Product ReviewsCloverfield (DVD, 2008)

Cloverfield goes out to Pasture

What is going on in Hollywood these days?
I just got done watching Cloverfield.... What can I say? Its kind of a combination of "Blair Witch Project" and any "Boy-meets-girl" flick but without any recognizable story line... Without any heros... Without any real substance. It leaves you asking more questions than you had before seeing it... a real head-scratcher.
On the positive side, the 5.1 Surround audio tracks and well executed video presentation seemed to compete with the lack of substance and somewhat successfully made up for the difference.
Final Score: Sights and Sounds=1 vs. Substance=0
My suggestion? Pop in the DVD, Grab a bag of popcorn, Turn the lights off, Take a seat and, Crank the 5.1 Surround Audio up REAL LOUD! (That way you won't be tempted to fall asleep!)Read full review...

Cloverfield: Unique film ... possible LOST tie in

One compelling reason I was interested in Cloverfield is because it bucked the Hollywood trend of a blockbuster costing an outrageous amount of money to make. Cloverfield cost $25 Million to make ... the advertising for the movie was essentially free as dozens upon dozens of websites picked up on the little things in the first movie trailer discussing them again and again in detail. I wanted to participate and contribute this experiment in movie making.

Now, I want to touch on one other aspect of this movie that intrigues me ...

Back when the trailer for Cloverfield (then called "1-18-08") first came out I suggested that this movie might be a LOST television series tie in. I think it still may be.

Yesterday I read this; Cloverfield graphic novel coming out.

"Remember this last shot in the film of our intrepid heroes at Coney Island, enjoying [a day] of amusement? Apparently something huge splashes down into the ocean in the background. We missed it, but if you couple it with the translation from the graphic novel that says the Japanese Tagruato corporation's satellite fell from orbit, then bingo. You've got the alarm clock that woke up the monster from its deep-sea slumber."

I almost want to bet that we will actually find that the Tagruato satellite was brought down by something related to LOST - possibly the satellite that was looking for the survivors AND that the monster could possibly be Ben's id (or the manifestation of the smoke monster/Jacob) - just like in Forbidden Planet. I will also bet that Tagruato is another subsidary of the Hanso corporation (the secretive entity that originally ran the island portrayed in LOST).

Wouldn't this be a great way to promote the DVD release of Cloverfield?

Review:

Cloverfield (formerly titled 1-18-08 in viral marketing campaigns) is such a historical, "I was there type movie".

Uniquely and masterfully shot from the point of view of a camcorder being held by a best friend; Cloverfield is compelling even without character development. But ... don't be fooled ... this is no Blair Witch Project ... although I'm sure many reviewers will compare and say Blair Witch did it first.

I may be over-rating it slightly, but ONLY slightly ... this will go down as one of the greatest Monster Movies of all time. I'm not going to call it a part of my top 10, but it definitely is part of my Top 100 - which are just about all interchangeable with the #1 slot.

This movie begged two questions of me:

1) Would I be the one that people stayed around in time of disaster such as this?

2) Would you risk your life in such a horrific, never before experienced by any man; tradegy?

Expanding on question #2 ... this movie handles this in such a unique way that it is just incredibly compelling; yet terrifying.

The movie ends perfectly and unexpectedly in an atypical movie fashion. If I said any more on this topic it would give one of the best endings in movie history away.

The movie is PG-13 and leaves a lot of the "horror images" to the imagination just out of view to those watching.

A great horror movie is terrifying and then relieves the viewer with comedy. The comedic relief comes from "Hudson" - the best friend holding the camcorder.

If you haven't kept up with all the viral marketing for this movie, don't start before you see the movie ... buy this or rent it now!Read full review...

the good n the bad

The first thing i want to say is that i personally like this movie. The story line is off beat, but in the end it boils down to a story about love....then add in the destruction of a city, a giant unknown monster, and a goofy guy holding the camera and adding in his own commentary throughout the movie.
The 'Blair Witch Project' style of camera is not really the kinda of thing i like, but that is a personal opinion. As for the graphics, CGI, and other movie magic; the only thing i could really ask for is to see the cloverfield monster a little more. It is an awsome moster, and with so much mystery behind it, anyone who might have seen trailors, or gone online to see what it was would want to see it truelly in action...not just glimpses from afar.Read full review...

Best monster movie ever made---period

Completely ignore killraven's review, he needs to go back to high school english for one, and for two he doesn't have a legitmate reason as to why he dislikes the movie. This movie is unlike any horror/monster movie ever made. It's filmed entirely on a hand-held camera which makes it almost too realistic at times; you feel like you are right there with the characters, not knowing what will happen next. I sat forward in my seat with my hands on my head pretty much the entire time after the monster initially attacks, it's intense. I am not going to describe what the monster looks like, except that the thing is HUGE; you will have to see it for yourself. At times you may think that the cameraman acts a little out of character and not really very serious about the situation, but after I thought about it, I couldn't really say anything because who knows what a person would act like in a situation like that...you're at a party having a good time and then ALL of a sudden a gigantic monster starts attacking the city; what would you do, what would you say? You would have to try and make the situation a little humorous or else you would go crazy, just like he says in one line in the movie. So, to conclude my review, I highly recommend this movie. The hand-held camera alone is a reason to see it, and at times you will think to yourself, "how in the hell did they do that?" It is a fairly short movie, about 80 mins. not counting the credits. The characters are unknowns which also adds to the realisticness of the film, and they do a terrific job. Cloverfield is filled with thrills, chills, suspense, and a little bit of humor thanks to the cameraman. 9/10.Read full review...

