Pacific Rim: Man, Machines & Monsters

by David S. Cohen, Guillermo del Toro (Foreword)

From acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro comes Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' epic sci-fi action adventure Pacific Rim.

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. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are piloted by an international crew of soldiers in the Pan Pacific Defense Corps. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, two unlikely heroes—a washed up former pilot and an untested trainee—team up to pilot a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger on a mission to halt the mounting apocalypse.

Pacific Rim: Man, Machines & Monsters chronicles the production of the film with stunning concept art, captivating photography, and cast and crew descriptions of the shoot.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Film, Reference, Aliens, Media Tie In

156 pages, Hardcover

First published June 11, 2013

About the author

David S. Cohen is an entertainment and business reporter as well as a writer and producer for film and television. During his thirty years in show business, he has acted and directed off-off Broadway plays, scripted television documentaries, and written for the syndicated series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. As a reporter, he has covered screenwriting, visual effects, and film production for Variety and Script magazines for more than a decade. He lives with his wife in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful behind-the-scenes look at the design of one of my favorite movies.

[Jonathan Terrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

If, like me, you watch plenty of movies as well as reading many books, one of two things might happen. You might firstly get asked whether you have a proper life (as after all, plenty of your time would be devoted to imaginary worlds and stories). Then secondly you might discover an appreciation for books that connect to films, or films that connect to books. Here I have discovered the latter.

Last year I ended up watching around twenty to thirty films at the cinema (and at least that again on dvd - not including television shows). A reasonably impressive number for me, to be sure, yet a small one considering how many decent films are released each year. The point is that among those films viewed, I did watch Pacific Rim and highly enjoyed it. As a B-grade science fiction film it was entertaining and had some of the finer world building in a film in a while and the scenery and costuming was superb.

In connection to that film, David S. Cohen's nonfiction book here is another visual and informative look at Pacific Rim. It goes into a deeper look at the backstories of the main characters and the mechs (or jaegers) first of all before moving into a brief overview of the technical aspects involved with creating the scenes featuring these jaegers. There are plenty of observations about the design art and insights into the fine details of the items within the world of the film to also read about. Then to finish up there are the facts and artwork of the monsters (kaiju) themselves - which are some of the more fun parts of the film.

In short this is a book to look into if you are a fan of, or enjoyed, Pacific Rim. Whether you want something to browse over briefly, or a book to keep on a stack on the coffee table (if it's your sort of thing) I do recommend this. I also recommend reading this blog post here, which provides an argument as to why Pacific Rim is a smarter film than it seems: http://stormingtheivorytower.blogspot...

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's ridiculous how much I loved 'Pacific Rim' when it was released last year. If I was around 8-years-old (like I was a the time 'Star Wars' came out), my bedroom would now be filled with Kaiju & Jaeger figures and all sorts of PR merchandise. 'Man, Machines & Monsters' was a great in-depth look behind-the-scenes at how del Toro made the movie and just makes me want to watch it again.

[Sineala · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I can say about this -- it's the artbook for the movie Pacific Rim. If you liked Pacific Rim enough to want to look at bunches and bunches of pictures and concept drawings and whatnot of giant mecha and giant monsters, you will enjoy this.

It's expensive, but it is a really high-quality artbook. My favorite thing are all the little included physical items: Raleigh and Mako's ID cards, "blueprints" of all the Jaegers, anatomical drawings of some of the kaiju, pages reproduced from del Toro's sketchbook, stickers of the Jaeger logos, and an envelope of little posters at the back of the book. Someone clearly went to a lot of effort to make this thing really spiffy.

Basically, it's really nice, as an object. And who doesn't like nice things?

[L. M. Ransom · Rating 5 out of 5]

SPOILERS!!!!!SPOILERS!!!!!!!SPOILERS!!!!!!!SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!

