Cloverfield - dear god that sucked (spoilers)

Cafe Society
21

[QUOTE=Shawn1767]
And I’ve looked for the “splash” several times at the end. I’ve not seen it. All I’ve seen is a white boat that could be mistaken for a splash. Any official word on the “splash” from the movie makers? Otherwise, I don’t think it’s there.
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The splash occurs to the left of the boat. It was readily visible on the big screen, but depending on your TV resolution, may or may not be all that visible. On my TV (a 42" plasma), it was easily seen. There is also an object seen falling from the sky (coming from the upper right) which creates the splash.

There’s reality, and there’s movie reality. In practically every action movie ever made (and especially so in movies which are in part fantasy, such as Schwarzeneggar movies and giant monster movies), the protagonists will shrug off what would otherwise be debilitating injuries (and the bad guys will die instantly from wounds which would not otherwise be immediately fatal). A fault, perhaps, but one that’s far from unique to Cloverfield.

22

[QUOTE=holmes]
That’s the thing that really bugged me. If the parasites that are living off him; I’m assuming they’re drinking his blood; then there’s no way that the the type of stuff the army is hitting him, with isn’t going to injure him.

Even assuming that the mites have some sort of “acid” or predigestive chemicals in their bite, which is what causes people to explode; the amounts required to penetrate the monster’s hide ( if the monster is tough enough to resist carpet bombing), should have caused people to dissolve instantly and not run around for some time; even with a minor bite…which the character didn’t have.

I know there’s a tendacity to get pissed at people who refuse to suspend their reality when watching a movie who’s very core requires such a suspension; but I don’t see why people can’t question whether or not the movie is consistent with the reality that it’s created for itself.

YMMV…of course.
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See, that didn’t bug me. I assumed the “parasites” were like the ramoras or whatever-they’re-called that cling to sharks - they don’t feed off Snookums directly, they eat debris that gets cast off from Snookums’ meals. As for why they need such a powerful venom to survive in that niche - well, pre-dissolving their food, even when it’s already dead, is just their alternative to teeth/gizzards. Isn’t that what spiders do?

23

*Cloverfield *was a rare movie that I actually saw in a theater due to a friend’s recommendation. I’ll never trust that dude again. I CANNOT STAND the shaky cam. It’s a bullshit trend that needs to be stopped. *Diary of the Dead *also sucked because of that stupid gimmick. The MPAA needs to add a warning, Filmed in Shaky Cam so I know to avoid it.

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Slightly off topic–but is anyone else seeing this thread as always marked with new entries, even after you click on it? Mine is…it’s always bolded.

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[QUOTE=Mr. Excellent]
See, that didn’t bug me. I assumed the “parasites” were like the ramoras or whatever-they’re-called that cling to sharks - they don’t feed off Snookums directly, they eat debris that gets cast off from Snookums’ meals. As for why they need such a powerful venom to survive in that niche - well, pre-dissolving their food, even when it’s already dead, is just their alternative to teeth/gizzards. Isn’t that what spiders do?
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You could be right, but most creatures like the ramoras aren’t agressive. I mean those things attacked anything that moved…as a parasite would. You think of the type of creatures they resembled ticks, fleas, those types of creatures feed off of the host directly.

Even if you want to link them to spiders, the reason why spiders and most animals have venom ; is to catch and render helpless live food, food that can either fight or escape…yes it aids in disgestion, but I believe that’s a side effect of the venom.

If you look at say a fly, that does use it’s saliva as a digestive chemical; it does so on dead material; it wouldn’t work on prey that could get away.

Yet these creatures are fast, strong and hunt in packs…one of the guys mentioned that he felt they were trying to drag him away…ok assuming he was correct, where would they be able to drag prey living or dead unto a living creature…unless they managed to either find a natural occuring spot or borrow one on it’s body?

Which makes sense if they used their venom to weaken the creature’s skin…then the army’s weapons should have been able to penetrate it…

Sorry for the hijack and I realize we can discuss this to the cows come home and I’m hardly expert enough to defend my position beyond the basics of biology; but I found it inconsistent with how nature should work…even if it’s alien and it bugged me…it seemed they had great idea, but ignored the rules of nature to make it work…which would be ok; if they ignored all the rules or applied them consistently.

As noted, they aren’t the first to do this and this is hardly the most horrible; but it bugged me never-the-less.

YMMV…of course.

26

About the eternal battery:

There is a scene where they are holed up in an electronics store. I assumed that they grabbed additional batteries and tape/media cards while hanging out.

27

I liked the movie. Sure the characters were OK (except for that chick that got bit by the parasite, she needed to die). Monster was bad ass. I can’t wait for the sequel. They have a million different ways they can do one. I just hope it doesn’t turn out like Starship Troopers 2.

