RE: Cloverfield...Not of much merit

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RE: Cloverfield...Not of much merit - 24/6/2008 9:04:41 AM

jonson

Posts: 8070
Joined: 30/9/2005

Sorry, double post.

< Message edited by jonson -- 24/6/2008 9:06:12 AM >

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Post #: 571

RE: Cloverfield...Not of much merit - 24/6/2008 11:24:36 AM

DONOVAN KURTWOOD

Posts: 7669
Joined: 6/10/2005
From: PLANET G

not 5 stars IMO, 3 at best.

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Post #: 572

RE: Cloverfield...Not of much merit - 24/6/2008 11:25:21 AM

DONOVAN KURTWOOD

Posts: 7669
Joined: 6/10/2005
From: PLANET G

not 5 stars IMO, 3 at best.

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Post #: 573

RE: Cloverfield - 24/6/2008 4:10:56 PM

white mage

Posts: 181
Joined: 29/11/2007
From: Hollow Bastion

This film is brillient. Exactly what you'd imigine would happen.

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Post #: 574

RE: Cloverfield - 6/7/2008 6:23:14 PM

Larry of Arabia

Posts: 7366
Joined: 28/2/2007
From: Turtle Island

Just saw this now a while after even the DVD came out, and I thought it was fantastic. Very entertaining, and even works on the small screen. I thought the beginning of the attack was well done and the panic was very believeable. Had a bit of a trawl throught the thread and yes, a person picking up a camera time after time is weird, but as argued, there would be no movie if they didn't. If you didn't like it, the alternative would be watching 5 minutes of people's feet before the camera was smashed.

I actually enjoyed the start, thought it did a good job of identifying the characters and also delaying the attack. It wouldn't have been half as effective if you didn't have some semblence of reality to relate to, some idea of how people were affected, when the smashy monster took over. Lizzi Caplan was probably the best in this, and her injuries and death were very unnerving, as was the whole tunnel scene.

Some faults but not overly significant - the actors were quite good but I get the feeling Yustman was there for her looks, as frankly her 'waking up from unconsciousness after a horrific injury' was quite bad. More like she'd just woken up from a light sleep. 10 minutes after her metal-rod-throught-the-shoulder accident, she was bombing it down the street. I suppose that was necessary though.

I'd give this 5 out of 5, but just wish I'd seen it on the big screen, as the scale of the monster and the panic was really well done and comes across that way even on the small screen.

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Post #: 575

RE: Cloverfield - 6/7/2008 7:29:02 PM

Halloweenfreak

Posts: 274
Joined: 4/7/2008
From: Southampton

One of five of the best films made within along time I could not believe how much I loved this film its was so fantasticly in your face and very rare which is what I like and how they done it made it look like the evnet was really happening, the special effects are unbeatable for that type of film. The sequence with the Statue of Liberties head being thrown threw one skyscraper with an explotion landing in the middle of the street right infront of the camera and him screaming in shock....and the greatest sequence for me personally has to be when there on the move the alien appears then the army firing anti-aircraft at it that was magnificent

10/10 for this film

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Post #: 576

Absolute Rubbish - 7/7/2008 8:59:37 PM

kayos

Posts: 1
Joined: 7/7/2008

Whilst I understand the concept of the film bing produced by one of the actors I, we, found it the hardest of films to view, the camear was never steady fro more than 30 seconds, the confussion was difficult to watch comfortably, you know I find so hard to put into any other words than a waste of £13:99 and a load of total rubbish.

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Post #: 577

Just didn't live up to the massive hype for me ... - 8/7/2008 5:43:37 PM

sunnygirly2k4

Posts: 36
Joined: 17/12/2006
From: Essex, UK

I'm SO glad I didn't pay to see this in the cinema. The characters are annoying teen/young people's show cutouts with their boring dramas between themselves, the doc-type camera gave me headache and sorry for all caps, but it annoyed me alot - THE DARN MONSTER ISN'T EVEN SCARY!
After all that hype, it only had 4 effectively jumpy moments, due to the element of surprise. What a shame.

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Post #: 578

Great - 11/7/2008 11:12:21 PM

Mousee

Posts: 7
Joined: 2/7/2007

Original and unique with many twists nd turns

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Post #: 579

Camcorder Equals Bad Film - 20/7/2008 12:19:02 AM

john oldmixon

Posts: 3
Joined: 19/7/2008

There's a reason why amateur camcorder film is so irritating, and all credit to the makers of Cloverfield, they remind us of it all the time. The Blair Witch Project - another annoying and over-rated film - tried it some years back, and the impact is no better in Cloverfield. The hand-held camera makes it difficult to watch, and nausea-inducing after about 10 minutes. The artistic danger is that, together with the pre-film hype (again reminiscent of Blair Witch) the camcorder gimic is there to make up for what is a very routine movie. I can understand why Empire's reviewer wants to praise a film that tries a new angle on the monster-attacks-city genre, but I'm not convinced Cloverfield is as ground-breaking as he suggests. I've already noted the Blair Witch precedent, while the idea of womping up the monster's terror factor with scarce and partial sightings was best done by Spielberg in Jaws.