First of all, I cannot stress enough how much I love this book. I will admit I haven't quite finished reading it yet, but oh man: this book ROCKS. I love the movie and the movie novelization, but this book is so interesting, with all the pictures and information about del Toro put the movie together.
One thing that bothers me with the book, and I'll just put it out there: the section about Crimson Typhoon has misleading information. If you've seen the movie, you already know what I'm talking about. In the book, they describe Typhoon as being patterned after a boxer (Mayweather, I'm thinking), as opposed to Gipsy and Striker, who were modeled after football players (can't tell, now can you? Ha.). The problem for me is this: in the book, Typhoon is described as having a massive right shoulder and two arms on the left side. All the better to take punishment and dish it out, right? And there is at least one picture depicting Typhoon built this way. But, in the movie, and in most of the pictures in the book, Typhoon is built the opposite: a massive LEFT shoulder, and two arms on the RIGHT side. I get it: if her pilots are right-handed, they're going to block with the left and hit with their right. So...why the picture and description of one build if you're not going to actually portray her that way? This kind of thing bothers me, but it probably won't detract from anyone else's enjoyment.
And of course, there's also the misinformation about Cherno Alpha, the massive steam-punk type Jaeger built for Russia. In the movie, Stacker Pentecost says she's a "teenager, the last of the Mark I's." But in this book, and the novelization, Cherno is stated to be a Mark IV, which makes a lot more sense (I doubt any of the old Mark Is could've stood against a Category Three kaiju). Anyway, I cover that whole problem in my review of the novel, which I also really liked.
The artwork in the book is gorgeous, and the extra tidbits included are amazing: pages out of del Toro's notebook, blueprints for the main Jaegers, info on the pilots, etc. There's even a page of stickers depicting the nose art for each Jaeger as well as kaiju "kill mark" stickers. Also included are two big propanga posters for the war on the kaiju, which are really cool. There is a lot to drool over.
But maybe the coolest thing about the book, for me, is the information on how del Toro operates on a movie set, how much freedom he gives his people, and how much he believes in the concept of the movie. I thought it was cute that he was so nervous about how the trailer would perform at the 2012 San Diego Comic Con, the grandaddy of all the cons. It must've been awesome to see the trailer there. Also cute is how del Toro invites people to work with him: "Do you want to come and play with me?" I would LOVE that invitation!
Anyway, I have nothing but love for the movie, the books, and the machines. I can't wait for PR 2.

[Alex Cotterill · Rating 5 out of 5]

3 five stars in a row now!! I’ve had this book since 2015 but forgot to read it hahah.

This is a different book for me. First of “how a film is made” one specifically.

In 2013, this film was one of my favs - for its visuals, story, choice of actors: actresses and jaeger/kaiju design. Jaegers designs were primarily based off the countries they were constructed in; hence, their respective soundtracks 2! Kaiju were mostly based off real animals e.g. Leatherback (gorilla), Knifehead (shark) and Raiju (crocodile).

This huge (both size and pages) book offers the key into Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim world with many quotes from the team and cast, concept art and finalised images and posters of the jaegers and kaiju, and various storyboards.

Also, it includes many gifts, I suppose you could say, like posters, jaeger blueprints, PPDC cards etc. I mean for £12 this is a steal when it was originally sold for £30.

It gives detailed specs, stats and descriptions of the jaeger/ kaiju design choices and the weapons they have (mostly). Although Alpha’s Incinerator Turbines are self explanatory from the film and promotional weapons poster, it would still be cool to see how the flamethrowers function.

Furthermore, there were 2 errors - concept of Striker Eureka was noted as Gipsy Danger and Mutavore was called Bladehead (however M might have changed after pre-production of course!!)

Charlie Hunnam, Max Martini, Idris Elba, Robert Maillet, Ron Perlman, Burn Gorman, Rob Kazinsky and Charlie Day play the lead males.

Roblox Kikuchi and Heather Dorksen play 2 badass girl jaeger pilots - 1 Japanese and 1 Russian.

A great insight into the film.

What other film books do you recommend?

[Sara Saif · Rating 5 out of 5]

This had really cool pictures and descriptions of how the film was made, the costumes, the special effects, the sets, everything. A "behind the scenes" look in the form of a book. The part about the creation of Kaiju and the concept art was my favorite!

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two thousand five hundred tons of AWESOME.

(I would like to have seen more sketches and early concept art but still, this highlights a very diverse range of work)

[Sean Goh · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent insider's look into the making of an excellently crafted film (del Toro's personal favourite of all time to make).

Learn how the concept of the show arose, how the world was designed to feel lived in, feel the intensity of wrapping up 115 days of shooting with as much practical effects (as opposed to digital special effects) as possible. Feel the love and dedication poured into the set, casting, character writing, props, stage design. The conn-pods were designed to be actual sets, something like amusement park rides, but way more strenuous.

Also chuckle at Del Toro's trademark invitation to collaborate - "would you like to come play with us?"
Contains little sketches and excerpts from his notebook stuck to pages, which was an interesting touch.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book. The thing itself is a work of art, with the high quality images, insert pages from Del Toro's notes, and the two full sized photos at the back. It also provides an insight into how the film came to be made and the massive amount of special effects involved. I'd presumed a lot of the things were computer generated and that were actually sets. For example, the pods they use the pilot the Jager were actually physically made and controlled by puppeteers and the actors were in real physical suits that attached to the machinery.

[Zulafifi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A magnificent look into the mind of Guillermo del Toro and the team behind one of the finest films in modern history. Definitely accentuates how meaningful this project is to del Toro and how passionate the team's efforts shine through the finished product. One star is only docked off from this book because someone had the genius idea to place the tiny font in front of a blotchy looking background!

