| Title | : | Pacific Rim: The Official Movie Novelization |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1781166781 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781781166789 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 339 |
| Publication | : | First published July 12, 2013 |
When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity's resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju.
On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes-a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)-who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind's last hope against the mounting apocalypse.
"I wanted to make not a war movie, but an adventure movie, with a huge, romantic sense of adventure, a sense of grandeur, and operatic battles..." - Guillermo Del Toro
Pacific Rim: The Official Movie Novelization Reviews
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my brother took me to the movie theater to see this movie for my birthday when it came out and... this is the main reason why i write science fiction. this movie stucked with me since then aND WHEN YOU SAY NOVELIZATION OF THE MOVIE, I'M HERE ALL THE FUCKING WAY IN. yes <3
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Haven't seen the movie yet, but absolutely loved this book. The story concept and story world was just so intriguing and so well done.
I read this book by accident--I was browsing movie soundtracks and liked the composer for the movie, and saw there was a novelization of the movie, so got a sample of the ebook. I had to wait for something for a couple hours and started the sample to wile away the time, and I was hooked!
Characterization was deeper than expected in an adventure story--it's not as multi-layered as a women's fiction novel, but it still gives really good depth to most of the main characters.
The action was rockin'! The story reminded me a bit of those fantastic anime shows I used to watch as a kid, like Robotech and Voltron, but for adults.
I liked this book so much I bought a copy for my dad, who's a huge science fiction fan and who also likes action movies. -
No judgments please.
I'm a closet fan of giant robots versus reptilian monsters so when Pacific Rim came out in theaters some months ago, I drug my two extremely-too-young-for-monster-movie daughters and we watched ourselves some alien monsters and anthropomorphic mechs duke it out.
It was magical. 10-year-old Matthew cried silent tears of joy. My kids cried actual tears. Lots of noise. And monsters. Shit-tons of monsters.
The book is exactly what it looks like it will be: self-awarely terrible but aimed at adult fans with disposable income who are hoping to get some juicy cutting room floor details left out of the film. This book, combined with the far-too-short graphic novel prequel
Pacific Rim Tales From Year Zero fill that role nicely. I now have my giant fighting fish quota knowledge filled for the next few years.
I feel better about myself having shared this with you. Now let's pretend I never read this. -
Yes, I went out and bought the novelization of this movie. That's how badly my adoration for this movie has bitten me. Yes, I was embarrassed. The last time I bought movie novelizations I was like 12, and they were used copies from a library booksale. I mean really, who buys novelizations? I guess the answer is "Crazed fans like you, Sid." Admittedly, they may have been more of a novelty in the past, because you could see material that was cut from the script or left on the cutting room floor in a way that you just didn't hear about. (I forget if the
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan or
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock was the one that had info about the romance between Saavik and David, but learning about that was cool at the time. Nowadays you can just read about that on
Memory Alpha, but in the 80s and 90s we didn't have Memory Alpha or official blogs or industry journalists' blogs; we barely had discussion boards.)
Objectively, as a book, this is not very good. The actual novelization parts, anyway. There are some little extras that are probably worth reading for the hardcore fan, and there are some indications that Alex Irvine or somebody did their homework without venturing too much into
shown their work territory. (Except for the Japanese. The Japanese in the book is pretty terrible. That may not be Alex Irvine's fault if he was just working from a script, but it's still unnatural-sounding in places.) I squeed over the one where one of the scientists who developed the neural bridge technology had an office at a university in my town that's very involved in robotics research, and the one where the commercial airliner pilot is describing Oblivion Bay, the Jaeger graveyard. You know - "If you look out your windows, folks, you can see [landmark]." That kind of thing. I've put a full list of these under the spoiler tag, if anyone is curious.
There are various punctuation problems — commas where there should be periods, stuff like that — and the book ends with a scene that they decided to leave on the cutting room floor. It also bugs me that when Mako and Raleigh first Drift that all the people they remember wanting to be when they grow up are male. I mean, I guess theoretically you could have a female
Sasuke champion, it's just never happened at this point. :/ Also, Winston Churchill? Seriously?
I haven't had a chance to read them yet myself, but I'd put
Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero (the prequel graphic novel) and
Pacific Rim: Man, Machines & Monsters (art book!) as things to explore before this, unless you are really into this film and know you want to own all three. Also, just in case this doesn't go without saying — watch the movie first. -
I am sooooooooooo tempted to give this 2 stars, but out of respect for the movie, I'm willing to be lenient.
