Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim is one of the event movies of 2013. Giant human-piloted robots, called Jaegers, take on skyscraper-sized monsters from the deep, known as Kaiju, in a smash ’em bash ’em sci-fi epic.

Over the past week, posters and trading cards have been released for the five Jaegers built to defend Earth from annihilation. Russia, Japan, China and the US all make one… but the biggest and baddest of them all is created by our neighbours across the ditch, Australia. Just look at its specs and kill count! It’s that good, I’m sure us Kiwis had a hand in its construction – if you look really close I’m sure you’ll find a Team New Zealand logo somewhere.

But as you might expect, it’s the US Jaeger, Gypsy Danger, that plays the most important role in the film. With mankind on the verge of defeat, a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam, Sons of Arachy) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi, The Brother Bloom) take control of the seemingly obsolete model in order to defeat our enemy.

At Wondercon in Los Angeles over the weekend, del Toro unveiled exclusive footage from the film – which apparently included a Jaeger dragging an oil tanker down a street, then swinging it baseball-style at a Kaiju’s head. Bet that looked amazing.

Guillermo also revealed at Wondercon, that during production the team built several blocks of Hong Kong (in Canada of all places) to be destroyed, and that a four-storey Jaeger head was constructed to show real damage – so there will be a mixture of practical effects and CGI in the film

Pacific Rim stomps into Kiwi cinemas on 11 July.

Before then, look out for the graphic novel Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero in June that will provide the backstory to the film. And if you haven’t seen the insane trailer yet, check it out – here.

Pacific Rim USA PosterPacific Rim USA Trading Card

Pacific Rim Rus PosterPacific Rim Rus Trading Card

Pacific Rim Aus PosterPacific Rim Aus Trading Card

Pacific Rim Chn PosterPacific Rim Chn Trading Card

Pacific Rim Jap PosterPacific Rim Jap Trading Card

(Note: these are the US versions. They get the film 12 July… a day after us!)

Which Jaeger would you pilot?

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 and an untested trainee —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.

Directed by Guillermo del Toro the film stars Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Ron Perlman, Burn Gorman, and Charlie Day.

Pacific Rim opens 11 July, 2013

Sources: ComingSoon and FirstShowing