[Evelyn Blackwater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought it for Kaiju art.
Came away impressed by the amount of stylish posters and professional discussion being had on each page.
If you were as enthralled by the film's world as I, this is a no brainier.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

if you enjoyed the film, you’ll probably enjoy this book. It has stories from the set and from the writers and director as well as loads of conceptual and developmental art from the film. Absolutely fascinating.

[Sir Laguna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aunque no tiene grandes anecdotas ni historias del rodaje no deja de ser un imprescindible para fans de la película. Lo mejor son sin duda los diseños no utilizados.

[Jolson Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great concept art with well-researched and insightful narrative. So much planning and effort went into "Pacific Rim" that I'm feeling anxious and uncertain about the sequel's fate.

[Linc · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome graphics and detailed info

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very immersive and informative read on the work that went into the world building of Pacific Rim.

[Zuzana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth it for the concept art alone.

[Brandon McMahon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deeply insightful look behind the scenes of an impressively large scale production.

[feux d'artifice · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and detailed artbook with a lot of extra goodies inside, love it🥰

[Felipe · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very good book i like so much the cmonster and the machines

[Valzebub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cool glimpse behind the scenes and in to the movie making process. A fun read and even more fun to look through

[Paolo Zanella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pacific Rim, Man, Machines & Monsters è un libro che descrive il processo di realizzazione del film omonimo, con un’abbondante dose di illustrazioni, schizzi e fotografie.

L’ho comprato pensando che fosse solo un art book del film, il contenuto in testo è stato una piacevole aggiunta. È piuttosto interessante da leggere, presenta infatti curiosità circa la genesi dei diversi aspetti del film e le difficoltà in cui si sono imbattuti nelle diverse fasi di produzione e realizzazione.

Ho preso il libro per le illustrazioni: il film mi ha colpito per il curatissimo impatto grafico, tuttavia sono rimasto parzialmente deluso proprio dalla scelta del materiale da includere nel libro. Gran parte di esso proviene dalle fasi iniziali di progettazione, ed è molto lontano da quanto presente nel film. Si tratta soprattutto di schizzi e bozze, con qualche illustrazione dettagliata e ben fatta ma che non ha un corrispettivo con una sequenza del film o con un personaggio/mostro dello stesso.

L’ultima volta che ho comprato un art book di un film era una serie di volumi sulla vecchia trilogia di Star Wars. Uscita dopo l’enorme successo dei film era più una celebrazione in fotografie della serie che un vero making-of.

Qui abbiamo invece un buon "documentario", che dà l’impressione di essere stato completato parecchio prima che il film fosse inviato alla post-produzione. Forse la necessità di farlo uscire contemporaneamente al film ha costretto gli autori a chiuderlo ben prima che i rendering di kaiju e jaeger fossero finalizzati.

E’ un peccato che manchino proprio i protagonisti giganti del film, anche se gli appassionati si potranno dilettare con le schede tecniche dei mostri che vengono dal pacifico e dei difensori dell’umanità.

Sono presenti delle buone foto dei protagonisti durante varie fasi del film, anche per documentare la qualità dei 103 set realizzati. Qui, avendo usato molti effetti speciali (non digitali), le foto sono molto vicine al risultato finale: le cabine degli Jaeger sono un paio di set mobili montati su pistoni idraulici e sono davvero impressionanti con i piloti dentro in armatura da combattimento.

Una cosa che ho letto nel libro e che mi ha davvero colpito è il tempo di realizzazione di PR: appena 101 giorni. Lo slot temporale usato dal Del Toro è quello che era rimasto libero dalla cancellazione di At the Mountains of Madness.

Infine un’osservazione: mii sarei aspettato un bel po’ di background in più circa la guerra contro i Kaiju. Si capisce chiaramente che il lavoro fatto si è limitato agli elementi presenti a video, quindi è tutto subordinato alla sceneggiatura. Certo non tutti i film possono avere l’immenso background di Lord of the Rings, però qui manca proprio un qualsiasi retroscena.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

( More pictures on my blog )

Pacific Rim: Man, Machines, and Monsters is the art-and-making-of book for the film.

It's a great book. Big, hardcover, 156-pages. There are additional sticked on materials on the pages, stickers and two big posters.

The book is packed with amazing content. There are lots of concept art, set photography and lengthy writeup on the production. Everything's beautifully laid out.

The concept art consist of the characters, Jaeger robots, Kaiju monsters and film scenes. The bulk of the art, more than half the book, is on the Jaegers and Kaijus. The development art are just awesome. They are very detailed. There are Jaegers with their front and back with closeups to their heads, battle damaged versions, 3D wireframes, 3D gray models and some discarded concepts.

Kaijus are crustacean-lizards-insect inspired. The designs look great, menacing, and dangerous. The texture work is really well done. The sculpted maquettes look terrific. There are twelve Kaijus if I counted correctly. Guillermo Del Toro has his unique sense of art direction. It's clear he likes monsters very much. Kudos to Hugo Martin, Alex Jaeger, Francisco Ruiz Velasco and other artists on the designs also.

