10 Cloverfield Lane: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
After surviving a car accident, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) wakes up to find herself in an underground bunker with two men. Howard (John Goodman) tells her that a massive chemical attack has rendered the air unbreathable, and their only hope of survival is to remain inside. Despite the comforts of home, Howard’s controlling and menacing nature makes Michelle want to escape. After taking matters into her own hands, the young woman finally discovers the truth about the outside world.
After waiting for a direct sequel for many years we finally got something. I say “something” because this isn’t a sequel but at the same time it’s not NOT a sequel…Haha! Despite the cloud of uncertainty regarding the connection to the first film it’s still very very good. Those expecting a monster movie may be disappointed but if you really think about it there is a monster in the film and for the most part it’s in that bunker. It really is a fantastic thriller and that was something that I didn’t expect at all. Films with a single location have to get really creative to keep the audience engaged and this movie definitely did that. There was even a good unexpected twist that left me kind of speechless. What made the film work the most were the performances of the actors themselves. Winstead’s acting felt so believable that you could feel the panic and fear in her throughout the story. John Gallagher Jr. was fantastic as well and provided the slightest bit of humor that was needed to balance out the intensity of the story. Goodman blew me away with his character. He was scary and intimidating the entire way through and it was definitely a side of Goodman that I had never seen before. Even though it didn’t connect directly to the original Cloverfield I enjoyed this film a whole lot and I’m looking forward to the next entry in the series. 8/10
4K Presentation:
There are some slight improvements with this film but nothing spectacular. The differences come in the form of clarity and a slight boost in color which is nice but it’s probably not noticeable for the average viewer. For the most part it’s picture quality is fairly similar to the standard Blu-ray version but if you’re a A/V fan then I’m sure you’ll get a kick out of the slight improvements.
Special Features:
Cloverfield Too – A great feature that involves the cast discussing the similarities and differences from the original film.
Bunker Mentality – A look at the setting of the film and what it was like designing it.
Duck and Cover – This feature gives insight on a certain aspect of the third act of the movie.
Spin-Off – Putting together the car crash gag from the start of the film.
Kelvin Optical – A look at the post production branch of Bad Robot.
Fine Tuned – An interesting feature that focuses on the music and how it compliments the characters.
End of Story – This looks at how they were able to create an original story while still keeping it in tone to Cloverfield.
Audio Commentary By Director Dan Trachtenberg And Producer J.J. Abrams
