(Spoilers) Stay Away, CloverField made no since

[Comrad]

Lets start out by saying that there are ZERO explanation for anything that happens in this movie, period, none. The opening scene was a complete failure. Why do directors feel the need to try and make us care if the main character lives or not.
The main character in this movie shouldn't have been the humans, the main character/star of the film was the villain. Which we know NOTHING about, nothing.

The plot holes in this movie were endless.
How is it possible for a person to survive in a building that has been thrashed, leaving one person alive inside, impaled through the shoulder by an iron pipe on the 67th floor, and left there bleeding for god knows how long.
Then only to be found and forcedly pulled from the pipe, yet still has enough strength to out run a 50f monster in the dusty dark streets of Manhattan, with a pair of stiletto hills on.
Speaking of running, the stamina of these people was absolutely amazeing, im considered to be in shape and even i was questioning myself on how fatigued i would be in these situations.

Fuck Maybe they were super humans. I mean, what other human do you know has the ability to fend off 4 unknown creatures in a tunnel, with a lead pipe, at where they couldn't see anything with out the use of night vision,,, on the camera. It must be true because even after that 6 mile walk through the tunnel, and that short fight against the mini creatures, they still has enough energy to out run them to safety. Talk about being resilient.

Oh yeah, and were in the fuck do i get one of those cameras! What other hand held mini camera comes with a flash light, night vision, and a battery seems endless! Don't even get me started on the ending.
I for the life of me will not understand why people think this was such an amazing movie. What made this thing so damn great ?

Maybe i am the problem, maybe i should have not been expecting a movie that was build solely on stealth hype to actually have a competent, well written script....... Over all i do feel like i put to much thought into this movie, i should have just went in and took it for what it was. Just my 6.50 cents

 

[tmb1]

I really liked the movie(and I paid 10.75). It was definitely not for those that were looking for the typical Michael Bay summer acton flick. It was more personal and you got to know these people and care for them and become a part of them trying to survive and rescue their friend. And it was like a rollercoaster ride with them being chased also. Thumbs up!

 

[GL]

personally i thought it was damn fun show.

i had a blast.

but i went in with the mindset that it would probably be something like a grade b sci-fi/horror flick like in the 60's.

to each his own...

 

[VaseFace808]

I enjoyed it as well, but I also went into the movie knowing that it wasn't going to have the traditional:

"this is where the monster came from/this is how it was created" Beginning

OR the "this is how the government/group of heroes suddenly find the monster's weakness in the last 10 minutes of the film & defeat it" Ending

I went in expecting to see a group of average joe's (all conveniently attractive & in good shape, btw)fight to stay alive in the middle of a sudden monster attack that they know nothing about...and thats more or less what I got & I was satisfied

As far as plot holes go, every movie has them & thats bored-line nitpicking you mentioned, than actual plot holes. You have to suspend belief concerning a character's strength (they could have been going off of adrenaline or something) or the camera's battery life...there's a giant monster that is surviving every attack made on it & the camera quality was annoying or unrealistic to you? LoL

It was a good film, if you know what to expect (and I never followed any of the online hype/viral stuff). I'd give it a 7 or 8 outta 10. Nothing tremendously groundbreaking or original, but it was a fresh approach to the genre & nice to see the POV done well (wasn't a fan of Blair Witch) but still very enjoyable

 

[starlight70]

Comrad, I agree. Imagine when the little creatures attacked, is a guy that stupid to still hold on to the cam, instead of trying to find something to whack the creatures??? And then, the girl he liked came rescuing, but unfortunately she was attacked. So, as someone who liked the girl - what should he have done??? Still hang on to the cam to record???

Dumb movie. Hope next weeks gross falls so fast, it will be an embarrassment.. unfortunately, the first week earning is already high enough to make it remarkable. Damn.

