Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone on Ciao! many thanks for all the r/r/c's I've received ...
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone on Ciao! many thanks for all the r/r/c's I've received throughout the year! RIP Holly, Christmas wont be the same without you...
Member since:27.07.2006
Reviews:241
Members who trust:90
- Introduction -
I first heard about Cloverfield on the BBC show Film 2008 I think. It sounded intriguing, although it didn't get that good a review but sometimes im not sure how much to pay attention to reviews... I decided I'd like to see it anyway, out of curiosity about the story, so I rented it online last night. Read on for more information about the movie and what I thought about it.
- Main Credits (non-actors, which are mentioned further on in the review) - Source:- IMDB (see:- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1060277/fullcredits)
Director:- Matt Reeves Writer:- Drew Goddard Producers:- J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Associate Producer:- Dave Baronoff Executive Producers:- Sherryl Clark, Guy Riedel Cinematography:- Michael Bonvillain
- Story (incl. some of the acting cast) -
Cloverfield tells the story of a group of friends at a surprise leaving party for their friend Rob (played by Michael Stahl-David) in New York City, who witness an explosion that takes place in the distance and things get worse from there on in, as they see TV footage showing that the head of the statue of liberty has been ripped off and thrown into the city by whoever, or whatever, is attacking it.
The movie is filmed on a video camera by one of the characters, Hud (played by T.J. Miller),
who takes it with him and records his journey with his friends throughout the city, as they try to escape the many explosions and getting injured or killed by the outbreak of alien creatures.
Other main characters in the movie include Marlena (played by Lizzy Caplan), Lily (played by Jessica Lucas) and Beth McIntyre (played by Odette Yustman).
- Genre -
This is a tough decision, how would you categorise Cloverfield? I suppose as a monster disaster movie would be the closest match, although you could also argue its a psychological thriller or horror movie in some respects, I guess. I also felt that it had a bit of a 'b movie' feel to it, only with a larger budget.
- Thoughts/Opinions/Extra Information -
This is a very claustrophobic film thats definitely not for those who suffer from motion sickness.
The special effects were alright, clearly an amount of CGI was used to create these alien creatures or 'beasts' that terrorise the city. When they were shown, these creatures reminded me of aliens from the alien movies, with the main creature and the story being more similar to Godzilla (a large monster that takes over New York City - why its always New York that such things happen, I have no idea, I guess it has bad luck that way), I thought. Of course there are similarities to the Blair Witch Project too, with the very shaky camerawork and the psychological aspect, in that you can often hear whats going on nearby but you don't get the entire picture, though you do see alot more visually, as far as the bad guys or villainous creatures are concerned, than you ever saw in Blair Witch, still there are times when all you do is hear whats going on above or nearby and you can't see much. The other similarity is to the recent movie I Am Legend, in which New York had been taken over by vampire type beings and that movie used similar CGI technology and special effects, with similar scenes where the creatures were involved.
I found myself somehow not really taken in by the special effects and the story, I didn't feel as terrified or as emersed in it as I hoped that I might, even though I think the special effects and CGI were quite well done and in that sense it was fairly realistic, it just seemed too over the top and sort of all over the place to be really believably enough to work properly and as cruel as it may sound, I also found myself feeling little attachment or real interest in the main characters, to be honest. I can't quite put my finger on why but I didn't, so to me I don't feel it entirely worked.
I also felt that the end of the movie was quite semi-climactic, it was a case of 'oh, so, thats it?...oh well, ok then(?!)', you may walk away from it feeling slightly robbed, having hoped for more but, to give it its dues, given the story and moreso how its told, I suppose it would be difficult for it to end conclusively with the answers the viewers probably want, or people may have called that unrealistic or predictable.
It seemed to me to be a mix mash of a disaster movie, an alien/monster movie, a science fiction movie and in a sense, a psychological thriller, or/and horror movie and I think if it had been clearly just the one genre and not a mix of so many, perhaps it would have worked better(?). In some respects, I felt that the plot was perhaps like one you'd see in a b movie, only that obviously the movie had a larger budget than an average b movie but it did have that sort of feel to it.
- Certificate -
Cloverfield is rated 15 in the UK, due to violence, sustained terror and some disturbing images or scenes, that would scare younger children. There are no sex scenes or references and no drug references.
- Official Website -
The official website for Cloverfield can be found here:- http://www.cloverfieldmovie.com/
There you'll find the trailer for the movie (in standard or high-definition I believe), more information about the movie and the official DVD, you can get Cloverfield related wallpapers and ringtones for your mobile phone, join a facebook and myspace page, get a widget which can be displayed on social network sites and read the film credits.
- Conclusions -
Overall, I wasn't too impressed with this movie. I don't quite know why I like to watch such movies, I wasn't overly impressed with either Godzilla or Blair Witch (though I did quite like I Am Legend, right enough!) and it was pretty clear that this movie would have some similarities to those. I do like the idea of having movies shown from the viewpoint of (or more, filmed by) somebody who's in the 'thick of the action', so to speak.
I think that the CGI and special effects were quite good and I suppose it was somewhat atmospheric but it somehow just didn't really 'work' for me. I couldn't help but feel somewhat detached from the characters and I was left feeling a bit confused as to quite what sort of movie this was meant to be, as it did seem like quite a mix mash of a few genres.
Personally, I wasn't too keen on it and so I wouldn't recommend it to others but of course this is just my opinion, perhaps others might enjoy it more, who knows.
Oh and by the way, if you want a bit of a laugh, go to YouTube and look up 'groverfield' hehe...now THATS scary lol!
I hope that this review is useful and thanks, as always, for reading.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Science Fiction - Director: Hiroyuki Yamaga - Original Language: Japanese - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Ayako Kawasumi, Fujiko Takimoto
I like your review - but I have to disagree! Cloverfield, for me, is a bit of a modern classic of the monster-movie genre. I won't go too far into it, at the risk of writing a review in your comments section, but i do like your reviewing style!
just.bcoz 20.10.2008 21:25
Great review, although not the sort of film i would watch
kirstymack80 19.10.2008 13:22
I saw this one at the cinema - got coerced into it by my friends! I thought it was OK, but like you a bit disappointed all in all. KM
Advantages: Some good special effects. Other than that - None Disadvantages: Stupid storyline, poor acting, gave me motion sickness...... the list goes on.
yackers1 01.05.2009 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Cloverfield (DVD)
Advantages: Thrills, Big Monsters, Through hand held camera, looks more practical though a fiction Disadvantages: Disturbing images , not suitable for children
pallavi_171 27.01.2008 (27.01.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of CloverfieldDVD
Advantages: I couldn't be too horrible and give it one star, it was entertaining Disadvantages: You want to love it but you just can't, and of course the humour
nathaninnit 02.02.2008 (02.02.2008)
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Review of CloverfieldDVD
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![Cloverfield [DVD] [2007]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/79057871.jpg "Cloverfield [DVD] [2007]")
Oct 19th, 2008
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