Watched the movie last friday night. At first, I didn’t know what to expect as I hadn’t read the review nor seen the trailer.

After about 15 minutes, I finally understood what the film-makers wanted to do.

Seen from the first person point-of-view, the movie was different, especially when compared to other ‘monster films’ like Gojira and King Kong. It had an authentic feel to it.

The whole movie was more or less shot in real time, from the moment the characters were at the party until Rob and Beth’s recording at Central Park.

Most viewers won’t like the movie though, especially if they prefer something more easily digested such as ‘Jurassic Park’, ‘Alien VS Predator’, ‘Jaws’ and etc.

are you kidding me?

firstly when I saw the trailer with the “peoples point of view,” I thought okay. The movie starts…you see the shakey cam… more shakey cam…more shakey cam… and 90 minutes later.. credits. have these guys ever heard of a steady cam…I swear I was almost puking all that shaking. Now you are probably thinking I was the only one…well, there was an audience filled theater that agreed with me.

Now let’s talk about the characters. Did anyone really care about the characters. I know I certainly didn’t. Well..except for that one honey. ABM loves her.

I did care about HUD. Why he wasn’t eaten early on ibn the movie is a surprise to me. I did sit there thinking any minute now we’re going to at least cut this camcorder thing out and I could get involved in the movie.

you know I felt for the monster…how’s that. there is one person who dies and I will say the thater and I said it at the same time…FINALLY.

I am sure the director and producer have an artistic/philosophical/spiritual reasoning behind this movie…We all have to justify our paychecks. However… cloverfield is aces in 2 departments. the cg monster and the new digital camera used. though I did hate how the camera was used here.

JJ abrahms was the mastermind behind ALIAS. excellent work. but this film leaves you wanting more. more talent. more forthought of delivering a new way to tell a story.

now I know that you are all wondering…how could it be so bad and pull in 45m dollars… simple trailers/promos/advertising. well done. I fell for it.

ABM

lz rkomiendo la pli, c v supr xida i l monstruo sta d ploz!!!!!!!!

The movie wasn’t about getting the full understanding of what or where the monster came from. It’s about their perspective of the whole event. Their attempt to escape. From their view. A real view. We know as much as them. I think the film was absolutely amazing.

I enjoyed this film immensely! The use of cell phones and camcorders was a direct hit on our way of life! To me it didn’t matter that “love story aspect” was a bit lame…what really matters is how easily it all can come crumbling down while we carry on our daily routines.
The minimal shots of the monster was a brilliant idea…you HAVE to use your imagination and leaves tons of room for real feelings of terror—an important ingredient missing from modern horror films.
Just my opinion.

Certainly not your conventional Hollywood’esque style production. But an interesting watch none the less.
The handycam style shooting was a little hard on the eyes for the first couple minutes.
A couple younger guys in the cinema audience commented that it was a s@#t film. But I think they missed the point. It’s not a film where the two heros fall in love and live happily ever after. Instead, a government/military file containing footage from a video camera found amongst the carnage in what was central park.
The ending although abrupt, was very powerful. Imagine finding a video tape after a tragedy had accured, and seeing the events unfold, with snippits of the victims happier moments scattered throughout.
Definately a 9 out 10, and the lack of answers made for some great conversation on the way home.

If you have ever seen footage of a ‘UFO’ or something of the paranormal, you will know just how irritating it can become to have something so apparently remarkable be blurred and shaken through the glance of what little a typical person with a typical video camera can capture. This movie was specifically that, and i believe it fullfilled it well.

Being as closely realistic as possible-were we in such an instance of disaster within Manhattan-i think this is how it would go down through a camera just perfectly. The heroes were not over dramatic, “hey i feel like rescuing somebody” somebodies, and the monster wasn’t anything we’ve seen before like in a classic Godzilla movie.

For those commenting that it had no strong or developing plot, i think that they’ve missed the entire point of the movie. It isn’t an Oscar winner with a story plot that will make you cry and moved inside-the beginning even shows you that! The very start of the movie reveals that this is some kind of government-owned video, to where the screen blanks out after the company icons and goes into the multi-colored screen and black and white titles, then finally into the video.

Someone mentionted they were irritated because you didn’t get to see enough of the emotion in some of the characters-like how you couldn’t see “Mary Jane” of the story being pulled off the metal rod. But were you in such an instance with such a camera, preparing to do this to someone you knew, i don’t think you’d be setting down the camera in a way so that all the components doing the assisting could be seen-i don’t think their emotions are all that significant for recording. Being that this was all supposed to be on a hand-held camera, people are dismissing the fact that it’s as close as realistic to such an event as you can get without boring people. Does this mean those same people were disappointed that they didn’t get to see the bitten girl explode? Honestly.

