Rating:
4.5 out of 5
By Vic Holtreman
Short version: Yes, it lives up to the hype - Cloverfield is a blast.
Where does one start a review of a movie that has been the subject of so much attention and hype for months on end leading up to its release?
Bigger than the speculation about what the monster in the movie would look like, the hunting for clues on viral websites, what “Slusho” has to do with the movie - has been the question: After all the hype, will it be a great movie or a huge letdown?
Well I’m sorry to disappoint all the naysayers, but Cloverfield rocked.
Will it win an Oscar or Golden Globe? Heck no. Was it fun and exciting to sit through? Hell yes. This is what the ridiculously weak American version of Godzilla that came out a few years ago should have been.
The following review will be free of any major spoilers - to the point where I won’t even say whether the images that have been making the rounds lately are accurate portrayals of the monster or not. 
|
|
Cloverfield opens with a color bar pattern on the screen (which did elicit some unintentional laughs from the audience), but after a few seconds cuts to a very official and government-looking title stating:
“Multiple sightings of case designate ‘Cloverfield’ camera retrieved at incident site U.S. 447 previously known as “Central Park”
Yes, this was shown in the trailer, but as the movie is just starting it impresses upon you that this is not going to end well.
When it cuts from there to a hand held digital camera’s eye view of the interior of a very nice high rise apartment in New York City, it’s quite surprising (and I thought, did not make sense). Here we meet beauty Beth (Odette Yustman) and the guy behind the camera who we presume to be her boyfriend, Rob. Rob (played by Michael Stahl-David) is the fellow for whom the going away party is being thrown due to a new job as vice-president of some company in Japan.
From there it seems that whoever is in charge of the camcorder likes to pretty much record anything and everything as it follows people walking down the streets of New York City and into Rob’s apartment which is being prepared for a surprise going away party for him. We meet Rob’s brother Jason (Mike Vogel), who has been tasked by his girlfriend Lilly (Jessica Lucas) with recording “testimonials” from all the guests at the party. Jason is not pleased and manages to hand off the job to Rob’s best friend Hud, who at first grudgingly takes up the task. Eventually Hud starts to enjoy it as the night goes on and he gets a bit drunk while faithfully filming everything that’s going on.
We also meet a young woman named Marlena (played by Lizzy Kaplan), who Hud has his eye on but can’t seem to work up the courage (or charm) to talk to properly. By this time the audience is finally getting absorbed into the whole camcorder point of view thing, but it does take a while. The official government opening of the film doesn’t quite jive with all this preliminary material, but eventually it does get to the point where Hud wants to keep recording because “someone should see this.”
As we all know already, it’s during this party that all hell breaks loose and when it happens it’s extremely effective. I found myself thinking of Asian horror films, where up until the stuff hits the fan they can be incredibly mundane and almost boring, which then makes for a much more jarring effect when things veer off into the bizarre.
There’s a lot of humor in the film, mostly provided by cameraman Hud (played by unknown T.J. Miller who is not seen a lot but whose presence is constantly felt). One thing I found funny in particular was moments after the initial attack, when the head from the Statue of Liberty ends up in the middle of a Manhattan street, while some people are screaming and yelling “Oh My God!” a bunch of folks gather around the head in the middle of the chaos to calmly take pictures of it with their cell phones and digital cameras.
I didn’t expect the film to be funny at all, but the humor was sprinkled throughout the film very effectively, at time relieving the tension of what was happening on screen. Cloverfield also has a much larger scale than I expected considering the hand-held premise, showing citywide vistas and long shots of the creature. On the flip side, if you absolutely HATE the “jumpy camera” film style I have to say this film is not for you. Well, maybe if you sit in the very last row.
Now when I say “larger scale,” don’t go in expecting some mega-production… Although the effects are, well, effective, it’s more of an intimate film where we get to know the five friends and experience what happens through their eyes in real time.
Yes, 9/11 did come to mind and yes, it did make me a bit uneasy. But what I liked was that in a way it was almost cathartic (just stay with me here): As the people on the street that day didn’t know exactly what was going on despite the fact they were witnessing it first hand, the characters in the film (and the audience) experience similar confusion in the face of disaster of a different sort here.
Regarding the viral marketing of this film: In the end, it fits the final product perfectly. It really is a small film about a small group of friends with the occasional “big” scene here and there.
The creature is very cool and had kind of an H.P. Lovecraft look about it, and it delivers a few surprises. The characters were believable and well acted for this sort of film and that was extremely important, because if you didn’t care about them you had nothing (cough, AVP-R, cough).
So for all you movie reviewer haters out there that think I don’t cut sci-fi movies (AVP-R) or TV shows (The Sarah Connor Chronicles) enough slack, Cloverfield exemplifies what a Screen Rant review is all about: In the end does the movie entertain the audience without insulting their intelligence?
If the answer is yes, it gets a great review from me.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Learn more about Screen Rant or if you want more frequent updates follow us on Twitter. Thanks for visiting!
189 Comments
Thank you week you just made my day.
^^ Sorry, I mean Vic instead of week lol my hands are trembling with excitment.
Great review Vic, as usual….. . .
^
I knew this one was a hit!
Can’t wait til Friday when I can sneek out of work and go see this for 8 bucks before the lines. Heehee
Sounds really good - could it be this decade’s Jaws?
Glad to see it’s true. Read similar reviews on other sites, but when Vic says it is the real McCoy, I’m sold! Will have to see this one this weekend. Thanks Vic!
Another site gave an extremely good review of the movie. Don’t know if I can give the website URL here.
