Giant Robots

You Don’t Know Squat About Pacific Rim

You think you know all about Pacific Rim, the robots-stomping-monsters epic that opens tonight? You haven’t even scratched the surface. We went deep inside the making of Pacific Rim and talked to the stars and VFX crew, plus director Guillermo del Toro. And we learned the Pacific Rim secrets they didn’t include in the trailers.…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Jul 11

Why Pacific Rim Doesn’t Look Like Any Movie You’ve Ever Seen Before

Pacific Rim pays tribute to classic monster movies and films about massive mechanical gladiators — but at the same time, this movie looks totally different than anything you’ve ever seen. We talked exclusively to the head creature designer, the legendary Wayne Barlowe, and VFX supervisor John Knoll, to find out why. The thing that comes…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Jul 8

Pacific Rim concept art includes our best look at the giant monsters!

So much awesome. Some brand new Pacific Rim concept art appeared in Empire Magazine, and it gives us a way clearer look at the Kaiju that are terrorizing the world, to the point where we need to built mega-bots to fight for us. These scans from the brand new Empire appear over at Comic Book…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders May 28

Just Another Day in the Ultimate Killing Machine

It’s always a great feeling of satisfaction to watch the sun go down on your ultimate mobile death fortress, and know that you’ve put in a proper day of crushing and incinerating. With a spot of imploding, for good measure. Concept art by Manchu SF.

io9 Charlie Jane Anders May 17

Just when you thought Pacific Rim couldn’t look any more incredible…

…THIS trailer comes along. It shows way more of how the Kaiju came to Earth, and how they laid waste to our cities, and then how we created fricken great robots to stomp their asses. And that ocean combat scene? TAKE OUR MONEY.

Trailers Charlie Jane Anders May 16

The sweded Pacific Rim trailer is the last sweded trailer you’ll ever need to see

The sweding craze may have passed its expiration date, but it turns out there’s one last unspoiled masterpiece left —namely, this unbelievably brilliant Pacific Rim trailer from the sweded Avengers folks. Between the Jaeger’s elliptical machine controls to the “ocean” to that stunning final shot of the giant robot getting knocked over the bridge, I’d…

Movies Rob Bricken Mar 13

What’s your favorite giant robot or mecha design?

The Pacific Rim trailer is full of tantalizing glimpses of massive Kaiju trashing the world’s cityscapes. But the star of the trailer is probably the massive human-controlled mechas, which are shown off in their full battling glory. https://gizmodo.com/all-the-best-monster-punching-closeups-from-the-pacific-5968062 Which made us wonder: What’s your favorite design for a giant robot or mecha from before Pacific…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Dec 13

Crowdfund a giant rideable robot, geeky woodblock prints, and a new comic by Venom’s co-creator

Want to help fund a giant robot that can carry two passengers? How about a series of geeky, Japanese-style woodblocks, or a documentary about hiking the John Muir Trail? Or maybe you’d rather see an original comic from a writer who fleshed out both Venom and Iron Man? Check out these products and decide if…

io9 Lauren Davis Aug 5

Optimus Prime turns out to have impeccable comic timing

You don’t really think of Optimus Prime as being much of a jokester, but he’s actually quite funny in this exclusive clip from Saturday’s new episode of Transformers Prime. What’s the correct response when someone says, “You cannot harm me while Dark Energon flows through my veins?” Watch the brief clip, and find out. The…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders May 12

The giant robot rampage is here — wear it with pride!

A giant killer robot stalks the cityscape, in this awesome new T-shirt from designer Mingo Lamberti, with art by Wesley Van Eerden. It’s just part of Lamberti’s new “Sci-fi Range” of T-shirts with gorgeous art prints, including steampunk and apes. The shirts are available from A Store Is Good, and there are more details at…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Sep 27

The strategic implications of giant robots in space

How would we cope with giant robots in space? Adam Elkus, an analyst specializing in foreign policy and strategic studies, looks at the anime classic Mobile Suit Gundam for some answers. Besides being awesome, giant robots are completely and utterly implausible. They defy the laws of basic physics, mechanics, and engineering (I refer you to…

io9 Adam Elkus Aug 9

The Industrial Revolution has a giant robot problem

In the industrial wilds of Petaluma, California, a group of giant robot artists called Survival Research Labs (SRL) staged a smackdown with an enormous metal chicken and “Big Arm.” (Yeah, it’s really big.) Witness the robot rumble! SRL has been covertly (and not-so-covertly) staging its industrial mayhem robot smackdowns since the 1980s. In this series…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 26

Korea’s taekwon-do-practicing giant robot gets a Transformers-style makeover

The live-action movie of Korea’s animated classic Robot Taekwon V has been in the works forever, but it’s finally coming in 2011. And some new concept art shows that the taekwon-do-champion robot could look a lot like Michael Bay’s Transformers. It’s not surprising that this newly released Robot Taekwon V concept art looks Transformers-ish, since…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Jul 7

Behold The Car-Crushing Fury Of Robosaurus!

