Just got back from the preview opener and was pleasantly surprised by the film. Its not great but it does have its moments. I think this is a perfect bookend for people who enjoyed The Blair Witch project. As such the shaky cam gets old quick, especially when the operator spends a good portion of the movie running and doing very fast pans.

If you need to see a disaster hit NY, I'd recommend this one over that other movie, I am Legend.

I was disappointed that it appears he just made up the monster and isn't from an established canon. (at least I can't place it until I see some high quality stills). I enjoyed the Lovecraft/Dagon theory the most going in. That you leave the theater still not sure what it was seems sort of a copout to me, though I guess we got exactly what the trailer gave us, a lot of teasers. It isn't a monster movie as much as a backdrop for the drama of the main characters. I enjoyed the camera man part at the end thoroughly.

Sounds good, I was hoping for Cthulhu.

Whats the other movie.

Probably the Godzilla remake.

It was always gonna be a brand new monster not one we have seen anywhere before.

Official website: http://www.cloverfieldmovie.com/

HD Trailers: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/cloverfield/

Looks nice

I was disappointed that it appears he just made up the monster and isn't from an established canon. (at least I can't place it until I see some high quality stills). I enjoyed the Lovecraft/Dagon theory the most going in. That you leave the theater still not sure what it was seems sort of a copout to me, though I guess we got exactly what the trailer gave us, a lot of teasers. It isn't a monster movie as much as a backdrop for the drama of the main characters. I enjoyed the camera man part at the end thoroughly.
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from reading the other thread, the things you find bad about the movie are what other people are going to enjoy most - it's what they are looking forward to most

What are they looking for exactly? Its not that I found it bad, but seemed to take the easy way out by slapping together parts from other monsters then never really giving the viewer a good look. Don't get me wrong, it is worth seeing with a group of people/date movie.

Its an event/rollercoaster piece. I don't think it will hold much replay value though (except on video to be able to pause some shots). Its like all the phoney hoopla when Basic Instinct came out. POS movie that everyone had to see to chat about at the watercooler. This is a movie where geeks can go home and blog about it and their theories.

If his aim was to create a truly American monster, he has failed. Its devoid of mythos and is scenery, not a character.

Thanks for that Dashel. You've given a decent review from what the trailers show me as a poor B movie flick.

Trailer look nice, but the Camera will make me sick...

Exactly. I couldn't stand the blair witch because of this.

Where the hell was the ending??!!!! God damn writers strike!!!

What does the writer's strike have to do with this film? This was filmed way before the strike began.

Maybe he is trying to find someone to blame?

Why did they try to kill that person behind the curtain? Fudge, this movie looks good.

This movies looks crazy good. I love the fact that they filmed it as a real life event with amateur cameras. I think this will be a good one and I love the fact that the movie deals with human drama as well.

So how many have actually seen Cloverfield? I admit I'm a J.J. Abrams fan so of course I'm looking forward to it.

I have some free movie tickets that I planned on using for Cloverfield. Is Cloverfield worth using my free tickets on?

I'm going to go see it in about three hours Can't wait to see it.

Please give us a review immediately afterwards, spoiler free of course.

Will do I haven't been this excited about a film since I saw the first Saw film.

I share your excitement. I would go see the early screening tonight but I can't talk my girlfriend into it.

So I'll wait to see what people have to say about the movie but I'll probably go and see it tomorrow night no matter what.

well you weren't THAT excited before.. lol. It was me and Rappy hypin' everything up.. lol.

Yeah you were all like "this sounds alright but its probably gonna be crap" but now your all stoked due to me and razorwing who sadly dont get a box office share...you know we should sue JJ Abrams.

I'm stoked mainly because of the positive reviews from horror fans that are coming in (i.e. Blood Disgusting, etc.).

I saw Cloverfield earlier today, and in a word, it is: good.

I found that the camera work, while being annoying at times, added to the drama of the movie. You felt as if you were there, it was immersive, and it helped tie me to the characters better. I don't know if that's the case with everyone, but that's how I feel.

The monster...yeah, I was sort of disappointed. There were a few decent shots of it, but nothing to get worked up about. You go into the theatre expecting to learn about this thing, and come out expected to have learn about this thing...but you don't.

Cloverfield, while being a monster movie, isn't really a monster movie, in my opinion. I would call it a love-friendship-whatever movie with monsters thrown in. It's hard to explain. Well, actually, you could call it a monster movie with a rather strong focus on love. You get what I'm getting at. It has love. It has monsters.

I felt disappointed at the end of the movie, but I couldn't pinpoint why. Maybe it was to do with the lack of information about this monster, but I dunno. Just a note, Cloverfield is fairly short compared to other movies nowadays, but it seemed to drag out. I suppose this is a good thing.