Vic
I can’t wait to see this! Is there a chance it will still bring back the giant monster movie genre (I hope!!)?
Is the WHOOOOOOOOOOOOLE film in shakey cam? Everything? Are there no clear shots of anything at all?
I hope the monster is right up there with King Kong,Godzilla,and Gorgo,guys.
I also hope I like this as much as you did,Vic!
Vic
Hey vic whon’t these put you in truble with Paramount pictures. I mean if they had in mind of showing you other movies before theyre relase, and now they whont because they are afraid that you will spoil it for everyone. Because for me is that once I know what happens in the movie 90% is that I whon’t see it.
Endri, I didn’t see any spoliers in Vics review. Can you clarify?
^
Everything there has been exposed in the trailers. Except maybe the scene where the citizens are taking pictures of the Liberty head.
And that certanly did NOT ruin the plot for me. If anything now I can plan my friday knowing I have to see this… . . .
^
I hope Paramount gives Vic MORE advanced screenings!!
^
Also if you hear something about a film and it sounds great your still not going to see it becasue the surprise is over??
Wow dude, don’t read any books on the afterlife then huh?
^
I’m not kissing ars here but Vics reviews are WAY better than ANY tv critic review.. IMO
Endri, what the heck did I spoil regarding the movie. There are multiple spoilerfic details that I went out of my way to leave out (and made the review harder to write).
I know some other reviews revealed spoiler details but I can assure you that my review does not.
Vic
bloody-disgusting.com said “it was a life changing experience the way Jurassic Park changed the way we see dinosaurs”.
Vic,
I’ve read somewhere that there is something after the credits; is this true?
Vic
Reading what Vic said to Enri, I must caution some of you that bloody-discusting.com may have given one small spoiler concerning the monster. Vic, could you go there and find out if this is a spoiler or not?
Yeah John, impressive is the way the effects look on a supposed handheld digi-cam.
That’s what blew alot of people away from the trailer.
^
Great another film I have to sit thru the credits for a cookie.
I guess we have to realise almost every film is doing this now.
Just hold off and go see the movie this weekend before you read too much more about it.
Vic
Yea that’s totally what I’m doing.
Going first thing tomarrow morn.
(No lines).
^
Hopfully I have good news about the trek trailer as well.
Drat! Sorry about that guys. Hopefully no one else read that review.
Thanks Vic. I might give it a chance afterall…
Yo calm down stop being so defensive. I onle read some parts of the review I didn’t read the whole thing because I thought it was going to be full of spoilers. But I will see the movie when it comes out.
“I’m not kissing ars here but Vics reviews are WAY better than ANY tv critic review..”
STEVE when the hell did I ever say that!!!
If the reviews war not good I wouldn’t even bother visiting these site every day!
Oh my bad I meant to say “When did I say that they weren’t.”
Hey Endri my comments were a response to this quote in your post:
^
“Because for me is that once I know what happens in the movie 90% is that I whont see it”.
^
What am I missing?
Also, yeah Endri I get defensive at times….
Next….
No offense taken on my part.
Glad to have you all here!
Vic
I totally agree. This movie rocked! I love the realistic feel that the jumpy cameras gave me. I felt like I was running from that hideous monster with the characters. It was an appropriate length (any longer and I may have puked either from motion sickness or the realism). I highly recommend this movie to anyone who loves a good monster flick!
SPOILER!!!!!!
Did anyone else notice the sphere that fell into the water in the background of the last scene when Rob and Beth are on the ferris wheel? It’s very quick and I actually doubt that I saw it because the people I was with didn’t see it. It appears when the camera is facing the water just before we see Rob and Beth. I guess that’s Matt Reeves giving us a hint to where this freaky thing came from.
• A Great Concept Wasted!!!… A great idea to tell the story from the perspective of citizens… Not Scientists….. Not News Reporters…. And Not Some Military General….. If even some of the film was shot in conventional format, if just to give you a steady view of the creature or even the parasites, it would have satisfied me, and most monster movie die-hards… The monster was original; I must give the design team their kudos for their job. It was good to see that the monster didn’t breathe fire, or have laser eyes, and so forth… Also, as to where the creature came from???… In the final scene when the two love-birds / best-friends, are at Coney Island in the Ferris wheel car, as Rob turns on the camera, if you look in the background, from the top right hand side of the screen what appears to be a meteor or object falls from the sky and splashes into the water in the distance. You can clearly see it… I asked the guy sitting next to me in the theater if he saw it but he missed it… Look for it and you won’t…. Maybe I’m old fashioned, and traditional, but I’ve got a Love / Hate thing going on with this film right now…. Great Concept, great perspective… Just not steady enough for me!!!… The hand-held camera action in its entirety hurts the film in my opinion…..
I didn’t get a chance to catch the 12am showing of “Cloverfield” last night, but am anticipating to see it tonight. I’ve been looking up perhaps anything and everything on the film since I’ve heard of it .. I definitely cannot wait.
Found an interesting article/clip montage on Maxim on “Cloverfield” and other movies that use the symbolic Statue of Liberty as a symbol of destruction of America.. and if you think about it, it really is pretty interesting.
http://www.maxim.com/Entertainment/MoviesThatMangletheStatueofLiberty/slideshow/673.aspx?src=dx18:mtd
This was not a movie, it was an experience. If you allowed the movie to suck you in…to become Hud, to be the person behind the camera, it will leave you shaken. From the opening start (of complete quiet and darkness) the movie sets the stage, and keeps you slightly off kilter. Go see it. If you let it, and only if you let it, it will take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions.
