Meet the free, proud, independent people of Ukraine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzNxLzFfR5w Nothing but reviews. In excess.
From ZERO to 6 ♥s. 100% ad-free. Run on pure love for movies, documentaries and TV-series. June 2025: Countdown to: Top 10: Best horror comedy movies - Upcoming review: There's Still Tomorrow (2023)
Best Digital Effects (lost to Alice in Wonderland)
+ Best Peplum Movie of the Year
An iconic Greek goddess seems to have gotten her snaky head cut off by Sam Worthington on this poster for Louis Leterrier's Clash of the Titans
Perseus is the son of Zeus, a half-god who lost his family to the wrath of the gods. He now becomes the hope of mankind, as he ventures on a dangerous journey to the Kraken, which must be killed! Clash of the Titans is a handsome remake of the great 1981 movie of the same title. It has top-grade CGI, a real sense of adventure, plus it's attractively and excitingly put together. Sam Worthington (Avatar (2009)) is not the world's most charismatic or interesting actor, but he works alright here. Mads Mikkelsen (King Arthur (2004)) and sexy Nicholas Hoult (Dark Places (2015)) pull the film up, and Ralph Fiennes (The Constant Gardener (2005)) and Liam Neeson (Gun Shy (2000)) adorn it with their integrity as veteran actors. Clash of the Titans is written by Travis Beacham (Pacific Rim (2013)), Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi(R.I.P.D. (2013), both) and directed by Louis Leterrier (Now You See Me (2013)). It is surprisingly solid in terms of story and entertainment value.
Cost: 125 mil. $ Box office: 493.2 mil. $ = Big hit [Clash of the Titans was released April 2 and runs 106 minutes. Development began in 2002. Filming took place from April - July 2009 in England, Spain, Iceland and Ethiopia. Leterrier promoted the film's conversion to 3D around its release but in 2013 decried the decision and the film as such, saying: "It was famously rushed and famously horrible. It was absolutely
horrible, the 3D. Nothing was working, it was just a gimmick to steal
money from the audience. I’m a good boy and I rolled with the punches
and everything, but it’s not my movie." The film opened #1, to a 61.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, (staying atop for one more week), where it grossed 163.2 mil. $ (33.1 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 29.2 mil. $ (5.2 %) and Russia with 24.6 mil. $ (5 %). Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, equal to its rating here. Clash of the Titans is rotten at 28 % with a 4.3 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of Clash of the Titans?
One of the gigantic robot fighters invoke awe on this poster for Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim
In the 2020s, giant aliens known as Kaijus have begun to come out from a portal in the floor of the Pacific Ocean to destroy Earth's cities and annihilate humans. Major human-operated robots called Jaegers have been created to fight them, but the project is being shut down in favor of building insecure walls instead. Now the Jaeger program continues as an independently financed resistance army, who will attempt to put an end to the Kaiju menace. Pacific Rim is written by Travis Beacham (Dog Days of Summer (2007)) and co-writer/co-producer/director Guillermo del Toro (Cronos (1992)).
Del Toro had worked on the Pacific Rim project for years, nurturing it with valuable thoughts and developing it as a nostalgic salute to the kaiju genre (Japanese giant monster movies) that he fell in love with as a boy. And his boyish enthusiasm, glee and visionary powers make the film a unique and blessed event. Pacific Rim looks more than stunning, - it simply pops from the screen in all its resplendent neon-drenched, ultra-saturated glory. Some of Del Toro's concepts in it include that people are evacuated from the areas of destruction (avoiding bodily mayhem) and that the film actively dodges war and army-idealizing imagery and apocalyptic, brooding atmospheres, which is refreshing. Del Toro did not want to make a dark movie but a fantasy-type adventure kaiju science fiction film brimming with enthusiasm and hope in the genre and in humankind. Along the way, however, Del Toro has had to admit that not all of his ambitions could succeed: "We cannot pretend this is Ibsen with monsters and giant robots. I cannot pretend I'm doing a profound reflection on mankind", he has stated. Del Toro admitted this, as fellow strong Mexican director colleagues Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu came in and helped him with editing, (during which apparently a full hour of the film was cut!) Surely for the better, because the film seems to have a suitable length as it is now. The film's main strength lies in its visual artistry, which is phenomenal, both in terms of the Kaiju monsters, who are truly spectacular, the sublime production design and CGI universe, which is incredibly detailed and amazing. There is also no visible borders between physical reality and CGI, great sound design, - and Pacific Rim is a 3D film that will make everyone not watching it in 3D on a big screen with great sound sorry that he or she isn't. The film's troubles lie with its actors and characters. Some, - Charlie Day's (Hotel Artemis (2018)) sqeaky-voiced scientist, partner Burn Gorman's (Crimson Peak (2015)) archaic ditto and Ron Perlman's (Nightmare Alley (2021)) Kaiju brain expert especially, - are cartoonish, silly creations that you'll find more or less fun. The three actors' wildly theatrical performances grate some with those of leads Charlie Hunnam (The Lost City of Z (2016)) and Rinko Kikuchi (Last Summer (2014)), who don't exactly light the screen up with visible chemistry. Idris Elba (No Good Deed (2014)) lurks around as a sexy general, - and maybe you'll forgive the film for its less than ace acting and character department (and the fact that most of them simply seem too young for their characters), when Hunnam and Elba adorn the screen with their impressive physiques. Pacific Rim
is an amazing film to watch, and for anyone who loved these giant
monster films as a kid, it is a nostalgic and excellent time. It has feeling,
heart, and above all spectacle and awesome monster fights and
mind-boggling destruction. If you have kids of ages 8-16, watch Pacific Rim with them for added value. - They'll love you for it.
Cost: 190 mil. $ Box office: 411 mil. $ = Flop (returned 2.16 times its cost)
[Pacific Rim premiered 1 July (Mexico City) and runs 132 minutes. Beacham started work on the script in 2007. Shooting took place from November 2011 - April 2012 in Germany and in Toronto, Ontario. It opened #3, behind holdover hit Despicable Me 2 and fellow new release Grown Ups 2, to a 37.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 101.8 mil. $ (24.8 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 2nd biggest market; the biggest was China with 111.9 mil. $ (27.2 %). The 3rd biggest was Russia with 20.6 mil. $ (5 %). The film was nominated for a BAFTA, among many other honors. The film additionally made more than 37 mil. $ on the North-American home video market alone. Likely due to the film's impressive numbers from China, a sequel was green-lit despite its over-all flop status: Pacific Rim Uprising (2018) had a few stars returning, without Beacham and with Del Toro only co-producing; it was a larger flop. Del Toro returned with The Simpsons (2013, TV-series), The Strain (2014-15) and theatrically with Crimson Peak (2015). Hunnam returned in Sons of Anarchy (2008-14) and theatrically in Crimson Peak; Kikuchi in 47 Ronin (2013). Pacific Rim is fresh at 72 % with a 6.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