 

[mike_n_herrin]

my boss's boss said it was terrible and not to waste my money on it. i think he was expecting something more than a grade b movie. he said at the end it still wasn't clear what the monster even was. lol

 

[StlKj]

The whole point of the movie was to make a MONSTER movie from the POV and the lives of the people who usually in the MONSTER movie are running away or being eaten. Monster movies of the past always had the same stars/characters--The scientist either trying to explain or save the monster, the politicians who argue over what to do, the military leaders who just want to kill it, and the hero of the movie, who usually wants to save everyone and figures out a way to do it. Monster movies of the past were the same formula, over and over again.

This was an attempt to try something different. The monster is a catalyst instead of a character. The military is doing its duty to fight the monster, not stand around giving explanations. And the people on the ground, the usual victims, are doing their best to stay alive and hold onto what they love.

The theme of the movie is uttered crystal clear by Jason before the first tremors, when he tells Rob something along of the lines of "Sometimes you just have to forget the world and hold onto what/those you love." It's the realization that Rob makes because he's loved Beth since college, but never made his move. When he finally did, it was because he was getting ready to go to Japan and it "just happened." He's let love just pass him by, and now that love may be dying. He has to go after her.

Lily sticks by him because she already understands this--she loves her friends (and maybe loves Rob even a little more than that).

Marlena follows along because, I believe, she has no one to love--she has a moment in the subway tunnel where you sense that she really had no friends she was meeting up with. Marlena holds on because even though she's scared, these people are all she has.

And Hud is Rob's best friend--it's his whole identity, because everyone else sees him as a dufus. Suddenly he becomes important and has a new identity--He's documenting it all. Why doesn't he save the day with Marlena? Because he's Hud, and that's not what Hud does. Why does he keep filming? Because that's the first identity he's ever had that was his alone.

The true spin on this film isn't how they spring a monster movie on us during a man's going away party. It's how they spring a human drama on us during a monster rampage movie.

 

[GL]

The whole point of the movie was to make a MONSTER movie from the POV and the lives of the people who usually in the MONSTER movie are running away or being eaten. Monster movies of the past always had the same stars/characters--The scientist either trying to explain or save the monster, the politicians who argue over what to do, the military leaders who just want to kill it, and the hero of the movie, who usually wants to save everyone and figures out a way to do it. Monster movies of the past were the same formula, over and over again.

and you forgot the wee adolescent who has that odd but prophetic ability to 'communicate' with the monster.

 

[StlKj]

and you forgot the wee adolescent who has that odd but prophetic ability to 'communicate' with the monster.

I didn't forget that one. I ignored it. Creepy children in movies freak me out, especially if they're telepathic/precognitive/magical.

 

[theFallenGod]

Lets start out by saying that there are ZERO explanation for anything that happens in this movie, period, none. The opening scene was a complete failure. Why do directors feel the need to try and make us care if the main character lives or not.
The main character in this movie shouldn't have been the humans, the main character/star of the film was the villain. Which we know NOTHING about, nothing.

It's from the character's point of view... What did they know about the monsters? Nothing! That's what we know.

were you expecting another "monster-attacks-big-city-and-everyone-survives-and-is-happy-at-the-end" hollywood monster formula #779?

This was something completely different and because ti was from the perspective of the survivors it made you feel more empathetic about them than those of the usual run of the mill hollywood tripe that's constantly pummelled down our throats.

 

[PSCGuy]

I was expecting an A-Grade horror/action movie, and I wasn't disappointed. The main character was never supposed to be the monster, and if you were expecting that, then the movie wasn't for you. It was about people, as J.J. Abrams is prone to do.

The movie is not going to answer every question for you; in fact, it raises a deal more questions than it answers. What was the monster? Is it alien, or terrestrial? How did it get there? Did Rob and/or Beth live at the end? Did Lily live? Did the military ultimately kill the monster?

The movie was about the experience of 5 friends trying to live through the night. As for the "reality" of things, you can challenge every point in every movie as to whether or not something would actually happen that way. Would the four have ultimately lived through the subway tunnel? Probably not, I think. But that's not the point of the movie. Did they handle the Beth-rescue scenario in the best way possible? Probably not. She probably wouldn't have lived being pulled off of the rebar. But it was a great movie, and I won't hear otherwise.