The writing was okay, but I didn't expect too much from this book. This is the first time I've ever read a novelization of an original movie that is not an adaptation of another literary work. So, I guess in that sense, Irvine got lucky. His writing style is kind of stilted and weak, but his loyalty to most of the scenes of the movie kept everything very cinematic as I read. Just a tip: I absolutely recommend going to see the movie Pacific Rim if you want to read this. The novelization doesn't really add too much original material (although there are a couple of scenes I'll mention later that are priceless and only included in the book), but Irvine did give us the gift of precious backstory to our secondary characters--specifically, Chuck, Newt, and Gottlieb--that I felt was lacking in the movie. -
My obsession with Pacific Rim knows no end. I loved the movie and I hope the book is a fine piece too.
UPDATES
I read the book because I wanted to relive the moments of loud boom and bang in Pacific Rim. To do that, I had to imagine it. So, to choose between book or movie? I guess in this case, it's the movie then.
Oh, I liked the extra information provided in the book. Thumbs up!
And... I thought they didn't KISS. But... whatever. As long as the original doesn't.
Wait till I get the movie, I'll watch it over and over again.
Read on your own peril. -
Five Stars?
But it's a book adapted from a screenplay, how can it merit FIVE stars?
Two reasons:
1) It was a really, really good movie
2) It was a really, really, REALLY, good book
(That's five "reallys", so five stars ;)
The story has it's own mythos that was presented fairly quickly in the film. The book explores that mythos a lot further and (I think) presents it in a more interesting way.
"Difting" is a great storytelling tool, and the author used it to its best advantage here. For instance, After watching the movie, I wasn't sure if the Kaiju were meant to be related to dinosaurs or not. Its just something Newt rambles about and its hard to make sense of him. In the book, the readers aren't just watching Newt drift, they're "drifting" alongside him. Experiencing his sometimes manic thoughts and perceptions of the "Antiverse".
In the film, the characters start out being presented as pretty polarized and one dementional. They become less so through developing relationships with other people (...kind of like the opposite of every star Star Trek TOS episode I've ever seen). Understandably, the movie had to focus on the larger plot instead of the individual characters.
However, the book format is much more conductive telling both types of stories. They were able to go into more details about who the characters are and why the act the way the do without slowing down the overall plot. Its really, really cool when you read a story and you feel like every supporting character could have held the main narrative, and that's how I felt about these characters.
Someone said that the writing style irritated them, I honestly thought the narrative was superior to the 15 other books I borrowed from the library this summer. The the files that are attached are a lot of fun to read too.
Plus, Herc Hansen got to be a POV character! (Squee!)
My only gripe is with Raleigh Becket. He's a little more of a snob and a lot more immature in this version. Also, (SPOILER ALERT)
Raleigh and Mako kiss at the end.
yuck.
However, these points didn't bother me enough to nock it down a star. (Besides, that's what perminant markers are for;)
So if you liked the movie and you like to read, definitely try out this book. -
Pacific Rim memberikan perpaduan Transformer, Godzilla dan film-film alien yang biasa membosankan jadi aksi seru mendebarkan yang bikin tegang dari awal sampai akhir. Penggambaran di sini lebih mendetail dan dipenuhi data-data teknis lebih dari filmnya. -
the writing was so bad rip but i love raleigh and mako too much
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Well, it about the same as the move. Except for few things.
At first, I thought the monsters were just made to fight but after reading the book I know they weren't only made to fight but specially made to fight yagers. they would go for their tanks and their weapon systems. Overall the book was good. well, I didn't like the fight scenes in the book. very few details about the fight -
wtf was that ending. came out of nowhere, probably because there was only like one Mako POV chapter in the whole book and then that section at the end where suddenly we’re told she’s had feelings for Raleigh the whole time. what. heterosexual garbage.
rife with continuity errors (like just in terms of itself, not getting into its relationship with the movie) in a way that suggests nobody bothered to actually...read it before publishing it...I will say, I guess, that it’s generally better copyedited than Irvine’s Uprising, but I feel more personally victimized by this one because the ending is so bad. some interesting info, but. 2.5 stars. -
Nee.
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Amo tanto la película de Pacific Rim, por tantas razones, que ya sabía que el libro no sería algo que le hiciera justicia de lleno, pero igual, estaba emocionada de ver todos los detalles de información extra que incluiría, detalles que me parecieron encantadores, sin embargo, no puedo juzgar todo el peso del libro nada más por los dossiers que trae intermedios entre cada capitulo, especialmente porque hubo uno que otro que estuvo de sobra.
YAY.
✓ Los dosieres. Definitivamente son lo mejor de este libro. La parte más fuerte de la película de Pacific Rim, a mis ojos, es su construcción de mundo, y los dosieres te dan tanto de ese mundo, que es simplemente maravilloso.
