Cloverfield Monster Revealed, SPOLIER!!!

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Honestly, I think that's slightly condescending. I totally 'get' this movie. And I totally respect it for what it is... a fun, 'must-see' gimmick film, rather than a great story that will stand up to repeat viewings and become a classic. It is in NO WAY America's Godzilla, like the filmmakers claimed. It may be remembered forever, but not for the film itself... for the 'experience'. :grouphug

You know why Godzilla is a classic (or the original King Kong, etc)? Because we love the monster! We feel for him, we sympathize with him. Who really gives a crap about the little people in Godzilla? The monster is the symbol and the story.

It was not a symbol in this movie. It was nothing other than a scary plot device. And that makes me sad because it could be so much more. As it was, it could just as easily have been a terrorist attack, a natural disaster, or a million other things. I 'get' that it was supposed to be about the human story in the midst of an unexplainable disaster. But the human story was so inane and clichéd it pulled me right out of the realistic destruction of NYC.

Mostly, don't say you are making America's Godzilla when you aren't at all. That's trickery and it rubs me the wrong way.


I don't think I was being condecending. At least I wasn't trying to be. From what I am hearing and reading there are two different opinions about this movie. Then there is a few people in the middle. Such as yourself who think it was just so so. All I was saying is that this is one of those things that some love it and some hate it. Obviously there will be people in the middle. For the most part though I just feel people either liked it or hated it. I didn't mean to come off as if you didn't like it then you are wrong. To each his own. Personally though I thought it was great. This is truly America's Godzilla. :lol :monkey3
 
Who said they were making the American Godzilla?

JJ Abrams said when he and his kid were in Tokyo doing press for MI3 they saw all kinds of Godzilla stuff and decided he wanted to do a monster movie with something as iconic (but for Americans)
 
Maybe that was the initial inspiration, but obviously that went out the window long ago. I didn't go into this movie, based on any of the advertising I'd seen, thinking I was going to see Godzilla. I went in thinking the monster was a threat, and a mystery.
 
I feel bad for Kong since he was being exploited. I never felt bad for Godzilla since he was just a rampaging *******. Of course, I never watched an entire Godzilla movie, so I am not clear on his motivation.

:google What?!?

Check out the DVD release of Gojira.. the original Japanese film w/o the addition of Raymbond Burr. Its actually a really good movie, especially given the time and definitely worth the watch. I think you come away with a good base understanding of what Godzilla is about (terrors of atomic warfare, and weapons of mass desctruction, etc.).

It and the Original King Kong are classics :rock
 
It's really not fair or appropriate to compare this to Godzilla movies and I think JJ just wanted to reference something familiar. The monster is really secondary in Cloverfield and seemed designed just so you wouldn't be able to tell what it looked like from partial shots, not to be "iconic."

I think the dichotomy on the audience reactions on this film is more about how much you bought into the in-person cinematic device. For some people it just didn't work, or the characters didn't work for them. For others (like me) it worked extremely well and I was able to suspend disbelief in order to really get into the film.
 
I was able to suspend disbelief in order to really get into the film.

I think too many people forget about this important skill. In some movies you don't want to do that, but something like this its better just to enjoy the ride and not worry about the little things.

Although I have to admit, I was not able to do it for the Transformers movie... so I guess we all have our movies we just don't get into :lol
 
Obviously the "keep the people you care about close to you and tell them you love them" theme is a bit thin and perhaps clichéd, but still a message worth having at the heart of your story IMO. On the other hand, "big confused monster lost in a world he doesn't understand" is an equally thin if not thinner theme.

I never cared for Godzilla, never rooted for him and am generally bored when two monsters (or robots for that matter) kick the crap out of each other with us caught in between. "ooh he threw him into a building, ooh he shot his laser breath... yawn". That kind of story is just as empty, vapid and forgettable as a WWE wrestling match, just on a bigger scale, and at it's heart not about anything. Kong at least has the same driving force of "the power of love" that Cloverfield has as well as the "what are you willing to do, to exploit, for greed, power and fame" themes.

I agree that in this film the monster is simply a metaphor and any widespread disaster could be used to substitute for it. I think this is ultimately why some didn't like it. They were expecting a story about a monster, expecting to relate to and understand it, not the humans.
 
I'm glad to read that there were others who were not affected by the hypnotic spell cast by Transformers. I've given up even discussing that movie because people get downright crazy if you weren't completely in love with every overexposed, slo-mo frame of it.
 
It's really not fair or appropriate to compare this to Godzilla movies and I think JJ just wanted to reference something familiar. The monster is really secondary in Cloverfield and seemed designed just so you wouldn't be able to tell what it looked like from partial shots, not to be "iconic."

I think the dichotomy on the audience reactions on this film is more about how much you bought into the in-person cinematic device. For some people it just didn't work, or the characters didn't work for them. For others (like me) it worked extremely well and I was able to suspend disbelief in order to really get into the film.