 

[davy]

i though the dude was really f*ck*ng selfish.

he knows that his friends worship him and would happily follow him to hell, but he goes anyways. getting his brother, and his friends killed for his own (very short lived) fleeting happiness.

other than than, it's same old tired monster movie told from another perspective.

 

[StlKj]

i though the dude was really f*ck*ng selfish.

he knows that his friends worship him and would happily follow him to hell, but he goes anyways. getting his brother, and his friends killed for his own (very short lived) fleeting happiness.

other than than, it's same old tired monster movie told from another perspective.

Actually, he doesn't get his brother killed. His brother was ahead of them while they were leaving. If the other three had not stayed back with Rob while he listened to his message, then they would have been further on the bridge, and would have died.

And at least twice in the film he tells them to go on, that he is going forward. They are the ones who follow. Even Marlena, who doesn't really even know him, chooses to head towards danger even though there are other people being led to safety by the military just one block away.

And, as far as we saw, Lily lives. Also, they are actually escaping. They found Beth. They were getting out of there. You could just as easily say it was the military pilot's fault for flying directly over the monster while it's being bombed.

 

[PSCGuy]

The whole point of the movie was to make a MONSTER movie from the POV and the lives of the people who usually in the MONSTER movie are running away or being eaten. Monster movies of the past always had the same stars/characters--The scientist either trying to explain or save the monster, the politicians who argue over what to do, the military leaders who just want to kill it, and the hero of the movie, who usually wants to save everyone and figures out a way to do it. Monster movies of the past were the same formula, over and over again.

This was an attempt to try something different. The monster is a catalyst instead of a character. The military is doing its duty to fight the monster, not stand around giving explanations. And the people on the ground, the usual victims, are doing their best to stay alive and hold onto what they love.

The theme of the movie is uttered crystal clear by Jason before the first tremors, when he tells Rob something along of the lines of "Sometimes you just have to forget the world and hold onto what/those you love." It's the realization that Rob makes because he's loved Beth since college, but never made his move. When he finally did, it was because he was getting ready to go to Japan and it "just happened." He's let love just pass him by, and now that love may be dying. He has to go after her.

Lily sticks by him because she already understands this--she loves her friends (and maybe loves Rob even a little more than that).

Marlena follows along because, I believe, she has no one to love--she has a moment in the subway tunnel where you sense that she really had no friends she was meeting up with. Marlena holds on because even though she's scared, these people are all she has.

And Hud is Rob's best friend--it's his whole identity, because everyone else sees him as a dufus. Suddenly he becomes important and has a new identity--He's documenting it all. Why doesn't he save the day with Marlena? Because he's Hud, and that's not what Hud does. Why does he keep filming? Because that's the first identity he's ever had that was his alone.

The true spin on this film isn't how they spring a monster movie on us during a man's going away party. It's how they spring a human drama on us during a monster rampage movie.

You said much more eloquently what I was trying to myself. Thanks.

 

[tmb1]

For those of you that wanted to know where it came from and such, I think you missed the point of the movie. It kind of paralleled 9/11 in the sense that all this terrible stuff was happening and it kept happening and just when you think it could not get worse it did and all you were trying to do was survive and save your friends too. Noone on that horrible day knew what was going on as noone did in the movie, only what they could see or hear(and it was beyond belief as on 9/11). My point is it was a terrifying experience and if you had let yourselves get into it instead of waiting for the "answers" you might have enjoyed the emotional rollercoaster ride that it was.

 

[tmb1]

The whole point of the movie was to make a MONSTER movie from the POV and the lives of the people who usually in the MONSTER movie are running away or being eaten. Monster movies of the past always had the same stars/characters--The scientist either trying to explain or save the monster, the politicians who argue over what to do, the military leaders who just want to kill it, and the hero of the movie, who usually wants to save everyone and figures out a way to do it. Monster movies of the past were the same formula, over and over again.

