“Cloverfield”, the high-profile monster movie produced by Master of Mystery J.J. Abrahms, has been on DVD for a few months now. And if you were one of the many who caught the film in theaters back at the beginning of the year, then more likely it’s already in your DVD library. However, for those of you who haven’t caught it on home video yet, then here’s the rundown on how the film itself looks on the small screen and how good the extras are.
The film takes place over the course of one terrifying night, when Manhattan is abruptly attacked by an enormous creature that looks like a cross between a praying mantis and a spider. We follow a group of twenty-somethings who happened to be throwing a “Going Away” party for their best friend Rob as they embark upon a rescue mission to save Rob’s true love, Beth. Of course, everybody knows that the movie was filmed in a unique way, namely from the perspective of the viewfinder of an extremely jiggly video camera, one being manned by Hud. It’s obvious that this idea was inspired by “The Blair Witch Project”, which was another revolutionary thriller during its time because it too employed the use of of the shaky cam.
There were many complaints from people who saw “Cloverfield” during its theatrical run about how the film’s constant camera movements caused uneasiness where their stomachs were concerned, but I personally didn’t have that problem, so I can’t really say if watching the movie on a regular T.V. screen makes a difference where that issue is concerned. “Cloverfield” is presented in its original theatrical exhibition of the 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio, and the transfer is pretty well-handled. However, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a guy who pays attention to the sharpness of a movie’s digital transfer, so suffice it to say that for the most part the picture looks good.
The extras on the disc include a feature commentary by director Matt Reeves, deleted scenes and alternate endings, multiple “making of” featurettes, and looks into how the film’s visual effects were done. The deleted scenes aren’t really that special; just extra fluff that easily leant itself to editing. The two alternate endings aren’t any better, as they just include the same ending in terms of what happens to the characters, but here the very last scene before the credits is changed. However, the making of features are particularly interesting, as they show exactly how the monster was conceived and constructed, in addition to how the movie itself was filmed. Believe it or not, the filmmakers actually let the actor portraying Hud hold the camera as they filmed everything. Also included is a link to a website called www.cloverfieldfiles.com, which contains some extra secrets about the film.
All in all, I’d say the “Cloverfield” DVD is definitely worth buying for those who liked the movie. It’s certainly interesting to see how such a unique monster movie was pieced together, and the glimpse of all the behind-the-scenes magic makes you appreciate just how creative this chilling film really is.
Movie Rating: 3.5 stars
DVD Rating: 3 stars