By the way, so glad someone else saw something enter the water. I saw the same thing! The monster must have come to earth off the shore of Coney Island on 27 Apr. What a great plot closer! Scott
i saw the thing shoot into the water too! i was with my boyfriend and he didn’t see it but i KNOW i saw it!
This is apparently what was played at the end of the credits.
http://cloverfieldmessage.ytmnd.com/
SPOILER!!!
Anyone else skeptical about the military being so organized, so quickly–esp. the drastic measures for bite victims?
I want a prequel!
I hope the marketing for this movie pays off in the mainstream. I’ve been telling friends about it for a week or two and they ALL respond the same: “Cloverfield? What’s that? I’ve never heard of it.”
When I tell them “It’s the one where something clobbers the head of the Statue of Liberty into the street” most of them say “Ohhhh….that one!” I hope no one confuses the title and goes to see, say, 27 Dresses by mistake.
I saw the thing hit the water!! i saw it and no one else did i was like frekaing out!
Great experience!!!
^
The shakey camera did bother me about 30 min when there on the bridge.
^
I had to look away because I was feeling a bit ill.
I felt they could have steadied the camera better and still made it believable.
^^
At first I didn’t care about these characters there conversations were 12th grade but then I started to realise that I actually believed these dorks were having a dorky conversation about girls. From then on Hud takes over. He sounded like Napolian Dynamite, he’s the camera man and he’s also you along for the ride.
(HUD , is also an acronim for Heads Up Display). I thought that was a nice touch and this film had more than one nod to Aliens, GodZilla and War of the Worlds. Anyway…
Without giving away anything to big, it was funny at one point Hud is looking at his friends accross the street and there all pointing the other direction, he’s so stunned ther all yelling at him to point the camera that way and it takes him a while. (Had to be there)..
Scenes like that were very well done. I came away thinking “wow they really made that film work, it was like watching a well written caotic tornado…
And it had a great twist with the pre-recorded stuff that precluded the party that was very well planned as you see in the final scene.
^
I’m so bummed I didn’t see that meator crash at the end. I kinda remembered reading that and then right at that part it went by too fast I must have missed it. (What did it look like?) and what a great idea.
^
The sound at the end was kinda like and evp or echo from an electronic device. There was alot of layers of sound in this film at one time your hearing 15 different people freaking out and half of them were military.
^
The movie also had a dark allmost Hitchcock ending that left me with chills. 9+ on my scale!
^
I wonder if they’ll do a prequel or a sequel??
I can’t beilieve all of these positive reviews for Cloverfield. I just saw cloverfield and never felt so dissapointed and moved to write a review. This is my first review ever and it’s sad to say that it’s a negative one. This was one of the worst movies I have ever seen and I am generally a positive and optimistic person. I am a huge movie buff and watch at least 5 movies a week. The plot went something like this…beginning, beginning…middle….motion sickness…. more motion sickness…build up and NOTHING.
The charachters were obnoxious and their “mission” was totally unnatural in the face of certain death. Cloverfield in a snapshot is: imagine being in a room where a ton of action is, but having blinders on, so no matter how much you want to see the action you are forced to look at a ground shot or sneaker where the stupid “handheld camera” dropped. Very frustrating to say the least.
Movies are about feeling like you are part of the moment… visual and audio aids to enrich the idea of actually being their. Cloverfield fails to deliver the visual aspect of this concept. The constant shaking of the screen definitely hurt the movie. I know it made me feel sick and cheated. It would have been a more impressive movie if the camera focused on the monster the whole time and nothing else. It was a beautiful monster. Too bad you only get one clear shot of it.
I would love to get the hour and half of my life back that I wasted on watching this movie. Just truly horrible. For your own sanity do not watch this huge dissapointment of a movie.
It was a bit too shakey I’ll admit Sara Mils but Hud also had some great shots too.
^
I think the handheld effect could have been more of a steadycam effect and nobody watching would have been like “hey that’s a steady cam”. It did make me quesy at times but the characters and there acting were way better than I’ve seen in alot of horror films latly…
^
And hey there was a story,.. These kids were in such shock that they were living off adrenilin and it was compelling at least for me.
^
^
Question for ya Sara, what did you think of the film Zodiac?
This movie was a complete waste of money! I was highly disappointed! I was looking forward to seeing it so bad too. It was almost exactly like the Blair Witch Project only in New York City with some alien creature. Some dumbass runs around with a camera screaming the whole time and it gives you a headache! At the end of the movie EVERYONE was complaining, I can honestly say I do not think one person in the whole theater enjoyed this movie! It was a major disappointment!
I thought this movie was truely amazing. I saw the midnight show and me and all my friends agree it was what we hoped for. Everyone writing negative views are not quite seeing the movie what it is for. It is not about the monster, it is not about saving the world. EVERY other monster movie ever created has the main characters the ones who figure out how to stop it and save humanity and everyone is happy the end. Cloverfield is about regular people trying to survive. They have their own problems and the monster is just one of them. You see the movie through their eyes and you learn only what they do. The concept was amazing and so original. 10/10 easily
Yeah there were some in the theatre that didn’t like it. But I’ve never seen so many watching the credits at the end for a soundbite.
^
Clearly alot of people read these posts on the web.
I’m sticking my neck out there but I’m projecting 50 mill weekend for Cloverfield…..and over 200 mil domestic.