✓ Más información de los kaiju. Aprendemos un poco más de sus estructuras, de su base de silicona, y también se explica porque van mejorando cada vez más (básicamente, para acabar con los jaeger, su enemigo natural), además, se dan otros datos, como el nombre de "precursores" para los aliens, y de "anteverso" para el otro mundo.
✓ Más información sobre cómo funciona el drift. Incluida una parte en donde los pilotos ya tienen su propio lore respecto a lo que significa conectarse, además de una parte sobrenatural del mismo. Algo muy cierto, el ser humano no puede hacer nada si no le agrega esa parte mistica primero.
✓ Detalles que hasta fueron burla por críticos a la película (cómo el hecho de que, al inicio parece que el drift solo funciona con gente especifica y luego parece funcionar con cualquiera, o la razón por la cuál peleas para encontrar gente compatible) y cosas que podrían parecer agujerillos de trama, aquí fueron explicados.
✓ Los Hansen tienen una escena más. Sí, solo una, pero para mí es positiva. Básicamente no fue algo nuevo, es una escena eliminada de la película, pero cómo se cuenta desde el POV de Herc, se cuentan las razones por las que Chuck le odia, además de cómo no sabe cómo acercarse a su hijo y criarlo, así que le agrega puntos extra a la relación, pero, no es nada que no sepamos por la escena eliminada, o por el comentario de Guillermo del Toro de que ambos se comunican su amor, por medio de Max.
✓ Obviamente la escena final de Chuck me parte el interior. Igual, eso no es cosa del libro, la sola idea de pensarlo, siempre me pone depre. O sea, ya me puse depre, otra vez, nada más de recordar que Max se quedó solito. Así que sí, no sé si puedo contarlo cómo algo positivo del libro.
NAY.
✗ Mantiene el mismo formato que la película. Y esto es un error. Porque cada medio es diferente. Si yo estoy leyendo una novela, novela debe de ser. En vez de eso, es cómo si estuviera leyendo un guión, y nada más, de vez en cuándo, agrega uno que otro verbo como acción para que parezca es algo distinto. Pero el libro no aporta nada, absolutamente nada a la historia. Son exactamente los mismos dialogos, las mismas acciones, y cero momentum, porque mientras que la película ayuda a construir con el soundtrack, las tomas, el formato y la actuación de los actores, aquí te falta todo eso para llegar a sentir algo mientras el escrito te describe, de la forma más desangelada posible, hechos que ya conoces de primera mano.
✗ Pésima narrativa. De la mano con lo de arriba, la narrativa se queda muy corta. Bien pudo ser lo mismo, pero bien narrado y manteniendo tensión, hubiera valido la pena, aqui, solo te describe los hechos cómo si estuviera leyendo la lista del super, como consecuencia no sientes nada con las muertes, las bombas, las pérdidas, porque solo es lo que sigue en el libro, no esta consecuencia que se construyó a base de las palabras anteriores. Y las descripciones son cosas cómo (y literal esto dice): "Newt y Hermann se llevaban cómo pareja de casados de años", claro, porque todos los casados pelean, ajá.
✗ Y lo poco que describe no aporta, sino que te deja más: WTF. Por ejemplo, cuándo describe el shatterdome, aclara que todo funciona cómo maquinaría perfecta, que los técnicos técniquean, los pilotos pilotean, y los mecanicos mecaniquean. Deja en claro, nadie se mete con el trabajo del otro porque todos saben su lugar, un piloto jamás se pondría a jugar con su jaeger, porque no es su trabajo. Si bueno, todo lindo hasta ahí, salvo que en la escena en la que Herc va a decirle a Chuck que no sea tan imbécil, Chuck esta arreglando la patita de Striker Eureka, y eso ¿No es trabajo de mecanicos? Y sí, en la película eso anda haciendo Chuck, pero si el autor ya puso esa descripción del shatterdome, ¿No podía poner a Chuck a hacer otra cosa? Hasta jugando con Max habría tenido más sentido.
No relacionado pero igual lo tengo que decir: también pone que Herc avienta el radio todo furioso, cuándo en la escena Herc tan solo le baja el volumen, y con cuidado.
✗ El POV de Mako ocurre... cómo por medio capitulo y no más. Si Mako es POV dos veces, se me hace mucho. La mayoría del libro esta contado desde la visión de Raleigh, la otra parte por Newt. Y no puede ser posible que Newt tenga más peso en esta historia que Mako, cuándo es LA HISTORIA DE MAKO. Al punto de que ahora reconocemos el Test de Mako Moki, porque es, básicamente el primer gran blockbuster que tiene a una mujer con el peso de la mayoría de la historia y sin necesidad de cargar con hombres. Al contrario, es el hombre blanco (el único hombre blanco), el que cumple el rol generalmente dado a la mujer: el de apoyo. Sin embargo, en este libro sus acciones siempre son contadas a través de los ojos de los demás. Y con el filtro de los demás, en algún punto, Raleigh hasta se atreve a decir que se le nota lo timida y es normal por su raza. O seeeeeeeea.