I like that the movie didn’t have to show you everything to entertain you-i think that’s the part about also being imaginative. So i suppose in this day and age, movies that do show you everything are more appropriate. Sadly.

I will, however, agree that i thought the size of the beast (this 25 stories or so, as the previews suggest), seemed to alternate from time to time. In the city, it seemed incredibly large against the frame of the buildings surrounding it, but in the open field, face-to-face, it seemed much smaller. However, this may also be an illusion because there is nothing you can compare it to while they’re in the field except the characters, which you don’t ever see standing beside it.

By and by, i believe the movie was remarkably entertaining, and makes one thing just what the hell WOULD we do in such a situation? And i like how they kept it exactly as it began-a mere government owned ’sighting’ of the Cloverfield monster, leaving you wondering just what happens to Manhattan.

I’m not a fan of Lost or Alias at all, but i never attempted to frequently watch it anyhow. However, i think that Cloverfield was an incredibly successful movie, beginning just how the director wanted it to, and ending just where it needed to-not to mention the wrap up with “It was a great day” seemed grimly clever.

i saw the movie
it was ok it was basiclly a godzilla knock off. the ending made me angry because everyone died! im happy i didnt pay to go see this. i went to (movie6.net)
check it out it has all the new movies!

This movie was amazing! I loved it. Everyone says “oh the characters wern’t
interesting” but in real life people are boring and how much can you develope as a person when a giant monster is destroying everything in sight.
I was a little dizzy from the camera movement but thats just how cameras are espesially when your running (from a 500 foot monster and its miniture babies that make you explode). This movie captures what terror is, it wasn’t a blood and gore movie, it wasn’t a zombie movie, it was barely a monster movie, it was some giant fish that was scarred a pissed off. This movie was great i was scared, entertained, and thrilled. i tipp my hat to JJ Abrams for a job well done. Im going to be bold and say this was way beter than Iam legend. hated that movie. Cloverfield won my heart and i will see this movie again

I think this film really sucks, because we don’t know anything about the monster and how it happens

Furthermore the I think the size of the monster changed and in my opinion the monster must die earlier because of the rackets, etc.

I went to see this movie. I am so sorry I did. It sucked so much balls. The beginning was long, boring, and had very little point. It could have been good, if the actors weren’t so utterly BAD. The monster looks ok, but very unoriginal. The protagonists are way too luckily unlucky. They happen to be where the statue’s head falls, where the bridge is destroyed, where the army sets up it’s hospital, where the last helicopter leaves, and where the monster gets bombed. It may as well have been called Cloverfield: The Tour.
Oh boy, don’t forget about the allusions to 9/11. Hey, let’s run into a store just like in that news footage! And yes, the monster is basically a metaphor for the attacks. Thanks for totally taking into account people’s emotions, JJ.
More unbelievable crap happens in this movie than in probably any other I have seen. The protagonists never get weapons, until they need them. Of course weapons are there when needed! (pipe and fire axe) Beth gets a steel rod through her chest area and bleeds for several hours. She’s fine! Sure they can pull her off of the rod without causing her to go into shock and then walk down over fifty flights of stairs. Then, she can even run! I’m no doctor, but I don’t like being treated like a fool by a movie. Oh, and when they crash in the helicopter, the pilot is killed, but the group of idiots is fine. They walk away from the crash and the camera isn’t broken. Then Hudd gets eaten. Don’t worry, the movie doesn’t even shock or awe here. Then there’s the soppy ending where the terrible actors try to make you feel for their characters. Oh baw, I couldn’t feel anything except for happiness when they were bombed to death. I was hoping the movie would go on and maybe start to not suck, but it ends there. No conclusion to the story. At least I can be grateful that the next movie will not have these same poor actors in it.
Overall, I give this pile a two out of five. i’m being this generous because the movie had ALOT of potential, but they never even tried to reach it. Hopefully the next movie will be in the style of a military briefing, and not just a recovered, uncut tape. They also need a better writer and director.
I’m almost done ranting. i know alot of people loved this movie. i don’t see how, because it was poorly written, acted, directed, and you will not get your money’s worth. About the only good parts of the movie were the shots of the monster(s). See ya guys. Go see Juno instead.

I loved it and it was better then i thought! And i loved the ending! NO not that they all died but its realty! I dont think i would make it out! I would hope that i would have someone with me that i loved and that i could be with me and who would come back 4 me! The only thing that could have been better is the crab-alien-creater things! I dont care what u people think i loved it and want a another one!!!
love,
DOMINO!!