:)•••
Honestly… You can’t compare this movie to The Blair Witch Project. They’re nothing alike except for the filming strategy with unsteady cameras. Blair is all about ghosts and haunted houses and people crying into the camera with snot dripping down their nose. Cloverfield is about something so real (I was just in New York and it was startling to see everything I recognized just topple over) that it really did leave me shaken. I was up until 3:30am after seeing the movie just wondering what I would do in a situation like that.
Cloverfield is the sh*t!
Morgan: There was a scene with snot running out a nose.
Also, In case you went out for popcorn after the looong party scene and had to wait in line for about 15 minutes, this is what you missed:
Hud: Rob!!! Huff, puff! Rob!!! Huff, puff! Rob! Rob! Rob! Rob! Rob!!! Huff, puff! Rob! Rob! Rob! Rob! Rob! Rob!!! Huff, puff! Rob! Rob, wait up! Rob! Rob! Rob! Rob!!! Huff, puff, stumble! Rob! Rob! Rob, hold on! Rob! Rob! Rob! Rob!!! Huff, puff! Rob! Rob! Rob! Hurry up, Rob! Rob! Rob!
What I liked was the realistic point of view of the people on the ground. The intent was to make you experience it as if you were there in the first person instead of the usual third person point of view we have when watching a movie.
If you were actually going through the situation it would be just as chaotic as portrayed and you wouldn’t spend all your time admiring the creature.
I do appreciate and welcome honest and well written opposing points of view here at Screen Rant so thank you for sharing your thoughts, Sara!
Vic
About the thing falling into the water–I have a fantasy that it’s the good guys coming to reign the beast in. (I admit Transformers spurred this thought.) I’m imposing comic book values onto a mature story, but I imagine a sequel that shows the monster AND some other giant (or team) fighting.
I hope they don’t make a sequel/prequel. Just leave it as is. It’s a great film and I don’t need more.
definitely saw something hitting the water in that last scene. thought it was my imagination..kind of gave closure as to where that thing came from
You are all beautiful people. Thank you for accepting my viewpoint. I accept yours as well. I understand the originality of the shooting perspective, but I think you want that experience when you are playing video games, which is what the movie felt like, not in the movie theater. There’s definitely a time and place for that and a market, but maybe it wasn’t the best option for an introductory to a story presented in movie format. I really wanted it to be great, but it just wasn’t for me.
Sara out…
P.S. I didn’t see Zodiac, so I can’t say my thoughts on that film.
Now that I’ve seen it, I’m wondering what the DVD features will be. Morgan, how about deleted scenes filling in “prequel” or “sequel” information?
Or videotapes from other sources not as extensive.
And–this is a must–a 3-D animated view of the creature.
No problem. I strive to make this a friendly place to post. I hope you visit again.
Vic
>>incident site U.S. 447 previously known as “Central Park”<
Do you think they nuked the monster in the end?
No they didn’t nuke it, IMO. They prob used something like MOAB; Mother of all Bombs. 10 ton sucker. OR just some more serious carpet bombing. I think this only because with a nuclear strike, that camera would have been toast and pretty much everything else. Even though its a drastic measure to take, I believe they tried something else first.
And for the ones talking about the object falling into the ocean. Me and the peeps at unFiction figured it was the Tagruato satilite that feel from orbit and was reported to hit somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. (Wont know what I’m referring to unless you are apart of the ARG, or atleast read up on it.)
And with the recording, play it backwards and it clearly says…”It’s still alive” :O Awesomeness.
I don’t think they nuked it either, Zachary, but they obviously leveled Manhattan because the incident site was “previously known as Central Park.”
Jim, I think I’d rather see a sequel. It’d be eerie but cool to see Mahattan completely leveled and the monster attacking LA or something, lol.
I agree Morgan. Manhattan in the world of CloverField is no more. And prob some other surronding areas. Even though they killed the monster. I’m sure they are dozens of parasites running around infecting people.
A sequel would be nice. Just like you said Morgan, plus I’d like to see JJ tie up some loose ends on the ARG front.
But I thought the monster was still alive? =(
I think it is dead, only because I believe there is more than one. IMO. Ment to say “Even if they killed the monster”
Sorry
Personally I don’t believe the monster is dead.
Regarding a sequel, I’ll be putting up an article about that soon.
Vic
If it is ok with Vic, this is the thread about the message at the end and a link the site. If its not cool, get rid of it please.
http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23700
Vic
Hahaha
This just in! The parent company of Tagruato is the Dharma Group.
Zachary, yea a nuke would have destroyed the camera I agree,,, a MOAB bomb if dropped directly over this creature would have killed it for sure…unless it dosnt breath air.
^
Most Satilites burn up in the atmosphere, and also I don’t see the relavance..?
^
Also how did you play the message backwards and why wasn’t it forwards.
If it would have said at the end “its not dead” I think the crowd would have loved it. But instead they all just said what? and bailed.
^
If they do a sequel it woulk be cool to see Lilly reprise her role and also please JJ try to steady that camera just a little bit better.
Sara,
While I respect your opinion, I’d just suggest not trying to discourage people from seeing this movie. If I had taken your advice, I would have missed out on one of the most thrilling experiences I’ve had at the theater in many years, probably since seeing Jurassic Park.
Vic is right when he says that this movie will divide audiences - sharply. This is simply one of those movies you have to see before deciding on.
Steve, the URL link plays forward and reverse.
Vic, has that audio been authenticated? It sure came out quickly.
The message “It’s still alive” seems unnecessary since there are little creatures apparently all over the city. We don’t know if they are junior monsters, or even prey that lured the monster in the first place. (Big whales survive on little plankton). But they are somehow related.
