Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 524 Cameron's Evaluation
The movie continues, and the battle between the mechas and the Kaiju continues.

The fight between the two sides was extremely simple and brutal - just the most primitive fist-to-flesh fighting.

The three arms of Storm Red played a very important role. In many cases, the third mechanical arm was used to save fishing boats and launch sneak attacks on Kaiju.

A complicated look flashed in Michael Bay's eyes, and he didn't know what he was feeling.

Every time I see a scene from Pacific Rim, I can't help but compare it with Transformers.

In "Transformers", the robot battles are more exciting than those in "Pacific Rim".

The robots move swiftly and flexibly, coordinated with the bombardment and explosion of artillery weapons, which is very visual.

Michael Bay felt that "Transformers" was far better than "Pacific Rim" in terms of fighting, but deep down in his heart, for some reason, he had a vague idea that this was how mecha battles should be.

The more than 70-meter-high mecha is actually an extension of the driver's body. Through the picture in the cockpit, one can feel that every movement of the driver is extremely strenuous.

Michael Bay finally found the thing that made him uncomfortable - a sense of power.

In "Pacific Rim", every time the steel fist strikes, you can feel the power and the pain of the Kaiju.

In comparison, the bodies of the robots in "Transformers" look like they're made of paper.

When the audience saw Storm Red being ambushed by Scythe Head, a mechanical arm being chopped off, and two pilots being taken away, they were finally moved.

When he saw the next scene, his facial expression changed even more.

At the beach, an old man and a young boy were picking up garbage, and then they noticed that there seemed to be something in the thick fog.

The next second, a red figure appeared.

Staggered onto the beach.

At this time, Storm Red was already at the end of its strength and finally couldn't hold on any longer and slowly fell down.

The huge, oppressive steel body knelt down and fell on the beach like a hero.

At this moment, no audience member could remain calm.

This shot is so classic!

Most of the people who came to the premiere were insiders, and because they were experts, they understood the value of this shot.

If it was a second-rate director, the battle just now would definitely end when Storm Red killed Scythe Head.

But this Chinese man added this final scene: the hero’s death!

It’s the finishing touch.

Any normal person would feel touched by the fall of a hero, and the director grasped this point.

In addition, it is full of details.

First of all, there was thick fog, which added to the sense of mystery.

Storm's red and staggering figure gradually emerged from the mist, which undoubtedly deepened the audience's emotions further.

The second is the scavenger’s perspective, which is very important and increases the sense of immersion.

If it was a God's perspective, with Storm Red falling on the beach, the sense of immersion would definitely not be so strong.

If you replace him with a scavenger, the audience will automatically put themselves in the shoes of the scavenger.

Everything he sees is what the audience sees.

The second is the sense of enormity.

The first shot the scavenger saw was a huge mechanical leg, and then the camera moved up to show Storm Red's upper body, but it was still an upward perspective.

Then the scavengers saw Storm Red fall to his knees and land straight on the beach.

This scene was shocking to all the audience.

Many viewers opened their mouths in surprise.

God kneels!
This is the first thought in everyone's mind.

Directors like James Cameron know for sure that based on this shot alone, "Pacific Rim" will definitely have a place in the history of science fiction films.

Michael Bay was reflecting that he did not handle the sacrifice of the Autobots in Transformers 1 well enough and the audience had no sense of empathy at all.

Compared with the kneeling of God in "Pacific Rim", the death of the two Autobots in "Transformers" is just like a tool.

Next comes the second of three acts, in which Fan Xiaopang retires and lives his daily life with the panda Honghuang.

Honghuang was infected by the monster's blood and mutated.

Everyone knows that Honghuang will be an outlier, but no one can guess which side he will eventually become a member of.

Then there was the stupidity of the government, which had decided to abandon the Hunter Project and build a defensive wall instead.

The Chinese feel this most deeply.

The Great Wall cannot defend against enemy attacks. Only being strong yourself is the key.

Mecha bases were closed one after another, and the emotional depression had reached its peak.

Movies are all about first criticizing and then building up, and everyone knows that the final climax is about to come.

The climax is the Battle of Hong Kong.

The appearance of mechas from China, the United States and Russia is so cool.