I thought the movie was OK. I don’t think we needed to see half an hour of a bunch of idiots at a party going on about somebody going away and going on about how somebody slept with somebody elses boyfrind/girlfriend. Yawn……….. It was too much like a Teen soapy.

Somebody previously mentioned here how they main actors happened to be just where all the action was taking place. errrm……..Isn’t that what all movies do!? If that wasn’t the case you wouldn’t have a movie.

I do however feel the movie had so much more potential. Too much attempt at artistic crap. eg like flashback footage of handheld cam.

Watch out for a sequel coming to a cinema near you.

Over all I did enjoy the movie, it did have a good plot, and story, but the ending sucked! It just cutts you off, but the wierd part is that it leaves you wanting more. The whole reality camera thing was good, it helped you to really get to know the people in the movie. The creature and the parasites were a little farr fetched though. The movie was good every scene that took place kept you guessing and wanting more. The part in the tunnel was thrilling,but when that spider bitt that one women with short hair over and over again and then she exploded reminded me of the movie alien. And the way rob went after his girlfriend was romantic. The close up of the monster was awsome! But the way Hud died made my stomach turn. And when they rescue Beth and pull her off the re-bar that really made my stomach turn hearing the emotion was good enough. Good thing they put the camera behind the couch. The movie was a real thriller, and the way they did it made you feel like you were actually taking part in all this. But there were so many questions left dangling. And the ending sucked, I hate it when it just cutts you off. It sorta ruins the movie. It’s like,” Ah, No!!” Over all the movie was awsome, but they could make it better. Hope they make another one to answer all the unanswerd questions.

Ok I know people keep saying the plot had problems, but after, or before, you see the movie they want you to REASEARCH it. All you people that keep saying that there was no clues to where the Monster came from try googling it! Slusho.jp, although a weird site, gives some hints and also makes this even weirder, but makes you keep on guessing. http://www.cloverfieldnews.com/ gave away a lot of info too. They want the experience to last beyond the movie not just end with credits (Which had a awsome music).

And with the 9/11 thing, it may remind you of it but what disaster movie doesn’t have someplace everyones ever heard or seen before. I don’t think they tied to imply 9/11.

Now about the movie… it was incredible. Never has a movie ever been this great. Its been at least two weeks since I’ve seen it and I still find myself daydreaming about it.

I cant wait for a DVD

And they could so easily make a sequel. Think about it. More people must of had a video camera that night, just show it from another point of view and give us more details about what happened elseware.

Great Acting, Great Directing, Great Filmmaking, six out of five stars.

The movie was awsome! It not like all the other movies we see today. It wasn’t about getting a complete understanding of how the moster came to be or where it came from or where it was from. It’s about these people’s perspective of the story. The people in the movie didn’t know anymore than we did. All they know is Manhattan is under attack by some freakeshly huge beast eating people. The first thing on your mind would probably be ,” Lets run like hell and get the crap outta here!” They reacted like any normal person would. People would be grabbing their video cameras trying to film this thing. The whole reality video thing was great, it showed who the people were and what it was like from their perspective of the whole event. I thought the people acted quite well, like any other person would. I thought the movie was really amazing.

ok, this was quite a good flick for several reasons. first, we have the first person camcorder view of the whole situation, which really puts you in the thick of things. then there’s the monster itself and its little spawns. if anyones ever played ffX then theyd know that this attack is pretty equivalent of a sin attack, what with all the sinspawns and whatnot. some people are pissed because there was no background on the monster, i.e. where its from, why its here, why its attacking manhatten. while most of these questions are unanswered, the people who paid attention to details can at least get a general graspon where the creature’s from. contrary to popular belief, it is not a creature of the deep, but rather a creature from deep space, in simpler words, an alien. yes, at the very end of the film when theyre at coney island on their date, the camera’s flashed for maybe three seconds at the ocean and for a split second, we can make out an object falling from the sky, the object in question here is assumed to be the monster, allegedly an alien. however this had to be at quite a distance for the object and splash were tiny. back on track, this movie is being generous showing that. its a movie about some average joes surviving an alien onslaught, not a history lesson the monster. lastly, we have the fact that we never get to see all of the monster at one time, which leaves plenty of room for the imagination to visualize this out of this world terror, a key component missing from many horror films today(except the grudge’s ghost, that thing gave me fucking nightmares, which doesn’t happen often.) all in all, this movie is helping to put these first-person, document-esque movies on the map, right up there with the blair witch project, which was actually a pretty horrible film, yet ended up grossing 40 mil and managed to creep me out a little. if kept in its category(which ill be damned hard pressed to find), this film can be considered a visual masterpiece to freak you out(but hey, it might help you react in case a giant fish-esque/ ape alien attacks us) and btw i cant help if you got motion sickness, but ill tell you i was feeling queezy and was still able to enjoy it

a lot of these comments truly crack me up, as most of you have missed the whole point. the point was to tell a story from a certain perspective (ie: a small group of ordinary, normal people going about their lives) thrust into extraordinary circumstances. the fact that there is no character exposition etc is a mute point - they are not supposed to be ‘characters’!