For all it's up-front 'amateurism', Cloverfield is slickly done, but I'm afraid it failed to really engage me, and the camera-work sent me to the gin bottle for a recovery session. All the good stuff, it seems, was in the pre-release hype!

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Post #: 580

Cloverfield - 25/7/2008 7:47:59 PM

andy399

Posts: 20
Joined: 22/7/2008
From: Billericay, Essex

An interesting experiment that provides good entertainment, but will be too different and controversial for many. Nonetheless, a truly new experience for die-hard movie fans. AD

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Post #: 581

Good but not great - 2/8/2008 1:06:48 AM

MikeCollins6

Posts: 2
Joined: 2/8/2008
From: Manchester

Camera effects a side, this is a half decent story about a new kind of attack on New York. Even though i admired Matt Reeves radical new style - I didn't love it, Entertaining sure, but nothing more, worth a watch (if you don't suffer from motion sickness that is).

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Post #: 582

Marmite Film Of 2008 - 2/8/2008 7:20:36 PM

PaulJohn

Posts: 91
Joined: 30/4/2006
From: Aberdeen, Scotland

It suprised me alot this film, both with a very downbeat ending and it's smartness to leave questions unanswered. You'll either love it or hate it, I loved it and it grows on you with repeat viewings.

Oh and the creature is pretty cool too :)

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Post #: 583

A wasted opportunity - 29/8/2008 9:30:38 AM

dhowdy

Posts: 967
Joined: 29/8/2008
From: London

I'm not sure how much Empire was paid to give this movie a 5 star review but I, personally, was not that impressed. This film has been done before and it has been done better. The Blair Witch Project, 28 Days Later, Independance Day...The handheld 'reality' concept was undermined by the crystal clear images with perfect lighting we were presented with. Anyone used to watching the news knows that amateur footage is rarely ever so clear. The acting/writing was disappointing. Nobody really seemed to care much about the inexplicable monster that was destroying their city and killing their friends. The hero didn't think twice about saving his girlfriend in the face of such seemingly overpowering adversity. I expect this in a Die Hard film but not one selling itself in the pseudo-realism genre. I didn't care about the characters on any level. A contrived introduction to a camera is not enough. The CG monsters were ridiculous bordering on childish. Perhaps pre 9/11 we could accept this as in Independance Day but surely this film would have been far scarier had it been another country invading without warning? The part in the train tunnel was reminiscent of the London tube bombings on 7/7. Just trying to imagine the trauma, panic and confusion that occurred that day far surpasses anything that was presented to us in this film.

< Message edited by dhowdy -- 29/8/2008 9:33:44 AM >

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Post #: 584

- 31/8/2008 12:54:01 AM

malrey06

Posts: 16
Joined: 17/2/2008

The coolest movie evr.
NUF SAID!

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Post #: 585

- 21/9/2008 11:56:49 AM

Bobby1975

Posts: 297
Joined: 17/7/2006

pure unadulterated 'ollocks!..I can't see how this got 5 stars. There are some movie makers (Abrahams, Whedon, Lucas) that if they filmed cats taking dumps in hats for three hours Empire would still give them 5 stars...mind boggling1

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Post #: 586

Good, not great - 2/10/2008 9:41:36 AM

RandyChimp

Posts: 37
Joined: 24/9/2008

Okay, this is not a five star film. NO! It just isnt. The shaky cam makes me feel ill, the characters are awful and the monster, at best, is slighty eerie. First things first, the camera. Why shaky cam? It failed with the blaire witch project, why try it here? It didnt acheive anything other than aggrivation. If they do a sequel (and i agree, 2 stars should be taken then!), i hope it is done with a conventional camera style. Now the characters. I didnt care when Marlena exploded. I laughed! Yes, its wrong to laugh at violent death, but it was ridiculous. And she was an unlikeable character anyway. I didnt care when Robs bro got crushed by the tail. The only character i gave a rats abouot, was Hud, as he was the only interesting person there. AND HE WASNT EVEN ON SCREEN!!!!! The monster was more likeable than most of the humans. And here we go. The monster. Clovie, as its been christened, was, for most of the film, not threatening to me at all. It didnt make me jump, it didnt frighten me and it didnt make me feel patriotic at all (mabye because im english, but ususally, yes, i side with the humans in films). I give this film 3 stars. It wasnt terrible, it wasnt excellent.

