Director Guillermo del Toro and part of the cast of Pacific Rim visited Mexico City on July 1 for a press conference and the world premiere of the film. For unknown reasons Idris Elba didn't make the trip, but everything else went as planned. Del Toro, Kikuchi Rinko, Charlie Day and Ron Perlman gave a fun 1-hour conference, with del Toro being questioned much more than the rest, hence stealing the show. Actually, the actors barely spoke: Perlman, for example, didn't say anything during the first half-hour but "I can't remember the question."
Del Toro's showmanship in his home country was terrific. He discussed such varying subjects as Japanese pop culture, childhood memories and Pacific Rim stories dealing with James Cameron and David Cronenberg. Visibly happy, he constantly joked with the Mexican press and even made fun of Kikuchi ("doesn't she looks like Princess Comet?"). Here's an excerpt of the conference with del Toro on the 3D version of Pacific Rim:
"For action, adventure and genre cinema, I'm now a converted fan of 3D. I asked the studio (Legendary Pictures) for the complete control of the 3D. I asked them for 40 weeks or so to get the 3D conversion, it usually takes just 8 to 12 weeks, and they agreed. As I'm a complete control freak, we achieved a 3D conversion that I think people will be very happy with it. It's now my favorite format for the vision of this movie, but I don't think 3D is for every film. If you can watch Pacific Rim in 3D, make sure to watch it that way."
During the world premiere of the film, celebrated at a Mexico City Cinemark, del Toro and his cast were incredibly kind to the fans, giving many autographs and taking pictures with them.
Pacific Rim opens in the US, Mexico and many other countries on Friday, July 12. Meanwhile, look below for a gallery of photos with the most memorable quotes from the conference in Mexico City. There's plenty from del Toro!
Charlie Day (Dr. Newton Geiszler):
“For me I think it was just a matter of always asking Guillermo (del Toro) whether he wanted me to be funnier or more serious, and often times we sort-of landed somewhere in the middle. He was pushing me to be serious yet everyone says I’m so funny in the movie so I guess I couldn’t be serious no matter if I tried.”
“I don’t think Guillermo makes movies to sleep with super models and buy expensive cars. He truly cares about making as beautiful as interesting as artistic as special a movie as he can make.”
(photo by Claudia Aguilar)
Guillermo del Toro:
“Pacific Rim is dedicated to Ishiro Honda and Ray Harryhausen, the greatest giant monsters creators in the history of cinema.”
“My generation grew up with a brutal invasion of Japanese pop: Princess Comet, Ultraman, Ultra Seven, Kimba the White Lion, Ken the Wolf Boy, Ambassador Magma, Skyers-5. I was born in 1964 so I went to the premieres of many Godzilla movies, many Gamera movies, The War of the Gargantuas, etc. For the new generations, there haven’t been movies that present an spectacle of this magnitude.”
“Godzilla is the father of all Kaijus”.
“Godzilla is the El Santo of Japan.”
“If I watch a Godzilla or a El Santo movie now, I enjoy them as much as when I was a kid. The most important thing is this: if a kid sees Pacific Rim, I want the kid to come out from the theater throwing punches in the air, happy, saying it was fun.”
“Kaiju is a very special mythology, there’s an influence from King Kong or the monsters of Harryhausen, those that destroyed great famous buildings. This remains in the Kaiju movies, they frequently attack famous buildings, they come from the sea, but the beautiful thing of the Kaiju as a mythological figure in Japan is that helps to heal the wounds of WWII. It becomes a deeper and more nationalist mythology for Japan and eventually for the world. I think these are the only movies that are poems to the monster.”
“The Kaiju genre goes beyond any ethic, moral and social barrier to focus exclusively in the fetishism, the loving activity that benefits the monster. It’s a unique genre and can’t be made by someone who’s not in love with the monsters. That I guarantee.”
Ron Perlman (Hannibal Chau):
“(Del Toro) has been the guiding force of the second half of my life. The opportunities he has given me as an artist, the way he sees me, no one else ever sees me that way.”
“To me he’s like a living embodiment of Leonardo da Vinci. All you got to do is look at the notebooks he carries to see why that is not an overstatement.”
“There’s a deliciousness to Hannibal Chau, even in his name. I’m thinking in changing my name to Hannibal Chau, especially if there’s 2 or 3 of these movies.”
(photo by Claudia Aguilar)
Guillermo del Toro:
“I haven’t seen Evangelion. I can accept (as influences) Patlabor, I can happily accept that anime, and Tetsujin 28-go. I have no problem saying that I love them and they’re an influence. I have the discs (of Evangelion) but haven’t opened them, I haven’t seen it.”
“It was really important not to make a metafilm. Pacific Rim is a film made by a fan but not a fan film.”
“I present the politicians (in Pacific Rim) as a bunch of assholes that are building walls, nothing more. They don’t know how to build bridges but they can build walls.”
(photo by Claudia Aguilar)
Kikuchi Rinko (Mako Mori):
“I met him (del Toro) during Babel and said 'I would love to work with you', and then years later I got this role, so it is amazing. I’m so happy and so excited.”
“Alejandro (González Iñárritu) opened the gate for me to an international career. Guillermo, I love him and he’s the man.”
(photo by Claudia Aguilar)
Guillermo del Toro:
“I was very interested in having someone Mexican. I offered the role that Clifton Collins Jr. did to Demián Bichir. I wanted a technician of Latin origin, with a rosary as his last resource.”
“The idea of a Mexican Jaeger was an interesting character but not fundamental. It was a decoration, a flavor that I wanted. For budgetary reasons, we had to take away 2 Jaegers of the 6. I kept the Jaegers that worked for the key dramatic points, meaning those that had to die. I didn’t want to kill the Mexican Jaeger! My wish is to create a Mexican Jaeger if there’s a second part (of Pacific Rim). The design was pretty badass!”
“The film thanks James Cameron, Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu and David Cronenberg. They helped the movie, Cameron read the script and Crononberg was fundamental for the filming as I did it in Toronto, Canada. Alejandro and Alfonso, they came to the editing room, and I went to the edition room of Gravity. The final quote of Charlie Hunnam was Alfonso’s idea. Alejandro took 7 minutes away of the film at one sitting.”
Guillermo del Toro:
“The Transformers are about the same size of the fingernail of the little finger of one of the robots (the Jaegers).”
“Less reboots, more robots.”
“The Thunderbirds are in the film. The launch of the Jaegers comes from the Thunderbirds. They took like an hour to get ready!”
“There are people that smiles when you say to them puppies or kittens. I smile inevitably when you said to me monsters or giant robots.”
(photo by Claudia Aguilar)