We also don’t know what happened off-camera. Did the monster shrug off any ordinances that were dropped? Did it return to the ocean?
JerseyCajun, Sara had some good points and her post was well written.
^
Her reviews had little effect on me seeing the film I’m surprised you debated on it…
^
Cloverfield made 16 mill on friday.
This one if it keeps up will break over 48 mill easy this weekend.
Everyone I talked to about the shakycam said they didn’t care they were going anyway..
^
Also Jerseycajun, what did you think of NY gettting wasted? Were alot of the landmarks acurate?
^
I was trying to figure out where the helecopter crashed at the end.it looked like Central Park but Central park is in Manhatten… So anyone out there know that area?
The URL played it backwards.
Huh, JJ sure is leaving a bread trail for us to follow online.
^
I’m sure if this goes over 200 mil a sequel will happen.
I know the parasites couldn’t all be dead if there tunneling down in the subway, but I hope if they do a sequel we don’t centralise on them.
I’m sure that JJ is going to leave Star Trek open as well for a sequel and the film will have all kinds of clues and easter eggs.
^
Bring on the Cloverfield dvd!!!
^
Can’t wait I’ll have control of the camera that way !!
^
I’ll be freeze framing alot.
^
I would also like to see how many handhelds were actuall used in the film. To me they prob had 5 cameramen and then edited it all together while incorporating Huds voiceover.
Should be a huge dvd release as well.
CONTAINS SPOILER!!!
Steve, I’m pretty sure the helicopter crashed in Central Park (I was so surprised they survived!). Central Park is in the heart of Manhattan and according to Wikipedia is 843 acres or so with several large open fields. I don’t live in Manhattan, but I was just there in November and spent half a day walking around Central Park. It’s huge!
Yea Morgan I think your right BUT,
^
^
Spoilers
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
Warning last chance MAJOR. Spoilers ahead….!!!
^
^
^
^
^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ¥
If recall, the camera was knocked on the ground while they were dragging Rob out of the crashed copter. Ok, the POV on the camera was slightly angled and you could see Jets flying into the smoking remains of lower manhatten (the battery) its called.
^
Well Central Park is located north of the Battery in Mahhatten NYNY.
The coptor looked to me like it crashed way south west and on a totally different island.
^
(IMO).
I was under the impression the creature bailed out of Manhatten and back in the water to avoid the carpet bombing.
Prob took it 20 min to get to this other island and that was also right around the time our heros were coming too..?
What am I missing here HOW can that be Central park?
And why would they have a sattilite crash instead of the creature..
Can’t be a sattitlie
I’m hoping we can get a image of that last clip somehow and freeze it. ??
Jesus, guys when unFiction stops being slow. (Every since the movie came out there is been SO MUCH traffic. Like 250 lurkers just in the CloverField area)
I will try to post links to maybe help you understand some things alittle better. It’s the least I can do, I suck at explaining things. So why not put some links up. Just give me a sec.
Has anyone been to 1-18-08.com some puuurdy interesting photos.
For those of you wondering about the last scene, there is definitely something that falls and hits the water in the right side of the last scene where the camera looks out over the water at Coney island. I def think this is J.J. Abrams wants everyone to see and talk about
Thanks Zac, I mean I know its kinda obviouse that the camera was found in what’s left of CP but the view looked askew..
^
Photos, links info, “now that’s what I’m talkin bout”
To quote HUD,,
I am a fan of this movie and i just wanted to say that i think the monster comes out of the water because at the last scene we see something crash into the and at the party when after the crash when they are all watching the news they show a sinking oil shiping hinting that the monster came out of the water and then took the head of the statue of liberty
Steve,
Not dissing Sara’s review. This film isn’t for everyone, I admit. I just feel that telling someone not to see this movie when the audience is so sharply and clearly divided might turn some people who would love to see something like this on the big screen away from it. I find that its a common statement among those who didn’t like it.
As for New York, the landmarks were well represented in my opinion. The bridge they take cover under right before the film ends is exactly of the kind found in the park. I spotted the Chrystler building in there too as one of the attacked buildings, and the destruction of the Brooklyn bridge made me think it wouldn’t look any differently if they destroyed it for real.
I can not believe that anyone could find this movie in the least bit enjoyable. This looked like a badly made indi film gone worse. The storyline is disjointed at best and non-existent at worst when taken from the point of view of the small group of characters who somehow manged to, for the most part, survive until the end. If his is the future of the silver screen, count me out. I would have rather stayed home with a good book.
RJ,
I don’t believe the purpose of the film was to tell a coherent story, just as the average Joe’s home movies aren’t meant to tell a coherent story. It’s purpose was to record an experience. What separates this “found” home movie from the average Joe’s is that it’s capturing an event that’s larger than life and impacts society on a huge scale. It’s more about capturing what its like to experience a real life monster invasion than it is trying to narrate a tale, much as our home movies aren’t made to tell a narrative, but to recall an event. Loosely, it does tell a nominal story of a rescue and two people who are brought - through extraordinary circumstances - to recognize what’s really important to them - but its peripheral to the experience itself.
I doubt this feature represents the future of cinema as knock offs would be virtually guaranteed to fail because the conceits of the movie only work here due to a specific combination of elements. As much destruction occurred in “Transformers”, the hand held approach and less structured story would not help and only hurt that film, as it would most other films.
Too bad I haven’t been able to see this yet.
I’ll gladly read SPOILERS tho!!!!
And I agree,Vic’s reviews,IMO,generally are good.
