It’s not hard to get too excited about Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Pacific Rim’. Even at face value, the story of mechas vs. aliens is enough to perk the interest of fanboys and girls alike, but to find out there is also some real science going on? Apparently so as this new featurette from Warner Bros. not only introduces the concept of “drift space” but also shows off some new footage from the film as well.

Drift space was actually in the original script that was written by Travis Beacham (‘Clash of the Titans’) and was one of the concepts that del Toro decided to keep when he came in to helm the feature. In previous trailers, it’s been shown that it takes two people to pilot a Jaeger. Now it’s revealed that the two pilot concept is not that easily achieved. According to Charlie Hunnam who plays Raleigh Becket in the film, the two pilots need to form a psychic bond where each person’s memories, secrets and emotions are shared with the other in order to effectively control the Jaeger as one entity. This brings in a whole new level of storytelling to the film which allows a more human side to the usual mechanical robot films (like the ones directed by Michael Bay) seem to be lacking.

A sci-fi film that incorporates science? ‘Pacific Rim’ has definitely got me sold! Watch del Toro and the cast discuss the concept in the featurette below!

Synopsis:

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 on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes — a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi) — who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse.

‘Pacific Rim’ opens in theaters on July 12, 2013 and stars Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Ron Perlman, Diego Klattenhoff, Burn Gorman and Robert Kazinsky.