Pacific Rimis an awesome sci-fi franchise that can be summed up with the coolest elevator pitch ever: giant monsters fighting giant robots. The concept of human-piloted robots fighting giant monsters is endlessly entertaining to audiences worldwide. Though it might be one of the most popular,Pacific Rimwas not the first to show these kinds of ideas. In fact, it is indebted to much older movies anda monumental Eighties anime.
The franchise smashed into theaters with the first movie in 2013, under the directorial vision of Guillermo del Toro. It was followed by a weaker sequel,Pacific Rim Uprisingin 2018, and a newly releasedNetflixanime,Pacific Rim: The Black.There have been rumors and snippets of public statements about a thirdPacific Rimmovie but nothing concrete yet. Some of the discussions involve a crossover with the current runningGodzillaandKing Kongfranchise (known as the MonsterVerse). If that were to come to pass, it would be a collision between two separate but comparably traced movie franchises.
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There is nothing in the MonsterVerse that indicates a connection toPacific Rim, so the filmmakers would have to contort both franchises to fit a shared timeline and universe. If jaegers were to face off against either of the famous giant monsters, they would have to be prototype models, or possibly the origin schematic for the future kaiju battling mechs.
Godzilla
Before anyone else did it on the big screen, the grand pappa ofPacific Rimwas the King of Monsters himself,Godzilla.Godzillainvented the kaiju genre. The decades long franchise depicts awonderful cavalcade of monstersand a variety of scenarios to which those monsters can rampage or duel above tiny model cities. It even tested a crossover of monsters with 1962’sKing Kong vs Godzilla.
The potency ofGodzillaremains strong to this day, as a remake of the 1962 movie is poised to release in theaters once the global pandemic allows it.Godzilla vs Kongis hopefullygoing to release this March. The only change fromGodzillatoPacific Rimis that most of the kaiju inGodzillaare homegrown, whether born fromnuclear fallout, on hidden islands, or built by governments.Pacific Rim’sfoes are purely alien, deriving from a rift in space to another dimension.
Robot Jox
WhereGodzillaestablished the monsters,Robot Joxestablished the concept of the “jaegers.” Twenty-three years before Gipsy Danger deployed its chain sword against Otachi above Hong Kong, Achilles dueled Alexander for ownership of the territory of Alaska. In 1990’sRobot Jox,the future conglomerate nations of The Market (basically the United States and NATO allies) agreed with The Confederation (loosely equivalent to the USSR) to no longer wage wars against one another. Instead, they devised the ingenious idea ofusing mecha-gladiatorsto settle their conflicts.
They were not called jaegers, they were “jox.” There were no kaiju to battle, only each other. Very much likejaeger pilots, jox were celebritiesand the matches were treated as sports events. They never had computer-generated imagery, so they used stop motion animation to have the mechs fight one another. Viewing it now, it gives the movie a charming, if antiquated, style.Robot Joxwas ahead of its time but missed its window for success. By the movie’s release,Transformerswas waning in popularity. Worse, its underlying message of political satire had rapidly gone stale. The Cold War was already over. People had moved on.
Robotech
Airing in 1985,Robotechis about the defense ofEarth against an invasion from aliengiants. The Earth Defense Force uses adapted alien technology for their fleet of transforming robots. The robots are called “veritechs” and have three configurations: jet, half-jet-half-person, and full mecha. One of the first and most influential animes ever to hit the United States,Robotech’sinfluence can be felt across the science fiction genre to this day. Not only inPacific Rim, but in things likeIndependence Day,orStar Wars: The Clone Wars.Specifically, its sweeping memorable music, its melodramatic space operatic characters and conflicts, and its fast and furious battle scenes are its defining legacy.
For the last decade and a half, several producers and writers have been trying to make aRobotechlive action feature film. Tobey Maguire was one of the most recent owners of the rights, which has since gone to Sony Pictures. For several complicated reasons, it seems like aRobotechmovie willforever be in development hell. Fortunately, properties likePacific Rimand the MonsterVerse are keeping the spirit fresh and relevant.
Pacific Rimcombines the best of thesedistinct ingredients into something newand awesome. Should movie productions companies and producers sift through the heavy legal red tape over theRobotechproperty, anime fans will finally get the glorious return they have been waiting for. Additionally,Robot Joxhas just passed its twentieth anniversary,it is ripe for reboot territory.
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