Cloverfield Review Thread

Hybrid Gojira · #1 January 18th, 2008, 05:51 AM

I just got back from watching Cloverfield with my wife. Man, where do I begin?

MAJOR SPOILERS. MOST OF THE PLOT IS OUTLINED!!!!!!

The movie is unique, unlike anything we've ever experienced before. And yes, Cloverfield is quite the experience.

The film actually opens with sounds of giant footsteps, but nothing shown. We see indication that the tape was recovered from Central Park, and obviously documented by the Government. Roll Film.

Of course we all know the back story, with our main character (and sadly, I forget most the names here so I'll try to get close lol) and his love interest. We see that they are together some weeks before the events in cloverfield take place. Later we find that the camera has the same tape in it, so the events with Rob and Beth are taped over but we occasionally get a glimpse of what happened. The emphasis is on their realtionship for most of the movie.

Enter party scene, people talking. The guy with the camera is shy but pretty witty/stupid. His comments bring a welcome relief to all the death (and yes, there is LOTS) we see during the movie. BOOM - explosion. TV reports an oil tanker is overturned, and everyone rushes to see what happened from the roof. Next comes the scenes we've seen from the trailer, and now we're on the streets with the head of the statue of liberty. Suddenly, we see the monster going between buildings. The building collapses next to it, and it looks like New York during 9/11 when the towers fell. Our heroes (I guess we can call them that) rush into a market and take shelter as the debris pass. Footsteps follow, windows shatter. And now we're back on the streets.

After mass panic, everyone is forced to go towards a bridge out of Manhattan. I should have mentioned earlier, Beth and Rob get into a fight and she leaves the party before the monster makes any noise. Rob gets a call from her at some point and we learn she is bleeding and can't move, but she never explains why. While on the bridge, Rob's brother is separated from the group. Suddenly people are running, we hear the monster, and then we see a flash of his tail. The bridge starts to fall aparrt, and Rob's brother dies. Rob is determined to save Beth who is trapped elsewhere. At some point they end up in a store with TVs, and we see more of the monster. The the military finally engages the beast, but it's hard to tell what goes on.

We also see the parasite things attack a soldier. They are very nasty, and happen to fall directly from the monster while he scratches past a building. During the military attack, Rob and everyone else takes shelter in the subways below. They follow the tunnels, and see the parasite things. After being attacked, one of the girls is severely bitten and they manage to survive. After excaping we find them in some sort of a mall (I think, it's all so hard to tell) and they are found by military personel. It turns out to be an outpost. The girl who was bitten starts to bleed from her eyes, vomits blood, and is quarantined by the military. She is taken behind a canvas and explodes(!) with blood splattering across it.

After which, the military lets Rob go but informs him that the government is considering wiping the area off the map is their next attack does not work. They end up finding beth's apartment, but it's falling over into another huge sky scraper. After getting to Beth, we see more of the monster and the military trying to attack it. Beth is wounded, but they manage to escape the building. Earlier the soldiers told Rob he had to get to a certain area before 6AM and helicopters would pick him up. There are 2 helicopters there, and one of the two remaining girls gets on with the monster right behind them. It takes off, but we later see it crashing and exploding. Rob and his friends get on the last one, and we see a stealth bomber from above frop a payload of bombs on the beast. The monster looks to be struggling, and I found myself feeling very sorry for it - then from the smoke the thing smacks the helicopter and it crashes. They wake up, get out (pilots appear to be dead) and are in the central park area. The monster comes out of nowhere, stares blankly down at the cameraman, and EATS him. It's pretty disgusting. He then treks on and Rob and Beth grab the camera, run and hide.

We hear sirens going off as Rob and beth give their farewells. BOOM. Bombs and fire bury the camera, we hear screaming and Rob says "I love You" followed by a final explosion. The camera stays on for a bit, then dies. When the tape resumes, we see footage that was not taped over from the previous 2 weeks from Rob and Beth. End tape.

************************************************** **

My thoughts?

