Amazon.co.uk:Customer reviews: Cloverfield

Top positive review

"Something has found us"

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 May 2017

This movie put me on the edge of my seat. It is a found footage movie following people that have just survived this 'attack' (I won't say who or what is attacking otherwise it might spoil the film) and the found footage part makes it look really realistic. If you can get through the first 20 minutes of talking and getting to know the characters then that is really when the action starts and it doesn't really stop from there. The scene 20 minutes in is amazing! The movie has mixed emotions- it can be sad, happy or action packed and there are a few shocking moments as well. Being a found footage film it does mean it is on a recording camera so if you are not a fan of the camera constantly shaking maybe it isn't for you but otherwise it's excellent. It is certainly worth it for the price. Be sure to check out the sequel 10 Cloverfield Lane [DVD] [2016] which is a change of genre but also looks good.

7 people found this helpful

Top critical review

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Hard to watch.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 September 2018

10 Cloverfield Lane was well recommended so I thought I’d get the prequel as well.
I found it almost unwatchable. Too much hysteria and shouting and too much jerky camera with a party lead in of very little relevance yet given loads of run time.
An experience but one I don’t want to repeat.

One person found this helpful

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Gazmic

Two Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 January 2018

Verified Purchase

two stars for delivery but got wrong item.Got magic mike not cloverfield.

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Harriet Wells

AWFUL 0/10

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 December 2017

Verified Purchase

RUBBISH.
Just full on rubbish, there is no storyline and no explanation for any of the rubbish thats going on, no beginning, no middle and no end and the constant cuts to the other side of the tape gave no backstory and added nothing. I can only hope 10 Cloverfield lane is better as I haven't seen it yet but I'll definitely give that one a chance.
But Cloverfield is an awful film.

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Bebishenron

What was that ending?!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 June 2008

This film I had already expected to be a cross breed of War Of The Worlds and Godzilla and thats just when I saw the case! I was right when I watched it which was a shame. What I didn't expect was it to be filmed ala Blair Witch on a better budget.
With some critters which look like they have been transfered from Starship Troopers and a....well I wont say who or what the "star" of the show is but it's not all its hyped up to be.
The storyline is basic at best again I'm not going to say much probably because there isnt much to say. Oh hell I'll tell you its people running from something but not getting far, thats the whole plot! There seems to be no definitive beginning or end to the film as such well not to the events that happen anyway and it isnt explained why or how the events occured.
It's a bit like someone plonking something you have never seen or heard of before infront of you and leaving you with no explination what so ever while you think What the hell is this about? where did it come from and what does it do?! Its frustrating more than anything else.
The computer generated bits are good however.
All in all this film is ok for a quick once over where you dont need to be in the room to understand it mainly because the main characters will still be doing what they were when you left the room 5 minutes earlier.
This film isnt original it seems to me someone was paid a lot of money to steal bits and ideas from other peoples films and stick them together with stickytape.

2 people found this helpful

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Greshon

Disappointing, dizzying and derivative

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 June 2008

Thought this film was going to be great, what with the exhilarating teasers and rave reviews. I was disappointed - especially after paying top dollar for the DVD (because I was so desperate to watch it).

An overlong exposition (all the stuff at that party is so boring and so pointless) is the opening of an extremely derivative, if unusual, film: the method is all Blair Witch, the story Godzilla, the style of the shots and the 'ordinary guy' perspective Spielberg's War of the Worlds, and the scenes where the little parasite things attack is totally Aliens. And surely they could have made that camera a little steadier - even I am a better cameraman than that. The film makes you feel dizzy. And the cameraman is an extremely annoying character, constantly shouting at everyone (especially Rob). And, lastly, it's never scary, even when the potential is there - i.e. that bit in the subway tunnels.

Saying all that, I like the way the film makes the ludicrous seem realistic. I went to bed dreaming of this happening to London.

A high 2 out of 5.

4 people found this helpful

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Anna Banana

Uhhh....

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 June 2013

I didn't like it much the first time around, I was just intrigued as a relative had told me both him and all his friends thought it was "ace" and super scary. Well he got the mocking of a lifetime after I had watched it and didn't find one remotely scare worthy element to it. Anyway that aside, it's a found footage movie. It's about a monster that is destroying the city and they must flee. There were a LOT of movies like this maybe not in the cool found footage setting but movies about monster aliens the same. In my opinion I didn't think it was brilliant no matter how many times I have re-watched it my opinion stays the same its juts not my style, I like the paranormal horrors and stuff like that.
I did like the end though, I thought it was clever how they went back before it begun it was just a sweet ending in my opinion.
I'd give it a go, but don't expect to be scared.
There's some cussing but its clean otherwise and suitable for teens of late I'd say and adults alike.

2 people found this helpful

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The Vinyl LP Lives!!.

2 Stars for effort!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 August 2018

2star for effort.... bloody hell, just spray all aliens with the man-flu bug. Mind you the battery life on their camcorder is amazing!
Bloody boring!!!.

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fantasy escapist

Overhyped Handy-cam-filmed type monster horror that just didn't live up to the hype for me.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 July 2008

I'm sorry that I don't find this terrific as other people have done, but fans of this at least hear me out before scowling at my rating of this on Amazon.

After all the build-up and clever internet hype for promotion of it, I expected it to be very good - I can't help that. Unfortunately, after I finally got to rent this last week from my local library and stayed up during the early hours to view it, I couldn't help but be disappointed and glad I didn't pay to see it in the cinema earlier in the year.