The set designs are illustrated with mainly photographs and art. Again, they are very detailed and there's a strong sense of worn and tattered feel to most places.

The commentary is excellent. There's plenty to read about the characters, the designs of the Jaegers and Kaijus, and many stories on the production process.

This is a fantastic art and companion book to the movie. One of my 2013 favorites.

Highly recommended.

[Art of the Film · Rating 5 out of 5]

For photos/video of this book, please visit my blog: http://www.movieartbook.com/2015/03/r...

"Pacific Rim" is a fantastic addition to any film book collection; it's instant classic of movie art books. This book is packed with a ton of outstanding imagery related to the movie -- those who have seen the film know that the art direction and design elements are among the film's many strengths.

As it's subtitle suggests, the book essentially focuses on three elements -- man, machines, and monsters. The most interesting part of the book to me is the "monsters"; every Kaiju that appears in the film is detailed in the book. Each one of the creatures is very different, and the in-depth look that this book provides allows for a greater appreciation of the work that went into designing them. No less challenging are the "machines", or Jaegers, which are cool-looking but also designed to be functional. And these are not just outer shells; the inner mechanics of the Jaegers had to be designed as well, giving that we see inside them at various points in the movie.

The book comes with a forward written by director Guillermo del Toro (if you're a fan, check out this book), and as a bonus you get two posters from the movie (they measure approximately 18 x 30").

Overall, this book serves as a companion piece to the movie. Those who are interested in the art of filmmaking will no doubt want to read this book - it is a master class in fantasy design.

Included in the book:
- The Kaiju - designs, maquettes, concept art, anatomy
- The Jaegers - design, blueprints, emphasis on Gypsy Danger
- Storyboards of key scenes in the film
- Designing the various costumes and Jaeger piloting suits
- Conceptual art of the Shatterdome
- Designing the look of "drifting"
- Challenges of production (includes on-set photos)

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, when I saw Pacific Rim for the first time, I fell in love and quickly bought the novelization and soundtrack. I received this book several months ago, but didn't open it because it was in shrink wrap and it looked lovely.

Anyway, I have an intense love for this film, but this book contributed very little more. The character information I had before, but the effects were new. It was great to see the commitment the entire crew had.

However, my enthusiasm for an information overload was dampened by the ill structure of the book. The captions, especially in the beginning, were either out of order, or incorrect as if no one who worked on the production went through to edit. The pop-up additions are nice, but they cover more information, and only one corner is attached to the page. While reading, I was worried that the addition would catch on something and bend. Using vellum, or another clear material would have worked just as well, and none of the information would be covered for long.

[Joe Crowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a celebration in book form. The book shows off gorgeous concept art and pages from creator Guillermo Del Toro’s notebooks. It tells all about the story of the movie, the cast, and filming.

The book has fun removable bits, victory posters and ID badges. And blueprints! Blueprints of the armored Jaegers. Did they find these in my history notebook from when I was 13?

There is so very much in this book that we were afraid to open it. It’s a spoiler warning on every page, so I confess I have only seen pages as I flipped rapidly through, afraid to dwell too long, fearing that I could not handle the joy held within.

If you have not seen the movie, I forbid you from ever opening this book. It's a safety issue.

My site ran a contest to win this book. Contestants wrote haiku about Pacific Rim. Check out the winners!

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding behind-the-scenes making of/art book/movie companion. This book sold out for months after it was released. If you liked Pacific Rim and you want to learn more about the film's development, see outstanding photos and paintings, read about the characters, the robots and the monsters as well as the aliens who sent them then this is for you. Both posters based on propaganda ads made for the film and x-ray like robot inserts and character IDs as well as stickers are just a few of the surprises. This is not a children's book. Though kids who loved the film will probably treasure it. Well worth buying if you loved the film.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

This book is amazing. It gives you a fantastic look at the design process, concept art, main characters,some Kaiju and Jaegers, and the making of the movie. The only thing thats really a problem for me, and I know for other people who're fans of the movie is which Kaindanovsky is Aleksis and which is Sasha, since the credits of the movie say one thing and this book says it another and it really bothers me. But thats the only thing, everything else is really interesting and detailed. If you like the movie you will love looking at this art/film book, there's so much detail and information to be had.

[Roxas · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love "art of/making of" books, this is definitely a good book for you! It has renderings of many of the kaiju and even some that we never really got to see in the movie, information on the jaeger pilots, has scans from Guillermo del Toro's sketch books and a lot of wonderful insight into the process of making the movie. There are great stories included in it from on set and so much information and pretty pictures!

Honestly, I got the book for one specific kaiju (otachi) and this book delivers so much more. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the film - you won't be disappointed!