This was an attempt to try something different. The monster is a catalyst instead of a character. The military is doing its duty to fight the monster, not stand around giving explanations. And the people on the ground, the usual victims, are doing their best to stay alive and hold onto what they love.

The theme of the movie is uttered crystal clear by Jason before the first tremors, when he tells Rob something along of the lines of "Sometimes you just have to forget the world and hold onto what/those you love." It's the realization that Rob makes because he's loved Beth since college, but never made his move. When he finally did, it was because he was getting ready to go to Japan and it "just happened." He's let love just pass him by, and now that love may be dying. He has to go after her.

Lily sticks by him because she already understands this--she loves her friends (and maybe loves Rob even a little more than that).

Marlena follows along because, I believe, she has no one to love--she has a moment in the subway tunnel where you sense that she really had no friends she was meeting up with. Marlena holds on because even though she's scared, these people are all she has.

And Hud is Rob's best friend--it's his whole identity, because everyone else sees him as a dufus. Suddenly he becomes important and has a new identity--He's documenting it all. Why doesn't he save the day with Marlena? Because he's Hud, and that's not what Hud does. Why does he keep filming? Because that's the first identity he's ever had that was his alone.

The true spin on this film isn't how they spring a monster movie on us during a man's going away party. It's how they spring a human drama on us during a monster rampage movie.

Well put. This must be why on saturday afternoon(I saw it friday night) I was half asleep on the couch and the commercial came on for Cloverfield and they were talking and running and I suddenly started to bawl. I hadnt realized it had affected me so much. I was not sure how I felt when I left the theater, only that I didnt feel good. And it was because they did such a good job of making me care about them. I dont think I want to see it for awhile, I will just be watching my friends go through a harrowing, yet heroic, experience on the way to their deaths. That surprised me because I imagined I would want to see it a couple of times over the weekend cuz it would be cool and fun. Great movie but very, very sad.

 

[YeahWhatever]

I agree with everyone that realizes that this isn't your typical monster movie. The objective of Cloverfield was to put the audience in the shoes of the protagonists -- we only know as much as they know, which is close to nothing. Think about it; if you were in NYC when this monster attacked, you wouldn't have any answers. You'd just run for your life.

I'm glad we didn't have answers force-fed to us. Not every movie has to be tied up in a nice bow. In my opinion, it's more entertaining and affecting to leave things to the imagination.

 

[ryan13th]

I loved the movie for what it was. Minus some of the mundane scenes, it was consistantly intense and enjoyable throughout to me, with some really neat parts.

I've heard a lot of people complain about lack of details about what the creature was, but you have to think about it; considering the time frame this movie takes place during, it wouldn't have really made any sense for there to have been given a complete explantion about the creature. Everyone in the movie is just as puzzled about where the thing came from as the audience, so it gives it alittle bit more credibility and make it alot more interesting than just having some random person come out of nowhere towards the end of the movie that's like "Well, the monster is this... it came from this... and it doing this because...". Abrahms is known for leaving questions up in the air in alot of his work for the viewer to interpret from themselves, and in this case, I think it worked damned well. The movie made the focus more on the protagonists trying to survive this random chaos than just trying to explain every detail about the creature attacking, which makes the mystery surrounding it that much more interesting.

 

[VaseFace808]

Glad most people enjoyed it as much as I did & understood what the film was about.

I suppose different people have different tastes and all, but like many have said, this movie was about as realistic as you can get to portray what would actually happen given a giant monster attack in a major city & it did it well, In Many Opinions

 

[aijalon18]

i though the dude was really f*ck*ng selfish.

he knows that his friends worship him and would happily follow him to hell, but he goes anyways. getting his brother, and his friends killed for his own (very short lived) fleeting happiness.

other than than, it's same old tired monster movie told from another perspective.

agree 100%. i don't have any complaints about cameras or monster explanation. i just hated rob's selfish love story bullshit. obviously he is the leader and when ur the leader or dominant friend, it's your responsibility not to lead people to their death. obviously they only went because in a crisis they didn't want to be separated. and thanks to him everyone dies. not sre what happens to lily