Cloverfield (2008) on Netflix
PG-1320081h 25mActionAdventureHorror
Hud Platt films a farewell party for Rob Hawkins in Manhattan. An earthquake, a capsized tanker and explosions send the guests into the streets, where a creature is destroying the city.
- Netflix3.1/5
- IMDb7.0/10447,789 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes78%
Trailer
Plot summary
A camcorder recovered by the U.S. Department of Defense holds footage of a party in Lower Manhattan. Rob Hawkins is leaving New York for a job in Japan, and his brother Jason and Jason's girlfriend Lily have gathered friends at his apartment to say goodbye. Hud Platt carries the camera, collecting messages. Beth McIntyre, upset by Rob's silence since their night together, argues with him and leaves. An earthquake shakes the building and the power fails. The news reports an oil tanker capsized near Liberty Island, and from the roof the guests watch an explosion and a rain of burning debris. On the street they see the Statue of Liberty's severed head land nearby, and Hud films an enormous creature collapsing the Woolworth Building. Marlena Diamond stumbles out of the dust in shock.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Cloverfield (2008)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The severed head of the Statue of Liberty was inspired by the poster for the 1981 film Escape from New York, in which the head lies on a street in New York. Reeves called it an incredibly provocative image and the source that inspired producer J. J. Abrams to think it would make an interesting movie.
- The shaky camera style, dubbed "La Shakily Queasy-Cam" by Roger Ebert, gave some viewers motion sickness, including nausea and a temporary loss of balance, so theaters such as AMC put up poster and verbal warnings about the filming style.
- Casting was done in secret with no script sent to candidates: actors auditioned instead with scripts from Abrams's previous productions, such as Alias and Lost, and some scenes were written purely for the audition process.
- The title kept changing during production because of the hype caused by the teaser trailer. Matt Reeves said the excitement spread so far that they suddenly could not use the name any more, so they worked under cover names like Slusho and Cheese.
- After viewing a cut of the film, Steven Spielberg suggested giving the audience a hint at the fate of the monster during the climax, which led to the countdown heard on the helicopter's radio and the air raid sirens signaling the Hammer Down bombing.
- Reeves said "Cloverfield" was the government's case designation for the events caused by the monster, likening it to the real Manhattan Project; Cloverfield Blvd is the highway exit Abrams takes to his Santa Monica office, a road that once led to the Santa Monica Airport, originally named Clover Field.