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Post #: 587

bad cinema trip - 11/10/2008 5:00:49 PM

komic book guy

Posts: 72
Joined: 10/5/2007

my ma sat the whole time she watched this with a coal over her head she was sick after it
not the best movie ever but still ammmmmazingggg

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Post #: 588

Cloverfield - 22/10/2008 12:41:25 AM

AxelB

Posts: 12
Joined: 21/10/2008
From: Iceland

Is there anything as bizarre as seeing a film live up to a hype like Cloverfield has had. The film does everything right that we were hoping it would do, not since The Blair Witch Project has there been a perfected point of view concept untill Cloverfield witch sells the idea almost to well. The story is not exactly a monster film as much as it is a love story set around a monster attack where we get really great characters to get attached to.
The cinematography is excellent in it´s execution and never seems to lack in realism, not to mention that the character behind the camera keeps the audience in a good mood throughout the whole film with awkward jokes and quirky remarks. The story itself is pretty darn interesting and throwing in a monster attack makes the film even better since it gets very emotional and intense throughout, I still cannot believe that the film turned out as well as hoped for and it will grow well on pop culture(although Slusho will never really catch now) It can not be missed but warning to those that suffer from severe motion sickness.

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Post #: 589

- 2/11/2008 4:37:13 PM

missionkill1

Posts: 1
Joined: 2/11/2008

Brilliant movi and i would watch it again anytime but if they decided to make a sequel it would spoil both movies its just not meant to have a sequel

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Post #: 590

not impressive - 4/11/2008 8:38:47 PM

Kate1525

Posts: 3
Joined: 4/11/2008

it's so boooooring, and the end is very dull

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Post #: 591

Cloverfield - 19/11/2008 12:43:48 AM

Swifty170

Posts: 22
Joined: 4/11/2008

I didn't like the characters yet still enjoyed the film; I can't recall another example of that happening. The people in the film are very one-dimensional and their 'natural' dialogue is anything but, yet the nature of the film is such that their annoying tendencies don't really matter. They are simply a handy plot device, and the fact that what we see is basically in their hands is a very good technique. It's not an original technique, but it suits this type of film, and adds to the claustrophobic atmosphere. Nothing in the film particularly scared me, but it certainly made me jump on a couple of occasions, and if it wasn't for the last section of the film (which over-egged the whole situation) then I would have said this was a great effort.

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Post #: 592

GREAT! - 11/12/2008 10:44:11 AM

videoguru4472

Posts: 19
Joined: 10/12/2008

I love this film. I'm not really that easily pleased...not matter what it seems. Nevertheless, I thought it was a great film. The simplicity of the film is phenominal. The graphics were incredible and the set was amazing...it was like they really WERE in New york! 5-STAR

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Post #: 593

- 28/12/2008 6:13:01 PM

dannyboy84

Posts: 1
Joined: 28/12/2008

A absoloutley amazing film. second only to The dark knight for film of the year. I let my 7 year old daughter watch it and she was on the edge of her seat.

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Post #: 594

An Immensely Creative and Thrilling Film - 8/1/2009 12:11:20 PM

Ben Lee

Posts: 19
Joined: 31/7/2008
From: Swindon, Wiltshire

I agree with Empire's review 100%. Cloverfield is fresh and invigorating, breathing new life into the creaky old machine which was the monster movie. Fast-paced, highly intense and surprisingly humane, Cloverfield is one of the stand-out films of 2008.

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Post #: 595

A true cinematic experience! - 25/1/2009 10:35:42 AM

THE DALTONATOR

Posts: 80
Joined: 17/2/2008

Cloverfield gave me the best cinematic experience of any film in 2008 or even ever. it is scary, exciting, thrilling, gripping, nervous, tense, claustrophobic and purely a hell of a ride. it was genius marketing to create amazing hype which led to this amazing film. this is one you have to see in the cinema as i left i was shaking and literally blown away by what i had just seen. THE CINEMATIC EVENT OF 2008! pure thrills, scares and fun

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Post #: 596

Absolutely immence - 28/2/2009 2:00:58 PM

GavMan94

Posts: 9
Joined: 17/2/2009

This film showed me that not all fims on camcorder can be crap(blair witch project) from start to finish this was amazing. The monster was mint well better than that cloverfield wanna-be in the mist. Amazing film. WATCH IT!!!!!!!!!

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Post #: 597

Sweet!!! - 17/3/2009 3:27:49 AM

jasonbie

Posts: 5
Joined: 27/1/2009

This is a movie like nothing else. FIrst the filming is creative. Some people might think its to bad filming, but others will get the intence experience. second, finally a monster movie that doesn't just focus on the monster. Highly recomended

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Post #: 598

Sweet!!! - 17/3/2009 3:28:22 AM

jasonbie

Posts: 5
Joined: 27/1/2009

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Post #: 599

- 1/4/2009 9:06:10 PM

TheGodfather

Posts: 5100
Joined: 21/10/2005
From: Sin City

I was wondering if it would still stand strong on second viewing on a smaller screen and leave the same kind of impression as it did the first time.
The impression it leaves now is a bit less as you already know what`s gonna happen and the screen is a lot smaller.But once again the film knows to entertain, I thought it was a good as it was the first time around. That is well done and quite hard to achieve with a plotline this thin and it being quite predictable. The power of the film isn`t in the story line obviously but in the way it is shot. This way you`re right in the middle of the action, wich works excellent.
A brainless entertaining film that (thank God) still stands strong at a second viewing.

9,0/10

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Post #: 600