This is a cinema milestone; a true masterpiece of modern times. Maybe one of the most underrated here on trakt ( 71% at the time im writing this )
Found footage can be better than this. Seems un-assumed here as they still want to use classic scenery effects. Just looks a really common hollywood movie forced into the found footage genre to me.
The characters were such smug, hip twonks. I loved watching them mess their trousers and die
Rarely does Hollywood get a monster movie right, but this is darn close. Enjoyed it.
I still dislike the Twenty-something characters we follow around, but I love the Monster's attack even more. The panic of the characters caught in the middle of the chaos seems very real. All of the unknowns about the attacking giant make everything even more intriguing.
I'm giving it a half-star upgrade from my original rating a couple of years ago.
Movies about gigantic monsters don't come along nearly often enough for me, so when "Cloverfield" opened, I was there. This movie offered a fresh perspective on the genre with the entire film shot from the perspective of a victim on the ground. Many people said that the constant motion and jumpy movements gave them headaches or made them feel ill. The “shaky cam” perspective may have been too distracting if you sat too close in the theater.
None of the movie is told from the military’s or scientist’s perspective. There is no explanation as to where the monster came from, what it is or what it wants. It just shows up and starts tearing things up.
It’s interesting that the monster is gigantic, but the only time you see how huge it really is occurs during a newscast playing on a TV and when the guy with the camera ("Hud") happens to pass very closely to the rampaging beast.
There are some great scenes here. The opening panic of the initial attack is captured perfectly. There is also a crazy moment when the main characters run between the monster and the military who are firing at it. It's very intense.
Many will analyze this movie closely for 9/11 symbolism since it takes place in New York. There is a skyscraper collapse and subsequent dust cloud that recalls the WTC disaster. The "decapitation" of the Statue of Liberty symbolizing the attack on liberty. The repeated shouts of "It's Alive" meaning that terrorism isn't dead but alive and well as the creature symbolized. Even the parasites that fall from the beast could be symbolizing biological terrorism.
Actually though, if you don't dig deeply into this movie, you'll have a good time for the thrill ride it provides.
I don't think that this is a massively bad film, I'm sure it was groundbreaking to some people when it first came out ten years ago, but now with all of the cheaply made and dreadful bad "found-footage" movie copies that came soon after, it's probably lost some of it's impact when viewing it nowadays.
The things I like about this movie are the well-designed set pieces that we sadly don't get to see enough off, due to the "found-footage" format that is present throughout the film. Another thing I liked about this movie is how they decide to go with the "Jaws" approach, not showing much of the monster early in the film, to the point where we can see the creature staring directly at us through the camera lens in a later scene.
I thought the acting in the film wasn't great, as in Oscar-worthy material, but I think that it's not too bad to drag me out of the story either. All actors did a good and satisfactory job at portraying their characters. However, If I have to be nit-picky, I think that T.J. Miller is possibly the worst actor in the film, but we don't get to see him a lot in the film as he's the one documenting the action a lot of the time.
A few things I like to bring up, I have to give this movie credit for not "cutting-away" from intense moments after they happen or when they feel like they may be too much, so that there are very little moments of relief from the tension as soon as the first explosion is heard and all the lights go down. And lastly, the CGI in the film does look unrealistic at times, but I think it's acceptable considering the age of the film.
Motion Sickness: The Movie. Mostly unwatchable, but has some good moments.
I'm not a fan of shaky movies, they make feel motion sick! Especially when they lack a good story. Don't expect any kind of story from this movie, it's about a generic monster attacking NEW YORK city, how original!
From tne start I disliked the dialogue. It's like listening to a bunch of edgy kids and bitches, but mostly it's dudes saying 'duuuuude.' Characters fit the boring dialogue. I wanted the get away from the party in the start.
Then it begins, and the guy keeps filming. Why? There are one or two ok moments visually, but I was mostly thinking if this movie was a joke.
the quality of the acting: pornhub
One of the most obnoxious theater experiences of my life. The shaky cam serves no purpose but to be obnoxious, is ridiculous in a blockbuster film, a film which is full of nothing but insipid cretins and has a presumptuous and asinine plot. (Why is everyone following "This one asshole with a girlfriend on the other side of a metropolis", and what makes her so fucking important that everyone should risk their lives to go "save" her, because there's totally no chance she might change her own location.)
