Chapter 87: Blazing the Whole Arena

The Tail-Standing Mouse looks not especially large in the sea, but when it crawls ashore and crushes a skyscraper with its two claws, every spectator is shocked.

This monster, so thrilling!

This doctor is such an idiot, got found by the monster!

The budget is burning up!

Is it coming over for a midnight snack?

On Hong Kong streets, people scramble wildly toward shelters, the doctor mingles among them, temporarily not caught by the monster.

In the sea, the Eureka Raider is in trouble.

The Ridgeback Turtle's electromagnetic pulse instantly destroys its power system, leaving the mech in total darkness.

The pilot and his son crawl out of the cockpit, taunting the monster with a signal gun.

Just as the Ridgeback Turtle roars, about to crush the two, a burst of bright light strikes.

The monster turns, and the Wanderer, suspended by a large helicopter, truly descends from the sky.

A thunderous boom echoes in the sky; the big brother makes a dazzling entrance!

Like a deity descending!

The turbine on its chest is so cool!

Wish there were related action figures!

As the audience murmurs, rousing music erupts, and the steel monster and alien monster on screen clash in a frenzy.

The moment they engage, the Wanderer gains the upper hand, easily tearing a scale off the Ridgeback Turtle and hurling it away.

The monster isn't simple either; it actually lifts the Wanderer, spins, and throws it away.

The colossal Wanderer is slammed onto an overpass, then onto the ground, rolling continuously, sparks and lightning trailing, sliding backward for a while before stopping.

Just that one shot makes the audience exclaim how satisfying it is.

Tang Murphy exclaims, "That's the effect it should have—Transformers could definitely use more shots like this!"

Regular viewers comment, "Damn, that's a hard landing!"

The most advanced weapons fighting the most primitive war!

Exciting!

The Ridgeback Turtle approaches slowly, stomps a truck to pieces, jogs briefly, then leaps into the air.

The Wanderer meets it, springs up, and with one punch slams the Ridgeback Turtle to the ground—simple, direct, and cool!

The ultimate Wanderer grabs the Ridgeback Turtle's head with one hand, delivering punch after punch.

Probably thinking the power insufficient, it fires an elbow rocket and slams a heavy fist down.

The Ridgeback Turtle, dazed, grabs a lighthouse as a weapon and hurls it at the Wanderer.

The latter bends, grabs two containers with each hand, throws a left punch, a right punch, double‑peak ear‑piercing, blinding the monster again.

After a bout of standoff and entanglement, the Wanderer unveils its plasma cannon; perhaps due to dual‑core power, it fires without long charge, bombarding the Ridgeback Turtle so its gut is ripped, an arm blasted off, and it crashes down with a thud.

When the protagonist is about to leave, he suddenly recalls past mistakes, delivering another "finishing strike" barrage.

The simple, thrilling, hardcore combat style, cleanly dispatching foes and learning the finishing‑strike trope, leaves the hall's audience entranced.

The later shots make ordinary viewers exclaim they're explosive; even the wildly imaginative Xu Lao Guai can't help praising Jiang Heng's brilliant ideas.

The towering, majestic Wanderer strides in to the soaring score, dragging a massive ship in its hands.

"Hey, this shot is killer!" Jiang Wen, who came to watch, can't help silently praising the concept, while noting the IMAX viewing experience is superb, the visuals far surpass any other theater he's seen.

On the big screen, the Wanderer uses the ship as a weapon, smashing the Tail-Standing Mouse repeatedly, leaving the creature helpless.

The Tail-Standing Mouse again whips its tail, snatches the ship and hurls it, simultaneously flicking its tail to launch the Wanderer, then runs off.

The Wanderer darts among Hong Kong's skyscrapers, calling a helicopter to help locate the Tail-Standing Mouse.

The creature soon bursts from a building to ambush, trying to press the Wanderer into another tower, but is battered by two pounding punches, sent tumbling.

One is the strongest steel behemoth, the other a super‑powerful alien monster; the two battle in a business district of towering office blocks, each punch landing solidly, causing buildings to collapse, windows to shatter, and electric sparks to flash.

Seeing it can't beat the Wanderer, the Tail-Standing Mouse spits strong acid again.

But the Wanderer had prepared, easily evading.

The Tail-Standing Mouse again wraps the Wanderer's arm with its tail, attempting to ambush the cockpit, only to be frozen solid by the protagonist's coolant.

Both signature moves are dodged by the Wanderer, and the audience assumes the creature will be easily taken down.

Surprisingly, the Tail-Standing Mouse flips, clamps onto the Wanderer's back, spreads its claws into enormous wings, and lifts the Wanderer into flight.

Whoa, this monster can turn into a pterosaur, that's awesome!

This damn thing is amphibious‑aerial‑terrestrial, way too over‑the‑top!

The monster first slams the Wanderer onto the roof hard twice, then carries it higher and higher, piercing the clouds into the thin upper atmosphere.

At this moment, oxygen is low, both plasma cannons are depleted, just as the male lead thinks there's no weapon left.

The heroine says, "No, there's still one."

The screen flashes, "Chain Sword equipped!"

The Wanderer's right hand suddenly pulls out a massive chain‑like object, which, when swung, bends, separates, and reassembles into a gleaming longsword.

Both the male and female leads swing their arms; the Wanderer's mech thrusts the longsword upward, severing one of the Tail-Standing Mouse's wings, and the Wanderer crashes down with a roar…

The Hong Kong battle can be called the most spectacular fight sequence in Pacific Rim 1.

By contrast, the film's ending—Wanderer's showdown with a Level‑5 monster, diving into a wormhole to toss bombs—is slightly less impressive.

Yet for the audience present, it remains tense and thrilling.

When the film ends and the lights rise, the audience erupts in applause.

Even Zhang Yimou, Jiang Wen, Xu Ke and the other directors praise the film's brilliance.

The movie, of course, isn't hailed for artistic merit; its plot is merely smooth and tight, but its special effects, details, cinematography, and compositional creativity are undeniably avant‑garde, even epoch‑making.

Even if placed in Haolaiwu, they would be top‑notch, exciting existences—let alone in 2001's China Neidi.

"Congratulations, Director Jiang, I never expected the film could turn out this well!" Zhang Weiping squeezed to the front and said sincerely.

He is somewhat arrogant and also looks down on ordinary film people.

But upon seeing a commercial film superior to Zhang Yimou's, and Jiang Heng, who is wealthier than him, his mood instantly brightens considerably.

Jiang Heng laughed, "Thank you, thank you!"

However, there were too many people at the scene congratulating him, and he had to shake hands and thank them—it was utterly chaotic.

Fortunately, the beautiful host Yao Miao took the stage in time, speaking gently into the microphone: "Ladies and gentlemen, respected guests, media friends, audience friends, please welcome the greatest contributor to this epoch‑making film, Director Jiang Heng, to answer a few questions."

(End of chapter)