My Personal Thoughts on "Cloverfield"
Back in July 2007, a short unknown teaser trailer showing the “Statue of Liberty's” severed head hurtling down the street, was released to an unsuspecting viewing public that set the Internet forums ablaze with rumours and questions. It soon became apparent that the marketing team behind it demanded viral status. And that is exactly what they got. The hype machine quickly set in motion as the clamour reached fever-pitch levels until the next “sliver” of information was revealed via a string of short mysterious YouTube clips. I remember only too well the excitement at what in the hell this upcoming movie was going to deliver. Soon after, the official trailer came out to fit together the final pieces of the puzzle. It seemed to be a documentary-styled Godzilla type monster movie. Being a huge fan of both genres, I simply could not wait to see the finished article. So, it begs the question, was the behemoth hype machine justified by the film itself?
The film clarifies early on that the following is pre-recording footage retrieved from the location “formerly known as Central Park”. It shows taped footage of the final day two ex-lovers, Rob (Michael Stahl-David) and Beth (Odette Yustmans) spend together, interspersed with the “actual” main Cloverfield attack event taking place. So, in essence, it’s two separate recordings intermittently overwriting each other at irregular intervals. Though the main footage throughout the movie concerns the latter, which I’ll be referring to from now on. Rob, now single again, decides to emigrate to Japan and has a surprise leaving do organised by his friends. During the party, Beth shows up with her new boyfriend whilst Rob struggles to come to terms with this. Midway through the social gathering, there is power outage which results in a huge explosion not too far away from where they are. “Something”, it appears, is causing massive devastation just a few blocks down. As the group leave the building and run out into the street, the now well-known “Statue of Liberty” scene plays out as well as other skyscrapers collapsing into nothing but rubble. What ensues is a fight for survival as the friends attempt to make their way through the city to safety in the midst of an all-out extraterrestrial war.
There was no two ways about it. I was mega-pumped to check out this movie following their phenomenally successful marketing campaign. The entire production was so ingenuously shrouded in secrecy that nobody had any idea what they were about to witness. Well, me being "floored" would be an understatement. This movie delivered by the bucket load. The key formula to this movie doing as well as it did was ironically what made their viral strategy so triumphant. Less is more being the order of the day. For the duration of its runtime, the movie continuously offers up little nuggets of information to the viewer. This gives us a similar sense of “lacking crucial knowledge” that our protagonists also suffer. In essence, we are almost down there with them the whole time. The isolation, the intense panic, those terrifying vague sightings of the creature in the distance. It’s all very exhilarating stuff and the atmospheric effectiveness pulled off with aplomb. The searing tension strewn right the way from about the twenty-minute mark all the way up to a very dramatic conclusion, is a huge achievement in itself. This certainly was a nurtured labour of love from the great direction and vision of J. J. Abrams.
Another great feature of this film are the “easter eggs” intentionally tucked away in the background during many scenes. To find out where they are and how to spot them, “Google” is your one-stop shop to do so. Such as one particular key moment where our group are filming on their camcorder and manage to capture another person filming the very same thing on their equipment, yet from their own unique perspective. Ingenuity like that begs for a sequel for which fans have been hounding Abrams for years. Well, we did in fact finally get one. Well, sort of. Just a little different to what we were all expecting. But more on that in next review following shortly after this. The creature effects are also every bit as disturbing and shocking as you’d want them to be with a film of this nature. I feel there is little this movie gets wrong. If there is any criticism to be cited against it, that would be the “shaky cam” effect which may put some people off. But overall, you’d be missing out on a monster movie classic and one that will be revered for many a year to come.
I don’t think this will be of any surprise at all. This movie blew me away and I consider it an instant classic. If the genre isn’t for you, well, not much can be done about that. But from a technical and cinematic standpoint, this was a ground breaker. At the time of it’s release, nothing like it had ever been projected onto the big screen. Still a “one of its kind”, I literally cannot recommend this highly enough. “Godzilla on steroids” would be putting it mildly…
My Verdict: (9/10)
Ya know I haven't seen this movie since back in the day. I have good memories of it. The build up until the monster reveal, having no idea what it is exactly. Oh, and I remember the suspense and questions that the marketing operation left with its little bits and pieces. Certainly great work from them there.
