Watch: First Trailer For Guillermo Del Toro's Monster Mash 'Pacific Rim'

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by Oliver Lyttelton
December 12, 2012 7:11 PM
44 Comments

There's a lot of big hitters arriving in theaters next summer; "Iron Man 3," "Man Of Steel," "The Lone Ranger," "Star Trek Into Darkness," "The Great Gatsby," "The Wolverine," "Elysium." But if you'd asked us this morning what our most anticipated film of the warm months of 2013 was going to be, we wouldn't have even had to think before we answered "Pacific Rim." For the most part, it's because it's the first film in five years from director Guillermo Del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth"). Although that it features giant robots and giant monsters kicking the holy living shit out of each other, and that it has a very strong script to be working from are other good reasons why we're excited (and why Warner Bros have already commissioned a script for a sequel).

But as an original film, not based on any existing property, and featuring a cast of mostly under-the-radar actors including Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuichi, Idris Elba and Charlie Day, it's mostly an unknown quantity to the general public. But that's all about to change, as a trailer for Warner Bros' movie, which will screen in front of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" this weekend, just came online.

And... we have to confess, we're just a touch underwhelmed. Del Toro's eye is in good evidence, the scope and scale of the thing is clearly huge, and it's hard to dislike something where Stringer Bell announces he's cancelling the apocalypse. But in trailer form at least, it all feels a little bit... (whisper it) SyFy Channel? Particularly when it comes down to the effects, which feel like they're still in early form. That said, they have eight months to sort them out, and we're certainly maintaining the faith on this one for a while.

You can watch the trailer below, and let us know what you think in the comments section. "Pacific Rim" will open on July 11th, 2013.

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More: Pacific Rim, Guillermo del Toro, Film Trailers, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Idris Elba

44 Comments

| Reply
Apollo9000 | December 13, 2012 1:45 PMReply

The trail does scream "generic summer blockbuster flick".
Del Toro's name does not. Thus, people will remain optimistic.

The irony of putting down the medium of film with repeated put downs of the medium of comic books is amusingly annoying.
Why point out Hollywood's ignorance with ignorant comments?

The biting of Inception's theme has to stop. Ditto for the quick fade outs as not to show too much.

All that said, it's just a trailer. No true way of knowing how good the film will be.
nechoplex | December 13, 2012 11:33 AMReply

The effects look like the SyFy Channel? I would disagree with that. The whole thing looks really badass and awesome. Yeah, there's no plot presented here but as spectacle it looks like it will hit the mark.
Mickey | December 13, 2012 8:23 AMReply

Oh pleaseeeeeee, spare me.
achilles | December 13, 2012 5:29 AMReply

robot jox
PIKE | December 13, 2012 4:25 AMReply

Reminds me of all the battle scenes with the huge creatures in the B.P.R.D. comics by Mignola, Arcudi and Davis. It really has a Mignola/Lovecraft-on steroids feel to it, which I like.
Too bad the designs are kinda lame. Humanoid monsters with cliche dinosaur-roars versus Transformers. I was hoping it would all look a bit more original. Hopefully they will fix the CGI, because this is very shabby.
moviegeek | December 13, 2012 3:28 AMReply

I can't believe this was the reason why Del Toro couldn't direct the Hobbit...
It seems very derivative
Art | December 13, 2012 1:04 PM

He "couldn't direct it" because he was laid off. He's going to come out in a few years for his next movie saying he did Pacific Rim because of the Hollywood rule "one for them, one for me".
dan | December 13, 2012 3:11 AMReply

And people were jizzing themselves over this before the trailer even appeared while trashing Man Of Steel. At least the Superman trailer looked different both in tone and mood. If GDT name didn't appear at the end I could have mistaken it with a Michael Bay film. What's original about that?
Dan | December 13, 2012 11:25 AM

Oh please get better insults than "Superman is lame or boring". He is a god among the superheros.
wes | December 13, 2012 9:45 AM

Superman is just as lame, I say.
Glass | December 13, 2012 1:42 AMReply

Those rockets firing behind the mecha's elbow to propel the punch into the monster's face? Fucking awesome.
kitcon | December 12, 2012 11:24 PMReply

So far it doesn't look like del Toro's giving the usual robot - apocalyptic storyline the same weirdly imaginative twists he gave Alice w/ Pain's Labyrinth. But its just a trailer.
Terry | December 12, 2012 10:14 PMReply

Those can't be the locked VFX, right? Why release a trailer this early for an FX laden film if the FX aren't up to snuff? Weird.
sadie | December 12, 2012 9:48 PMReply

no
mattyd | December 12, 2012 9:05 PMReply

what a cool soundtrack for that trailer. truly original.
KT | December 12, 2012 9:35 PM

BBBRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHMMMMM.
Tom | December 12, 2012 8:53 PMReply

Isn't this just Evangelion?
Nolan | December 12, 2012 9:50 PM

hopefully without the genuinely awful "I'm 17 and I just started reading Sartre" angst crap. God that show was terrible.
Jason | December 12, 2012 8:48 PMReply

A Mighty Morphing Power Rangers sequel....? who knew...
themoviebot | December 12, 2012 8:46 PMReply

Raimi, Del Toro, Brad Bird, Nolan, Fincher (if he does Star Wars), and that's just for starters.....men in their artistic prime reduced to playing with $200 million action figures and ROARING and STOMPING like the club of sell-out simps they have become. Whatever gets the supermodels and keys to China. The only "tentpole" director doing it right is Blomkamp.

