1-18-08

[FordPrefect]

/spoiler warning

So any of you catch the thing in the water at the last Coney Island scene?  Do you think that was the monster?  I've read theories that it was the fallen Russian satellite mentioned earlier in the movie, and excavation of the satellite awakened the monster.

/spoiler warning

Anyone else surprised this only had a PG-13 rating?  Maybe it was because the violent scenes were so shaky or quick, but after watching the documentary "This Film is Not Yet Rated" I'm a little skeptical of some of these ratings.

Spoilers, yada yada.....

I saw the splash at the end of the movie. I thought it was a little odd,  but I didn't really think about it's significance till I started reading stuff about it online after I got home. The most convincing theory I've read is that it could be the rogue piece that recently fell off the Japanese government's "ChimpanzIII" satellite. Why? Because according to the Tagruato Web site, coincidentally, Tagruato scientists and engineers are working on tracking down the missing piece which disappeared into the Atlantic Ocean. Perhaps the fallen satellite is what disturbed the monster's slumber. I also read that the main ingredient for Slusho is found at the satellite deep ocean dropzone and that while searching for satellite and ingredients, Targuato woke the Cloverfield monster. The main ingredient of Slusho apparently has the power to turn a tiny fish into a huge whale (explains the monster's size) and since deep sea creatures naturally have very high heat resistance, this is why the monster was unaffected by the military bomb attacks.

I was a bit surprised that it was PG-13. They really went as far as they could with that rating. They didn't show some of the bloodier stuff, but I think that just made it more effective. Sometimes less is more. I haven't seen "This Film Is Not Yet Rated", but I want to. Based on what I've read it looks like a good movie.

[the long undertow]

and since deep sea creatures naturally have very high heat resistance, this is why the monster was unaffected by the military bomb attacks.

What?

Also, why would a monster impervious to bombs be bothered by a satellite?

[Nick]

I guess he was having a really good dream when some damn satellite woke him up. You's be cranky too.

Anyway I really enjoyed the movie and if there is a sequel, I would be delighted.

[Zardoz!]

Ok, I saw the movie and I watched the scene at the end and what was I supposed to see in the water? I mean, I was looking and just saw a couple boats. When someone posts the clip on toutube with a highlight of what was supposed to be seen I hope someone posts a link to it.

Oh yeah, I do have something more to say about cloverfield to all those people who condemned the characters as being "stupid" and deserving to die:

Screw you.

I think the best thing about cloverfield (After the star trek teaser)  was it showed people, ordinary people, working together and risking their lives to help each other in a crisis. The one guy wanted to try to save his girlfriend and his friends went with him rather than leave him to go it alone. They put their necks on the line to help a friend that was risking his life to save someone.

if that makes them "stupid" and "deserving to die" by modern american cultural standards it's a pretty damn sad commentary on america, circa 2008.

I had some major beefs with the movie, like the creature eating humans? As small as humans are it would starve on a diet of humans. Also it's mouth was plainly not designed to eat humans give it's size and the fangs, it was meant to tear chunks out of much bigger stuff. Also, WTF did it come from? If it were prehistoric, why no fossilized 60' long bones anywhere? And WTF did it "eat" the guy at the end then drop him, intact, unbloody and not covered in monster drool? It's acts made no sense...

Until they do "Cloverfield 2: The explanation" I guess I won't know.

[Junkyard]

Regarding your spoiler material:
I just assumed it was as angry as it was because it was a meat eater without any meat nearby that could satisfy it easily. And there's the idea thrown out that it was some sort of government experiment gone wrong, so bad genetic engeneering could be responsible for it's impractical composition.

[Nick]

Some explanation can be found from the cryptic ad campaign for the movie.

Apparently, its attracted to Slusho, the drink made by the Taratuogo Company. Some theories suggest that people drank it, their waste is flushed out to sea, and once awoken, the creature was attracted to New York by the Slusho trail.

[RobtheBarbarian]

Some explanation can be found from the cryptic ad campaign for the movie.

Apparently, its attracted to Slusho, the drink made by the Taratuogo Company. Some theories suggest that people drank it, their waste is flushed out to sea, and once awoken, the creature was attracted to New York by the Slusho trail.

I'm pretty sure human waste is processed before being pumped out to sea most of the time, but I'm sure there are places where it's not (though it seems like New York would have health codes about that). And... slushy mix? I know that's the actual plot, but it's meant to be a joke, right?

[Nick]

Apparently it's made with some ingredient from the bottom of the sea called "Neptune's Nectar' or something like that. Maybe it's baby food since i've heard somewhere that the monster wasn't fully grown yet.

[bratpop]

Hahahaha. Oh, man. This "offscreen" plot stuff makes me laugh. They can't be serious, can they? They could have had a great schlocky b-movie cult film. As it stands, Cloverfield will last about as long as Blair Witch. Sounds like they should turn it into a goofy Sci-Fi Channel series ala Tremors. Slusho. Sheesh.

[Nick]

Well some people enjoy it. To me it makes it seem like there's more to the movie than just the movie. But that's just me. I thought the concept was cool.

[RobtheBarbarian]

If it were less gimmicky I'd be into the background story too, but as it is I'm just not willing to spend that much energy dissecting something that was built solely on rumors and hype.

[Nick]

Well, to each his own. I thought it was well thought out and made me really excited about this movie. I think the creature has a very well-concieved back story, and the mystery surrounding it has me slavering for more.

[Rude]

...

I'm not a huge fan of viral marketing, since it usually ends up explaining nothing. But this movie really had a huge campaign going on for a long time. And now that the film is out there for the masses, a lot of people have a lot of questions. But since the movie didn't answer any of these questions for people, they're turning to the internet. And, of course, all they can find are rumors and second hand news left over from this viral marketing campaign.

In a way, it's almost as if the event actually happened. As if we've just heard about this attack far across the country and we're thirsty for information that just isn't there. So we're talking to each other and picking up what we can: rumors and little pieces of second hand information. I hate to say it, but Cloverfield has had one of the best marketing campaigns that i've ever seen.

But man... Slusho? Nectar Of The Sea? Eco-terrorist and their drunk girlfriends' webcam? Ugh.

-Rude

[bratpop]

I love a good backstory... a good one, but borrowing ideas from The Stuff is a silly choice.

[Zardoz!]

Question: Were the little creatures dropping off it young versions of itself or just parasites? Anyone hear about that? This one pompous idiot on another board, andy hackard, thinks they were not the creature's young but just parasites.