Perspective from the street-level as a towering, rampaging monster plows straight through the heart of Manhattan. At the time this was released, we were roughly a decade past The Blair Witch Project, long enough for the found footage trope to have thoroughly played itself out. Yet in many ways this feels like a revelation, one which would collapse without that same central gimmick. Like bystander footage from a major disaster, the placement of the camera makes the chaos and mayhem of this sudden, citywide catastrophe feel completely vivid and tangible. It's like we're there with the victims; our pulse racing, our eyes widened by the dead and injured, our skin coated by the dust of so much collapsed concrete. Moments that would've certainly felt cheesy from a traditional POV, high above the action, now deliver beyond any reasonable expectation.
We get to know the core characters well, their thoughts and quirks and feelings, and we mourn when they're abruptly taken from us in the confusion. It tells a desperate human story in a genre that usually struggles with such elements, and doesn't shy from the profound, lasting conclusion that everything seems to be building toward from the start. The plot does have holes, some larger than others, but given the frenetic pace and rapid developments, those are relatively easy to shake off and leave behind. I was surprised by how Cloverfield moved me today, nine years after the fact. Surely one of the most memorable, ambitious, effective films of the decade.
I wanted to give the first Cloverfield a try since I really enjoyed the second and third movies. Boy, was I disappointed. The characters were so unlikable and made so many stupid decisions that I couldn't have care less to see them die.
Really, who runs towards a certain death?
I gave this a try after the Netflix reboot and I should have stayed away. Nothing makes sense - who runs actively towards danger and basically certainly death and continues after friends and family die next you without showing barely any emotions …
Since this seems to be a franchise that never goes away, I decided to try to get thru this as I’ve heard the other films are not handycam Shot. Well, I hated this film. I can’t stand hand held cameras. Then again, I’d never have attempted even a watch if I hadn’t been told the other films are not shot using hand held cameras. My completest nature forced me to get thru this one first. I don’t get how people can watch this crap. Then again, I don’t get how people can watch movie on their phones either #grumpyoldman.
I'm kicking myself cause it took me THIS LONG to watch this movie. This is an instant addition to my list of favorite found footage horror movies ever. The set up, the monster, the emotional background (I cried); it's all so good!
Spoilers ahead:
Not me feeling kinda bad for the creature as it screams in pain for most of the movie lmao. Until it killed Hud, then it became personal. I know the dude was useless, but he was a good time. RIP :pensive::fist_tone1:
Hud is so annoying the movie is practically unwatchable. There is lots of standing around and talking when they should be moving. This could be a 45 minute movie with all the unnecessary down time removed.
The screen shake and the plot gave me cancer.
Haven't seen many found-footage movies and I hate shaky camera it makes my head spin, but I found the usage of shaky camera quiet okay. They really compliment the intensity and the brutality of the premise. The mystery of the monster and the CGI added tension throughout the runtime and the brief characters introduction was handled pretty well for a horror movie. The characters are one-dimensional, the mysterious background the monster was okay but some explanation could've have been more intriguing.
Overall, it's a thrilling and a fun ride from start to finish.
All that just for a coochie.
It's a fairly mediocre movie, but it gets a +1 from me for killing TJ Miller, which kinda makes up for me having to listen to TJ Miller's voice the whole time.
Surprising film method. Very unsuprising plot with people you love to hate. To me it felt like a feel-good movie. :-) They got what they deserved.
A truly unique, exciting movie, with a special way of storytelling. I can absolutely understand those who criticize it because of the fact that nothing is explained, but I think it is a very important part of the conception, to make us feel like the characters. This film doesn't leave us any boring seconds, I would say it is a true masterpiece, but unfortunately there is one big mistake what I consider as a major problem: the characters. I think it would be more important to get closer to the characters, let the audience identify with them, have dialogues that reveal to us what kind of people they are between two action-packed scenes. I'm really sorry that we can't get more into their personalities more than hearing them yelling "JESUS CHRIST! GOD! GOOD GOD!" throughout the whole movie. T. J. Miller's character was probably the only one who I could like a bit at least. However, it is still an awesome, original and very exciting piece of art, what I can really recommend.
I watched this because J J Abrams is associated with it. The things that draw his attention, often draw mine - good storytelling, quirky perspectives, self deprecating or stream of consciousness humour, an eye for talent in the yet to be discovered. This movie has all of these things, plus monsters and a very interesting viewpoint. I give this a 7 (good) out of 10.
Cloverfield is a very well done found-footage disaster movie. One of the things that some people don't like about it is that nothing is ever explained - to me that's part of what makes the film. The fact that you know no more about the situation than the characters going through it sucks you further into their story.
The film is an amazingly visceral experience. It's unconventional, and I enjoyed the ending TREMENDOUSLY. I definitely have to applaud the decision to not simply make a cookie cutter action film that is easy to watch. This movie is a breath of fresh air.
Civilian take at would it feel like if suddenly attack the city! Love it!