This movie is AMAZING. It's short, but honestly I think that is a good thing since it is so frantic and intense. The movie is also downright SCARY at times. It had about 3 or 4 moments that made me go "whoah!" and the SPFX are very good. The first 20 minutes or so kinda drag, but serve to set up characters very well. CLoverfield is also very depressing at times because everyone dies. The monster looks...well weird. I like it, but you don't get enough shots of the monster to really tell exactly what it looks like. if I were to watch it a few more times, I think that would change. What you do see of it is pretty gnarly, and it's arms are FRIGGAN HUGE! It roars, screams, and you can feel how massive the thing is throughout the film.

Cloverfield is a sad, awesome, moving monster movie. It's also VERY intense. I cannot overemphasize intensity here. You care about the people as they experience all kinds of horrors, and the monster is done so well. The moving is acutally rather touching, in a very sad and "speechless" kind of way. After the movie, no one was clapping or cheering. It was silent.

I should note there is no music at all during the film. The ending credits roll, and after a minute music is heard. I promise there are 2 parts that seem borrowed directly from Ikfukube. During the credits, I also noticed from the credits that stills are used from King Kong, Beast from 20,000, and I thought I saw the Thing too.

Anyway, go see it! Now!

Angiru-San · #2 January 18th, 2008, 07:14 PM

Woah, lets not drag up that one.

I just got back from seeing this movie, five of us college guys went and 4 of us loved it.

<<<<<SPOILER ALERT>>>>>

The one who didnt (who lives to be dramatic, I swear) was pissed that there was 'no closure'. I honestly didnt care, the movie did its job. I was light headed, anxious, and nervous the entire movie....you definetly experience this thrill ride of a motion picture. Well done, team.

<<<<<END SPOILER>>>>>

Kaiju_Sensai · #3 January 18th, 2008, 09:12 PM

I just got back a couple hours ago and I must say it wasn't quite as good as I hoped but was still pretty damn cool none-the-less. As some have warned already if you are in anyway affected by motion sickness you'd probably be best to stay clear. There isn't a whole lot of character development but you'd be suprised at how much you do get considering the concept. Almost everybody in the film is atleast halfway likable, with Hud & Rob's brother being my two favorites. Hey did those parasites remind anybody else of the Warrior Bugs from Starship Troopers. Anyway as for the monster itself, the design is rather bizarre & while not the most original concept out there its quite unlike anything ever before seen from the genre. The movie was a tad slow to start & went a tad slow near the middle, but considering how intense & jarring the monster/destruction scenes are it was probably a rather good idea. The theater themselves made excellent use of the surround sound & must have had the base up pretty high because there were times during the movie where you almost felt like you were a part of the action. A very unique movie experience to be sure but is definately the kind of movie you MUST see in the theater to feel the full impact of it all. If I'd have to rate it I'd probably have to give it a solid 8/10. Do go see it, I'm pretty sure any kaiju fan won't be dissappointed.

Bigmatt · #4 January 18th, 2008, 11:01 PM

Just saw it with my wife brother and friend all of us loved for different reasons. For me The whole thing was great (With the exception of a little motion sickness) but the movie is great as stated some parts are down right scary while others are surreal. The monster was very cool, if difficult to fully distinguish what it looks like. The characters are engaging not a terrible movie to take a girl to my wife was totally taken in by the human characters as I was. The scene in the subway where Rob gets a call from his mom is tough. The action scenes are captivating with the characters caught between the monster and the army. My brother and I both thought of Godzilla 1985 with the smaller creatures seemingly living on the larger one. In summary a very good overall movie and a great monster movie.

BTW love Todd's sketch for the sequel (Lets hope it would be great way for the Big G's return)

PyrasTerran · #5 January 19th, 2008, 12:05 AM

me and my friend got quite sick, but my girl didn't. It's probably because we ate the theatre nachos and she didn't, and combined with the shakiness of the film it didn't help.

Saw the movie..

Despite having to stand up and watch a small portion of it from the side of the theatre because of nausia..

I was blown away.