The Three Kingdoms mechas have their own characteristics:

American mechas focus on attack power and are standard fighters;
The Russian mecha has high defense and is basically a human tank;
The Chinese mechas don't have the highest attack and defense, but they are the most flexible;
Moreover, the mecha pilots of the three countries are not lacking in courage at critical moments and can choose to self-destruct without hesitation and die together with the enemy.

Especially the Russian mecha, there is a sentence in it that perfectly fits the character of the Russians - the Russian mecha is the only mecha that does not have an escape device.

It's a standard win-or-die situation, there is no third way.

This setting of the movie has been recognized by most movie fans. This is the image of silent and aggressive Russians in our minds.

Even the Russian emperor gave his approval - the director of "Pacific Rim" understands us.

Of course, this is something.

The battle at the end was brutal, Cherno Alpha was severely damaged in the battle with the monster, and the alarm sounds of the machine kept ringing.

Sasha Kaidanovsky, the driver, and Alex looked at each other.

No words are needed, just a glance is enough to understand the other person's intention.

They are partners and also husband and wife.

"Brothers, Cherno Alpha may have to go first. I wish you good luck..."

Sasha Kaidanovsky's final farewell was heard on the channel, and the next second, Cherno Alpha suddenly hugged the monster and then exploded.

After the huge explosion, only the broken bodies of the monsters and mechas were left.

The Ares Mech that guarded the eastern coast of Asia fell.

Cherno Alpha is the first generation of mecha that has been guarding the Far East theater of operations, maintaining its undefeated streak for six years.

And today, he died in Hong Kong.

Watching their comrades die, China and the United States had no time to sigh, and Storm Red and Danger Wanderers were still struggling to hold on.

Then, the appearance of the panda Honghuang made the weight of the war slightly easier for humans~
The Busan Film Festival was the only time Pacific Rim was screened publicly.

Based on the audience reaction after the release, Zhang Chen and Warner Bros. made minor adjustments to some of the plots of Pacific Rim.

First of all, the dangerous wanderer was not allowed to self-destruct, which was done for the sake of the sequel.

Cherno Alpha has already self-destructed. If Danger Rangers also self-destructs, it would make the movie look more tragic, but it would not be commercially profitable.

Dangerous Wanderer is more famous, so letting him continue to participate in the sequel will maximize the benefits.

Apart from anything else, at least when it comes to toys, regular characters will definitely sell better than characters that only appear in one episode.

Let’s consider it from a political perspective.

Cherno Alpha self-destructed, but it was a Russian mecha, and Russia's contribution to the box office was limited.

Danger Ranger is an American mecha.

The United States is a big box office, so the sequel still has to rely on the North American market. It is obviously more beneficial for him to keep the dangerous wanderer.

Another adjustment is about the prehistoric times.

In the Busan version, Honghuang did not recognize Fan Xiaoyang at first, so he attacked him indiscriminately.

He not only attacks Kaiju, but also human mechas.

This was not a good portrayal of Honghuang's personal image, so Zhang Chen made some changes, changing it to Honghuang recognizing Fan Xiaoyang from the very beginning. In other words, it was in the human camp from the moment it appeared.

The fine-tuning was successful and the audience showed great interest in Honghuang.

An image of the panda that subverts their cognition.

The modified ending becomes this:
Storm Red and Danger Wanderer were besieged by level 4 and level 5 Kaiju and were in danger.

Seeing that he could not defeat his opponent, the Dangerous Wanderer wanted to use his own nuclear reactor to self-destruct and die together with the Level 5 Kaiju.

It just so happened that Honghuang appeared at this time.

As soon as Honghuang appeared, he easily killed the fourth-level Kaiju beast and recognized Fan Xiaoyang.

Then the two monsters roared and started fighting.

Honghuang and the level 5 Kaiju beast seem to have a fatal attraction to each other.

Honghuang was very powerful, and the level 5 Kaiju Beast could not kill him easily, and both sides were injured.

As it happens, one's own blood seems to play a vital role in the other's evolution.

The primitive world began to evolve.

The level 5 Kaiju also began to evolve.

"Kill it quickly, don't let it complete its evolution!" A level five Kaiju is already so powerful, if it were a level six, it would be a nightmare for humans.

The two mechas rushed towards Kaiju at the same time, but the half-metamorphosed Kaiju was extremely powerful.