✗ Raleigh es glorificado. Durante la pelea tanto Chuck cómo Newt ven a Gipsy Danger, describen lo que está haciendo, y dicen que ese Raleight es un campeón, por que, obviamente, el movimiento en cuestión se le tuvo que haber ocurrido a él, el "ranger experimentado", o seeeeea, él hace el trabajo, Mako solo es acompañante. Y la verdad es que no había ninguna necesidad, ninguna, de decir "Gipsy Danger dio un golpe magistral... seguramente fue Raleigh, porque Raleigh es listisimo y capaz".
✗ Raleigh me cayó mal. Newt también. No hay mucho que decir, son pesados y ridiculos. Raleigh, soldado curtido que debería de pensar mejor las cosas, entra a la cafetería pensando que esta listo para ser juzgado, cómo si fuera niño de Prepa. Luego la agarra contra Chuck, y piensa las formas en las que lo golpearía, si bueno, Raleigh, él tiene 21 años, es mucho más joven que tú, once muertes, y TIENE RAZÓN, tú tienes cinco años sin tocar un Jaeger, nadie sabe si podrás con la tarea sin entrar en panico (spoiler alert: entrás en pánico y atoras a Mako con eso), y sobre él esta la tarea de salvar al mundo, perdón si tiene dudas sobre tí.
Además, luego de matar a los Kaiju, es claro que Chuck y Raleigh llegan a un entendimiento, no sé porque Raleigh tiene que seguir en su POV de que Chuck es un idiota que desea golpear, o sea, ¿Esta escena qué?:
Luego, cuándo entra al anteverso a matar a los alien, deja en claro espera tengan mucho miedo, porque ellos mataron a su hermano y ahora él se va a vengar, y yo cómo: o seeeeea, ¿Eso qué? Esto no se trata de la venganza de Raleigh, de uno. De lo que se trata es de salvar al mundo, pero al parecer Raleigh lo olvidó.
Y así, durante todo el libro, sus pensamientos están en base si los demás en el shatterdome ya le deben pleitesia y lo ven como héroe o no. Además, sexualiza a Mako.
Con Newt es parecido el problema, él es ¡tan listo! que desprecia a los demás, y se enoja cuando algo no se le ocurre al primer instante (cómo cuándo Hannibal averigua primero que los kaiju lo buscarán), porque cómo él es ¡más listo! se le debió ocurrir primero. Es insoportable, no por ser arriesgado, sino por ser egocentrico y arrogante.
✗ El punto que mencionaba arriba en lo positivo, sobre los Hansen comunicandose a través de Max, algo que pudo haber sido explorado en el libro, no lo fue.
✗ En algún punto también dice que Chuck sonrió con suficiencia cuándo no les funcionó el enlace a Mako y Raleigh. O seeeeeeeeeeeeea. Pensé que en la película quedaba claro que Chuck tenía dudas y era un "imbécil", pero que solo es fachada, a ver, ¿Cómo va a ser imbécil alguién que da su vida para salvar el mundo? Él quiere lo mismo que todos, sino no estaría en el proyecto. Y aquí dejó abajo su cara, mientras todos andan buscando la forma de desconectar a Gipsy Danger, literal, todos:
✗ Algunos dosieres no venían a cuento. Aunque hay unos geniales, cómo oraciones de las Hermanas del Kaiju, hubo un punto en donde parecía que ya no sabían que poner, así que solo ponían información sobre algún jaeger (dado a que el Jaeger moriria en ese capitulo), y así, esos dosieres solo se convirtieron en un tie-in de la novela tie-in.
✗ La manera en la que Mako es vista por Raleigh. Ya lo mencioné más arriba, no solo sexualiza y juzga por cuestión racial, sino que también la ve cómo él quiere que sea, y no como es. Al menos, eso parece cuándo describe cómo a Mako, se le nota "la rabía", es displicente y hasta "grosera" con él. Ajá, Raleigh, otra que te dice tus verdades y ya ella es la grosera, ¿Verdad? En fin que me describe otra Mako, lo cuál me lleva al siguiente punto.