It has been so long since I've experienced real fear in a film, and Cloverfield did that for me. I was shocked during the hospital scene, and the attack of the smaller creatures was executed so well. The experience of having your head move side to side as if you're trying to look around the building in front of you to see the monster behind, such immersion was something I've never experienced in a kaiju film. The presentation of the monster was handled masterfully, as bits and pieces become more visible throughout the film, and by the end you do have a good idea of what the monster looks like. My major gripe is that I actually wish there were at least two more characters to further add to the chaos of the situation. I thought I would end up disliking the characters because they look like The OC rejects, but I ended up feeling strongly for most of them.

This is by far the most unique kaiju movie I've ever seen, and is close to being my favorite of all time.

9/10

Sauron · #6 January 19th, 2008, 01:14 AM

Saw it. Loved it. Will elaborate tomorrow after I get some sleep!

Guilala - The X From Detroit · #7 January 19th, 2008, 01:19 AM

Man, it was great. A lot of homages to be found (War of the Gargantuas, Godzilla 1985, and Beast from 20,000 Fathoms to name a few) and a lot of good scares.

The camera work is a little much. Man, my buddy honestly threw up. I felt a bit woozy.

But it was great - a new classic.

Goji Son · #8 January 19th, 2008, 01:27 AM

There were things I liked and there were things I didn't like and overall I thought it was okay.

***SPOILERS***

First of all I must say this, there is no way ANY camera could withstand that kind of punishment. I know, I am supposed to suspend belief and I did but it still kinda bugged me. Also, while the handheld look is an interesting take on the film (I almost want to say gimmick) the downsides is that it is much harder to tell a story. It lends itself greatly to the chaos of the destruction but this same feel can be achieved in the typical third person angle. Honestly, I think they could have made a similarly intense film without the heavy handed drama (Beth surviving, surviving a helicopter crash with no real serious injury) and impossible moments (the camera being masticated in the monster's mouth and still functioning). Some plot elements kind of bugged me, one thing, Beth freaking surviving! This is when the film kind of fell into the "formula" for me and I felt the film would have been much more effective had they found her dead. Now you have Rob coming to the self realization that he just lead the the deaths of his own brother and a friend for a woman he dumped. Another thing is how the three main characters survived a helicopter crash and Hud's death. This is another problem I had with the whole "handheld" style. The camera is our only form of telling the story, so of course it's going to have to survive some punishment but to say that it made it through a crash like that AND in the jaws of the monster is just a little too much of a stretch for me. I would have been fine had they just ended it right after the crash. In a film like Blair Witch, this style is really helpful but it's trickier with monster films simply because there has to be a plausible way for the camera to survive but they just threw that idea out the window for the last 15 minutes.

It seems I am being too nit picky, but there are things I really liked. The monster, for one, and the design. Very unique and bizarre yet not too complex. Characters you somewhat care about unlike the usual monster toe jam. The destruction scenes are really well done and intense.

My consensus, the typical monster film in a different point of view from the rest and an interesting experiment. The best giant monster film to come out of America in... a long, long time despite it's flaws.

Goji Son · #9 January 19th, 2008, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angiru-San

Woah, lets not drag up that one.

I just got back from seeing this movie, five of us college guys went and 4 of us loved it.

<<<<<SPOILER ALERT>>>>>

The one who didnt (who lives to be dramatic, I swear) was pissed that there was 'no closure'. I honestly didnt care, the movie did its job. I was light headed, anxious, and nervous the entire movie....you definetly experience this thrill ride of a motion picture. Well done, team.

<<<<<END SPOILER>>>>>

No closure? I thought there was too much "closure".

Megabyte · #10 January 19th, 2008, 02:47 AM

While I do agree with some of Goji Son's gripes (how the hell did they keep surviving in the last act?) and will admit to not liking some of the characters, the movie itself blew me away. The handicam didn't make me sick and actually helped engross me into the utter frenzy of the movie.

I will see it again, buy the DVD and probably buy the monster figure if there is one. I personally love the design for it.

Super Angillas · #11 January 19th, 2008, 10:42 AM

LOL mentioning buying the DVD reminds me of something. As I told a friend, this is a movie there is no reason to get in HD.

But a whole movie from a Cell Phone Camera? My god that'll just suck.

anguirus55 · #12 January 19th, 2008, 11:50 AM

I'll try not to be redundant and keep it short. First of all, holy **** is this movie intense and, quite honestly, scary. It reminded me of the final battle of Transformers in terms of its immersiveness (both movies had me jumping and cringing in my seat in a way that I almost never do) but adding in a feeling of disturbingness and "no one's getting out alive."