28

[QUOTE=Freudian Slit]
Slightly off topic–but is anyone else seeing this thread as always marked with new entries, even after you click on it? Mine is…it’s always bolded.
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I see that occasionally with threads here, but never really thought that much about it.

I rented Cloverfield last week. When my 17 yr old daughter saw it on my dashboard, she laughed. She told me it sucked. I watched it anyway, and agree with her.

29

I liked the movie. Sure the characters were OK (except for that chick that got bit by the parasite, she needed to die). Monster was bad ass. I can’t wait for the sequel. They have a million different ways they can do one. I just hope it doesn’t turn out like Starship Troopers 2.

30

I think a lot of these nitpicks are assuming things that aren’t necessarily the case.

Other posters have pointed out that the camera wasn’t running for seven hours straight, for instance, and that the characters made a pit stop into an electronics store that was being looted, during which time they could have easily grabbed a camera battery (and if they had planned on using the camera to record the whole party, it was likely fully charged at the beginning of the night).

Likewise, we don’t really know anything about the parasites or whatever they were that accompanied the big monster, so I don’t think it’s really fair to draw any assumptions about what should and shouldn’t have hurt the monster based on them.

I agree that Beth being relatively okay was a bit of a stretch… but that’s only Beth, not the entire cast.

Obviously it’s fine not to like the movie, but I definitely disagree that it requires some extraordinary suspension of disbelief once you get past the monster.

31

I didn’t see the splash either, despite rewinding and looking for it repeatedly.

32

[QUOTE=shy guy]

Likewise, we don’t really know anything about the parasites or whatever they were that accompanied the big monster, so I don’t think it’s really fair to draw any assumptions about what should and shouldn’t have hurt the monster based on them.
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I don’t agree. Things we know:

We know they bother the monster, as he rubs them off against buildings.
We know they are aggressive and attack people as soon as they hit the ground.
We know that they hunt in packs.
We know they either have incredible night vision or use sound or heat to hunt with.
We know their bite contains something…at least something that affects humans.
We know that they can be killed with conventional weapons.
We also know how similar creatures behave.

It seems to me that knowing what we know about them, can tell us things about the creature…IF you hold the creature to the same rules of physics and biology, that you hold the parasites to.

But like at said, it depends on where your interests lie.

33

Well the plot was the love story between the Hero and Heroin and the buddy movie aspects between the friends.

One thing I liked was that the girl who got the Camera setup and wanted some footage of herself on it, and didn’t get to say her piece was the only one to survive.

34

Why does there have to be an “eternal” battery? And why do they have to get more batteries in an electronics store? I can easily videotape 90 minutes of footage with my 8-year-old Sony Handicam that has a battery with a 3-hour lifespan. Heck, I could shoot 3 hours worth without changing the battery or re-charging it. If you are going to focus on things that are unrealistic about the movie, this is NOT it.

Remember, the conceit is that this is raw footage found that we are viewing. Unedited. So, if it last for 90 minutes, the camera only needed 90 minutes of tape/storage and 90 minutes of battery time.

Not an eternity’s worth!

And if you are going to tell me the military edited it down from what they originally found, then why all the stuff at the beginning with them waking up in the bed? Or the time at the party?

35

As a man who loved the Godzilla movies of my youth, I still have yet to read or hear anything about this that makes me want to see it.

36

Nitpick: Only if it’s a druggy movie

(Through a Cloverfield, Darkly?).

Otherwise it has to be about a Hero and a Heroine.

37

My theory as to the monsters appearance was that they were initial “shock troops” to clear out the humans for the arrival of the invading aliens who could either kill or control the rampaging monsters. Was there anything in the film to suggest that it was only happening in New York?
The “Corporation” or whatever it was called in the Alien movies was interested in capturing the creatures for “possible weaponization”. It was my feeling while watching Cloverfield that something similar might be planned.

38

Well, if he’s been under the water for thousands of years, as per the wiki article, don’t we know that he’s not an alien, then?

39

[QUOTE=River Hippie]
My theory as to the monsters appearance was that they were initial “shock troops” to clear out the humans for the arrival of the invading aliens who could either kill or control the rampaging monsters. Was there anything in the film to suggest that it was only happening in New York?
The “Corporation” or whatever it was called in the Alien movies was interested in capturing the creatures for “possible weaponization”. It was my feeling while watching Cloverfield that something similar might be planned.
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Wow, where did you pull that mess from?

40

[QUOTE=Justin_Bailey]
Wow, where did you pull that mess from?
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That’s MY theory based on no real information from the film as to why a gigantic creature would immediatly begin destroying everything in sight at it’s first appearance. In other words I pulled it out of my ass, but it’s no better or worse than any other explanation I’ve read. I mentioned the Alien series to acknowledge that the idea of using biological creatures as weapons has been used before.