Cloverfield [Blu-ray]
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Movie Reviews of Cloverfield [Blu-ray]
Movie Review: Stop complaining about the camera!
Summary: 4 Stars
I had no problems watching this film. I originally saw it at the cinema, and then again on blu-ray, and each time, I didn't feel sick, or dizzy. The majority of reviews on Amazon are one or two star reviews complaining about the camera, which quite possibly will put people off from seeing the movie. It's a film. It's a bit shaky. Get over it already.
Normally, I do get put off by all the hype surrounding movies. All the teaser trailers (the statue of liberty's head lying in the street), the internet buzz, the fact that nothing was really given away before the film was released. Too much hype can ruin a movie in my opinion. But after seeing this at the cinema and on blu-ray, I have to say, I liked it as much second time round, as I did first time.
I will agree with some other reviewers that the characters annoyed me. The only character I really liked was Marlena, played by Lizzy Caplan. (If you're thinking she looks very different from Janice Ian in Mean Girls - it's the same girl! And if anyone saw the cancelled second season of Tru Calling, she's in that too.) The rest of the characters irritated me majorly and were mostly unknowns.
Some reviewers have compared to this to The Blair Witch Project. I hated Blair Witch project. It only got good in the last 10-15 minutes. What I will say about Cloverfield, is that it keeps your attention right the way through the movie, without failing once. The film is visually stunning, to begin with a leaving party, which is quite rudely interrupted. A couple of the scenes towards the beginning reminded me of scenes from 9/11. The monster was also extremely well done, quite often if you see a monster, all the mystery & intrigue is taken away, but it's only when it's actually caught on camera close up, that you realise all the brief glimpses throughout the movie doesn't do the monster justice. The one brief glimpse will have it burned into your brain forever. Put it this away, it's in the same ranks as the predator, the alien, all the other great movie monsters. Wow what a creature. It's like lots of different parts of other creatures!
The first person viewpoint was an interesting concept, not something I thought worked in Blair Witch. You never really get to 'know' Hud that much, as you know the rest of the characters. He's only briefly seen compared to the rest of the characters, as he's always behind the camera. But since he had a bit of a thing for Marlena, it worked in that sense! And there's always shots of feet running, and very fast shots as the camera tries to catch everything that's going on. Put yourself in that position - you're not going to be running from a big scary monster, and stop to make sure the camera was off so you didn't record your feet? Or take your time to record footage on your left, when something more exciting is happening on your right? (For example.)
The effects are amazing, and work well in cinema and on blu-ray. The only thing I really didn't like was the 'flashback' scenes. (The other footage on the video camera pretty much.) They were OK, but it just didn't work quite well in my opinion.
Cloverfield is over very quickly, it seems, it passes in a breeze. After first watching in the cinema, I was not amused about walking down a dark road in order to get my bus home. Thankfully, I did jump as much as I did in the cinema when I saw the helicopter scene second time around.
Overall I would recommend Cloverfield. Ignore the reviewers who complain about the camera - watch the film, emmerse yourself in the feeling that you're in control of the camera, and what you would do in that situation, and you'll get on quite well.
Movie Review: Hate it or Love it
Summary: 4 Stars
This is one of those movies that everyone either hates, or loves. If you look at all of the ratings, approx 130 are 5-stars, and 129 are 1-stars. Completely even.
I think that this was a great movie. I loved the whole 'civilians point of view thing.' A lot of people complain about the camera and how nauseating it is, or how it movies all over the place and how it looks like a home movie. Well, I hate to break it to you, but the reason why it's like that is because it is. The whole point of the movie was to film it from a civilian's point of view. If it was from everyone's point of view, then it would've been done professionally. But the whole point of the movie was that the camera was supposed to look like someone was running around and making a home-movie.
I thought that everything about this movie was great. Even the beginning where it was talking about everyone's lives. I thought that was great too. Although it is a little lengthy, if you think about it, it kind of needs to be done. You have to establish a bond between the characters and the viewers. Let's face it, nobody's really gonna pay attention to the movie unless they like the characters. If it started off with blood and guts then it would be pretty boring. But if you like a certain character and don't want to see them die, you'll find yourself paying attention and enjoying the movie even more just because of a bond you have with a certain character.
Also a lot of people complain that you don't get to see certain things happen in this movie. Uhh... that's the whole point... again! It's from a civilian's point of view. I'm sorry, but if someone gets shot in the middle of the street, the police aren't exactly going to let you run into the middle of the crime scene and inspect everything.