I'm kind of torn (no pun intended) on the bugs. Their design was great IMO, and they added a lot to the movie. They also weren't overused. And the hospital scene was VERY effective. My only complaint is that it was one of the very few things in the movie that wrecked my SOD. DV camera surviving a trip in the monster's mouth? Ok, that's at least physically possible. Alien-style chestbursting? Not only is it biologically impossible, but also felt like a rip-off.

(Also, did Lily really die? I thought she was the only one who escaped...also there was a lot of exploding going on, so maybe I just missed it.)

Anyway, I do want to comment on the little things that no one yet has. I really loved some of the character beats in the subway, with Rob's mom calling, Lily consoling Rob, Hud trying to console Marlena, and Marlena saving him from the bugs. Without all those character beats sprinkled in (the "taping-over" device was ingenious IMO) the movie would have just felt exploitative and lame.

PyrasTerran · #13 January 19th, 2008, 12:03 PM

**SPOILER POST**

Quote:

Alien-style chestbursting? Not only is it biologically impossible, but also felt like a rip-off.

It was more like exploding. The girl actually expanded and burst.

Quote:

(Also, did Lily really die? I thought she was the only one who escaped...also there was a lot of exploding going on, so maybe I just missed it.)

I don't remember Lily dying. Who said that?

**___________**

Blight · #14 January 19th, 2008, 04:01 PM

I saw the movie last night and I thought it was pretty good all things considered. The camcorder approach is certainly a unique experience for a kaiju movie. The only drawbacks are a few bland performances by some of the lesser characters, and some bad dialogue here and there between the main ones. The creature itself was far different than anything I imagined it would be.

*Spoiler*

The monster's appearance is revealed in full near the movie's end. It has beige flesh and a long tail with what might be a webbed fin at the end. It appears to have semi regular hind legs, with a giant pair of what I can only call 'walking stalks' for front legs, with what appears to be a set of either seldom used arms or something used for feeding. It could have been a mass of tentacles for all I know, the creature's underside is only seen for less than half a second. It's face looked reptilian, with a little bit of fish-like quality.

*End Spoiler*

Zillamon51 · #15 January 19th, 2008, 04:56 PM

Awesome movie! Brings an all-new kind of excitement and immediacy to the old monster-on-the-loose formula. Highly recommended.

I liked the monster. It's unique, believable, and pretty tough. It doesn't have any fancy powers, but it causes a LOT of destruction. It's also apparently alien in origin.

Here's a tip for repeat viewers (SPOILER): After the big explosion at the end, when the footage skips back to Rob and Beth at Coney Island, watch the upper-right part of the screen. You'll see an object (like a meteorite) crash into the ocean in the distance.

Thanks to the theater employee who tipped me off to this after the show. I skipped into another screening at the halfway point to check it out. It looks like the big critter (I still hope it has an official name) arrives via meteorite or spaceship or something. Slusho my a$$.

Two stories from Yahoo! News on the movie:

- Monster in Manhattan feeds on fears, anxiety

- Monster thriller "Cloverfield" crushes box office

PyrasTerran · #16 January 19th, 2008, 05:13 PM

Just because it crashed out of the sky doesn't mean it came from space.

Angiru-San · #17 January 19th, 2008, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PyrasTerran

Just because it crashed out of the sky doesn't mean it came from space.

Thatd be the most logical explanation, given the angle of the film. Either that, or this thing has some unknown means of flight and decided to end one of it's joyrides through the sky by rocketing into the oceans.

Both sound crazy, but then again so is a giant monster rampaging Manhattan....so it all works for me!

Now I'll have to go see it again and look for the object in the sky.

Kaiju_Sensai · #18 January 19th, 2008, 05:35 PM

Here's a pretty good rough sketch of the creature I found on MySpace.

PyrasTerran · #19 January 19th, 2008, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Thatd be the most logical explanation, given the angle of the film. Either that, or this thing has some unknown means of flight and decided to end one of it's joyrides through the sky by rocketing into the oceans.

