Cloverfield (2 Disc Special Edition) - DVD (Michael Stahl-David, Lizzy Caplan, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman, Jessica Lucas - Dir: Matt Reeves)

One of the first things a viewer notices about Cloverfield is that it doesn't play by ordinary storytelling rules, making this intriguing horror film as much a novelty as an event. Told from the vertiginous point-of-view of a camcorder-wielding group of friends, Cloverfield begins like a television soap opera about young Manhattanites coping with changes in their personal lives. Rob (Michael Stahl-David) is leaving New York to take an executive job at a company in Japan. At his goodbye party in a crowded loft, Rob's brother Jason (Mike Vogel) hands a camcorder to best friend Hud (T.J. Miller), who proceeds to tape the proceedings over old footage of Rob's ex-girlfriend, Beth (Odette Yustman)--images shot during happy times in their ex-relationship. Naturally, Beth shows up at the party with a new beau, bumming Rob out completely. Just before one's eyes glaze over from all this heartbreaking stuff (captured by Hud, who's something of a doofus, in laughably shaky camerawork), the unexpected happens: New York is suddenly under attack from a Godzilla-like monster stomping through midtown and destroying everything and everybody in sight. Rob and company hit the streets, but rather than run with other evacuees, they head toward the center of the storm so that Rob can rescue an injured Beth. There are casualties along the way, but the journey into fear is fascinating and immediate if emotionally remote--a consequence of seeing these proceedings through the singular, subjective perspective of a camcorder and of a story that intentionally leaves major questions unanswered: Who or what is this monster? Where did it come from? The lack of a backstory, and spare views of the marauding creature, are clever ways by producer J.J. Abrams and director Matt Reeves to keep an audience focused exclusively on what's on the screen. But it also makes Cloverfield curiously uninvolving. Ultimately, Cloverfield, with its spectacular effects brilliantly woven into a home-video look, is a celebration of infinite possibilities in this age of accessible, digital media. -Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews of Cloverfield (2 Disc Special Edition)

i did
Bucks
6th August 2008

A 5 star movie with 3 star extras.
Like the Matrix 10 years ago Cloverfield has set a new standard for action cinema. Movie snobs often dismiss genre movies like this one as low brow. But the genius of Cloverfield is it's structure; the whole movie is an exercise in keeping an audience on the edge of their seats and it works. Every time it looks like things couldn't possibly get worse they do, then just when things look like they've calmed down a tad the next shock hits. None of which sounds that impressive, until you see just how well it's done here.

Although there's nothing oscar worthy from the cast the films is buoyed along by some convincing performances and humor in particular is played just right: it's funny but not so funny that you relax. The story pulls surprisingly few punches and even seems a little daring for a big budget action movie, culminating in a conclusion that stayed with me long after the movie finished; it's often I've said that about a film of this type. Best of all there is more to Cloverfield then just digital effects and screaming. The main characters find themselves caught between an apparently unstoppable natural force and a military or authoritarian presence that is potentially just as deadly (it's not clear which is responsible for the climatic scene under the bridge). As such the story is a fitting parable for the modern mindset of the average person in the west at this time in history: little people caught between corporate hunger, rising and falling political empires, wars they don't understand, apparently uncatchable enemies who wage war in urban areas and of course the environmental holocaust Hollywood has worked so hard to prophecy. The end result reminded me of the sense of powerless desperation that came from watching 'An Inconvenient Truth' for the first time.
On a technical level every thing looks spot on and the sound mix is one of the best I have ever experienced on domestic speakers, making this the perfect film to show off your new home cinema system.
Unfortunately the special features for this 2 disc edition aren't that special. The deleted scenes and alternate endings run to about 5 minutes tops and really disappoint. The making of features are typical: the cast come over as like-able but most of the time is spent on extremely dull digital effects people. There are only so many ways of saying "We did it with computers. It was complicated.". There's certainly nothing extra here that makes it worth buying this over the single disc edition.

BazookaDevil

20th July 2008

Walk through the fields of clover or should you run?
I had not heard that much about Cloverfield when I first saw a trailer on the internet, but it did look good. The idea of narrating a story through the lens of a camera had been seen before, but the idea of making a disaster movie this way still appealed to me, so I was not expecting much, but still hoped to get that wow effect which is very much in demand these days.
The movie and the ideas behind it really had potential and succeeds at some points to capture and engage the audience because one feels like being in the middle of the crisis. Unfortunately some issues relating to physics etc. is able to spoil the movie if one thinks very logically. The movie has for instance been critizised for lacking realistic physics relating to the cameraman. A point which can also be seen as a let down for the audience and more or less destroying the reality factor, is the quality of the video, which is quite good. This is of course to make the movie as good in quality as any other cinematic movies, but some might still think that this is a flaw and makes the movie lose a bit of its supposed atmosphere. At points the animation of the monsters look a bit misplaced and it is clear that they are animated creatures. It is hard to critizise this because the perception of the human is much harder to convince in this age of technology than ever before, so it is difficult to make animated characters that look genuine, especially the fictional ones. There is no musical score, obviously, but the sound effects are very good and when you sit in the cinema while gun bullets hiss and military tanks works it way through the streets, the sound really makes it all come to life. Again the sound is in a bit of an over quality state for a normal handycam, but it does not spoil the film too much. The acting part is sufficable, but not the best. They are able to make the movie experience endurable, but again, they do not add up to the wow factor that they could have.