The originally strong body grew wings, and the two lower limbs became stronger and more powerful.

The Dangerous Wanderer was knocked away, and Storm Red saw Honghuang being beaten and rushed over to help.

With the interference of Storm Red, Honghuang's pressure was relieved a little.

The level 6 Kaiju Beast was annoyed and had an instinctive reaction.

Suddenly he spread his wings and took off into the sky with Storm Red and Honghuang.

Birds of prey have an instinct that if they cannot kill their prey in one go, they will carry it into the air and then drop it to death with their own hands.

Honghuang's evolution has not been completed yet, and he is obviously no match for Kaiju.

But because it was always on Kaiju's back, it was not easy for Kaiju to attack it.

On the back, Honghuang's sharp claws pierced into the flesh of the Kaiju beast.

Kaiju endured the pain and flew higher and higher.

On the ground, the dangerous wanderers were helpless and could not help.

In the sky, three of them were fighting.

Storm Red used his chain sword to cut off Chrysanthemum's wings, and the three of them fell from space.

The command post noticed this scene and urgently notified Danger Wanderer to prepare to rescue Storm Red.

Storm Red is a conventional power mecha and is powerless in this situation. Fan Xiaoyang is ready to sacrifice himself.

Then, a notification from the dangerous wanderer suddenly came from the communicator: "Adjust your posture, I will ensure your safety~"

Fan Xiaoyang said: "Don't worry about me, go help Honghuang~"

"Sorry, I can't do that~"

Although Hong Huang also helped, to him, Bao Feng Chi Hong was his partner.

Finally, Danger Wanderer used the reverse thrust of the nuclear reactor to transform Storm Red's downward force into lateral force, and the two finally landed safely.

On the other side, the half-dead level 6 Kaiju beast fell into the Pacific Ocean with Honghuang, and the landing point happened to be in the space-time wormhole.

At this point, the movie ends.

The moment the lights came on, there was thunderous applause.

In the crowd, Peter Jackson and Roland Emmerich's eyes were shining.

If we were to ask who among the crowd was most deeply touched, it would undoubtedly be these two.

These two people, one is the director of the 05 version of "King Kong" and the other is the director of the 98 version of "Godzilla", both have a deep understanding of monster movies.

Pacific Rim is very different.

Mechas fighting monsters is very different, and the appearance of Honghuang is even more different.

The human camp actually has its own monsters.

This has never happened in any monster movie to date.

In Hollywood's mainstream monster movies, the plot is that monsters cause harm to human society, and then humans use conventional weapons to kill the monsters.

King Kong was killed by a plane, and Godzilla was killed by a missile.

"Pacific Rim" took a different approach and used mecha.

This idea is reasonable, but a bigger idea is the emergence of Honghuang.

This is the first time that the tactic of taking your pet to fight monsters has appeared in a Hollywood movie.

The applause from the audience died down, and the host on the stage smiled and said, "Your applause is so enthusiastic, can I understand it as an affirmation of the quality of this film?"

The question was met with another round of applause.

The host is Jimmy Kimmel, a famous American talk show host who is eloquent and good at interacting with guests.

"Let's first ask the audience how they feel. Who's going first? Oh, Jack Chen is eager to try, so let's interview him... Will Smith next to him, oh hahaha, I'm kidding, I don't want to be beaten up by Jack Chen, staff, please pass the microphone to Jack Chen..."

After making a joke about the guests, the microphone finally fell into Cheng Long's hands as he wished.

"Well, Jack, you can brag about your compatriots as much as you want..."

The hosting style of talk show hosts is relatively bold.

Cheng Long smiled and said, "I do want to praise him, but not because he is my compatriot, but because of his talent. You have also seen how excellent Pacific Rim is. Besides, he is still so young. I am sure that he will become an international director in the future, the most famous one..."

"Wow, Jack Chen thinks so highly of you?"

The host made an exaggerated expression and Zhang Chen responded with a wry smile. He was not quite used to the hosting style here.

"Cheng Long said that you will become the most famous director. We have one here, so why not listen to his opinion..."

The host passed the topic on again, and as the camera switched, James Cameron appeared on the big screen.

The crowd immediately burst into laughter.

Cameron is the king of the world and the current world box office record holder, and he is very proud of it.