✗ El cambio de personalidad de Mako. Ahora resulta, que la chica esta llena de rabía y no tiene paciencia. Además, hasta le anda coqueteando a Raleigh -ajá-. Eso, y el hecho de que no hay escena en donde le aclaré a Raleigh obedecer a Pentecost no es miedo. Es respeto. | Esa escena a mí, como persona de cultura familiar, me parece importantisima. Entiendo que a las culturas individualistas les cuesta trabajo comprender culturas familiares, y hasta lo ven cómo algo malo y tóxico. Pero yo, que soy de cultura familiar, pocas veces puedo ver representada sin toxicidad esa unión que existe con tu familia no porque te obliguen, sino porque el cariño que les tienes, y el respeto que les tienes cómo persona es importante. En este caso, Mako era una gran representación de lo que significa ser un adulto que aún escucha a sus padres y los comprende, sin necesidad de rodarles los ojos, pero en la novela eso no se demuestra, al parecer, Pentecost solo la frena, en ningún momento es algo hecho para cuidarla.
(que alguien me explique cómo esta carita es la carita de una femme fatale llena de impaciencia)
✗ No sale la frase final de Mako a Pentecost. O sea, ¿Qué clase de fuboneria es esta? ¿Cómo no pones las últimas palabras de Mako a su papá? Palabras tan hermosas, con tanto significado, y NO SALEN, lo último que le dice es "¡Sensei, no!". O sea, NIEGA la última acción de Pentecost para salvar el mundo, cuándo en su última escena fuera de los Jaegers, Pentecost le pide que lo deje ir, y ella acepta (razón por la cuál sus últimas palabras son hermosas y de resignacion, no una negación a la decisión de Pentecost). En serio, que robo, y que porquería.
✗ El beso de mierda. Noooooooooooooooooooo. Pero si una de las mejores cosas de esta pelicula es que no se besan. O seeeeeeeeeeea, habiendo tantas cosas que pudo cambiar en la obra. TANTAS. El autor decide cambiar solo esta: Mako y Raleigh se besan (y un beso por demás desangelado mal escrito, literal es un: *Se besan*). Y ¿para qué? ¿Para qué se besan? ¿Para dejar en claro que Raleigh todas las puede?
¿Para qué destruyen el arco de Mako en función de que Raleigh tenga novia? ¿Para qué?
Y no lo digo yo, lo dice el propio director:
(Preciosa toma, ¿Por qué necesitariamos un beso?)
Con todo esto no puedo evitar preguntarme, señor escritor, ¿Es que acaso no vio la película?
En conclusión: Esto no necesitaba ser una novelización, porque las partes "novelizadas", no aportan nada nuevo, solo arruinan parte de la belleza de la historia original, inclusive en contra de parte de la visión del creador. Con haber sido un dossier, que incluyera la información extra, más unos cuántos dibujos o planos, habría estado más que perfecto, y habría obtenido cinco estrellas de mi parte. Ahora, tiene dos, pero cómo no me veo a mi misma poniendole a la historia original dos estrellas, le voy a poner dos punto cinco, nada más, porque esta historia si apela a mi sensibilidad. -
Pacific Rim : The Official Movie Novelization is the first movie tie-in I'd read. I never read this kind of book before, for I see that book will always be different from movie. For movie will never capture the essence of the book perfectly (and it's happen too for Lords of The Ring). In this case of novelization, it's interesting how to see the movie turn into book. And Alex Irvine doesn't dissapoint (well, he kinda did it, a little bit)
The story is very much alike the movie, with a note, you had seen the movie. If not, well, see the movie first. Like I'd said in my review of
, the movie will never become blockbuster. Simply because the overused apocalypse theme, American think robotic movie just for children (you are so wrong here, guys), Japanese think that Pacific Rim just copy what they had done with Gundam and Evangelion. Yes, I'm kinda a nerd here, even I'm not see mecha animes a lot, I see some same parts between Pacific Rim and Japanese mechas. Also, the story of the movie is too rushed, the acting also not too good. And that, sadly come from both Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi as Raleigh Becket and Mako Mori.
Okay, enough with the movie. The book give us more insight into how if Pacific Rim developed better by Guillermo del Toro. There's soooo much info, so much detail that not explained in the movie. We know that Raleigh lost Yancy, his brother. So, he should look as tortured hero in the movie right? But I can't feel it when watch for I think Raleigh movie version is just a goody guys (even I admit his abs and pecs are yum!). Raleigh's book version come out snob, arrogant, even to Mako. But I feel his pain and emotions. I feel his lost over Yancy. How it's still affect him after 5 years.
The good part is how Alex Irvine mix some Japanese words, especially from Mako. The movie is too American, everyone talk in English. In the book both Mako and Raleigh (and Stacker Pentecost too) also talk in Japanese. Another character such as Herc and Chuck Hansen, Dr Gottlieb and the essentric Dr Newt, the LOCCENT technician Tendo Choi, Hannibal Chau also playing important part. Surprisely, the pilot of Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon also have dialogue! While in the movie they just like side characters.