You hit the nail right on the head. They could have used a terrorist attack and it would have been pretty much the same movie.
 
You hit the nail right on the head. They could have used a terrorist attack and it would have been pretty much the same movie.

I think it's pretty obvious that the monster is just their way of doing a 9-11 disaster story without offending or turning people off by actually referencing 9-11. It's not so painful to watch when it's a giant, fantastical monster doing the killing. I don't think Cloverfield was ever intended to be a Godzilla Kaiju movie.
 
I think it's pretty obvious that the monster is just their way of doing a 9-11 disaster story without offending or turning people off by actually referencing 9-11. It's not so painful to watch when it's a giant, fantastical monster doing the killing. I don't think Cloverfield was ever intended to be a Godzilla Kaiju movie.

I think that had a big influence on the film. I think too that if they would have filmed it like a regular movie it would have taken away from the whole experience. Then people would have complained that it was just another monster movie.
 
I think that had a big influence on the film. I think too that if they would have filmed it like a regular movie it would have taken away from the whole experience. Then people would have complained that it was just another monster movie.

Yeah, the shaky cam is intended to put you right in the middle of the chaos, and the reason you don't find out anything about the monster is so you feel as clueless and helpless as the people who were experiencing 9-11 at ground zero. You couldn't film it like a normal movie and accomplish those things.
 
I loved this movie and I cared more about the characters than any Godzilla flick I've ever seen (and I've pretty much seen them all). :monkey3
 
I'm glad to read that there were others who were not affected by the hypnotic spell cast by Transformers. I've given up even discussing that movie because people get downright crazy if you weren't completely in love with every overexposed, slo-mo frame of it.

In a Michael Bay movie?:rotfl

You forgot Ol' Glory blowing in the breeze patriotically...

Just watched Cloverfield and I have to say, as someone who never really enjoyed The Blair Witch Project (maybe I saw it too late and the luster was off of it) I really enjoyed this big monster mash from the little guy's perspective. I really liked jumping back to Beth whenever Hud went to show someone the tape--- and the end seeing the two of them together... Well, an attempt at poetry was made during the chaos.

The only downside for me might have been the little guys--- too velociraptor/Godzilla liliputians and I wish the danger had stayed focused on the big one.

All in all an original (and how often do we get to say that in this day and age) movie.
 
You hit the nail right on the head. They could have used a terrorist attack and it would have been pretty much the same movie.

Then don't sell your movie as a monster movie.

I guess that's my beef, in a nutshell. The movie is an enjoyable experience - in its own right. *I* personally would have enjoyed it much more if I wasn't led by marketing to expect one thing and then got something completely different. :duff

The mysteries-leading-to-more-mysteries, with nothing ever explained, is why I don't watch LOST anymore, and why I predict the 'ending' is going to upset a lot of people - if there is even what you can call an ending. If I want that type of experience, I'll just live my life and not bother with stories. When I watch a movie/read a book/watch a show, I want a complete story. It's the only time we ever get to find out WHY, rather than just ask it!

I just don't understand this generation's love affair with reality-based entertainment - our lives must be too boring! :lol
 
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Then don't sell your movie as a monster movie.

I guess that's my beef, in a nutshell. The movie is an enjoyable experience - in its own right. *I* personally would have enjoyed it much more if I wasn't led by marketing to expect one thing and then got something completely different. :duff

The mysteries-leading-to-more-mysteries, with nothing ever explained, is why I don't watch LOST anymore and why I predict the 'ending' is going to upset a lot of people - if there is even an ending. If I wanted that, I'd just live my life and not bother with stories. When I watch a movie/read a book/watch a show, I want a complete story. It's the only time we ever get to find out WHY!

I agree with you there 100%. Me and my wife were talking after the movie and I said I wished all that we knew going into it was something happened. I think just the trailer with them partying would have been good enough. I wish they kept the whole thing a suprise to begin with. Going into it not knowing anything would have been best. I guess though not many people would have went. I see where you are coming from though.
 
Then don't sell your movie as a monster movie.

I guess that's my beef, in a nutshell. The movie is an enjoyable experience - in its own right. *I* personally would have enjoyed it much more if I wasn't led by marketing to expect one thing and then got something completely different. :duff

The mysteries-leading-to-more-mysteries, with nothing ever explained, is why I don't watch LOST anymore, and why I predict the 'ending' is going to upset a lot of people - if there is even what you can call an ending. If I want that type of experience, I'll just live my life and not bother with stories. When I watch a movie/read a book/watch a show, I want a complete story. It's the only time we ever get to find out WHY, rather than just ask it!

Good points Dusty. But as I've gotten older, the WHY in storytelling isn't as important to me as it once was. I really enjoy strange stuff like William Burroughs where very little is resolved, if anything. I love the beauty and flow of the language and imagery as much if not more than the raw plot. Twin Peaks was about so much more than simply who killed Laura Palmer and I hope LOST will be the same when all is said and done. It's all about the journey and not the destination. ;)
 
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