Cloverfield (2008)

A group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.

Director:

Matt Reeves

Writer:

Drew Goddard

Stars:

Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan

5 wins & 34 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lizzy Caplan	...	Marlena Diamond
Jessica Lucas	...	Lily Ford
T.J. Miller	...	Hudson 'Hud' Platt
Michael Stahl-David	...	Rob Hawkins
Mike Vogel	...	Jason Hawkins
Odette Annable	...	Beth McIntyre (as Odette Yustman)
Anjul Nigam	...	Bodega Cashier
Margot Farley	...	Jenn
Theo Rossi	...	Antonio
Brian Klugman	...	Charlie
Kelvin Yu	...	Clark
Liza Lapira	...	Heather
Lili Mirojnick	...	Lei
Ben Feldman	...	Travis
Elena Nikitina Bick	...	Party Goer (as Elena Caruso)

Storyline

To celebrate Rob's massive promotion, his lover, Beth, and friends, decide to throw a massive surprise farewell party, now that he is about to move to Japan. However, a deafening explosion and the arrival of an enormous scaly and gangly creature will abruptly interrupt the festivities, as all hell breaks loose in New York City, and the Statue of Liberty is decapitated. As the reptilian behemoth levels Manhattan, a daring dash to rescue Beth begins, while at the same time, everything is recorded through the lens of a hand-held camcorder, amid mayhem and destruction. In the end, where did this relentless invader come from, and above all, is there a chance of survival? As they go to investigate, an adventure deep into the streets of New York begins, as the friends are determined to rescue Rob's true love.

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Plot Keywords:

found footage | night vision | gigantic monster | alien | party | 

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Taglines:

Some Thing Has Found Us

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, terror and disturbing images

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the first weekend of the release, many theaters posted signs warning guests that the hand-held camera movements may cause motion sickness.

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Goofs

"In the movie, footage is shown being recorded over existing footage, as if the camera were recording on digital or analogue tape. Rob and Hud even discuss whether the tape was changed during the party. However, the title card at the beginning of the film claims the footage was recorded on an SD card." The footage was captured on tape, and after retrieval was later transferred to an SD card by the Department of Defense along with overlaid official document reference codes, a time counter, and the watermark "PROPERTY OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, DO NOT DUPLICATE", which can be seen at the very beginning of the film.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Rob Hawkins: It's 6:42 AM. Beth's dad's place. He's out of town. And it's already a good day.

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the closing credits there is a garbled radio transmission which some say sounds like "Help us!", when played backward it says "It's still alive!"

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Alternate Versions

In India, the film was edited to achieve a parental guidance rating for television broadcast.

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Connections

Referenced in Joe of the Dead: Acting in a George Romero Classic (2010)

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Soundtracks

Disco Lies
Written by Moby (as Richard Melville Hall)
Performed by Moby
Courtesy of Mute Records
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Cloverfield delivers the thrills - but haters of the Blair Witch style should be wary!

So, I went to a 5PM showing of Cloverfield today. It was pretty good. I found the characters to be very human and developed quite nicely over the course of the story. The special effects were excellent, with quite a few "oh $#!@" moments.

Be warned: If Blair Witch Project made you nauseous, then I don't recommend Cloverfield. The *entire* movie is filmed in the "handy-cam" style of the trailer - but in my opinion, it works better here than in Blair Witch. It helped draw you into the movie and make you feel like you were in it, and it made the CGI more convincing.

Very intense film.

Details

Official Sites:

Paramount [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

18 January 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Clover

Filming Locations:

Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$40,058,229, 20 January 2008

Gross USA:

$80,048,433

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$172,394,180

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Bad Robot, Cloverfield Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1