Alex Irvine explore some scenes that not described in the movie. Like the fight Raleigh did when he work at the Wall, other characters thought, and so many others. Make sense if the director cut it, even I will love to see it. Each chapter end with personnel dossier, jaeger characteristic, funny tidbits about the Kaiju's cult, and trivia. For the fans of the movie, it's will give they more information about Pacific Rim
Well, I do have complaint for Alex Irvine write the ending sooo differently with the movie. If you see the movie, and this is kinda spoilerish, you see that after Mako and Raleigh save themselves, they just hug each other while waiting the coppers arrive. Nothing special, yet I know that they become more than friend. Sadly, Alex Irvine decide to make them.. kissing! Also write that Mako want to kiss Raleigh when she see him scarred and alone when first arrived from Alaska. I know about that when see the movie, Mister! But I appreciate for them to become partner first and not let sexual tension to cloud their feeling to each other. Even, my romantic side kinda approved about their kiss. Just.. a bit.
Overall, Alex Irvine do a god job to write this movie tie-in. Not perfect since his writing style kinda weird for me (is he can't write dialogue in the book??). Whether you enjoy Pacific Rim or not, this movie tie-in is worth to read -
I liked it. But before reviewing the book version, a reflection on the film may help. I saw the movie “Pacific Rim” after it was released for home video. For the life of me, two or three years later, I can’t remember a single scene. It’s not that I remember it being bad. It’s that I don’t remember it at all.
I have a theory on why the movie left no lasting impact on me. Unlike “King Kong” and “Godzilla,” there wasn’t a single kaiju (monster) in “Pacific Rim” to focus on. There were a half a dozen. None stood out. I think “Pacific Rim” tried to compensate for this by turning Gipsy Danger, the main robot, into a central “character.” That may have worked visually in the movie, but in the novelization, Gipsy Danger is difficult to picture. There are minimal if any descriptions of the robot’s appearance (color, size, shape, etc). If Gipsy Danger was intended to be a character, she was a sadly flat one in the book.
Secondly, the human characters in the movie were cookie cutter. On that score, the novelization made much more of an impact. The backgrounds of the characters are laid out carefully and are well-explored. There was more nuance to the Stacker Pentecost character (the officer in charge of war robot operations) in the book than I recall in the movie. The relationship between robot ranger Raleigh Beckett and the female lead, Mako Mori, was engaging. The B-story of Dr. Newt Geiszler’s attempt to mind-meld with a kaiju were a bit silly, even off-putting, but good for a chuckle.
The book was also more effective than the movie in establishing the reason why robots were the most effective means of fighting the kaiju (as opposed to conventional or nuclear tactics). A book format gave the author more latitude to describe the context and historical background of the international defense against the monsters. The premise is still cheesy and contrived, but for some reason it was easier to swallow in the book.
The author used very vivid language and sharp comparisons to convey complex science fiction type material succinctly. Fight scenes, which can be easier to choreograph than to write, were handled well. On the basis of the colorful writing, I would definitely read another Alex Irvine book.
I listened to the novelization in audio format. Narrator Christian Rummel did impressive, captivating work as the narrator.
Pacific Rim is fun. If the movie didn’t float your boat, you might enjoy the book a little more. -
WATCH THE MOVIE FIRST. REALLY. On it's own it's only a 2.5 at best.
It does what it says on the tin. Was written, I assume, off an older version of the script; some scenes were slightly different and a few times a line of dialogue went to a different character or was missing. The *feel* and pacing were very different in that the novelization's rate of revelation isn't great--too much stuff is anvils with spotlights on them-- and there's a thick fug of machismo hanging over everything. A lot of what made the characters likeable is missing because the writing is more summary and report so we're stiffed on characterization. Also this version of Raleigh is a dick and I wanted to smack him on three separate occasions. Most conflict was of the punch-him or man-I-wish-I-could-punch--him variety. Too much machismo, not enough Mako.
I DID love all the structurefuck--lots of employee dossiers, news clips, mission reports, and newspaper OpEds. Also a goldmine of canon info. I loved the expanded view of life in the Shatterdome and detail about Tendo's job and the day-to-day maintenance of the Jaegers. On a prose level the writing was workmanlike with the occasional moment of beauty--"Thousands of people had been trying to qualify in those days, with the paint still drying on the Academy's front door and the first kaiju attacks still open wounds in the psyche of humankind, bleeding fallout and fear." So I am glad I bought it and read it but unlike, say, the Men In Black novelization it cannot stand alone.
Overall, you're better off hitting the Pacific Rim tag on AO3. Sorry Alex :C
EDIT Just remembered some of the great moments in that last fight scene :) Raleigh does redeem himself i just found the dickbag-to-awesome moments ratio skewed too far in the dickbag direction--if I hadn't seen the movie first I'd not have wanted to finish -
Co-opting Puja's description:
It's pretty hard to rate this independently given my love for the movie, but this affected at points the movie didn't, and that alone made it worth it.
