Guillermo del Toro tells us why Baby Godzilla will not appear in Pacific Rim
In the upcoming giant-monsters-versus-giant-robots film Pacific Rim, the audience is tossed into the slugfest years after it's been raging. But to flesh out this grimy world where the human race fights for its own survival on the daily, the minds behind Pacific Rim are collaborating on a graphic novel prequel.
And at New York Comic Con, io9 spoke exclusively with Pacific Rim director Guillermo del Toro and screenwriter Travis Beacham about their love letter to kaiju cinema.
Guillermo adapted his previous work on The Strain to comics over with Dark Horse — what was the process here to bring Pacific Rim to comics?
在今年的紐約動漫展(New York Comic Con),io9獨家與本片導演Guillermo del Toro 與編劇Travis Beacham進行了一次專訪,從中,我們將可以聽到為何這部片被 導演、編劇稱為「我們寫給怪獸電影愛好者的情書(Kaiju=日文"怪獸"音譯^^)」。
Travis Beacham: It was just talking a lot about the history of this world we've already developed. We didn't want it to be a straight up adaptation of Pacific Rim. We wanted it to be that you could go to the comic shop and read about the back story of Pacific Rim and the drama inherent in it. The cast of the movie are insinuated in the comic books. It's divided into three segments, each focusing on a different component of the history. Some characters will make cameos.
Did any ideas that didn't make it to Pacific Rim pop in the comic?
io9:有沒有「片中沒辦法出現,漫畫中卻出現」的橋段呢?
Guillermo del Toro: Yeah, definitely!
導演GdT:當然!絕對有的!
Travis Beacham: Especially the first Kaiju attack, which is so formative to this world. We see it in the movie, but very briefly. In the comic book, it's a whole event we decompress and explore, as this sort of post-9/11 that creates this world.
Guillermo del Toro: We are finishing the deal at the moment, so we're not in the position to reveal that.
導演GdT:我們正在處理合約的最後細節,所以,不方便透漏。
Is the artist having free rein with the Kaiju and Jaegers?
io9:主筆漫畫家可以對怪獸與機器人的設計,自由發揮嗎?
Guillermo del Toro: No, but they have complete freedom of execution. We are creating a new Jaeger for the comic, yes, but they have to feel like the belong within this world.
So far the Kaiju have been kept under wraps. Can you give us any sort of hints about the look and kaiju traditions that informed their look?
io9:到目前為止,你們一直把怪獸設計....保密的十分到家。可以給我們一些方向嗎?
Guillermo del Toro: Kaiju are obviously an entire genre in Asia — they range from the most whimsical to the most quote-unquote reality-based. You can have an octopus, a moth, a rooster, or Frankenstein's Monster be a kaiju. But we tried to design them so that they feel steeped in the tradition, but not like any kaiju you've ever seen. We didn't want to make homages.
As you mentioned, there are historically cutesy kaiju. Does Pacific Rim ever veer toward Mothra's tiny singing twins, or is it pure, straight-up, biological creepiness?
Guillermo del Toro: No, they are not nice! When one of my areas of geekdom is biology, marine biology. I tried to make the Kaiju somewhat plausible. When we developed Mimic, all of the elements of the creature were run by the Department of Entomology in Los Angeles, and they all checked out. I feel pretty okay with my bullshitting of biology here. Two great things happened after Mimic. First, there was a species of insect named after the movie. Stephen Jay Gould also used to use Mimic as a bonus question! I feel pretty confident geeking out in biology.
拍完「秘密客= Mimic」之後,有兩個很棒的事件發生了。第一,有一種新發現的 昆蟲被命名為「Mimic」。第二,美國知名生物演化學、古生物學學者Stephen Jay Gould博士,竟然會在他的文章中引用我的電影情節!所以,我認為我為了拍攝 「秘密客= Mimic」打下的基礎,應該夠我嘴砲一陣子。
How about the technology of the Jaegers?
io9:那片中的機器人(Jaegers)呢?
Guillermo del Toro: I geeked out with [Legendary Pictures CEO] Thomas Tull about the high-tech weaponry. He's the geekiest studio head you'll ever meet. We're definitely referencing assembly line motors, DARPA jet-fighter-style communication systems, neural connections with machines — all research or technology that exists
導演GdT:我找來了業界最宅的CEO Thomas Tull(Legendary Pictures CEO,曾經為 黑暗騎士、三百壯士、超世紀封神榜/怒戰天神、全面啟動等片擔任製片),一起發動 宅宅力場,然後待在力場裡面設計片中各種高科技武器。我們從工廠裝配線、汽車、 機車、最先進戰鬥機才有的通訊系統、神經傳導人機溝通技術.....基本上,我們等於 是從現有的科技、現有的科學研究成果中找靈感。