Movie: Cloverfield

[XanBcoo]

Spoilers I guess.

I read about the Coney Island scene before I saw the movie and watched the horizon carefully, and yes, there's a long, grayish object that falls into the ocean. It could have been the monster, or it could have been a satellite that is reported to have fallen into the Atlantic Ocean on the Targuato website (as part of the viral marketing for the movie). Either way the origin of the monster is pretty ambiguous. Which I love.

Also I'm with you about the bridge thing. The subway scene also had me wondering why in the world they'd want to hide under something. I was sure I'd see a huge foot coming through the ceiling at some point.

[FullMetalAlchemist]

So which concept art resembled the monster the most? Not something i would watch just wanna see what the hype was lol.

[Assertn]

So which concept art resembled the monster the most? Not something i would watch just wanna see what the hype was lol.

I think the first one was the closest....although, despite its overall ridiculousness, the second one has the most accurate depiction of the creature's front shoulders and hind feet.


The movie isn't so much about the monster itself, but the experience of being a guy stuck in the middle of a monster invasion. Which is really what made this movie stand out from any other giant creature vs city flick.

[XanBcoo]

So which concept art resembled the monster the most? Not something i would watch just wanna see what the hype was lol.

None of them.

Someone I know from my Uni's art club saw the movie and did his own interpretation. He showed me the drawing about an hour before I left to go see the movie, and I must say, he captured it perfectly. The monster looks 99% like this, minus the feet, which are never shown very well. He's an amazing artist.

The monster walks on all fours, using it's front arms to pull itself along, and moves a lot like a huge spider. It's a lot more spindly and snake-like than I imagined too: Here it is

Also Assertn is totally right. The movie's draw is not the monster itself. "Clover" destroying New York only serves as a backdrop and setting to the rest of the movie, which is a survival horror. It's about the characters' viewpoints and reaction to the inexplicable madness.

[Assertn]

I dunno, XanBCoo, the problem I have with the depiction of his main arms still feels like it has one too many joints, just as the first rendition on that site had. If you think back about the overhead view of the monster in the helicopter scene, his fore-arms look almost like giant sticks protruding outward and then downward with a single joint, kinda like the second rendition on that site. And yeah, his legs look a little less tyrannosaurus than that.

[Ryllharu]

Here's the whale-inspired fanart I was talking about earlier. Personally I prefer this to what I'm seeing in the new sketches:

Just thought I point this out:

Those are sketches from someone who has played Final Fantasy X too many times.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sin2.jpg
Little parasites and all.

[SamuraiOdin]

I was reading a few other boards about the promotional websites for this movie, and stumbled across two interesting tidbits. The first is the sound clip played at the end of the credits:
http://cloverfieldmessage.ytmnd.com/

And the other is that on http://www.1-18-08.com/ you can flip the photos over (by clicking and kinda swirling your mouse around) and 3 of them have stuff written on the back of them.

Edit: Also, on the 1-18-08.com site, if you leave it up for like 10-15 minutes, you can hear the monster roaring.

[Crash]

Hmm i'd seen the pictures at the 1-18-08 site but i didn't know you could flip them over. I'm curious what the one with the Japanese writing says.

[SamuraiOdin]

Hmm i'd seen the pictures at the 1-18-08 site but i didn't know you could flip them over. I'm curious what the one with the Japanese writing says.

According to some of the guys over at IMDB, it's some kind of recipe, but some of the ingredients are a little odd (something about sea nectar, I think... Their translation, not mine)

[XanBcoo]

I dunno, XanBCoo, the problem I have with the depiction of his main arms still feels like it has one too many joints, just as the first rendition on that site had. If you think back about the overhead view of the monster in the helicopter scene, his fore-arms look almost like giant sticks protruding outward and then downward with a single joint, kinda like the second rendition on that site. And yeah, his legs look a little less tyrannosaurus than that.

It's actually really hard to tell how many joints the monster has until the big revealing shot at the end, and in that scene, he's quite obviously got 2 joints in his front arms, just like the picture I posted.

Maybe the speculation about there being 2 monsters is real? Probably not (since it's a pretty dumb theory), but the monster seen at the end definitely has 3 segments to his front arms.

Edit: More fanart!!
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/5674/clover3so3.jpg
http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/717/clover2al2.jpg

The second one is pretty awesome.

