Cloverfield (Blu-ray Disc, 2008)

One compelling reason I was interested in Cloverfield is because it bucked the Hollywood trend of a blockbuster costing an outrageous amount of money to make. Cloverfield cost $25 Million to make ... the advertising for the movie was essentially free as dozens upon dozens of websites picked up on the little things in the first movie trailer discussing them again and again in detail. I wanted to participate and contribute this experiment in movie making.

Now, I want to touch on one other aspect of this movie that intrigues me ...

Back when the trailer for Cloverfield (then called "1-18-08") first came out I suggested that this movie might be a LOST television series tie in. I think it still may be.

Yesterday I read this; Cloverfield graphic novel coming out.

"Remember this last shot in the film of our intrepid heroes at Coney Island, enjoying [a day] of amusement? Apparently something huge splashes down into the ocean in the background. We missed it, but if you couple it with the translation from the graphic novel that says the Japanese Tagruato corporation's satellite fell from orbit, then bingo. You've got the alarm clock that woke up the monster from its deep-sea slumber."

I almost want to bet that we will actually find that the Tagruato satellite was brought down by something related to LOST - possibly the satellite that was looking for the survivors AND that the monster could possibly be Ben's id (or the manifestation of the smoke monster/Jacob) - just like in Forbidden Planet. I will also bet that Tagruato is another subsidary of the Hanso corporation (the secretive entity that originally ran the island portrayed in LOST).

Wouldn't this be a great way to promote the DVD release of Cloverfield?

Review:

Cloverfield (formerly titled 1-18-08 in viral marketing campaigns) is such a historical, "I was there type movie".

Uniquely and masterfully shot from the point of view of a camcorder being held by a best friend; Cloverfield is compelling even without character development. But ... don't be fooled ... this is no Blair Witch Project ... although I'm sure many reviewers will compare and say Blair Witch did it first.

I may be over-rating it slightly, but ONLY slightly ... this will go down as one of the greatest Monster Movies of all time. I'm not going to call it a part of my top 10, but it definitely is part of my Top 100 - which are just about all interchangeable with the #1 slot.

This movie begged two questions of me:

1) Would I be the one that people stayed around in time of disaster such as this?

2) Would you risk your life in such a horrific, never before experienced by any man; tradegy?

Expanding on question #2 ... this movie handles this in such a unique way that it is just incredibly compelling; yet terrifying.

The movie ends perfectly and unexpectedly in an atypical movie fashion. If I said any more on this topic it would give one of the best endings in movie history away.

The movie is PG-13 and leaves a lot of the "horror images" to the imagination just out of view to those watching.

A great horror movie is terrifying and then relieves the viewer with comedy. The comedic relief comes from "Hudson" - the best friend holding the camcorder.

If you haven't kept up with all the viral marketing for this movie, don't start before you see the movie ... buy this or rent it now!

The DVD has some interesting alternate endings!

Pre-Order this movie! You will want this in your collection. It is nothing like the Blair Witch Project....

Official specs on the Blu-ray release of the J.J. Abrams-Produced film 'Cloverfield' are in from Paramount. As hoped by many, this Blu-ray release will include full 1080p video as well as Dolby TrueHD audio. Video codec information is currently unavailable from Paramount. Additionally, this release features an exclusive Blu-ray-only feature in the so-called "Special Investigation Mode." Sounding much like a trivia track, this feature provides the viewer with tidbits of information on the film as the story unfolds.

Special Features include:

Special Investigation Mode (Blu-ray exclusive)

Commentary by Director Matt Reeves

Document 01.18.08: The Making of Cloverfield featurette

Cloverfield Visual Effects featurette

I Saw It! It's Alive! It's Huge! fearurette

Clover Fun featurette

4 Additional Scenes

2 Alternate Endings w/optional commentary

14 Easter Eggs

'Cloverfield' arrives on Blu-ray, June 3rd.

Because the film was supposed to be made on a home video camera it looked grainy most of the time, wasting the HD. OK the sound was really good contradicting the whole video camera thing. Another problem with the video camera idea is the picture is never steady they pan to fast and have all the problems that make you not want to watch your own home movies.

You never see enough of the monster and never get to know the charters enough to care what happens to them. This was supposed to be an American Godzilla, well we had one of those and it didn’t do any better than this film although it did look better.

It was a OK film but, don’t bother with the blu-ray it dosn't take advantage of it, just get the normal DVD.

I enjoyed this film. Everyone is comparing the camera style to the Blaire Witch Project, but in my personal opinion this is a much better movie. The story was great. The acting was decent and stood strong throughout. The direction showed that people should just give it a chance. The visuals were stunning. They were all so realistic and detailed. Overall, I really liked this film. If you have sensitive eye sight then this movie is not for you, fast action movement at all times.. great perfect movie for the new 240hz LED TV.... even better 3-d TVs

I really liked this movie. I don't buy movies hardly ever, but this one's a classic. I had a hard time at first with the hand-held camcorder look, but by midway through the movie, they'd either eased up on the effect, or I was pretty much used to it.
What really made the movie stand out for me was the feeling that it's what it would really be like to be in a city a monster was actually roaming around in. There's a feeling of involvement I haven't experienced in a "monster movie" before. You're a witness, not just an observer. The special effects are very convincing, especially when seen through the view of the camcorder, and I was very pleased to see the disc had a "making of" section that explained how they did things.
If you liked the movie, buy the disc. If you haven't seen it, but are inclined towards monster movies, buy this disk. I'm glad I did.