as for the comments about feeling ripped off and frustrated about the first 15/20 minutes of the film, THAT’S called exposition - setting up the boring, mundane day-to-day stuff we all get up to. but hey - i bet your parties are INSANE right?

if this film failed to grab you on ANY level then it’s your own fault for going into the theater in the first place full of your own expectations. if you hadn’t, you would have enjoyed the whole experience a whole lot more.

as for the numbnuts who moaned about the camera footage and that they should have used a stedi-cam, it would have been a completly different movie, and again - you’ve totally missed the whole point. these guys have sweated over this movie for a year trying to do something completely different, and the reactions of some people who feel ‘cheated’ are just laughable.

i work as a projectionist in an 11-screen multiplex, and there is more going on in this movie than you’ve taken any care to realise:

anyone notice the ‘Slusho!’ referenced in the t-shirt Rob’s brother was wearing? (’Slusho!’ being the company Rob was going to work for in Japan - if not, google it, as there’s a whole back story that was online prior to release of the film that you’ve obviously missed. google ‘Tagruato’ and ‘chaui station attack’ too)

It’s all connected - that is, if you wanna bother doing some footwork of your own. the problem with movie audiences in this day and age is that they want everything spoonfed them and wonder why they’re constantly and consistently disapointed - that’s because gone are the days of ‘less is more’ where you don’t get to see everything, and your mind fills in the blanks of just how horrifying something can be - ie: the unknown.

more…….did anybody here take note of the sly nods and references to 20,000 leagues under the sea? The creature from the black lagoon? King Kong?

….what about the satellite falling from the sky in the final shot? (according to JJ Abrams it belongs to the Tagruato company, and upon falling from orbit into the ocean, awoke ‘the monster’ from it’s hibernation)

….or the audio message at the end of the credits?

how about the subliminal image of the monster in the movie poster?

no? well surprise surprise…thought not.

it’s all there - you just gotta look for it and make a little effort of your own.

PS: as for the guy who claimed it’s under an hour long - what a crock: it’s 80minutes long!

Okay–most of you people need to consider that there’s going to be a sequel. Things’ll be explained eventually. You can’t just say it sucked because we haven’t been told something yet.

Besides, that movie kicked ass. Totally awesome, I’d see it again. I’m getting the DVD when I can. And, surprisingly, I found it to be the scariest movie I’ve seen. Movies pretty much don’t scare me (even the horriest of horrible horrors). The panic and fear, though. Amazing. Loved it.

cmon so now its a big giant man? cmon bit original base it on a game lyk resistance fall of man that would b a killer movie!

saw cloverfield today.i liked it.not like the blair witch,not even near it.i think most would agree that it was surprising to say the least.cant wait for clovrefield II that has been confirmed.oh yes the star trek teaser has giving me wood again.

CLOVERFIELD WAS CRAP.

CLOVERFIELD WAS RUBBISH

WHAT A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY

CLOVERFIELD WAS RUBBISH

People don’t waste your money on it.

CLOVERFIRELD SUCKED

WASTE OF TIME and money

CLOVERFIELD SUCKED

CLOVERFIELD WAS RUBBISH

WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY

i watched cloverfield friday and i thoroughly enjoyed the film. i loved the first person perspective of the film. it made the whole sequence feel more genuine to me asides to a corny monster film. The enigma used was brilliant, the audience never full knows what/why/how this monster comes about. which is brilliant as it forces our imagination to escalate the whole situation to a new level. i agree with ‘MS’ that this film DID create some great conversations afterwards. i do believe there may be another film coming out that continues this story and explains this one. i doubt it will be shot in the same style so all of you who were ’sickened’ by the whole experience can stop whining about it. I want some questions answer as much everybody else. so i do hope this other film does come out and that its not just a rumour i’ve overheard. but again i really hope that it won’t destroy the storyline to this film because if we know everything where’s the fun in that? the fun comes out of the unknown

hey guys, saw the movie last night (second night here in the UK) and I have to say, I was mostly impressed - sure, it had the odd cliche’ but it was so cool to have a movie that FINALLY didn’t have any specific heroes or dealt with the idea that one person can save the world - that’s not how life is - if something of that dimension attacked a big urban area, people would be scared, people wouldn’t behave rationally and they’d certainly not try to be heroes. Will Smith would be the first to run in the opposite direction to any monster, believe me! Anyhow, i’m here to ask, what were the words that were whispered right at the end, post-credits? I was trying to figure it out with my friends but none of us were prepared for it, so we only half heard it.
cheers!
marco