But that is why I haven't rewatched it. These types of movies are best watched just once while everything is still a mystery. Kinda like a suspense-horror movie. I don't want to tarnish my memories of it by watching it when I know what is going on - or am I wrong by not watching it as it is still perfectly good?
You remember the viral strategic campaign well, my friend! I was so incredibly hyped for this movie to come out. For me, the fact that everything was so vague and unclear made it so much more interesting. We humans are very curious by nature. Always wanting to know more and not be left out of the informational loop. It's an embedded emotion that works on a number of different levels. Even right down to watching a movie. It's such a clever play on our intrinsic attributes.
Give it a looksee if you get the chance, buddy. :)
I absolutely love Cloverfield, it's definitely up there in my favourites. I feel it played well with the destruction experienced during the 911 attacks and the fear it generated. I shall reserve my judgement of 10 Cloverfield Lane until you post your review. I suspect we might agree on that one.
Thanks for seconding my opinion, bro! We seem to have experienced similar feelings when watching this movie. Such was it's utter greatness. I now just hope we can "do the double" and our views once again coincide with the next review... :)
This movie, in my opinion, was almost like a monster movie Blair Witch...with a much much larger budget. It was great to see a monster movie that really didn't show the creature much. We all knew it was there but what did it truly look like other than a few glances throughout the movie. At the end of the day it was a great creature feature.
That's a great analogy. One I similarly refer to when discussing this movie. The fact that they hid the creature from sight for most of the movie was so original, but then adding those sound effects where you could also "hear " the madness in the distance, was the cherry of top of a "perfectly baked pie". :)
I guess the big question was "do we really need another Godzilla?" It was a great and unique concept that, unfortunately, has not been recreated. Even the new one couldn't hold a candle to the original.
Wow!!, this is a nice review. I have not watch the movie before but while reading am kind off checking the movie out on YouTube.
Thanks so much for sharing at @ezzy
Judging from the YouTube trailers, you should get a good idea if it's for you or not. But I do hope you give it a chance. Epicness to the max! :)
I missed this one, and was never sure whether to go back and catch up on, or if the hype was actually overkill. Reading your review tells me the hype was justified, and perhaps a viewing is in order. Certainly one for me to look out for.
And I didn't know this was a JJ Abrams film, so I learned something new as well. Thanks man :)
I do believe this is one of those rare instances where the hype actually exceeded by expectations. Check this one out if you can, buddy.
J J at his very finest... :)
This is the kind of setting where Abrams really shines, in my opinion. If given enough time to do his thing, he'll paint himself into corners (as he did in Lost), and if given control of an existing franchise, he won't show enough respect for the existing lore or the consequences of his decisions (as he did with Star Trek and Star Wars). Give the man more one-off projects instead!
Nicely put, bud. :)
Thanks for the explanation. Puts some things into perspective for me.
I've actually never seen Cloverfield. I missed it right when it came out, and by the time I would have been able to watch it, I feel like the cultural moment had passed and all my friends who'd be into watching it already had, and nobody else wanted to see it.
I really love art that effectively uses implication and negative space within the narrative to let imagination tell the story.
Thanks for the review. Now I have a fallback option the next time I'm stuck trying to figure out what to watch.
Hope you enjoy it when you get around to checking it out! The imagination behind the movie and the concept is off the charts. :)
While a proper sequel to the film has not materialized, despite years of rumors and consideration, the film did serve as the first installment of the Cloverfield franchise, which also consists of 2016's 10 Cloverfield Lane and the 2018 film God Particle
Yes. The next one will be covered in a subsequent review. I just hope we can all one day get the "proper" sequel this movie is just crying out for... :)
Great review!
Your post convinced me to see this movie. I saw some trailers, but it didn’t move me much. I liked when you mentioned “Less is more.”
I think this relates to real live as well.
Thank you!
Resteemed!
Thanks very much, bud. I do urge you to give it a shot. Still a remarkable effort even all these years later. :)
Always nice to read you buddy ;D This one ends up on my watchlist!
'Cloverfield' definitely qualifies to be classified as a classic. It is thematically relevant and action-packed, having no dull moment. You cannot watch 'Cloverfield' and walk away empty.
There is so much to be had from this movie, even on repeat viewings. J. J. Abrams is one of the best directors of our times and has gone on to prove this numerous times over.