Vic
No one should waste their time, money and effort to go see this movie… What the hell is all this shaky camera movement… I must say that its really nice to be kind off creative but come on this is what my television production teacher taught me on the second day of class… We all noe that this is not sooooooo much of a big budget film but in looking at it, where is the continuality not there… whats the plot where is the climax did anyone not learn anything in screen play writing or English class. Bloody hell if you are to get any type off award this is what it will be… And the worst movie of the year isssssssssssssssssssss… Cloverfield and guess what before y’all even get up there to receive that award y’all will be booooooooooooooooooooed just like it was boooooooooed at the theater and I will personally say get of the stage or platform what ever it is… As a youth filmmaker and Media Arts Major I regret paying $11.25 to go see… I should have just sat at the merry comfort of my house and either looked at it online or bought the DVD bootleg… this sadly to say should have never been made…
John, what did you think of the Star Trek trailer and would Cloverfield effect you seeing Star Trek ?
John,
Real people in real disaster situations do not stop to think how their actions and words conform to what you learn in a screenplay writing class. Watch footage of people in the street reacting to the events of 9/11 and you’ll find that what they say isn’t all that different from what the cast of Cloverfield is given to say. It’s rough and raw because this is supposed to be a movie that documents an event more than it tells a specific story.
What’s great about the film is that in spite of the uninspiring dialog and the shakey cam work, still manages to capture just enough visual information to keep the movie taut and the audience on edge.
I consider my money well spent, and I’ll repeat my objection to anyone suggesting that their money would be wasted on this movie, considering a large number of people have come away feeling very entertained by the results. And the movie never outstayed its welcome. It came, it scared the crap out of me, and it left in a timely fashion.
I can understand how this movie isn’t for everyone, but this is also a movie you have to see in order to decide if its for you or not, which is why I would recommend people check out the matinee first.
Steve, I think I need to see this movie again just to pay close attention to anything I may have missed.
SPOILERS!!!
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
Such as, the scene where they take Marlene away into that tent because she got a bite. What on earth happened in there? And I’d like to pay closer attention (if it’s possible) to the helicopter crash scene. Did anyone else feel like they were falling out of the sky with them? And I really want to see that uberawesome monster again. Man, this movie was fantastic! Steve, do you think Lily survived? Or perhaps the monster smashed all the helicopters?
So many questions!! lol
END SPOILERS
^
^
^
I wish the haters would stop discouraging people from seeing this movie. Everyone should give it a shot and make their own opinion of it. I respect you all!!
Wow Vic, this must be the most traffic you’ve ever had on one of your boards!
And I can understand how it would take such a high profile and divisive movie like this one to generate it!
Also, Zachary, do you have any background on the photos? Although extremely cool, what are they from? I can tell some are characters, but are those chunks of flesh on the shore from the monster? The image of the “nuking” is wicked!
LOL! And when you stay long enough at that site it ROARS!!!
I thought the dialog was perfect, that was one thing that it never seemed scripted yet you know it was.
^
I didn’t here the same scared “holy sh#t” or even “oh my god” over and over. It kept changing and it was totally believable. I thought Robs final words were VERY realistic and real….
Yea Morgan I’m with ya Bro, loved this film. I’m not to worried about reviews preventing people from seeing it. Allready word of mouth is on the street that some folks are getting naucious from the experince. I think this will actually help the film.
^
^
Spoliers. Ahead
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
Ok I’m warining you!
^
^
^
^
^
Yeah Marlene died quickly Morgan, she basically popped,,,I’m guessisng a full contact bite results in some type of blood reaction and its fatal….
^
Lily I don’t know if she made it but she was very convincing and attractive.
The helecopter crash scene was sooo realistic I was blown away…
^
We all agree (I’m pretty sure) that they crashed in Central Park I just want to see that again….
I’m deffinitly picking this up on dvd when its realesed.
I welcome the comments disagreeing with my review as long as we keep it civil.
Vic
This film deffinitly is stirring up controversy.
^
I love it!!
Steve,
I guess what I’m trying to say is that the dialog was perfect for being imperfect, and unpolished, if that makes sense.
Yeah, it’s stirring up controversy, but not the kind I imagined it would. I figured the 9/11 comparisons would be the source, not the divisiveness over how good the film was.
Remember how film makers scrambled after 9/11 to quickly edit their films so as not to show the twin towers, or even cancel films with explosions involving buildings for fear of bringing that day to mind? Here the parallels are much more obvious with that day, yet that’s not what people are arguing over.
Yes Jerseycajun, I totally agree with you the dialog was perfectly written imperfectly with a touch of nervious humor thrown in from Hud, simply Brilliant!!!!!
^
Yea the 911 similarites were there especally the buildings that were leaning up against each other when they went to rescue Robs girlfriend (I thought that was very symboic).
One thing I was thinking during that shot at the end, boy if the Twin Towers didn’t get destroyed on 911 they sure would have in this film.
^
Without insulting anyone concerning 911, I have to say this event was 20 times more horrific then 911. Of course if it would have been real obviously.
^
Trivia: in the pilot episode of the Spinoff X-Files show “The lone Gunman” a plane is almost flown into the towers. This episode of course was on a few months before 911 yet it was errie.
^
One thing I love about the orginal “Escape from NY” is that the Twin Towers will allways live on in that film………
I believe the biggest negative critique is the picture shakeyness.
It even made me a little quesy during that bridge scene.
But then something happened to one of the character and I missed it. So I had to force my way thru because it was just that compelling that you coundt take your eyes off the screen.