Very good film. Not for the faint hearted or those who are scared easily. Camera is quite jarring at the start but you get used to it quite quickly. Characters were well chosen and very involving due to the fact that they seem like ordinary people. The main thing i (dare i say it) enjoyed about this film is the fact that you - and everyone else for that matter - have no idea what the creature is or how it got there. If you ask me, it may slightly rip ‘Blair Witch Project’ off, but in my eyes Cloverfield just did it a lot better. I mean, no-one believes in a witch, because it simply doesnt exist, but you can’t help thinking that Cloverfield could actually be possible. I noticed something interesting aswell - at the end of the film, when the tape goes back to Rob and his Girlfriend at the fairground, if you watch very carefully you will notice the monster actually fall into the ocean in the background.
Another thing, perhaps the most interesting (in answer to your question above, marco) is that at the very end of the credits you can hear Rob whisper the words ‘I’m still alive’, leaving it wide open for a sequel. I don’t know about you, but i can’t wait to see what happens next.

I am 18 years old, I live in the UK and I just got back from seeing this film, now I study Film Post Production as a degree at Ravensbourne which is one of the most prestigious media unis in Europe so I feel I have a point to make. Fair enough American film that makes world wide release is not going to be the most edgy/disturbing or thought-worthy cinema thanks to Hollywood’s cinematic recreation of pop music, but this film is a big step into real film and roots story telling. I get the feeling that all the negative comments are from impatient people who want to see ’special effects’ and ‘car chases’ and although thoroughly entertaining, has little to do with what film really stands for as a communication medium, people overlook the fact that this film is (almost) set in double first person which includes the audience as a character, not directly within the film but the way it’s presented, because the start is a top secret government video that is highly classified, but you don’t see a bunch of FBI guys studying the tape, yet you get the feeling that this is being watched by that kind of authority, which is where audience participation comes in, if you like, you could pretend that you are a top government official who is studying this tape, but you are obviously greeted by the character’s perspective and it’s easy to think of that as the main viewpoint of the film. The film was extremely well choreographed, the characters were not over the top and the fact that you know fuck all about the monster or it’s task makes it that much more interesting. All in all I think this film will reverberate around home DVD cabinets for many years to come.

I didn’t see the movie and I don’t intend to for two reasons….(1) the hype about the movie isn’t about whether it’s good or not…it’s about what does the monster look like…(2) if the movieisn’t even about the monster why would I go see it…if I want to see a love story I’d go see 27 Dresses…thank you for saving me seven bucks!

I havent yet seen the film but while looking for reviews as such like this i came across some sketch drawings of the actual monster and noticed it seems like nothing but a bad rip off of ‘Sin’ from Final Fantasy 10. Just wondering if anyone notice how un-subtle the comparison between both monsters was.

I thought cloverfeild was very good it was one of the best movies I have ever seen. And it had excellent special effects and its not one of those stupid cheesy romance movies where the bad guy looses and the good guy wins and everything ends happily ever after crap because that isn’t what real life is. But what I thought was very good was the realism in the military involvement how the jets fired the missiles and the B-2 dropped the bombes with excellent precision on the monster and how quickly the military responded to the attack but what I hated was how the dam thing would not die although it could have died after the movie and I love how the movie kind of lets you decide and I have always hated parts in other movies where the military falls like in War of the Worlds with all the crap with the sheilds and that but this time there are no sheilds or magical power that makes the missles disapear before impact or that sort of crap but it was very realistic were it seems that the military would have a good chance in the film because Hollywood really under estimates the power of the armed forces but in this movie it is much more realalistic.

cloverfeild was an amazing movie and if you didn’t like it then thats your loss.

WOW! Cloverfield is WICKED!!! every bit as good as the hype! the monster was fantastic, I loved the way the military threw everything they had at the monster but it still kept going and its babies where nasty little crittersto!
GO SEE THIS FILM!!!!!

ES un FRAUDE… esta puta pelicula me cogio sabroso…compeadesco a los pendejos k les gusto, bueno exagere…la idea es buena pero…puta, le falta historia, un hero (por k salvar a la puta de tu novia no es ser un heroe…eso es ser pendejo), no se le falta todo y una camara mejor…sin comentarios.

A great movie!!!
I liked from the beginnig til the end, nice effects and a very good story.

I’ll see it again and again.