Coverfield was total trash

H

Haru

New member
Have you ever hated a film so much, just ten seconRAB into it???

I did with Cloverfield. A friend lent me a copy last night, and after 11 seconRAB I detested that film.:D

The very annoying hand held, shaky camera lasts throughout, in the form of the Blair Witch Project. BUT WORSE!!

Fifteen minutes in I hated all the characters and wanted to smash that camera into 1,000 pieces.

Never went beyond twenty minutes. Couldn't care less how it ended.:D
 
Bugs me when people do this - and advise people to "steer clear" as well.

Anyway, I liked Cloverfield. Saw it at the cinema (for free actually) and the shaky-cam didn't bother me.
 
Be glad you don't get it. It's terrible when it is bad and we are not whiny sickly little babies because of it. Can't help how our brain interpretates what is going on.

I can watch about ten minutes of the shooting style then I start to get a splitting headache and then onto horrible nausea, if I carry on watching it I would no doubt be sick.

Also get it after about five minutes in certain makes of car for some reason.

I don't hate a film because of the style though.
 
I thought it was absolutely superb myself.

Most people who didn't like it did one of two things: They didn't pay attention to trailers and reviews which made it clear that the whole thing was hand-held camera footage and would therefore be shaky, and the second - and greater - error was that they ignored the card at the start which said that this was camcorder footage found in the area formerly known as Central Park. Lots of people expected a "proper" film with music, narrative, and what you may call a "man in a white coat moment", i.e. where somebody comes in and says "this is what it is, this is what's happening, and this is how we stop it."

One of my favourite films of recent years, if I'm honest.
 
(Disclaimer: I haven't actually seen Cloverfield, but...)

To be fair, if you have to suggest to someone that they skip 20 minutes of an 84 minute film - and also take regular breaks in order to stop yourself throwing up - doesn't that suggest that the film is, in fact, trash?

Films are supposed to make you engrossed with what you see on screen, not make you skip through huge chunks and pause it every 15 minutes because it's so distracting to watch in one go.
 
Quarantine/Rec, another sequel I'm looking forward to! Don't let the young, rich Americans put you off Cloverfield..
not many survive to the end of the film
 
You never went beyond 20 minutes but to my recollection Clover doesnt actually appear to the 18 minute mark meaning you've missed pretty much the whole bulk of the film. I dont think just seeing the beginning gives you the right to call the whole thing trash.
 
With Cloverfield you can skip the pointless 15 or so first minutes and not miss a thing basically. Unless you care for the characters in the film, it's literally just a party for the lead and all the characters going on about you know who had sex with you know who and all this bla bla bla bla.


I mentioned the pausing because of motion sickness. I can't get through a whole film when I get motion sickness so I have to pause it and go back to it when feeling better. That's why I said that to the poster because I assumed from the shaky camera stuff that they felt the same.

Nothing wrong with doing this, I'd rather pause and rest and enjoy the rest than sit through it having to close my eyes most of the time to feel better.

It's got nothing to do with the film been trash. I liked 21 Grams, but had to pause and go back to it at another time because of motion sickness.
 
It's not so much that. For me, it's a lazy way to try and make a movie. So many guys in Hollywood train to be able to shoot films, either as a cameraman (or woman) or as a director.

To then try and release a movie which looks like an ape has shot it, or at least a plished up teen, is pretty pathetic.:p
 
I think the opening fifteen minutes actually served two purposes... (a) to get you used to the jerky camera style and (b) to try and explain the dynamics of the different characters in relationship to each other, so as to show and give resonance to why they would take the courses of action that they did in the remainder of the film.

Unfortunately, it does come across as a little laborious, but I think that's probably because at this stage of the film, we (the audience) just want the monster to make it's first appearance and are a little too impatient to care much about the character set-up. :p
 
Yeah I wouldn't say the opening 15 minutes are pointless, they give you context that enhances your understanding of the dynamics of the characters as the episode progresses. i think if your re watching the film you can probalby skip it safely enough though.
 
Yeah, but if I gave you two versions of that movie. One, with the shaky camera and one with a stable camera, and carefully chosen shots, I THINK I KNOW WHAT YOU'D CHOOSE.

In fact, I bet you'd choose the stable camera.:p

I don't want to 'wait' until I get used to a 'jerky' camera. I want a quality movie, shot well. It would have been different if we occasionally saw 'cam' shots interspersed with normal camera work.

I mean, about a minute or two every 20 minutes!

I accept the movie has its merits, as regarRAB plot, monsters and action, but despite that, I could not get away with a shaky camera.

To me, it was literally stupid, pointless and ruined a perfectly good opportunity and movie.

It's like directors who film movies solely in black and white, for effect.

Okay, if I want black and white, I'll turn the colour off!:D
 
I don't really mind the style at all in films when it is part of the storyline, just makes me ill with most. The British film Zombie Diaries was the worst for me so far.
 
The movie filmed correctly (NOT with a hand held) might be okay, but I was sick of squinting to see any proper picture. My eyes were all over the shop.

Plus, with this sort of direction, you get stupid, unnecessary dialogue like 'hey, what you doing?'

'What you think I'm doing? Making tea. Okay?'

'Okay, so you're making coffee. Coffee making, cool...'

Quaranteen had some good action but that too was spoiled with the hand held camera. :mad:
 
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