Cloverfield - Is this the worst rubbish on RTE 2 in decades?

Judgement Day · 15-10-2011 11:22pm #1

Rare time that I have the TV on without a DVD and this utter tripe comes on. Looks like something that was produced by a FAS scheme. Rubbish plot, crap acting and the hand held camera style is so bad as to almost make it unwatchable. Clever - I think not. Anybody else enjoy endure it?

al28283 · 15-10-2011 11:39pm

yea, one of the best examples of vfx of recent years. Almost completely shot on green screen yet nobody ever notices.One of the best VFX movies of the last 10 years.
As a movie though, I love how you get drawn into the drama of it and forget it's a monster movie until the monster attacks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT_yh1r3cQg

Bullseye1 · 15-10-2011 11:48pm

It was shot that way for a reason. I quite enjoyed it at the cinema. I know alot of people suffered from motion sickness because of the shaky-cam.

red dave · 15-10-2011 11:50pm

Judgement Day wrote: »

Rare time that I have the TV on without a DVD and this utter tripe comes on. Looks like something that was produced by a FAS scheme. Rubbish plot, crap acting and the hand held camera style is so bad as to almost make it unwatchable. Clever - I think not. Anybody else enjoy endure it?

You're complaining that one of the biggest blockbuster movies released (whenever it came out) is actually been shown on rte 2?

I'm no fan of what's shown on Irish tv by any means, however I'd commend rte for showing a "blockbuster".

Fwiw I enjoyed enjoyed the movie in the cinema.

Aldebaran · 15-10-2011 11:57pm

Cloverfield is a great little movie, even if it didn't quite live up to it's amazing teaser trailer.

And if you think it's the worst thing that has been on RTE2 in decades then you've obviously never seen anything starring Katherine Lynch.

longhalloween · 15-10-2011 11:58pm

I'm didn't really like the movie, but you have to commend them for doing something different.

The camera style is very relevant since when ANYTHING happens people seem compelled to record it.

I don't know if you're having a go at RTE but it was a very popular film so why shouldn't they show it??

JonathanAnon · 16-10-2011 12:01am

I'd pretty much agree with Red Dave.. The movie WAS huge at the time.. It was sort of Blair Witch with an alien invasion... Certainly wasnt a "great" movie but worthy of the promotion that RTE are giving it.

jayteecork · 16-10-2011 12:02am

longhalloween wrote: »

I'm didn't really like the movie, but you have to commend them for doing something different.

The camera style is very relevant since when ANYTHING happens people seem compelled to record it.

I don't know if you're having a go at RTE but it was a very popular film so why shouldn't they show it??

"Different"?

lol.
This and Blair Witch and Paranormal activity and all the other "lost footage" stuff are all ripped off from Cannibal Holocaust which was released in 1980.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibal_Holocaust

Judgement Day · 16-10-2011 12:06am

red dave wrote: »

You're complaining that one of the biggest blockbuster movies released (whenever it came out) is actually been shown on rte 2?

I'm no fan of what's shown on Irish tv by any means, however I'd commend rte for showing a "blockbuster".

Fwiw I enjoyed enjoyed the movie in the cinema.

I'm a movie fan and I'd never even heard of it before but perhaps I have an inbuilt BS detector which means I don't notice when such rubbish is released. Anyway according to a lot of the reviews at the Internet Movie Database here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1060277/reviews I'm not alone in my opinions of this poor quality 'home movie'.

expectationlost · 16-10-2011 12:08am

stupidest monster ever

OctavarIan · 16-10-2011 12:13am

Judgement Day wrote: »

Looks like something that was produced by a FAS scheme. Rubbish plot, crap acting and the hand held camera style is so bad as to almost make it unwatchable. Clever - I think not. Anybody else enjoy endure it?

The plot is perfect considering the point of view of the movie. Do you really think a bunch of young adults running around NYC during a monster attack would have any idea what was going on? Same reason the camera is so shaky. It might be a monster movie but there was an attempt to be as realistic as possible.