Exceeded many expectations while being original

From the start many people compare this movie to the Blair Witch Project. But this movie was way more than some crappy movie done shot by a hand held camera with poor cinematics. This was a clever, thrilling, interesting, and a great movie to watch.

As I sat in the movie theater I felt that I was personally in NEW YORK. The way that the camera was used created a realistic feel to the movie. It was more than some monster flick. Cloverfield was all about this group of people trying to get out of Manhattan, not just the monster destroying everything. There were many surprises in the plot, and the graphics were outstanding. The monster was very original and realistic, and the monster was not the main focus of the story which separated this movie from GODZILLA.

SO yes I would recommend this movie to everyone of you, because the movie was fantastic despite its non existent comparisons to Godzilla and the Blair Witch projects. The situations are very realistic. One of the things that surprised me about this movie the most was that though I thought the hand held camera might fault the movie it did the complete opposite and made it even more interesting. Everything the main character saw, the audience saw. And along with the comedic relief the character holding the camera had really made this movie even better.

on a scale of 1 - 10
I give this movie a 9Read full review...

This Film Should Have Been...

...seen on the Big Screen at the local theater!

The hand held camcorder filming of the entire movie just isn't meant to be viewed on a tv screen, no matter how big the tv screen is.

We heard too many dissapointed film goers not like the film, which is why we didn't go, even after Tina saw JJ Abrams preview the film at the San Diego Comic Con.

This would normally not be her type of movie to go out to watch, so we waited for the DVD...

Tina and I are fans of JJ Abrams works, (Lost, Alias, etc.), but this one just didn't do for it us. But then again, we're not twenty-somethings like the main characters are in the film...

I don't know what to really rate this film on DVD. Especially after viewing the DVD bonus features and finding out that the monster was really a baby!

Nowhere in the film was that ever alluded to!!!

Sheesh!
MichaelRead full review...

GOODBYE NEW YORK.

The Blair Witch meets Godzilla. Who knew.
Creepy and jumpy, this silly remake of Godzilla ( they dubbed his voice) will take you to the edge of your seat and back.
New York City is under attack. By what, we don't know--- but it can't be good after it tosses The Statue of Liberty's Head into the street.
How many times will New York get the short end of, the end of the world stick?
A group of friends try to survive as they head back into Monster turf, for one of the character's girlfriend who is trapped in a building.
The monster, a cross between a crab,lizard and vampire bat hatches little baby monsters who eat you and bite you and then----Well, does Alien ring a bell?
Filmed like the Blair Witch Project, on a camcorder? HUH? This style confuses the viewer and makes one feel like we are watching a really bad home movie, one where unskilled cameramen videotape a world gone crazy. Boy- that's never happened before!Read full review...

MONSTER Hit = MONSTER Entertainment!

First of all, let me start by saying that this is NOT your father's Godzilla movie. Not that I have anything against Godzilla (the original starring Raymond Burr was actually quite good), but, unfortunately, the monster genre has not faired very well since then. With the exception of the Alien films, the monster movie landscape has been littered with 60 years of sub-standard cinematic road kill. Then there's "Cloverfield", a smart, scary, no excuses balls-to-the-wall terrorfest that finally delivers on the promise of a genre that started out with so much promise in the 1950's but for the most part never met it's potential. "Cloverfield takes the old monster movie formula and updates it for a more savvy and discriminating generation. No cheap scares, no cheesy set-ups, just straight-forward heart-pounding terror. The shaky camera work, dark lighting and lack of an explanation for the unfolding events, along with a real-time evolving screenplay, all add to the realism and tension that are the earmarks of a good monster flick. The characters are relateable, the dialogue is believeable, and the pacing is lean and spry, with no real "dead" moments that have your attention span weaning. When the monster is finally revealed, you'll be relieved to not find it to be a rehash of something you've seen before. No Hollywood happy ending either, which I am always grateful for. "Cloverfield" is destined to be a classic and raises the bar for the monster movie genre. If you, like I. enjoy ingesting quality horror, "Cloverfield" will certainly more than fill your plate with tasty terror. -Syren999Read full review...

Blair Witch meets Godzilla w/ a dash of Aliens part 2

Boy, how many movies are we going to keep seeing that are take offs and tweaks from other movies 10 to 20 years ago? I bet younger crowds today are not even aware of this and think these movies are fresh new ideas.

Anyway, here's Cloverfield. I have to say for a tweak job , it's great! Slow but realistic beginning gives the feel of a real experience watching a cam of a send off party for a popular fellow that accepted a job in Japan. Once you're past that, the movie 'abruptly' keeps the real feel via sudden explosions and panic.

You will feel like your watching something that really happened thru a cam corder. This idea was introduced thru 'BlairWitch'. A $35,000 production cost returned $300,000,000 !!!!!!!! That's because it was a FIRST time concept. Cloverfield spent some bucks on effects but it won't generate that kind of cash.

If you liked The Mist, BlairWitch , Godzilla movies, Aliens 2, then see this!! If you did not like those movies, don't waste your time or money on it.

My only peeve... I would have changed the ending. I would have had the cam re-open to show them in a hospital recovering and told they were going to be rich because they were the only ones with detailed footage of the event. Oh well... it ends sad.

That's all I will say because I DON'T provide spoilers! Get the movie on Ebay if you like the other movies I mentioned. It's worth it! Grade A + !

DTDRead full review...

boring

I was totally disappointed. Even for the price the movie itself was not worth it. The character with the camera kept filming through all of the havoc. This was as bad as the Blair With project. Better description of the movie would help to make people decide if they want a movie or a documentary. Bad ,bad Movie do not recommend.Read full review...

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