[Munsu]

I just got back from this. Pretty amazing overall in my opinion.

I was actually surprised at how good a look you get at the monster. I had heard it was just glimpses here and there, but you get a really good look about 4 times.

Anyway, ignoring everything else, the movies presentation was pretty fantastic. I'd recommend that if anyone is planning on seeing it, see it in a theater. I don't think it would have the same effect otherwise. Despite what you think about the rest of the movie, it's very entertaining. They do a really good job of making you feel as if you're right there where all the shit is happening. Otherwise the characters were pretty good and I liked the plot. There is something about it that I can't put my finger on that rubbed me the wrong way, but otherwise it was awesome.

I've never seen Blair Witch so I can't compare, but this movie is definitely a ride.

Just came from watching the movie, it was fantastic in my opion. Pretty much I echo what you said here. The best things about the movie are the surprise factor, the sound effects, and the army scenes. Man, those scenes when they are fighting the monster are incredible... but really the surprise factor made this movie great. Shit happened when you least expect them, and I think they did a good job to provide that. Also, when Hud got a hold of the camera, I thought to myself "This motherfucker would be the last man standing just because he has the camera". He came close, but he didn't make it... It would've been awesome if he did though, since it would be ironic that the dumbest guy in the movie lasts the longest.

But yeah, this is a movie that you need to watch in the theatres... most of the suspense is is brought from loud noises, and nothing does it better than a dark theatre with loud speakers.

And for those complaining about being dizzy... man up you fucking pussy.

[Genma]

I don't know why everyone goes around thinking this is "fantastic," "great," "creative," or even "worth the price of admission." Seriously, I thought it was garbage overall. Yeah... I'll admit it had some good moments, but most of the movie bored me to tears, to the point where I started looking around the theater (to relax my eye muscles), only to see that my friend next to me was falling asleep.

Keep in mind that I watched this opening night without prior knowledge of the movie other than the obscure trailers, and that everything in the theater was set to make the movie experience enjoyable. Even the ground rumbled whenever there were explosions and stuff, so the bass must've been turned on loud, and I admit that aspect of it was pretty cool... making you feel like you're there... but the movie still sucked in my opinion.

The beginning was by far the most boring sequence I've seen in a long time. It's boring enough going to a party surrounded by people you don't know or care about, which I've done far too many times as is, but watching a twenty minute movie intro about it? I understand they were trying to introduce the characters and all that but... geeze... they couldnt've made it any less boring. I was getting ready to just leave and sneak into Walk Hard when suddenly the movie took off, and I'll admit I liked the start of the attack and shortly thereafter.

Eventually the shaky cam got old though. I don't care if it's supposed to be like you're watching some home movie of an alien creature invasion, it still made me nauseous and strained my contact-ridden eyes. The CG for buildings was great, the action sequences were good, but the monster looked ridiculous and totally CG. I guess they thought that by only shooting short sequences of it, people wouldn't notice how crappy and out of place it looked. And what was with that tentacle on the bridge? I totally didn't understand that part at all.

When the helicopter came down, that's when I realized this movie was garbage. Why the hell would the monster suddenly turn away from thousands of people to focus on three teenagers? And why did it rip Hud in half? Totally didn't make sense, and neither did the part when retard "i wanna save the love of my life" protagonist hid under a bridge to finally mutter the words "i love you" before being blown to shreds.

Then the movie came to an end, and I looked at my cellphone in disbelief. Did I seriously just drop $10 to see a home movie with a terribly CGed monster and shaky cam that only lasted like... a little over an hour?

At that point I realized, yes, I did. And it gave me a headache.

Sorry if I offended anyone who actually liked this movie, it's just obviously not for everyone... like me.

[Knives122]

The beginning was by far the most boring sequence I've seen in a long time. It's boring enough going to a party surrounded by people you don't know or care about, which I've done far too many times as is, but watching a twenty minute movie intro about it? I understand they were trying to introduce the characters and all that but... geeze... they couldnt've made it any less boring. I was getting ready to just leave and sneak into Walk Hard when suddenly the movie took off, and I'll admit I liked the start of the attack and shortly thereafter.