WOULD BE A 8/10 BUT WHAT MAKES THIS MOVIE STAND ABOVE THE REST IS THE FACT THAT IT'S PART OF A TRILOGY WITH A 4th INSTALLMENT BEING MADE SO FOR THAT
IT'S A 10/10 BECAUSE HONESTLY I HAVE PIECED AND TIED THE OTHER 2 MOVIE'S TOGETHER OF THIS AWESOME FRANCHISE AND IF YOU KNEW WHAT I KNOW FOR HOW THEY ALL TIE TOGETHER
IT WOULD BLOW YOUR FRICKIN
MIND, IT'S SO AWESOME AND SUPER SUPER CLEVER TO THE POINT OF MATCHING RUNNING TIMES WITHIN ONE MOVIE AND THAT ACTUALLY EFFECTS SOMETHING AT THE EXACT SAME RUNNING TIME IN ONE OF THE OTHER MOVIES,
I MEAN IT'S JUST OUTSTANDING AND HONESTLY I'VE NEVER QUITE KNOWN ANYTHING LIKE IT AND I WATCH AND OWN A HELLA OF A LOT OF MOVIES, BUT I HAVE NEVER COME ACROSS ANYTHING AS AWESOME AS THAT.
JJ HAS DONE IT AND KUDOS TO HIM FOR THAT.
I HAVE NEVER EVER KNOWN IT DONE SO DAMN CLEVER IN ANY OTHER FRANCHISE, PERIOD.
AND THATS JUST ONE THING I'VE MENTIONED, THEIR IS SO MUCH MORE OF EQUALLY COOL STUFF RIGHT THE WAY THROUGH THEM ALL.
ABSOLUTELY CAN'T WAIT FOR THE
4th INSTALLMENT "CLOVERFIELD 2"
WHICH AS OF THIS MONTH SEPTEMBER 2022 HAS JUST OFFICIALLY GONE INTO PRODUCTION.
I CAN NOT WAIT TO SEE HOW MY MIND
WILL BE BLOWN NEXT
WOW...JUST.... WOW.
A very good found-footage movie. The amount of lore this movie has behind the actual film is insane also.
Moral of the story, don't live in New York.
Loved the background noise of my friend sleeping and snoring to it over discord
A simple found-footage movie that shows a different perspective of what it's like when a monster is attacking the city. This movie introduces you to the characters and hooks you on the plot very quickly, leaving the rest of the film to be just an enjoyable and suspenseful watch.
Terrible love story with lots of cgi and 10 seconds of monster
Judging from the comments running the gamut on here, this is a very polarizing film: you either love it or you hate it. While there were certain aspects of the movie that I found to be very enjoyable (for instance, I love the fact that you almost never get a full shot of the creature; keeping its identity under wraps only added to the mystery and "fear factor" of the movie, IMO. ) I have never been a fan of the handheld "found footage" stuff simply because it messes with my equilibrium and makes it difficult for me to watch. With that being the format of Cloverfield I had a hard time getting all the way through this; in fact, when it was first released on video, I couldn't watch it for that very reason. Some 14 years later, I gave it another shot and was able to sit through it this time. I found the story very enjoyable but the characters completely shallow and lacking any reason whatsoever to buy into them. There are people who (judging by their comments) couldn't stand the character of "Hud", but like all the others, he was just another faceless person in a film filled with faceless persons. Granted, he talked non-stop but it was no more annoying than anything else in the film. There honestly was not a single person that I connected with or felt the slightest bit of empathy/sympathy for, so I didn't care who lived and/or who died. It was far too easy to just sit back and watch this in a completely academic manner with no emotional connection whatsoever, and when it was all over and the ending credits started rolling, I couldn't scroll through them fast enough so I could come to Trakt, write a review, and mark this one off the list. I've watched it, and it was completely forgettable. But thanks to Trakt, I now know that I watched it - and it sucked - so I won't make the mistake of watching it again. I enjoy creature features but Cloverfield just didn't do it for me.
I’m not a fan of this kamikaze form of filming. I didn’t love the movie…. I think I became obsessed with how much the were screaming for Rob…. It became nauseating. I couldn’t wait for the movie to end…. Didn’t care if they died.
For about 5 minutes of the movie it's like...I don't know, Godzilla plus Alien. For the remaining 80 minutes, it's just jerky, bouncing camera footage of the cast running around. Definitely not the kind of movie or cinematography I like but I guess some people can appreciate the realism.
The Five Emojis of Cloverfield
:heart_eyes:
Unlike most of Roland Emmerich's legendary disaster movies, Matt Reeves' take on the genre actually feels and looks realistic in the way it depicts it's main story.
