Sheesh! I'm still recovering from motion-sickness. Has anyone else seen this? It's just out on DVD. I'd really been looking forward to it, despite the warnings in reviews that the continual tipping and twisting of the camera (it's screened as if the film-maker is using a camcorder) were overwhelming. Well, they were right and i gave up half way through, paper bag at the ready.

I don't understand why it didn't work, I mean Blair Witch Project is filmed in the same way and is one of the most enjoyable films i've seen. I didn't connnect with or care about the characters either in CF. So disappointing and what a waste of money.

I've been waiting for this. Got it for father's day. I saw it in the cinema and the moving camera really effected me, made me feel ill, but I watched it through last night and felt fine. It is certainly one of those films that's much better second time around. I'm a real nerd, and watched it through with the director's commentary. I've tried to watch a few films like that and usually get bored because it's clear the person talking doesn't know what to say, or if there are a few of them, they seem unsure who should talk next. Matt Reeves was very good though - he never paused for breath. It was mainly technical though, with very little explanation of the thought behind scenes, leaning more on how they were shot. It would have been good to have an additional commentary by J.J. Abrams.

I kept going back and forth looking for the subtle bits. I found a freeze frame of 1933 King Kong swiping at the biplanes, and finally managed to see the object dropping into the sea at the end.

I enjoyed it more on DVD than at the cinema, but I knew what to expect, where at the cinema I was so buzzing with the hype surrounding the film that I don't think it could ever have matched my expectations.

Colin M

Wish i could have watched it all, Colin - i'll have to make do with The Happening instead...

could you put a spoiler alert and then tell me what that thing was and where it came from?

No need for a spoiler - you never find out. That's kind of the beauty of the film, it's totally voyeuristic; you're experiencing a disaster by looking at the footage someone caught on a camcorder. The general idea is that there would have been loads of people filming the events with mobile phones and the like, so what you are looking at is a single document - however, it goes a little deeper than that in that there is a very human element, and a genuine story that goes beyond the big monster smashing the place to bits. I'd give it another go if I were you - the movie does redeem itself.

But, for the real nerds, there are clues and threads on the internet but they are a little tricky, involving an oil company and a sushi company. Basically the monster is something buried under the sea thousands of years ago, woken up by a satallite/meteorite falling into the sea - but none of that is told through the film, and really just additional information. That's what makes Cloverfield unique - it's a monster movie, but the focus is the human element and the experience of a major disaster - not the cause.

Colin M

Hmm, i am intrigued. Maybe i'll give it another go sometime. Glad you enjoyed it anyway, Colin

Cheers.

I watched it again last night! Odd really, one of my other favourite films at the mo is The Devil Wears Prada (honest). I guess I just like monster movies.

Even though loads of people thought it was daft, I thought Blair Witch was the scariest film I'd ever seen. It got under my skin in a horrible way for ages (I just have to think about the scene with the guy facing the wall at the end and I go all shivery...did just then in fact)...so am I probably far too wussy for this one? Is it horror horror, which I don;t like, or just spooky and atmospheric?

Odd really, one of my other favourite films at the mo is The Devil Wears Prada (honest).

Colin, you have provided the biggest surprise of my day so far!

No. There was something very sinister about Blair Witch, and it used the imagination of the audience superbly. If you bought into it, it really was a scary film, while people around you could be saying, "I don't get it".

Cloverfield is more like The Day After Tomorrow, if one person in that movie had documented their own story with a handheld camcorder. It doesn't get under your skin as Blair Witch did, but it does have the same personal feel of you watching someone else experiencing things.

It's also worth bearing in mind that I gave it a pretty scathing review on here after seeing the cinema version: Cloverfield Review

Thanks, Colin, and also for making me feel less pathetic for my Blair Witch terror!

Just take travel sickness pills before you watch it, Caroline

I never used to mind that in ER (which I watched for about eight years and then went right off)..is it very much worse? Maybe I'll get my Seabands on before I watch it just in case

I found it bad in the cinema, but hardly noticable at home. Maybe it depends on how big your TV is.

Or how much wine you've been drinking