I actually liked the beginning and the parts where it cut to the original tape, actually thought it was the most well done part of the movie. Getting to see the two of them have some perfect day in their relationship and actually getting some char. development(what little there was) made up for the amount of crappy mediocrity that was the movie.

Eventually the shaky cam got old though. I don't care if it's supposed to be like you're watching some home movie of an alien creature invasion, it still made me nauseous and strained my contact-ridden eyes.

I actually didn't have a problem with the shaky all over the place camera one bit. Didn't get nauseous or dizzy. But I can understand how some people would be disoriented after seeing this movie.

When the helicopter came down, that's when I realized this movie was garbage. Why the hell would the monster suddenly turn away from thousands of people to focus on three teenagers? And why did it rip Hud in half? Totally didn't make sense, and neither did the part when retard "i wanna save the love of my life" protagonist hid under a bridge to finally mutter the words "i love you" before being blown to shreds.

I actually started laughing at all the things that were going on in the movie. The monster was pretty much stalking the group b/c it was everywhere they went and just decided to take down the helicopter with them in it at the last seconds as if to say "fuck you heroes."

Then the movie came to an end, and I looked at my cellphone in disbelief. Did I seriously just drop $10 to see a home movie with a terribly CGed monster and shaky cam that only lasted like... a little over an hour?

At that point I realized, yes, I did. And it gave me a headache.

Sorry if I offended anyone who actually liked this movie, it's just obviously not for everyone... like me.

You don't have to apologize for anything, you saw the movie and made an opinion of it, and isn't that why movies are great in the first place?

I'll give it to whoever for thinking of using the camera direction for this type of genre, but there are just so many flaws with movie that it's really hard to actually watch this movie a second time without wanting to turn it off(Unless you love it, in which case good for you).

I probably won't be buying this movie when it comes out on dvd or actually ever watching it again b/c of it being pretty much dull. One big MEH for me.

[Raven]

Was it just my cinema or were the end credits in epileptic mode for everyone else? And WTF was with the operatic music? It puzzled me to no end.

I thought it was great, overall. The acting was good and seemed very genuine, which is what I thought would let it down. The part where they were running along that deserted street only to suddenly be in the middle of the military strike was intense. It's definitely a movie you need to see at the cinema as any other format just wouldn't do it justice.

The only part that I thought was a bit unrealistic was the lack of language. You did hear a 'shit' here and there occasionally but for kids of that age in that sort of situation all you'd most likely hear is "fuuuuck" every few seconds.

[Munsu]

Matt Reeves is in early talks with Paramount to direct a "Cloverfield" sequel

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=13&cs=1

[XanBcoo]

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=13&cs=1

Yeah, I heard talk that if there is a sequel, it will involve the events from the same day as Cloverfield, but from a different viewpoint.

Possibly the military's, possibly another group of friends. Either way it could be pretty good.

Also Genma, with all your complaints I'm surprised you overlooked the most glaring flaw, which was that Beth (the girlfriend) could run around and survive a helicopter crash after being impaled on rebar for several hours. I think that's the only thing that bugged me about the plot because it can't be explained away. The rest was completely reasonable.

[Munsu]

Yeah, I heard talk that if there is a sequel, it will involve the events from the same day as Cloverfield, but from a different viewpoint.

Possibly the military's, possibly another group of friends. Either way it could be pretty good.

Also Genma, with all your complaints I'm surprised you overlooked the most glaring flaw, which was that Beth (the girlfriend) could run around and survive a helicopter crash after being impaled on rebar for several hours. I think that's the only thing that bugged me about the plot because it can't be explained away. The rest was completely reasonable.

Yep, I read about that too... I hope it isn't, I don't think it'll add too much to what has already been established. What I want to know is what happened after they bombed the shit out of NY; but I guess they don't want to give the outcome away. I guess this guy could survive and capture the aftermath, but who knows.

[XanBcoo]

Other people have suggested a documentary style type sequel, where we are shown various sources of footage from the Cloverfield event, as well as news and military coverage. It would also be good for expanding on the origins of the monster as well as the aftermath. I think that would be pretty cool.

[Munsu]

http://www.hasbrotoyshop.com/Product...R=863&ID=21030 <--- I guess this should reveal/confirm exactly what the monster looks like.

[XanBcoo]

Oh man I want one!! It's nice to finally have a static shot of the thing.

But $100? Darn...