All this and there
wasn’t even a musical score.
The acting was so fricken good you believed it was real.
^
I think were going to see these actors in more movies soon because if they can do that they, then a regular film should be easy for them.
^
There was some music during the credits and it was kinda funny because it ripped off Godzilla and a couple other famouse monster films. It was obviously a injoke.
Friend of mine called me earlier tonight and said that Cloverfield was complety sold out til tomarrow night …. Sheesh!
I hope the profits from Cloverfield help Abhrams if he needs addtional funds on Star Trek!
^
Re: The photos at
http://www.1-18-08.com/
Did you see what happens if you grab a picture with your mouse and “shake it”? The thread about the marketing history told me a lot. I wasn’t aware of the ARG or any of that stuff.
Abrams reminds me of when the Beatles played around with fans by planting messages about Paul McCartney’s supposed death (and replacement by a lookalike).
I thought the movie was simply brilliant. Yes, it did take me a few moments to get acclimated to the shakiness, but it lent itself to the “authenticity” of the film. I felt like I was there with them. I also think that not being able to see some things, or the big picture in general, made the danger and horror all the more palpable. That it was the something-you-didn’t-see which was going to get you. At the end of the movie, I was still glued to my seat, spent from the experience. Good thing, too, or I would have missed the “little something extra.”
Spoiler:
I wasn’t sure what I’d heard at the end but got the impression that it was “It’s still alive.” I even commented about that to my buddy, who wasn’t able to make out anything. My son saw it today and all he was able to discern was breathing.
I also saw the sphere splash into the water but, like a dope, didn’t put two and two together.
Lastly, I was thinking about the movie for several hours after I’d seen it, and it occurred to me that the military response was suspiciously swift with an extreme amount of force brought to bear.
SPOILER!!!
[]
[]
I, too, missed whatever happened to the brother on the bridge.
Did M. explode? Wasn’t sure of that, or if a soldier shot her. My impression is that after being bit, a person either gives “birth” to, or becomes a Replicator, or Pitch Black creature, or Starship Trooper bug–sorry, these CGI critters all look the same to me.
SPOILER!!!!!
I’m warning you!!!!
Here it is:
The trailer and movie and clip all say the camera was found in central park, so that’s where it ended.
DONE!
heath
Rene, I liked your review…
^
One thing on the Military getting there so fast, if they were tracking the sphere object as they would have been, they could have deployed troops in adavnce.
^
The one thing that I found out of place a little was how concerned they were for civilains.
They were clearly in a war state and usually when that occurs the military are too preoccupied to rescue people. It hardly mattered anyway It was so compelling…
Hey Jim!
Spoliers…
^
^
^
^
^
Well we know Robs brother was killed by the tail of this “thing” hitting the bridge but I was closing my eyes during that very second because that was when the motion sicknes was hittin me hard. Haha.
^
also on Marlene (I think that was here name) she deffinitly exploded and I didn’t see a creature or hear gunshots. I think they were isolating her so that her contamenated blood wouldnt get all over the room.
^
Is this hardcore or what,
Totaly agree with ya Heath! But the area where they crashed was near the ocean.
I’ve been to Manhatten and Central Park is deep in the center of Manhatten and you cannot see the waterfront like it was shown in the film. IMO they should have crashed at Coney Island. That would have fit in better.
^
Maybe this issue will get an answer but for know its unsolved (IMO).
But this little point didn’t ruin anything for me.
Totaly agree with ya Heath! But the area where they crashed was near the ocean.
I’ve been to Manhatten and Central Park is deep in the center of Manhatten and you cannot see the waterfront like it was shown in the film. IMO they should have crashed at Coney Island. That would have fit in better.
^
Maybe this issue will get an answer but for know its unsolved (IMO).
But this little point didn’t ruin anything for me.
Thanks, Steve.
Spoilers…
^
^
^
There’s a body being carted out of the care area that seemed to foreshadow M’s fate. It looked like John Hurt after his spaghetti dinner in Alien. That may also have explained why the military was so concerned for the citizenry. If bitten people became hosts, you’d be wise to evacuate as many potential hosts as possible.
To me, this is the mark of a good movie. Something that isn’t dumbed down and completely spelled out for me. I’m left to draw my own conclusions and speculations.
Oh yeah good points Rene I didn’t think about that!
I think your right.
SPOILERS!!!
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
I saw what happened to Jason on the bridge. One of the bridge’s towers falls on top of him. My friend thought it was the tentacle of the monster, but it looked like collapsing bricks/cement to me. Rene, I also think the parasites were reproducing by biting humans and that one exploded out of Marlene when they were in the tent (much like Alien or its satirical sister Space Balls). Thus, the military would be concerned about civilians and keeping the monster from multiplying. I’ve decided I’m definitely going to see this movie again sometime this week. I’m such a nerd! lol
Whew! One of my buddies wanted to sit towards the back. If I had insisted on sitting up front, by a rail where I can prop up my feet, I might be one of the haters.
Any haters still lurking? Did your closeness spoil the fun for you?
VAGUE SPOILER
Does this mean anything? I know the “origin” of the company, but is this part a metaphor?
>>Everyone who tastes a SLUSHO! tastes Noriko’s dream, and becomes a small whale like Noriko, because you want to drink huge amounts of SLUSHO!<
The big whale/small whale thing caught my attention, since there are bigs and smalls in the movie.
Is there a link between Slusho, drinking Slusho, “becoming” something, etc.?