Blame the rise of Snyder and Legendary. This prolonged, pathetic era in Hollywood-gone-Globalism too shall pass. (We'll all be dead.) What's really lame is how big a PASS these directors are given by so-called critics and culture writers. Thankfully...we still have Tarantino to remind us, "Slavery, BAD!" "Nazis, BAD!"
Art | December 13, 2012 12:59 PM

Blade II is known for having the worst CGI this side of Ang Lee's The Hulk. That movie failed miserably at doing what the first one did right: making vampires leap into the 21st century (that opening scene in the night club is killer). Chris Nolan doesn't read comic books. He has said so in interviews. Del Toro, please go back at making Spanish language films (Cronos, Pan's, etc). Did any of you del Toro fans see his voice work in the animated SANTOS VS LA TETONA MENDOZA?
Knative | December 13, 2012 11:46 AM

Pan's Labyrinth is great, but I do like the Hellboy movies. Del Toro directed the movie about giant kill cockroaches in the subway too, right? I liked that one as well.

Nolan, Del Toro et al aren't sellout either. They like comic books. They are happy to make comic book movies and nerdy shit.
nightgoat72 | December 13, 2012 9:32 AM

@ALAN: Yes, absolutely, any day. The Devil's Backbone is by far his worst movie and Pan's Labyrinth is also weak. Blade II, Hellboy, and especially Hellboy II are far and away his best work.
Alan | December 13, 2012 5:09 AM

NIGHTGOAT72, is that a joke? You'd really put the second Blade film and Hellboy above The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth?
Smeepalapeep | December 12, 2012 11:15 PM

"Hipster"
MovieTurd | December 12, 2012 10:55 PM

Yeah, blame Zack Snyder for something that's been going on for over twenty years. How can you even see the movie screen with your head so far up your ass?
nightgoat72 | December 12, 2012 10:37 PM

Whatever. Del Toro really only does his best work when he's working on a big-budget, mainstream movie.
Bill | December 12, 2012 9:09 PM

Hipster
AConcernedReader | December 12, 2012 8:32 PMReply

Dear THE PLAYLIST,

Can I please make a suggestion to both you and your readers? ... Oh, I can!? Nice. Ok, so let's see here... *ahem* Would you all kindly donate your eyeballs to blind people so that they can put them to good use. If this is the type of stuff that SyFy has been producing in the past couple of years, well then "Holy Shit! I need to order me some cable."

Thank you kindly,
A concerned reader
Sascha | December 14, 2012 5:36 AM

Spot on! What i was thinking. What is wrong with the FX? maybe iÂ´m getting old but they looked fine to me. Now deliver a good story and some original ideas and iÂ´m on!
Rob | December 12, 2012 8:27 PMReply

Seriously though the line between the trailer for Battleship and this trailer is so thin it's almost nonexistent. If Del Toro's name wasn't attached nobody would even give this a second glance.
Rob | December 12, 2012 8:49 PM

By now my back's getting raw from so much patting but until someone provides a single other reason to be interested in this I'm just gonna keep goin at it
BLOB | December 12, 2012 8:44 PM

Congratulations, Rob! You deduced it. Yep, it's del Toro's name and his name alone that is inspiring such a fervor response from the geek community. You are one smart dude. Pat yourself in the back.
ali | December 12, 2012 7:58 PMReply

Please no more robots.
Oogle monster | December 12, 2012 7:44 PMReply

Gotta agree with my bud Rob below. Looks like Transformers on drugs (wtf?!) and why oh WHY must every action film since Inception contain the BRAAAAAM sound in its trailer? BE ORIGINAL PEOPLE!
Rob | December 12, 2012 7:39 PMReply

Good lord this looks stupid
Art | December 12, 2012 7:34 PMReply

I remember seeing a Playlist's reader comment on how refreshing that the new Superman trailer really worked because it had operatic and dramatic music and didn't include the Inception-esque BHWAAANNN!!! And now this...
jon | December 12, 2012 7:29 PMReply

GDT does Transformers. I'll skip it.
wes | December 12, 2012 7:23 PMReply

Looks dumb. That is all.
Hugo | December 12, 2012 7:23 PMReply

Cant really believe the last trailers i saw. "After Earth; Oblivion and Pacific Rim ".
Whats happening with Shymalan and Del Toro ? Bad CGI, bad stories, bad taste. No heart, no passion.
35mm | December 12, 2012 8:36 PM

All shot on craptacular digital cameras too.
DHE | December 12, 2012 7:20 PMReply

holy shit was that GLaDOS in the intercom.
CyberG4 | December 12, 2012 9:30 PM

I just hope she sings the song for the end credits
Jack | December 12, 2012 7:30 PM

that's what i was thinking!