Just when I thought I couldn't love the characters from this movie more, Raleigh and Mako and Chuck tear my heart out.
I don't think I've ever bothered reading a movie novelisation before, but I eagerly devoured this one due to all the extra worldbuilding info that went into this book -- I'm fascinated with the Pacific Rim universe, okay. Of especial interest and intrigue were the cross-media epistolary bookends between chapters; the chapters were all bridged with psychological dossiers, scientific reports, newspaper articles, transcripts, etc. Cross-media experiments in fiction are some of my absolute favourite things, due to the level of veracity that they add, so this was an absolute treat.
Some scenes played better in the movie, others played better here, and I found myself just wishing it was longer and had more, more, more, because what we had was great. I love all these characters and they rip my heart out. I'm not sure how much resonance this would have for anyone who hasn't watched the movie (though I'm sorta inclined to think it'd make a great fast sci fi read anyway) -- but for anyone who's an enthusiastic fan of the film? This is absolutely essential reading. -
I decided to read this because people I knew who are fans of the movie were talking about it.
It's awful. The writing is stilted, it somehow has less story and flatter, less sympathetic characterization than the movie despite being longer, it's clearly based on an earlier and inferior version of the script, and was written by someone who didn't understand the characters, and not only is it not consistent with the movie, it doesn't even manage to create an internally consistent universe of its own - it contradicts its own timeline and worldbuilding. And the science is worse than in the movie, which I wouldn't've thought possible.
Only read it if you really really want a source for all the tiny background details, most of which were written out of the official canon anyway. And actually you can find all the good bits of it on the internet anyway. -
Incredible book.
Pacific Rim is my absolute most favorite movie of all time..so when I saw there was an official novel too I had to read it.
I must say this was hands down the BEST book I've read in 2020 because I have not enjoyed anything else quite on this level.The movie was Phenomenal so of course the book was too.
I would give this all the stars in this universe and the Antvers (if it existed,which it doesn't anymore;)) bit I have to settle for 5/5 stars. -
Fun reading for a casual fan of Pacific Rim, I guess, but as a big fan of the film this is disappointing. The characters feel, odd? I can’t explain it but I don’t quite feel like the author had their voices down. Hermann randomly being blonde and able-bodied when this is a direct novelisation of the film was certainly bizarre. But I did enjoy being able to read how the drift feels, as opposed the the visual representation we see in the film.
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Jednak oglądanie to co innego. Plus w książce jest pocałunek na końcu, how rude.
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Much better written than most novelizations
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the chokehold this movie has on me has made it impossible for me to objectively rate this book.
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Despite this being a near direct adaptation of the movie, I felt as though there was a enough 'extras' to really make the read worth it. The book, as with most book/movie crosses, is allowed to delve much deeper into the universe. I read this book, hot off the heels of reading "All you Need Is Kill" the original book to the movie "Edge of Tomorrow". That book/movie adaptation breaks the mold. The book is very short, and pretty limited on characters, and universe setting fluff. The book basically gave you a frame work that the movie built around.
In this case, with Pacific Rim, the movie provided a pretty good universe and frame work that could be explored. The novelization of Pacific Rim does a decent job at expanding on this. In the book they have news reports that depict news anchors trying to get shots of the monsters, really cool classified reports of the status of Jaegers that give us some nice background fluff. This includes time lines of dates of commission, de-commission, total number of Kaiju killed, their spec's and what the Jaeger is outfitted with, the pilots, and where they were based out of. Very cool additions. It provides some nice history and references to Jaegers, Kaiju, and events that are mentioned or shown in the movie.
Another big bonus is the addition of things like "Kaiju Blue" which is a venomous disease that infects people with the death and rotting of a Kaiju corpse. I love this idea, because it makes so much sense. If these behemoth corpse are just strewn about cities, and their blood is acidic and deadly, then naturally, the rotting corpse will be a biohazard to humanity. In addition to this, all other manner of extra goodies are tossed in, even a blues song about Kaiju Blue xD.
As you can tell I'm a pretty big fan of back story, history, and lore when it comes to books and movies. And surprisingly, the book had a good amount of it. When I went to see Pacific Rim in theaters I was very very surprised by how much I enjoyed the movie. Usually I venture on the side of being pretty snobbish when it comes to action movies, but I think because of my love of the Godzilla franchise, and monsters and big robots...I really enjoyed it. I think there was definitely room for improvement of course. My biggest complaint is that the movie builds up the Jaegers to be these really awesome fighting machines, and we're expecting one hell of an knock down drag out fight between robots and monsters.... then boom, boom two out of four of them are destroyed within like 10 minutes. ::le sigh::
I would have liked to see some more interaction with the pilots as well. From what we got, they all seemed like archtypical stereotypes but it doesn't really detract. Of course there is rivalry between characters...but it seems forced and artificial. Besides "Chuck" the rival of our main character just having a chip on his shoulder, we're not given a reason really why. He just comes off as a douchebag. That's fine, but it seems like there should have been a reason...