Could have also fallen from a plane. *shrug*

either way, my friend who reads everything about everything found out that it was a Slusho satellite.

MouthForWar · #20 January 19th, 2008, 06:42 PM

So I just saw the movie and I loved it. No, it wasn't perfect, but for what it is, it succeeds greatly. A lot of people seem to have a problem with the "lack of plot" or "lack of explanations" in the movie, but those people should have known what they signed up for when they bought their ticket... how much of that do you seriously expect from a film that's documenting a chaotic as all hell monster attack in one night? The movie did its job and it did it damn well. It did give me a slight headache by the end, but I had so much fun with it that it didn't matter... It wasn't a "this was so bad my head hurts" movie like Ghost Rider was, this was more of a "I just got off a massive, crazy roller coaster and my head hurts" thing. I'd gladly see it again. The movie really is a big rollercoaster. Its slow, it speeds up and gets crazy, slow again, speeds up, and when you get out, your head feels funny... that's all it is, a crazy rollercoaster and a damn fun one.

The opening homage to Gojira, the Ifukube-esque theme song, and references to THEM and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms were just the icing on the cake. No, it wasn't nearly as good as THE HOST or THE MIST, but it was still a great time.

I look forward to seeing it again with my girlfriend within the next few days and I look forward to the DVD, which will probably be loaded with all the viral stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guilala - The X From Detroit

Man, it was great. A lot of homages to be found (War of the Gargantuas, Godzilla 1985, and Beast from 20,000 Fathoms to name a few) and a lot of good scares.

The camera work is a little much. Man, my buddy honestly threw up. I felt a bit woozy.

But it was great - a new classic.

Where was the WoTG and G84 homages?

I caught the Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, THEM!, Gojira 54, and King Kong homages.

Super Angillas · #21 January 19th, 2008, 06:47 PM

Or the metor could have woken it up Ala Godzilla Vs Mothra 92. Or could just be something they threw in as a red herring. Hopefully we'll get some official origins, and a good picture of the monster at some point. It's kinka funny, I at least kept epecting some sort of crazy revalation on things, but really there wasn't. It actually said what was a long time ago, a monster attack via camcorder.

Zigra · #22 January 19th, 2008, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PyrasTerran

Despite having to stand up and watch a small portion of it from the side of the theatre because of nausia..

Sheesh, you too? A stomach flu from last weekend that I thought I was over decided to make a huge comeback the moment the previews started. So, I was fighting back the urge to puke most of the movie. Figures something like that would happen during an event that I've been looking forward to for months.

Anyway, even though that unpleasantness kept me from fully enjoying the experience, I have to say that the movie kicked loads of ***. Is it the greatest kaiju film ever? Hardly, but it's definately the kind of film G98 should have been. Finally, we get an modern day American monster who is not only impervious to military weaponry, but whom actually trashes the city, rather than just leading the military to accidently destroy a few buildings here and there.

BTW, those of you who have been following the viral websites should already have a vague idea of where the creature comes from. It would seem that Tagaruto, the fictional corporation behind Slusho!, had something to do with waking it up. A week before the film's release a fake news report was released online talking about how something mysterious had caused the destruction of an oil rig owned by Tagaruto....

Goji Son · #23 January 19th, 2008, 10:28 PM

From what I heard about the "origins" of the monster:

JJ Abrams stated that the monster is from Earth.

And the falling object at the end is believe to be some kind of satellite or something.

I don't know if it's true or not. I really don't care all that much as I like the ambiguity of it all.

Monsturra-Jake · #24 January 19th, 2008, 10:49 PM

I thought it was awesome myself. I have notice that some people say it's even better than Gojira (1954). I call that stupid, since that was a different era.

Angiru-San · #25 January 20th, 2008, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goji Son

From what I heard about the "origins" of the monster:

JJ Abrams stated that the monster is from Earth.

And the falling object at the end is believe to be some kind of satellite or something.

I don't know if it's true or not. I really don't care all that much as I like the ambiguity of it all.

I agree with you there. "There's nothing more terrifying than not knowing what the **** is going on, and then getting thrown into the middle of it"....