This Blu-Ray edition has a lot of great features that go in-depth with the story-line and explain everything. The only reason I gave it four stars was because although I found the beginning necessary, it was a little lengthy.
Movie Review: Loved it!
Summary: 4 Stars
I loved this movie. Very interesting and the "monster" in it was super creepy looking. You never find out what it is or where it came from, just that it can't be destroyed, at least by conventional methods. No conclusion to the film really either. But god it's fun to watch. Better than "I Am Legend" in my opinion.
For those who have complaints about this film. First, I have Meniere's disease (extreme vertigo) and I didn't have a problem watching this movie. And if I can watch it without getting sick or dizzy, then the average Joe should be able to as well. Second, about the beginning being boring. Yeah, it's not an action-packed film right from the opening scene, but you've got to give the reader a backstory to get them interested and vested in the characters so you care about what happens to them. If you didn't know why would you care?
I gave it 4 stars out of 5 because I think that the average movie goer would want some kind of conclusion or resolution to the film. Like were they able to kill the monster, is there any chance of survival after the bombing, what did NYC look like when it was all said and done, etc. My guess is they may have left it open perhaps for a sequel of some sort.
Another reason to not give a full 5 stars is that when I first saw it I thought "Blair Witch" through the whole thing. Very "Blair Witch" as far as film style. It's just been done before that's all.
Overall I think it'll be a cult classic hit - lots of people won't like this movie, but lots will and that will make it do very well overall. We just got a PS3 and I can't wait to watch this movie on Blu-Ray with our 1080p big screen TV. It should be even more amazing!
Movie Review: So Close To Hitting It Out Of The Park
Summary: 4 Stars
I agree with J.J. Abrams that America deserves a monster, a giant monster, like Godzilla that sticks in the psyche of the American people for generations. Alas, Godzilla, who was the inspiration for Cloverfield has his roots in the horrors of America dropping the Atomic Bomb on 2 cities to win WWII. Godzilla, a monster born from atom bomb testing embodies something that the Japanese will always remember. The origin of the Cloverfield monster is unknown. Is it an inadvertently man-made monster? Is it a monster from the deepest part of the ocean or is it from outer space? Who knows? And while that is a burning question throughout the movie, it is never answered. There are many things that work for the movie, but after awhile they have the opposite effect. I have seen the movie 3 times, including once in the movie theater. Twice I have gotten nauseated from the handheld, bouncy camera work. I get it. Its a Youtube like look at a large scale disaster, parts of which were inspired by 9/11. But the movie goes overboard with the handheld camera movement. This last time I watched it I had to take Tylenol from a headache centered right behind my eyes. And that is my biggest complaint because the movie is well made, with a good storyline and has characters you care about. But the camera work went overboard to emulate what is seen on Youtube news reports. Will there be a sequel, one shot traditionally? I hope so. And how can there not be a sequel, if this is supposted to be America's Godzilla. I recommend that anyone into Sci-Fi or even horror see the film, it is a scary movie. But be aware that you may experience either nausea or eye pain from the camera work. Sigh. We deserve a sequel JJ.Movie Review: Imperfect but entertaining
Summary: 4 Stars
The elevator pitch for this movie is Godzilla in Manhattan, with a different monster. And that's what you get in Cloverfield, a well-done low-budget movie that shows you don't need $100 million to make a decent movie. A group of friends at a going-away party, with a video camera, are in Manhattan when a monster shows up. Part of the genius of Cloverfield is that we don't know where the monster came from, what it's doing or what it wants. Every other movie of this genre is from the POV of the science guy who figures out how to fight the monster, whether with "plain ol' sodium!" ("Horror of Party Beach"), some kind of radio waves, ("Beginning of the End," as I recall), or by nuking the site to make sure. In "Cloverfield," the POV instead is that of the schmucks like us who would be running around wondering what the heck is going on after we find the head of the Statue of Liberty out in the street in front of the house.
On the downside, there's a little too much pre-monster time in the movie. And the video camera is magical - it has enough battery life to run through an entire party and a monster attack, with some left over to run the external light and Night Shot. Where do I get one of those? What's funny as well is that Cloverfield is supposed to look like it's shot on home video - so Blu-Ray is a little bit of overkill here.
But at 90 minutes, Cloverfield keeps moving fast enough so you don't think about the holes, and the movie doesn't outstay its welcome. It's at least worth a rent.