Just saw it in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia and can tell you that this was without doubt the worst film I have ever watched. Its the first time that someones hand phone was ringing and no one complained because it distracted them from the film. This film was a complete con and not worth the money or time spent on it. I think the early reviews were just a con put out to make you think it was worth seeing. Several people got seasick and complained to the manager as there was no warning about the effects of this hanheld movie crap
SPOILERS!
Bridge: It looked like two tentacles, and when we got our first full view of it, I knew it was the tail and I think the tail splits.
I wonder if the seabed nectar found in SLUSHO! created the monster?
heath
I can assure you that my review was no “con.” It accurately reflects my opinion of the movie. I certainly don’t blame you for disliking it. I knew it would be a love it or hate it type of movie when it was over.
I would actually be curious about what your opinion is on other movies I’ve reviewed to see if this is a one-time disagreement.
Vic
Why do people believe that because they dislike a movie that critics like, that they must have been tricked in order to get butts into seats?
I’ll be the first to confess I sometimes don’t understand how a majority of critics and other film goers enjoy a film I find distasteful (Transformers springs to mind) but I don’t for a moment subscribe to the idea that critics were out to trick me.
On ABC’s top of the hour radio news, they mentioned Cloverfield’s success at the box office. They described it as “A Blair Witch-like science fiction movie.” (I would have said monster movie, but fine.)
They also said that some people have complained of “motion sickness.” How to prevent that, they asked. Then they said doctors advise people with a propensity toward this, to take a motion sickness pill before seeing the movie. This claim seems absurd to me, unless they sat in the Latecoming Losers Section. I didn’t like the jittercam, but it never made me the least bit nauseous–just confused.
WHY IS IT CALLED CLOVERFIELD? That’s not even a Magic Eight Ball answer.
Hey Jim, I believe the reason its called Cloverfield is because this film fell into the hands of the Military.
^
They like to choose one word terms for their joint opperations.
^
Clover: could be the alien life form
Field: could be Manhatten.
^
Just my guess
^
Its sounds better than “operation Shock and aw Sh*t”.
Be funny to see JJ Abhrams indorse a handheld Digital camera in the coming days.
^
Also JJ did say in an interview that some people might want to take “Dramamine” before the movie.
One thing I’m thinking Jim is that if the millitary did classify this event they must have killed the creature or at least drove it to retreat. ??
As far as within the movie, the military gives code names to all sorts of operations.
Vic
Heck after seeing that camera get dropped repeatedly, chewed up, survive a helicopter crash and getting buried in a stone bridge collapse, I was thinking “Where does one get one of these durable cameras?”
And Jim, a certain percentage of people are simply more prone to motion sickness than others. Mythbusters had an episode where they tried various old-wives cures for it, but only Adam was susceptible to it - so he had to endure all the tests.
I myself didn’t get sick, but there were several people in my showing who had to get up and leave, presumably for that reason. They all sat closer to the screen than I did.
Here’s a link to an interview with Matt Reeves that has information on the meaning of Cloverfield and he also talks about the actors improvising a lot of the movie:
http://tinyurl.com/2oe2gp
I don’t know why the haters really, really uberhate this movie. Did it give you diarrhea, hemorrhoids, the flu? lol, jk
I think the closer you are to the screen, the more likely you are to have that feeling of motion sickness. However, I was around the middle of the auditorium and didn’t feel nauseous.
Let’s see. The pictures are from the party, aftermath, and the oil tanker I’d like to believe Clover (The monster) destroyed. The Oil tanker is from a company called Tagruato, they also created Slusho!. The main ingrediant in Slusho! Is deep see nector (DNS) There is another site jamielovesteddy.com password jllovesth. Home girl gets ahold of some of the DNS and has a episode. Anyway, there is another organization T.I.D.O wave.(Tagruato Is Destroying our Oceans)
They are like a radical eviomentalist group who is trying to bring down Tagruato. If you go to tidowave.com you will see that the “government” has taken the site down because they believe TIDOwave is responsible for the destruction of the oil tanker. If you go to Youtube. Paramount even went as far as making fake news reports from around 8 different countries reporting in on the destruction of the oil rige and death of some of the people on board.
What is also weird is that if you go to tagruato.com They site has been shut down.
Sorry if this doesn’t make alot of sense, trying to bring it out alittle at a time.
unFiction.com is running smoother, if you want to go there to read up, go for it.
cloverfieldclues.blogspot.com is a amazing place that one of our one unfictioners has created to help people who are not in the ARG too. I’d go there first to get a not so fast catch up.
Sorry for the long post. I personally love the world within the world strategy that JJ did for this movie. I guess this is why I felt so compelled about this movie cause it feels like I know these people
Oh yea, the main characters have myspaces too lol.
Good info Zachary,
I sure hope JJ Abhrams works as hard on Star Trek.
Looks like Cloverfield will break 50 mil by tomarrow.
Only cost 25 mil to make.
A first weekend double your money film. That’s got to be a record…
I think JJ will. I honestly think hes one director who puts his mind body and soul into something he does. And I’m sure he will put the same into Trek.
In the movie (and trailer) an explosion illuminates skyscrapers and sends all sorts of frag flying out–apparently from near or within the city blocks. Then, after Rob & friends run down to the street, Miss Liberty’s head comes down.
Does it make sense for the creature to be taking swipes at buildings, THEN at Liberty Island? Or–not knowing the geography OR scale–could it have been doing both at about the same time? (Unless the explosion was military-caused–but we hear no jet sounds.)
The explosion is probably from the oil tanker that was seen on TV moments before.
heath
I think this film got a few logistical t