be a fun action flick and very little more.

Godzilla, on the other hand, wanted to be the modern day Jaws, referencing both the original film and Steven Spielberg with practically every breath (they even named the main characters the Brodys). It set itself up as a dark, serious, G54 2.0 that was supposed be a gut-wrenching disaster film.

That's why it's important to judge movies based on what they're trying to accomplish, IMNSHO. Pacific Rim did have very simple characters and a bunch of holes, but those were irrelevant because the movie itself just wanted to be fun and that's it. Godzilla held itself to a much higher standard, therefore, many people were far more critical on it. Think of it like The Avengers vs. Man of Steel. One just wants to be an audience pleasing action extravaganza, and is loved for it, while the other wants to be a gritty, deep character study and receives mixed responses.

There's also the argument that Pacific Rim's characters, despite their simplicity and cliche-ness, were still better than Godzilla's, and PR's plotholes weren't as glaring as Godzilla's.

[HannibalBarca]

I see. That makes sense. I must confess to never having been "charmed" by Pacific Rim in the same way that a lot of others were, I suppose. Chalk that up to me not being that big of a Del Toro fan, or just never having gotten too deep into the giant mecha genre, I guess.