cloverfield [Blu-ray] [2008] [Region Free]

Cloverfield can be taken , as indeed it has by many , as a straight up creature feature - a visceral collision of The Blair Witch Project [1999 ] and  Godzilla (1998)  with a smidgeon of  The Thing [1982 ] thrown in for good. measure. Yet it is also as far as I'm concerned allegorical , tapping into America's post 9/11 vulnerability facing an enemy they do not understand and cannot easily defeat. There are also ( some would say tasteless and opportunistic ) allusions to the attacks on the twin towers , indeed the film makers make direct comparisons in the DVD extras.Much has been made of the films use of a handheld digital camera. I didn't find it a problem but then i watched the film at home on a 32 inch widescreen TV so the vertiginous side- effects were nullified somewhat. The use of the camera is used as a clever device to insert little snap-shots of some of the characters back story and to help the audience understand decisions that characters make that otherwise would be difficult to understand What is difficult to understand however is why someone would continue filming while climbing across the roof of a disintegrating skyscraper but then if characters made decisions based on simple common sense we wouldn't have much of a movie would we? ( Some obviously think we haven't anyway)The set up is simple Rob( Michael Stahl David) . is leaving for a new job as vice president of some company or other in Japan and his brother Jason ( Mike Vogel) and his girlfriend Lily ( Jessica Lucas) have thrown him a surprise leaving party . Amiable doofus Hud ( T J Miller) is tasked with filming video testimonials from party guests including the rather acerbic Marlena( Lizzy Caplan) who he has the hots for. Meanwhile Rob isn't the happy bunny he should be as the girl he is secretly in love with , Beth( Odette Yustman ), turns up at the party with another man. Suddenly something attacks downtown Manhattan and before you can shout decapitated the head of the Statue Of Liberty is crashing down their street. The attacker is huge , reptilian , more destructive than an over excited toddler and it would seem impervious to everything the military can throw at it. Not only that it is shedding voracious little beasties( these are parasites we are informed in the extras) with teeth like Janet Street Porter and the attitude to match.Rob decides to go find his true love Beth after taking a distressing call on his mobile .This means heading towards the creature not away from it. Now logically anyone with this guy would wish him all the best and then carry on the other way to safety but this lot decide to go with him. Again we have a plot device that defies logic but ensures the film has a continuous narrative. This means lots of running around with Hud shouting hey dude/ man wait up .....a lot.Despite it's sometimes preposterous plot and the fact it's first person perspective means we know as little about the creatures origins , or indeed it's denouement as them , i thoroughly enjoyed Cloverfield. Technically it's brilliantly conceived and some of the action is viscerally superb. The performances are good and even though the opening twenty minutes is dragged out too long the films curt running time ensures a pretty enthralling relentless thrill ride . The use of sound in the film -very much like that on  The Blair Witch Project [1999 ], the film that invites most comparisons is outstanding .The DVD has a directors commentary -rendered with huge enthusiasm by Matt Reeves and there is an option in the menu to have numerous supplemental files pop up throughout the film which give more background information to the films production .These can be very informative though one or two are a rather spurious.Whether you view Cloverfield as a straight up creature feature in the same vein as the classics from the 1950,s( though they had cold war connotations) , or like me view it as distinctly allegorical the end result is still the same . A hugely effective satisfying cinematic experience that isn't hindered overly by the inherent stupidity of the plot. But then what's more daft than a giant lizard attacking New York anyway?

there are plenty of reviews of the movie here already, so what else can I add? aside from reviewing the dvd not just the movie. Cloverfield is formatted as being what was on a camcorder tape found in the ruins of what was once manhattan. The movie is thus in the style of what you would find on one of those. IE: jerky hand held camerawork, and you don't get to see the cameraman very often if at all.the cameraman is the brother of robert hawkins [not the character from the tv show jericho!] a new york resident who is about to leave for japan to go and work there. The brother is recording his last days in new york before leaving, ending in a going away party that lots of his friends and acquaintances attend. as it's a camcorder tape it's been recorded over an earlier lot of recording on the tape, and some of that occasionally comes through, showing happy times for robert with a lady friend he has since broken up with.and there are discussions about that relationship at the party.this takes up roughly the first fifteen minutes of the film, and you may start to get a little impatient at the lack of action.but then things change all of a sudden when the earth shakes and the lights go out. something is attacking manhattan, and robert and friends are caught in the middle of it. he receives a call from his former girlfriend who is trapped and in need of help, and determines to cross a city in chaos to get to her. the recording charts what happened next.the film runs for roughly eighty one minutes [that timing includes some lengthy end credits] and as you can see from other reviews it's very much a love it or hate it movie. my rating of five stars reflects the fact that I loved it. It was a throughly involving cinematic experience. and a far better monster movie [as that's what's attacking the city] than the 1998 american godzilla movie.maybe, based on all the reviews here, you should make up your own mind. just don't give me an unhelpful vote because you disagree with my rating.one important thing to note: watch to the very end of the final credits. and listen carefully.This is the single disc edition of the film, and the only extras are as a follows:a commentary from the director.And what they call cloverfield supplemental files. if you switch the option for these on an icon will appear on screen at certain points, and clicking on that will stop the movie and bring up a short production feature on how the scene in question was made. these are decent little documentaries.the only language track on this disc is in english.and the film has subtitles in english danish finnish norwegian and swedish.and english subtitles for the commentary.cloverfield is one of those movies that come along every so often that are a cinematic event and something a little new. and something new is always worth the risk