It's worth a watch...but I don't think I'd see it a second time.

So it a scary movie or a movie like Godzilla?

JJ Abrahms did mention in interviews that this film is like a love story, but the monster decided to show up on the wrong day of filming..

It's a movie like Godzilla. Just that you see less of the monster in Cloverfield than you do Godzilla.

Worth using a free ticket on or should I wait for something better?

Heh. Ummmm. Good question. I'd save the free ticket, personally.

I don't think that people understand the essence of this movie. I have not seen it but judging from what I've seen and read in reviews i think it's not really a monster movie. The monster creates a sense of urgency and danger, hopelessness and death, but it was not the main point of the movie as far I as I understand.

I like how James Berardinelli a top critic from RottenTomatoes.com (71% btw for the movie) summarizes the movie:

Theres some big movies out this year so its up to you really.

Noooooooo.

That bad? I guess I'll think it over until tomorrow night. I can't help but think I'll like it but I said the same thing with I Am Legend and it wasn't nearly as good as I had hoped it would be.



I know that. But as a J.J. Abrams fan I wanted to see this movie the second it was released.

Well, You either go and see it in the cinema or you don't... No point going to the cinema paying for your ticket when you got freebies already... And I doubt this film will look nearly as stunning even on a good HDTV..

Welp, I wouldn't be paying to see it in theaters at all. I'm either using the free tickets or waiting until it's released in stores.

I'm just trying to decide whether or not it's worth using the free tickets on. Have to make sure the girlfriend won't give me a hard time about using free tickets on a movie I ended up not liking.

Only one way to find out really... I'd use and abuse those tickets

I think I'm going to no matter what. I'm hyped for this movie and I like J.J. Abrams.

I think I can deal with what the female has to dish out at me.

Now that's a good boy, have a brownie!

Saw it the other night at an advanced screening. It wasn't horrible, it wasn't good either. Just fell right in the middle of the road. Disappointing, especially considering the hype machine behind it. I'd recommend waiting for it as a rental, not worth much more than that.

6/10

That pesky monster

Thing about my cinema is their framerate is terrible. Any panning just looks choppy. This movie seems to have a lot of quick panning. Is it worth it on the big screen? Some movies have lots of detail in one shot that the cinema really brings out. Would you say Cloverfield is any of those?

Just got back form the midnight showing of Cloverfield. Let me preface this by saying I wasn't one of the people that was drawn in by the mystery of what the movie was about. But since everyone else wanted to see it, I did my lemming thing.

Of course it's filmed with a Handicam so it took me about 10 minutes to get used to the jolting back and forth. A good thing is you only have to wait about 15 minutes before the action starts. It was pretty much action packed throughout the whole film and had a big focus on the people involved. You DO get to see a lot of the antagonist, so you don't have to worry that they only show it at the end.

I don't want to give away too much, so I'll just say that as an updated old-school monster movie, I'll give it a 4 ouf of 5. I'm not too sure about the replay value of it yet. Ask me in the morning!



*Edit* Yes that says Sneal. Someone please fix that lol?

I don't see why people in UK need to wait until the 1st February for this film. I want to see the monster I have read reports, that it is quite creepy !

There was one moment in there that made me jump really hard. I also forgot to mention that there are quite a few laughs also.

Are you the kind of person to jump in films a lot ? I want to get a feeling of how crazy this film is.

Ummmm, if there's an actual jump mement, yes lol. I wouldn't call this horror in any way. There is some suspense from the mystery of the monster. I would compare it to more of an action/sci-fi.

Saw it a few hours ago. Awesome movie.

The closest I could compare this movie to is that long scene in Children of Men where the camera is running through the streets. Cloverfield is 1.5hrs of that only with a whole lot more screaming and killing. It's a really intense experience. Due to the style (handycam) you'll either be completely drawn in, or you'll probably hate everything about it.

I didn't follow the hype of the movie. The monster isn't anything special, it's pretty generic. But this movie isn't about the monster, it's about a group of people and it's really, really well executed.

9/10

Saw it last night and I'll break it down:

Monster: 5/5 stars (absolutely awesome monster)
Sounds/Score: 3.5/5 stars (the parasites actually sound like they're saying, "NOM NOM NOM")
Plot: 5/5 stars
Story: 3/5 stars
Graphics: 5/5 stars (absolutely awesome CGI)

This film can't be compared to Jurassic Park. While I didn't like the film Jurassic Park, I realize it's contributions to the film industry and this film isn't a classic and never will be.

With that said, I will probably watch this film only one more time and that's so I can pause it on my HDTV when it comes out on Blu-Ray.

Overall, the film gets 4.5/5.

It's decided.

I skipped the early screening on the 17th but I WILL be going to see it tonight.

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