Cloverfield | 
| Director: Matt Reeves
Actors: Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan, T.j. Miller, Michael Stahl-david
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.99
Buy Used: $0.98
You Save: $29.01 (97%)
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Rating:  683 reviews
Sales Rank: 2686
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 85 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 352064
UPC: 097363520641
EAN: 0097363520641
ASIN: B0014Z4OQG
Theatrical Release Date: January 16, 2008
Release Date: April 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
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 primetime 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 that now-defunct 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
Product Description
Five young New Yorkers throw their friend a going-away party the night that a monster the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city. Told from the point of view of their video camera, the film is a document of their attempt to survive the most surreal, horrifying event of their lives.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 678 more reviews...
 I tried to like this, I really did... July 1, 2009
R.A. Engstrand
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
But I really disliked the main characters. I found them to be very annoying, especially the cameraman. When you're rooting for the monsters to kill the cast off and the movie isn't even halfway over yet, it's not a good sign. The handheld camera view was also hard to endure. When it was over, I wanted an hour and a half of my life back. I don't think that the presence of the "MST3K" cast would've helped this film any.
 Love It June 15, 2009
C. Harry (California)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I love this movie. I held off on seeing it for a while because I had heard about people getting motion sick in the theater, and I'm pretty prone to that, but I had no such problems watching this on DVD. I really enjoyed this movie. I think it's because I've always liked the big-monster-attacks-city movie concept, but had never really seen it done that well. This movie just nailed it. You really get the feeling of what it would be like to be in the city while an unknown creature is causing destruction. I know a few people who've seen this film and who didn't like it as much as I did, so this may be the kind of movie that is just for certain types and not others. Then again, I think most fans of action/thriller/sci-fi type movies would really enjoy this one. I bought the DVD, which is something I don't do very often anymore unless I really enjoy a film and want to come back to it a lot.
 I love a good monster movie June 9, 2009
M. J. Walters (Chicago, IL USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Let's face it, we've become pretty sophisticated, which means that Frankenstein and Godzilla don't really cut it anymore. And the hack-n-slash gorefest crap that passes for horror these days is almost not worth the time it takes to yawn through them. So when I find a good, solid monster movie that makes me tense up and say "Oh my god!" at least once, I know I'm on to something.
If you don't already know, Cloverfield is set in post-9/11 Manhattan. During a Bon Voyage party, something attacks the city, decapitating the Statue of Liberty, in a very memorable moment, and laying waste to the Empire State building, the two most enduring symbols of New York. Add to that the memory of the events of September 2001, and you have the sense that this story isn't going to end well.
There's a breakneck race through the streets and subways of Manhattan, and ever-longer peeks at the monster and its spawn, but there's never enough time to take it all in, never time to allow the mind to process exactly what it is that's happening, so the imagination takes over, which any old school horror aficionado will tell you is the most effective way to scare the bejeebers out of someone. Let their mind do the work for you, let them imagine what is happening, what could happen, what will happen.
The casting of relative unknowns and the use of a near-real-time narrative are both critical to allowing the audience to put itself into the story. I only saw one actor with whom I was familiar, and it did push me right out of the film for a moment because it suddenly registered as just a movie, an entertainment. Until that moment I was very caught up in the narrative. I know that when I'm sitting forward in my chair urging the characters to "follow the rats, always follow the rats!" that I've been quite properly hooked.
In the end, Cloverfield is really nothing more than a monster movie for the 21st century, but one which doesn't depend on blood and gore, or some lunatic with a butcher knife. It's good fun.
Not the greatest but interesting none the less June 6, 2009
R. C Sheehy (Foxboro,MA USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I will give J.J. Abrams his due, he is true to his craft and makes you watch what he wants to show you. He is not one to pander to his audience and leave everything in a nice, neatly wrapped up bundle at the end of the film. Cloverfield is like that, we do not know what the creature really looks like or where it might be from or if it was killed in the end. What is the Hammerdown protocol anyway? This reminds me so much of Lost where we don't know much about The Others, or the Dharma Initiative. We are supposed to enjoy the ride not getting to the destination.
I am not going to say that Cloverfield is excellent film making, but it is an interesting film and quite honestly a fun movie if you let your self relax and enjoy it. Don't take it too seriously, it is supposed to be fun!
Shake, Rattle & Roll! A Revisiting of Cloverfield! June 5, 2009
James "Scotman" April (Bakersfield, CA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Cloverfield
At first blush, Cloverfield is a monster movie that affects the common, everyday people who happen to be having a going away party. But it's more than that.
We are warned that this is video is property of the Department of Defense and is a recording found in a place formerly known as Central Park. The story unfolds:
Robert Hawkins, Beth and his friends are video'ing the going away party and suddenly a large crash is heard. They run out and find that the city around them is coming apart! No one knows what's happening or going on and somehow, their social veneer comes apart.
A clumsy love story ensues partway through the film; we get somewhat enamored by the silly nerd who's running the camera so that "people know" what happened.
It's like an American Godzilla!
Yeah, on the surface, but what was Abrams trying to do with this film?
I think the director Matt Reeves is making a statement about the quick YouTube like generation. Hey, let's get this on video and upload it to YouTube wow, gee! Can't tell if that is a criticism of this generation's propensity for the internet or the lack of social skills presented. The constant documentary style of the handy video cam and cell phone camera is more than a subtle commentary.
The plot rolls along nicely. Little creatures peel of the main monster and make their home in the sewers of New York. When they bite, somehow the victim eventually explodes. This is never adequately explained, but the horror of losing your friend to this is not pretty -- a splatter on the tarmac is all you get!
The tension of the film surrounds not only saving Beth (the girl with a rebar impalement problem) but these kids are caught between the monster and the military, barely escaping with their lives. And then not even that!
I understand the DVD has deleted scenes, a "making of" and a commentary by the director.
The criticism of the shaky camera and the Blair Witch Project is a minor annoyance. What are the director and producer doing? What are they trying to say? This was a bold experiment by Abrams. Yes, could' a been done better, but not a bad first effort. Where's the sequel??
There is no film score, which makes sense since this is a civilian video. And I will have to get the DVD now to catch the whisper at the end of the credits: "Help Us, It's Still Alive!"
Cloverfield (Widescreen) Limited Edition Steelbook
Cloverfield
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