Cloverfield contains what is probably some of the greatest use of found footage in a film so far. It's a very CGI heavy feature, but it still manages to look convincing and captures just the right moments to feel relevant from beginning to end.
:smiley:
The acting is on all parts natural but never particularly deep or layered. The acting consists mostly of screaming and looking scared, and no one manages to stand out.
Realistic visuals and fine set decoration help make the film feel more natural, but some of the bigger scenes do look somewhat clumsy.
Matt Reeves has a good hold on things, only showing what he wants us to see and not revealing too much. His vision is clear and simple and translates well to the screen.
The pacing is admirable, as the viewer is kept on the edge of the seat all the time. All we want to know is what is going on and whether the characters survive or not.
:neutral_face:
Cloverfield begins as your average college party type home video, along with chaotic relationships and clichéd personalities. Fortunately, it moves on from that quickly.
The found footage technique gives the film a touch of natural realism, but also makes many scenes shaky and tough to follow and most of the color palette Zach Snyder-bleak.
The character introductions at the beginning have little impact on the story later on and there's no real time to develop the characters further once shit starts going down. After that the gist of the film is running, screaming and sneaking around.
There are some convenient writing shortcuts that seem a bit too easy and lower the realism.
The film is never scary in a horror movie kind of way, but the adrenaline level is high most of the time and there are some intense moments.
At worst, the intense moments of screaming, and incomprehensible chaos become too much to be enjoyable.
I don't know how I feel about the ending, even if it was to be expected.
:frowning2:
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:face_vomiting:
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The Final Emoji: :smiley:
Damn I got sick after watching this fuvking movie. Be careful guys..
This movie can't even be called a movie really. Whats the storyline??? Rob? His name is said over 200 times in the film , and in real life, would everyone still follow Rob after so many screw ups? I watched this with 3 of my teenage kids and at the end when it said Do not copy one said (Who would want to.) I seen many ideas from I am Legend, so many goofs, a couple, the Statue of Liberty's head is 5 times bigger in real life and when Hud gets chomped by a creature that just grabbed their chopper from 1,500 feet up, this creature reaches down and chomps him??? That would be like a man reaching down to chomp an ant. The ending sucked!!! I mean good grief I expected at the very least maybe a kid 10 years from now discovering the tape or a foreign Army team watching it to give the affect the monster was a war weapon... The first 30 minutes is dull, very little action in relation to applying common sense to how people would really react and the first scene of the Monster attack was a sickening copycat of 911 when the Towers dropped... As my daughter also pointed out, Hud sure kept a steady hand, I have seen footage in life death scenarios and the cameraman is always shaking... Very well deserving of a one rating, I have seen much better on You tube...
In my personal opinion the best
Of the found footage archetype of movies very entertaining monster movie
Monster trashes building; people run and scream. Smashing.
It was my bad that I didn't see that this was a found-footage movie because I watched half of the movie hoping the camera would switch over but it didn't. These movies give me headaches so I was sick halfway through and nothing really had happened yet. Maybe if it did I would've bothered to finish it but the I found this so so so very boring. The characters were boring, the story took way too long to get anywhere so I stopped watched.
Gives me literally a headache but I like it.
I really liked it, great found footage movie, exciting and with great CGI
Well, I don't know what to say. It is kind of intriguing... sometimes. It is kind of thrilling... sometimes. It features a cool style, but we have seen that before (Blair Witch). The Monsters look like a crossing between an "Alien" and the face-huggers from Half-Life. And the monster roaming a major US city is also nothing new (e.g. Godzilla).
So, we have seen everything before and while not a bad movie, Cloverfield just does not offer anything special and I therefore would not recommend this movie.
Really good and intriguing. Earned me a headache from too much camera-moving, though.
Fantastic movie, great pace, and shows what can be done with a lesser budget, a modern day classic
A masterpiece! Loved seeing it in the Theatre and still love watching it at home. Absolutely underrated! I will never forget this movie and hope there will be another one like this.
I liked it much more on the 2nd viewing
Wish they would make a sequel.
Good watch. But I don't like unanswered questions in the ending.
Saw this movie 3x in the theatre. Very rare that a movie makes me feel like i'm on a roller coaster every time!
The RiffTrax or this is pretty good.
I love this movie... it's great both in the monster/disaster movie genre and as a found-footage movie
Shout by Cb UppercutBlockedParent2019-01-10T20:58:35Z— updated 2019-01-15T13:37:41Z
Very interesting movie with unique directing style. Movie is very captivating and intense draws you in not sure how it would have been with normal directing almost would like to see an alternate version with normal camerawork, wasn't a huge fan of the ending but still a very good movie.