Cameron also had a smile on his face, and everyone was waiting for him to say something shocking. You know, Cameron is not a good-tempered person. Before becoming a director, this guy was a truck driver, the kind that drove Optimus Prime.

Unexpectedly, Cameron said: "Pacific Rim is a very good science fiction film. I saw a lot of fantastic ideas in it. Of course, it is definitely not as exciting as my Avatar, but I must admit that Zhang Chen is very good. He was born to be a director..."

Cameron's opinion of Zhang Chen is not low. Maybe it's from the heart, or maybe it's because he received money from Warner. Who cares? Anyway, his opinion is very important to Zhang Chen.

"Haha, the greatest actor and the greatest director think you are great. It seems that you are really a rising star..."

The host continued to act funny on stage to prevent the atmosphere from looking too formal.

"Oh, it seems our Quentin has been waiting impatiently..."

After a while, the host found a new target.

Quentin was even more anxious than him and grabbed the microphone: "Zhang, you know, I'm your fan. I love Taken so much. What's even more surprising to me is that you are not only good at making action movies, but also science fiction movies..."

Quentin really has no idol baggage at all.

Zhang Chen could only clasp his hands together and say thank you repeatedly.

The premiere was very successful. At the subsequent cocktail party, David Heyman took Zhang Chen aside and introduced him to many people.

Then Cheng Long introduced some of his friends to him.

Since their collaboration on "2012", Cheng Long has increasingly believed that Zhang Chen is a potential stock with unlimited future, and he is willing to share some resources with him.

Zhang Chen received a lot of business cards from actors, producers, and heads of unions or other film and television companies.

Zhang Chen’s previous works sold very well in North America, and this time, "Pacific Rim" has further proved his ability to handle large-scale productions.

Make good connections, and there may be opportunities for cooperation in the future.

It took a lot of effort to deal with these people. After a while, Fat Fan came towards him with a woman covered in jewels.

"This is Ms. Wendi Deng, she is the wife of Mr. Murdoch of News Corporation..." Fan Xiaopang's eyes were shining as he introduced her.

Of course Zhang Chen knew this person, he was an inspirational role model.

When the mistress got a green card and later married Murdoch, what's even more cruel is that she actually had artificial insemination in order to get a share of the property.

It's ruthless!

"Hello, Director Zhang Chen~"

"Hello, Miss Deng~"

"Ms. Deng is very interested in the entertainment industry. She often appears on the red carpet at major film festival award ceremonies..."

Fat Fan was introducing everything.

"Yes, Miss Fan and I hit it off right away, and we just talked a lot."

Wendi Deng smiled and said, "In addition, I am also very interested in the film industry. I am currently preparing a project and would like to invite Miss Fan to play the leading role..."

Zhang Chen guessed that she was talking about "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan".

It’s just strange that in the original time and space, she was targeting Li Lianhua, but in this time and space, it became Fan Xiaopang.

Could it be that she is destined to be named 'Bingbing'?

"That's great. It's Bingbing's honor..."

"I don't know if Director Zhang Chen has time. I would like to invite you to direct this movie."

This time Zhang Chen answered decisively: "Sorry, Ms. Deng, my schedule is full, and I usually only shoot movies produced by my own company..."

Wendi Deng was rejected, but she didn't get angry. She just smiled, said a few polite words and left.

Fatty Fan didn't leave with them: "Why, you don't think highly of her?"

Zhang Chen glanced at her and said, "Why, do you think it's good?"

"She is Murdoch's wife."

"She's just his wife, not Murdoch himself. Also, do you remember the career path I told you about? After Pacific Rim, you've made a name for yourself. I have no objection to you taking on Hollywood movies, but it'd better be one that suits your acting style. Otherwise, after a few failed movies, your path in Hollywood will be blocked. Don't blame me for not reminding you..."

Zhang Chen's words were a bit harsh because he was afraid that Fatty Fan wouldn't understand.

"Also, don't drink too much tonight, we still have to catch a flight back home."

Yes, after tonight’s premiere, the two will immediately return to China to attend the domestic premiere.

"Pacific Rim" is an international project operated by Hollywood, but China is its home turf and it must not be neglected.

Don't forget, he also hopes that "Pacific Rim" will break the record for large ships.

(End of this chapter)