Robosaurus torches cars and tosses them to the ground with contempt, as he makes his debut in Sydney, Australia. This is not your average robot monster: It took 30 companies two years to create this 27-ton, five-storey robot. This robotic despot is 22 years old this year, and is a pop-culture icon, having been featured…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Mar 31

Korea’s Massive 364-Foot Taekwon V Statue Will Crush Puny Humans

Holy crap! So Japan builds giant Gundam and Testsujin statues (59 and 60-feet, respectively), now Korea is building this freakin’ huge Taekwon V (Voltar the Invincible) replica that will be more than twice the height of the Statue of Liberty. https://gizmodo.com/japan-building-another-gigantic-robot-tetsujin-5303735 Taekwon V will be the center-piece of Robot Land, a nearly $600 million dollar…

Tech News Danny Allen Sep 8

MechWarrior’s Giant War Machine Gets a Reboot

Just when you were craving more mega-bot destruction of vast urban wastelands, MechWarrior comes to save you. And it’s not your grandmother’s game – this is a brand-new reboot, with slicker graphics and more multiplayer strategy. Over at RobotViking, io9 pal Ed Grabianowski freaks out with glee: MechWarrior will return to PCs and show up…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jul 15

Raydeen’s Watchful Gaze Has Never Been So Bright

Raydeen, giant robot protector of the Lost Continent of Mu, can look out into your bedroom and offer protection from the Demon Empire, thanks to this new art print, for sale by Dano36 on Etsy. And T-shirts are coming!

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Jul 13

10 Best Robot Crotch Shots (And One Boob Shot)

With everybody talking about that up-skirt shot in Transformers where we see Devastator’s, um, wrecking balls, it’s time to consider the fine history of robot crotches in pop culture. We’ve got the ten best moments of robo-nethers in history. This list will give you a powerful injection of robot crotches, real and imaginary. Here you…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jun 26

Even Helen Thomas Would Behave When A Giant Robot Gives A Press Conference

A massive robot addresses the media, in this awesome new still from Astro Boy, the movie that might actually be too beautiful for its own good. Every still so far has looked desktop-pattern amazing. Update: Another image really is below. Here’s hoping that Astro Boy’s Pinnochio-bot odyssey lives up to the stills we’ve seen so…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Jun 19

Which Giant Robot Is the Greatest of Them All?

Soon Megatron will be conquering theaters, but would he really be the greatest robot if he didn’t have Megan Fox in his orbit? Take our poll and vote on which giant robot is truly the most smashing. Which giant robot is the greatest of them all?(poll) Top image by Alon Chou.

Movies Annalee Newitz Jun 17

You Don’t Know Squat About Pacific Rim

Why Pacific Rim Doesn’t Look Like Any Movie You’ve Ever Seen Before

Pacific Rim concept art includes our best look at the giant monsters!

Just Another Day in the Ultimate Killing Machine

Just when you thought Pacific Rim couldn’t look any more incredible…

The sweded Pacific Rim trailer is the last sweded trailer you’ll ever need to see

What’s your favorite giant robot or mecha design?

Crowdfund a giant rideable robot, geeky woodblock prints, and a new comic by Venom’s co-creator

Optimus Prime turns out to have impeccable comic timing

The giant robot rampage is here — wear it with pride!

The strategic implications of giant robots in space

The Industrial Revolution has a giant robot problem

Korea’s taekwon-do-practicing giant robot gets a Transformers-style makeover

Behold The Car-Crushing Fury Of Robosaurus!

Korea’s Massive 364-Foot Taekwon V Statue Will Crush Puny Humans

MechWarrior’s Giant War Machine Gets a Reboot

Raydeen’s Watchful Gaze Has Never Been So Bright

10 Best Robot Crotch Shots (And One Boob Shot)

Even Helen Thomas Would Behave When A Giant Robot Gives A Press Conference

Which Giant Robot Is the Greatest of Them All?

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