To sum up Cloverfield is a justifiable movie and easy to watch as the story is not that complex. It also tries to show the audience the innermost urges and instincts that follow with trying to survive and it both delivers and fails at doing so. The idea of narrating the story through the lens of a camera has got some real potential, but the top of the peak has not yet been reached. It is all a matter of time before a big breakthrough is made and meanwhile one must just wait and see. See through the lens of progression.

Critic Extraordinaire
steveo.stewart@hotmail.co.uk
17th June 2008

Less Is More
We all know of the hype that surrounded this film and that was even before we even knew the name of the film, once we found out the name we became more pre-occupied with the Monster but we never really got to see the monster up close and personal. Even when the movie was released we're never really given a clear shot of the monster itself leaving more to the imagination, which I think makes it all the more special. The story tells of Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David) who's about to leave New York city to start a new life in Japan, during his goodbye party he has an argument with his girlfriend, Beth (Odette Yustman) and she leaves while he has to attend the party with other things on his mind. By about this time the cameraman for the movie is Hud. (T.J. Miller) As the night progresses the party is shaken by an almighty roar for which they suspect may be an earthquake but after a news report we come to learn it's something so much more frightening.

There have been many complaints about the concept of the movie being Blair Witch-esque and being shot entirely by a handheld camera, but let me be honest when I say that it makes it all the more realistic and even more frightening. This is definitely a monster movie on the scale of the 1998 Godzilla but with one huge difference... OK maybe two and they are, we know nothing about the monster or where it comes from and we don't really come to know what it looks like. This is definitely big budget and the first scene in which the monster first attacks the city gives us the frightening vibe of the 9/11 attacks and the hysteria that the people felt at that time.

If the initial attack and the monster itself wasn't enough to scare the life out of you, then the little creatures that fall off the monster are seriously something to make you wet your pants with fright. They have the cringe factor of a very large spider, they're fast, they're crazy and if they bite you, you explode. We're never given any explanation about what's going on with the monster or the little creatures, we never find out why the people explode and indeed whether something in the Alien movie fashion jumps out. The lack of information we're given is really something that makes the whole film special as the less you know, the more your mind starts to play tricks and the more you start to think "well maybe this is what happens, or maybe that's it" you just don't know and that's what makes it an incredible film going experience.

This is something that you really should try, don't be put off by the wimpy claims of motion sickness or the pathetic ramblings of not being able to see much and the camera always swerving away from the best bit, as that's the point. It's more a movie for your imagination and let me tell you your mind really does play tricks. There is a sequel on the way and we have no idea how this is going to turn out, whether this will be a typical movie sequel or whether this will be another video camera movie from another point of view. The soldiers had cameras on their helmets so it's possible that the sequel may be from a soldiers point of view, I know I can't wait for the sequel but if you have yet to see the first movie, you really should try it out.

DJ
UK
15th June 2008

Utterly outstanding- an instant classic
Cloverfield is quite terrifying. I've never seen so many people run screaming out of the cinema before.

There's been The Last Broadcast, The Blair Witch Project, The Zombie Diaries, Welcome To The Jungle, Rec, and Diary Of The Dead. Therefore, you'd expect the 'supposedly real, found video camera footage' genre to be a bit worn out by now; but then along comes Cloverfield- the best of them all.

Many have criticized it for having no proper plot (enormous monster attacks New York- hmm, sounds complicated) and having bad characterization and whatever else- but those people have probably totally missed the point. Cloverfield wants you to feel like you're actually experiencing what you see on the screen, to have those feelings of immense confusion, fright and disorientation... and that's exactly what it does.

The Blair Witch Project finally has competition in its genre. Endless other additions have attempted to surpass it through use of zombies, cannibals, ghosts, you name it- but the reason why they've all failed is because the acting was not convincing enough (especially throughout the excruciatingly bad The Zombie Diaries), and acting is basically the key to make these films work. This is where Cloverfield excels; forget the stunning special effects, the cast are who I praise for most of Cloverfield's incredible success.

(Just a quick word of warning: don't -as I did- get the 2 disc edition hoping that the alternate endings will be totally alternate! That's all I'm saying.)

At the end of the day, be assured that if you look up the word 'amazing' in the dictionary, you'll find the word 'cloverfield'. It's head and shoulders above 99% of other recent horror movies, covering up its massive flaws with (as another reviewer has described as...) "plain spectacular awesomeness".

This really is just what cinema is all about. So believe the hype: Cloverfield rules.

hagakure59
North Wales
13th June 2008

Blair Witch meets Godzilla on steroids...
There have been stories surrounding this since it's release onto the big screen several months ago. Viewers fleeing the cinema feeling ill with headaches and nausea due to the bumpy/messy style of filming in this wicked flick.

True or not, I DON'T GET IT. Ok, it's a bit like being on a boat in a couple of scenes and it's very amatuerish in others... But people... IT'S SUPPOSSSSSEEEEDDDDD TO BEEEEEEEEE!!! Plus it adds to the charm in my opinion.

Fantastic performances all round. And a big round of applause for the director... Think jaws.. How much of the shark do you actually get to see... and how afraid were you the first time you watched it?

Buy THIS NOW!