Judgement Day · 16-10-2011 12:29am

Well, even if you put the crap acting and plot to one side, the clever dire camera work was unreal. I used to make super 8 movies myself and anything as bad as this rubbish would have gone in the bin. The style of camera work is like a lot of so-called modern art that the great unwashed like me are not sufficiently evolved to appreciate.

Minstrel27 · 16-10-2011 12:44am

I hated this film when it was released.

al28283 · 16-10-2011 12:53am

Judgement Day wrote: »

Well, even if you put the crap acting and plot to one side, the clever dire camera work was unreal. I used to make super 8 movies myself and anything as bad as this rubbish would have gone in the bin. The style of camera work is like a lot of so-called modern art that the great unwashed like me are not sufficiently evolved to appreciate.

It's not modern art, it's modern entertainment. Personally I think Schindler's List is pretty short on laughs but that's not the point of it.
If you're watching Cloverfield and hoping for modern art of course you're going to be let down. It is Godzilla, nothing more.

Mindkiller · 16-10-2011 12:57am

It's an ok film. I remember when LOST was finishing up people were speculating that the smoke monster might turn out to be the Cloverfield monster if it escaped the island. Would have been a cool revelation.

al28283 · 16-10-2011 1:01am

Mindkiller wrote: »

It's an ok film. I remember when LOST was finishing up people were speculating that the smoke monster might turn out to be the Cloverfield monster if it escaped the island. Would have been a cool revelation.

Nah, the cloverfield monster was woken by the falling satelite that you see crashing at the very end of the movie. It belonged to the japanese corporation the the main character was leaving new york to go work for.

OctavarIan · 16-10-2011 1:10am

Judgement Day wrote: »

Well, even if you put the crap acting and plot to one side, the clever dire camera work was unreal. I used to make super 8 movies myself and anything as bad as this rubbish would have gone in the bin. The style of camera work is like a lot of so-called modern art that the great unwashed like me are not sufficiently evolved to appreciate.

Cloverfield would have definitely been an idea for the bin back in the days of super 8. It's main theme is that of this generation's ability (and somewhat irritating desire) to document everything. Hence why the beginning of the film is mundane social garbage filmed by egotistical young new yorkers :-P

I can totally see why the style isn't everyone's cup of tea, but objectively speaking the premise of the film is sound.

It also had a lot of cool viral marketing.

johnny_ultimate · 16-10-2011 1:16am

The word 'worst' is thrown around a lot these days.

I remember the days when the label was reserved for genuinely appalling pieces of work. Whether it be films entirely devoid of a basic understanding of the medium (Manos: The Hands of Fate). Films with hilariously misguided intentions (Reefer Madness). Or films that are offensive to every race, creed and gender imaginable (Transformers 2).

Cloverfield? Bad? Arguably. Mediocre? Certainly. Watchable? Probably. Deserving of superlatives positive or negative? Never.

TheReverend · 16-10-2011 1:24am

Personaly I thought it was one of the best monster movies to come out recently, the story focusing around the guy trying to find his girlfriend kinda sucked but the monster, its story and the ARG were awesome

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 16-10-2011 1:26am

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The word 'worst' is thrown around a lot these days.

I remember the days when the label was reserved for genuinely appalling pieces of work. Whether it be films entirely devoid of a basic understanding of the medium (Manos: The Hands of Fate). Films with hilariously misguided intentions (Reefer Madness). Or films that are offensive to every race, creed and gender imaginable (Transformers 2).

Cloverfield? Bad? Arguably. Mediocre? Certainly. Watchable? Probably. Deserving of superlatives positive or negative? Never.

ah now, manos: hands of fate is an unrecognised classic

johnny_ultimate · 16-10-2011 1:29am

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

ah now, manos: hands of fate is an unrecognised classic

A comedy classic, certainly.