Anyway, if you are a fan of the Pacific Rim lore, and background there is enough in this book to keep your interested, even if it is just the story of the movie. The book gives you enough (could have been more!) to keep your interest and even add some extra to the story. -
Actual rating: 3.75 stars
Just finished the Pacific Rim novelization…and omg I cried so much. I thought that maybe having seen the film and knowing what to expect might make it a little easier, but…NOPE.
NOPE NOPE NOPE
I think, overall it was a very good novelization of the movie, and I really enjoyed the extra bits of info/characterization we got. I did, however, have a few minor quibbles—and one major one. Minor quibbles being things like changes in dialogue, or a character in the book doing something that another character in the movie did, and the fact that the book version of Raleigh wasn’t quite the same as the movie version—and movie!Raleigh is the best Raleigh ever.
These, while bothersome didn’t annoy me as much as my main quibble with the book (which I will get to in just a second), for the simple reason that
Travis Beacham confirmed something I suspected when I began the novelization:
These books are often times based on early drafts of the script.
Novelizations are routinely derived from early drafts of the script. It’s the only way they can be published in time for the release. The trouble is that of course many things can change in that time, so many film novelizations typically contain certain narrative discrepancies. This novelization is generally in line with our bible, but one shouldn’t feel obligated to accept whatever doesn’t seem to align with the film.
And:
The film is the final arbiter of fact.
Which leads me back to the one major quibble I had with the book: -
Pacific Rim, directed by Guillermo del Toro, is an amazing movie, with stunning CG, battle scenes, and an amazing original sound track. It takes place along the western American/Canadian coastline, in the Pacific Ocean, and Hong Kong. The main characters Mako Mori and Raleigh Becket are two unlikely partners who have to pilot their Jaeger (A giant robot designed to combat the Kaichu, an invading alien species) Gypsy Danger into the Rift, which the Kaichu are invading through, and set off a nuke, which will destroy the Rift and leave the Kaichu unable to reach Earth. They are commanded by Stacker Pentecost, a former Jaeger pilot, who saved Mako as a child. Some of their plans to stop the invasion are corrected by Dr. Newton Geiszler, who has done experiments involving neural bridges, and Kaichu brains. With the info from the neural bridges, Newton informs Stacker Pentecost of the Kaichu's strategy, and helps them to win the war. The characters in this Science Fiction seem believable, for Raleigh Becket lost his twin brother to a Kaichu they fought together years before, and was not sure whether or not he wished to pilot a Jaeger ever again. Stacker Pentecost, who raised Mako after he rescued her as a child, did not want his daughter in a Jaeger, for her past experiences may bring her to seek vengeance, which you can not have in a Jaeger, or the neural bridge may be overloaded. The characters actions tell me about their personalities. For example, when Stacker Pentecost kept refusing to let Mako pilot a Jaeger, even though she was the most promising trainee, it showed me that he is over protective. Overall, I loved the movie. It was very well made, had a lot of action, but not too much, and had some real suspense to it. Pacific rim is an amazing movie, and I would definitely recommend it.
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I really enjoyed this story. That's why I'm giving this 4 stars. Not because it's an amazingly written book, but because the story is an excellent one.
Novelizations of movies can be tricky. Sometimes they are garbage and you're left thinking why did I read that. But sometimes you come across one that allows you to relive the same enjoyment you got from the movie but, this time, inside your head. I love when this happens. The best novelizations take it a step further. They can enhance the experience with back stories and inner thoughts and if you're really lucky, deleted scenes that didn't make it into the movie but were in the original screenplay.
This particular novelization came pretty close to being a great one. It fell just short of being a great one. The writing was clunky in spots and could have used some polishing. I found some descriptions fell short of what they could have been, given the fact that I already knew what things looked like. Those aside, I loved the addition of the press release pages. I absolutely loved the extra back story on the main characters, especially the parts where the author was able to describe in depth the memories seen in the drift sequences. I had a minor problem with a few scenes that were different from what happens in the movie. As I was reading, I was left wondering which media had the original scenes. I'm left wondering if they changed these scenes while filming or did the author take liberties? Who knows? Regardless of those few things, it was certainly an enjoyable read.
If you loved the movie and want to learn more about the world, I definitely recommend picking this up.
