I didn’t see Pacific Rim in theaters, so the Blu-ray combo pack out this week was my first real exposure to Guillermo del Toro’s world of Kaiju and Jaegers. It didn’t disappoint. Neither did the special features — hours and hours of them — that were included in the 2-D Blu-ray combo edition that Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures provided for review.
I won’t dwell on Pacific Rim’s virtues as an apocalyptic disaster film — Nerdvana movie reviewer Bob Leeper already did that, and you can check out his take in our archives. If this movie finds its way into your personal collection, embrace it — it’s a fun romp and a love letter to the giant monster movies of old.
Pacific Rim takes all the Godzilla and mecha you could want and throws it in a blender with Starship Troopers’ endearing jingoism and the unfulfilled promise of The Matrix Revolutions’ cooler moments.
Outstanding features included in the home video release include a dissection of “Drift Space,” the mindbending virtual/alternate reality explored when Jaeger pilots link minds with each other and their machines, deleted scenes (which were rather underwhelming, but added some welcome emotional characterization) documentaries on the film’s digital artistry and more. I was most enthralled with the Director’s Notebook, presented as narrated background briefing on various elements of the film’s design and development from del Toro and accessed through a cool user interface that gels with those in the film. It’s something I’ll find myself going back to again and again and exploring in nonlinear fashion.
Pacific Rim Blu-ray three-disc combo packs, with DVD and special features, are out now for $35.99; a 3-D version is $44.95, and two-disc DVD versions are available for $28.98. HD and standard-def downloads are also available from iTunes, Xbox, PlayStation, Amazon, Vudu and CinemaNow, among others.