There's a number of reasons why I felt this didn't live up to the high expectations that were a product of it's hype and mysterious trailer I saw last year. The young 20-somethings we meet in the beginning(and spend nearly 20 mins with) just annoy me. They come off as just any generic people in any teen/young people's show of the last few years so this makes me not care that much when they're going through their frankly tiresome dramas when the monster attacks. I just felt unemotionally detached from them really.

Another thing I didn't like about this was the shaky handy-cam technique used to film it - it really did give me headache and got on my nerves after the novelty had worn off. I didn't think it added to suspense - it only made me have to constantly rewind and pause cause the camera had whipped around so quickly or was filming shoes etc momentarily. Also, the monster itself, when finally revealed close-up nearer the end wasn't even scary to me. I would've liked the film more had the strange murderous rampage of this creature paid off and it terrified me. During the full course of the film, it only scared me four times, and that was due to the element of surprise. For something that's meant to be a horror, if it doesn't even fulfil that for me, it's failed on that main level.

It fell into cliché a lot for me, and became predictable and ultimately just didn't live up to it's massive hype it had garnered, in my opinion. A shame, cause I admire it in ways for it trying to reinvent the monster film(even in a YouTube-type style), for it's quite natural acting from mostly all the actors(Lizzy Caplan was especially good to me), good special effects for something with a limited budget and tight schedule, believable set-pieces and it's entertaining and short(Just over 70 mins without end credits) watch . Also the Cloverfield Overture played in the end credits(the whole film doesn't have a score by the way) is quite memorable. I just expected a lot more. I just wish it could've had maybe the audience following a family, so I cared more about the people filming this, a way scarier monster and a straightforward traditional filming technique or steadier handy-cam.

Extras are a quite interesting `Cloverfield-Supplemental Files' behind-the-scenes stuff, which can be accessed by switching it on, on the DVD, then pressing enter on your remote each time you see the battery icon to view the additional files during the film. Here you see short files called: The One'r(doing scenes in one take), Casting Beth, Wall Of Dust(creating the 9/11 look when the monster destroys buildings in NY), Destruction(the fine art of destruction), Casting Rob, Casting Lily, The Subway, RataCloverfield, The World Of The Parasite, One About A Character's Explosive Death, Sideways Apartment, The Military and Shooting Style.
There's also a commentary by the director Matt Reeves, all about the initial idea, technical aspects, where some scenes were shot, difficulties overcome and other things - there's even a hidden message at the very end of the end credits.6/10 for the extras on this 1 Disc edition.

One person found this helpful

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Irritating and Unsatisfying

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 February 2010

The shaky camerawork did my head in. I hated Blair Witch because of the creepiness and the camera, but at least this film's not creepy at all. The characters are uninteresting and undeveloped, meaning that I couldn't care less what happened to them.

Unfortunately, most of it takes place at night, so I didn't get the wonderful vistas of New York that I was expecting. The blu-ray picture quality was nothing special, but to be fair, the bass was possibly the loudest I've heard from my pretty decent subwoofer. I've never seen my cat look so scared as she was when the thumps started early on.

The creature looked like something out of Clash of the Titans, but again it had no redeeming features whatsoever, so I didn't even root for it against the humans.

All in all, it's a monster film, but an annoying and unengaging one, so I wouldn't recomend this unless it's very cheap or a rental.

One person found this helpful

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Rob Sumner

Not a film to watch with a hangover!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 February 2009

Let's get one thing straight before we go any further this is NOT a horror film by any stretch of the imagination. It's a bit like the O.C. with monsters. Lots of catalogue models running around New York screaming intermittently whilst a bloke with a magical video camera (the battery never runs out; unlike mine) "documents" the whole ordeal, and it is an ordeal to sit through. Shaky visuals, poor acting and annoying comments from the camera man just served to destroy any tension the premise of the film may have had.
I unfortunately decided to watch it with a hang over, very unwise. If you like the idea of this film don't buy this buy the Korean film Host which is much, much better.

2 people found this helpful

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Kathryn

Hit and miss

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 February 2009

CONTAINS SPOILERS
Unlike some reviewers, I didn't actually mind the 'Blair Witch' style filming of this movie and it helped to make you feel you were living the experience.

There were some great parts of the film, some truly scary and nail-biting, pillow-grabbing bits and it did hook you in the see how it all ended. It was certainly action packed and on the whole me and my husband enjoyed it.

However, it would have easily scored higher but for a couple of quite major flaws.

Firstly, the most irritating and unrealistic part of the plot was how the group of friends kept following one of their friends back into danger to see if his kind-of girlfiend (but not really) was still alive. The risks they took got more ridiculous and you were left thinking, "I'd leave him to it the nutter, he's lost the plot, I'm outta here!"

Why would you see if a girl you'd met once was still alive, when she was in a building half collapsed, when the military told you not to go back into the danger zone, you saw other friends and people killed in front of your eyes, the military retreating, and of course the massive monster who clearly has an issue with the human form and beheads anything that looks human (Statue of Liberty and clothes dummies). No chance. They didn't even arm themselves with any kind of weapons, even though at different times they had an axe and a crow bar - they just left them! Durr!

The other irritating thing about the film was the ending. It was just that, the recording finished. At least with Blair Witch you got a report saying what happened next. It would have sooo helped to finish off the movie, but instead we just felt cheated. I guess it was supposed to be a cliff hanger, but it left you with nothing.

As I say, overall it's alright and easy to watch on a lazy sunday afternoon, but prepared to get annoyed - don't watch it with a critical eye because it'll just wind you up. If it's a couple of quid it's worth it, if higher don't bother.

2 people found this helpful

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5 star		62%
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Cloverfield

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