But I think the fact that they either or ran out of resources to or plain forgot to include credits sets the standard for things to come. Luckily old Torgo alongside his master with a fondness for stick waving make it fascinatingly dreadful.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 16-10-2011 1:33am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0_f5fkrCTA

weeder · 16-10-2011 3:02am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p83CMofE7Zg

don ramo · 16-10-2011 3:45am

OMG RTE actually went out of there way and showed a good movie, the balls on them to be doing things like that, :rolleyes:

krudler · 16-10-2011 4:25am

Judgement Day wrote: »

I'm a movie fan and I'd never even heard of it before but perhaps I have an inbuilt BS detector which means I don't notice when such rubbish is released. Anyway according to a lot of the reviews at the Internet Movie Database here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1060277/reviews I'm not alone in my opinions of this poor quality 'home movie'.

you're clearly not. one of the best marketed movies of 2008 made by the creator of one of the biggest tv shows ever and you'd never heard of it? my bs detector just broke its needle.

Judgement Day · 16-10-2011 11:22am

krudler wrote: »

you're clearly not. one of the best marketed movies of 2008 made by the creator of one of the biggest tv shows ever and you'd never heard of it? my bs detector just broke its needle.

I suppose I should have prefaced that with good movie fan. I also like nothing more than alien/monster/sci-fi type movies but quality ones like 'The Earth dies screaming', 'Day of the Triffids', 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers', 'War of the Worlds' (not the rubbish Tom Cruise one), Alien, Predator, Total Recall, etc.etc. but Cloverfield is typical of the sort of nonsense that people are afraid to criticise less they be branded fuddy duddies or worse. Mind you I shouldn't be surprised by the response here given that most of you seem think that 'Lost' was good.

krudler · 16-10-2011 1:00pm

Judgement Day wrote: »

I suppose I should have prefaced that with good movie fan. I also like nothing more than alien/monster/sci-fi type movies but quality ones like 'The Earth dies screaming', 'Day of the Triffids', 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers', 'War of the Worlds' (not the rubbish Tom Cruise one), Alien, Predator, Total Recall, etc.etc. but Cloverfield is typical of the sort of nonsense that people are afraid to criticise less they be branded fuddy duddies or worse. Mind you I shouldn't be surprised by the response here given that most of you seem think that 'Lost' was good.

I never said Lost was good, I said it was one of the biggest tv shows ever, which it was. Only saw the pilot episode and a few mins of others ones, never got into it.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 16-10-2011 1:05pm

Judgement Day wrote: »

I suppose I should have prefaced that with good movie fan. I also like nothing more than alien/monster/sci-fi type movies but quality ones like 'The Earth dies screaming', 'Day of the Triffids', 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers', 'War of the Worlds' (not the rubbish Tom Cruise one), Alien, Predator, Total Recall, etc.etc. but Cloverfield is typical of the sort of nonsense that people are afraid to criticise less they be branded fuddy duddies or worse. Mind you I shouldn't be surprised by the response here given that most of you seem think that 'Lost' was good.

hrmmmmm.........

Mindkiller · 16-10-2011 2:06pm

No-one's afraid to criticise Cloverfield. It polarised critics at release but it most definitely doesn't deserve to be lumped with the worst. It was an interesting experiment at the very least (the genre-mashing of typical monster film and found footage that is)

S.M.B. · 16-10-2011 2:49pm

Mindkiller wrote: »

No-one's afraid to criticise Cloverfield. It polarised critics at release but it most definitely doesn't deserve to be lumped with the worst. It was an interesting experiment at the very least (the genre-mashing of typical monster film and found footage that is)

Exactly, add in the 9/11 parallels and you can't deny that it's an interesting concept to begin with.

One could argue how successful it was in trying to meld those aspects together.

I liked it but I'm not one of those shaky-cam/lost footage naysayers that seem to be very vocal these days.

mike65 · 16-10-2011 3:33pm

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

hrmmmmm.........

Total Recall is a brilliant popcorn blockbuster, Cloverfield is actually a technically superb film and very hard to knock if you "get" what its doing (even if the characters are initially a right "Blackberry clasping, loft living" pain in the ass) and just 90 minutes long for which much thanks.

Cloverfield - Is this the worst rubbish on RTE 2 in decades?

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