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Movies / On DVD / Cloverfield
Cloverfield

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Cloverfield (2008)

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Reviews Counted:192

Fresh:147

Rotten:45

Average Rating:6.8/10

Consensus: A sort of Blair Witch Project crossed with Godzilla, Cloverfield is economically paced, stylistically clever, and filled with scares.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for violence, terror and disturbing images.

Runtime: 85 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Theatrical Release:01-02-2008

Synopsis: Director Matt Reeves (THE PALLBEARER) and producer J. J. Abrams (LOST, ALIAS) turn a mysterious monster loose in Manhattan in the disaster flick CLOVERFIELD. The movie begins at a party for Rob... Director Matt Reeves (THE PALLBEARER) and producer J. J. Abrams (LOST, ALIAS) turn a mysterious monster loose in Manhattan in the disaster flick CLOVERFIELD. The movie begins at a party for Rob (Michael Stahl-David), who has accepted a promotion that will send him to Japan. Hud (T. J. Miller) is entrusted with the responsibility of videotaping the party--and as the trouble grows, he holds on to the camera, recording everything that happens. In fact, the entire movie is seen through the lens of his camera, reminiscent of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. As terrified people in a post-9/11 New York City take to the streets, Rob decides to head uptown to try to save Beth (Odette Yustman), the woman he loves, though he's afraid to tell her so. Rob is joined by his brother Jason (Mike Vogel), Jason's girlfriend Lily (Jessica Lucas), Lily's friend Marlena (Lizzy Caplan), and Hud, who has a thing for Marlena. Rob is determined not to give up, even after almost being crushed by the Statue of Liberty's head and as the military shows up to force evacuation of the city. Reeves and first-time screenwriter Drew Goddard, who previously has written television episodes of such series as BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL, ALIAS, and LOST, focus in on the central aspect of the story: people trying to survive the monster attack. Very little else is explained, since the story is told completely through the video camera. And there is no additional score to heighten the drama; the only music is that which is picked up by Hud and the camera's microphone, including snippets of songs by Kings of Leon, Parliament Funkadelic, Of Montreal, and others. The anticipation of CLOVERFIELD's release was enhanced by a viral marketing campaign that included Web sites built around the main characters and even the fictional drink Slusho. [More]

Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman, Lizzy Caplan

Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller

Director: Matt Reeves

Director: Matt Reeves
Screenwriter: Drew Goddard
Producer: J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk
Studio: Paramount Pictures

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Cloverfield

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101 - 120 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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Cloverfield delivers exactly what its memorable coming attractions trailer promised, and it doesn't chicken out when it counts, either. Considering the state of horror movies today, that's something.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
01/18/08
Rene Rodriguez
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald

Cloverfield packs its 84-minute running time with immediacy, inventiveness and freaky fever-dream visions of hellish destruction.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
01/18/08
Glenn Whipp
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News

The f/x guys have provided a seamless blending of computer-generated and real footage, and by limiting our perspective to just what Hud sees through his viewfinder, the fantastic is rendered plausible.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
01/18/08
Robert W. Butler
Robert W. Butler
Kansas City Star

The filmmakers wisely avoid showing you everything, instead showing only bits and hints of what's going on, a technique that really fuels fear in a viewer.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
01/18/08
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

An efficiently gripping sci-fi/horror romp.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
01/18/08
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle

Cloverfield is visceral attack that it leaves the viewer reeling for details that flew by like so many bricks raining off broken buildings.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
01/18/08
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News

This science-fiction/thriller is smart enough to wrap things up quickly. At less than 90 minutes, it's a lean, mean monster movie -- even if it's gimmicky filmmaking makes it an acquired taste.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/18/08
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Fully visceral, visually impressive.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
01/18/08
Lisa Kennedy
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post

A remarkably economical, street-level view of widespread panic caused by an abomination that gets, and ultimately needs, no explanation.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
01/18/08
Chris Vognar
Chris Vognar
Dallas Morning News

Cloverfield captures the chronic self-absorption of the Facebook generation with breathless, cleverly recycled media savvy, and then it stomps that self-absorption to death. These days, that's entertainment.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
01/18/08
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe

The film's overriding sense of the unknown ratchets up the suspense, if not the terror.

Full Review Source: Baltimore Sun | comment Comment
01/18/08
Chris Kaltenbach
Chris Kaltenbach
Baltimore Sun

It's not the life-changing movie experience the intense viral marketing attention would lead you to think it is, but its decision to focus on ground-level humanism rather than epic disaster is what separates it from the pack.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
01/18/08
Eric Alt
Eric Alt
Premiere Magazine

A combination of unpleasantness and stupidity that would be difficult to match, unless you were stuck in bed with the shingles while being forced to watch The Ghost Whisperer.

Full Review Source: KyleSmithOnline.com | comment Comment
01/18/08
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
KyleSmithOnline.com

Despite the lengthy party sequence that introduces the cast, these people are less characters than easy-on-the-eyes conceits: Young, hip, essentially interchangeable and willfully stupid. What's worse, though, is that the film is all surface.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
01/18/08
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Now that the fanboy hype has cleared, we can see Cloverfield for what it is: borrowed inspiration, trite screenwriting and amateurish acting all in the service of a ballsy idea.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
01/18/08
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone

An effective film, deploying its special effects well and never breaking the illusion that it is all happening as we see it.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/18/08
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Reeves does a masterful job wedding the restricted perspective of Hud's lens with CGI glimpses of an already blasted cityscape. This is the gimmick's raw excitement phase -- we're hooked.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
01/18/08
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail

It's fun in its morbidly campy way.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
01/18/08
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News

Cloverfield is a non-stop smashfest meant to be forgotten as soon as it's over, then repeated the following weekend for people eternally hungry for empty sensations. If you're too old for that, find yourself another film.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
01/18/08
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer

Works as a showcase for impressively realistic-looking special effects, a realism that fails to extend to the scurrying humans whose fates are meant to invoke pity and fear but instead inspire yawns and contempt.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/18/08
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
101 - 120 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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Latest News for Cloverfield

April 27, 2009: Five Favourite Films with J. J. Abrams
The blockbuster season is upon us and amongst the line-up is the highly anticipated reboot of Star Trek. RT spoke to the man in the captain's chair, J. J. Abrams, about his... More...

March 02, 2009: Abrams Plots Cloverfield Sequel-Type Thing Opens in new window
Saying "the idea's pretty sweet," J.J. Abrams has confirmed that a sequel to "Cloverfield" -- or at least a new movie "related to" it -- is on the table. More...

September 25, 2008: Matt Reeves Will Let the Right One In Opens in new window
Overture is prepping a remake of Tomas Alfredson's Swedish vampire movie "Lat Den Ratte Komma In," to be helmed by "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves. More...

April 21, 2008: RT on DVD: Cloverfield, Charlie Wilson and 2008's Worst-Reviewed Film
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a Slusho, whatever that is! Cloverfield stomps its way onto DVD as not only the most exciting new release of the week, but the one most... More...

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