Cloverfield: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
As a group of New Yorkers (Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Annable) enjoy a going-away party, little do they know that they will soon face the most terrifying night of their lives. A creature the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city, leaving death and destruction in its wake. Using a handheld video camera, the friends record their struggle to survive as New York crumbles around them.
This film was shrouded in mystery for a good while and to top it off we didn’t even know that it was coming in the first place. It’s a found footage film which I’m usually “hit or miss” with but for some reason this really worked for me. It may have been the “monster movie” aspect or just the fact that there was so much mystery behind it but I was intrigued and excited right from the start. I thought the story was great because it felt realistic (kinda, sorta) with a guy that wouldn’t stop for anything in order to reach the injured love of his life. It was surprisingly acted very nicely for the most part from the cast given the fact that it was a found footage film (the majority of them are super cheesy). They had me engrossed in the story and wanting to watch and see what happened next. The monster itself was nothing like I had never seen before and I was completely enthralled by it because it was so unique. The U.S. had never had a Godzilla of their own and I really feel like this is what we got with this but I just wish that it was legitimately followed through with a sequel. The ONLY negative aspect (for me) was that I wished we saw more of the monster itself within the story. This film is and forever will be one of my top picks as far as genre films go because of how it was such an experience to go through. If you tend to get motion sickness then this may not be for you but other than that it’s definitely a fun and interesting to check out. 8/10
4K Presentation:
There really isn’t a big difference here with the 4K release and the improvements that are present are small. The thing with a film like this is that since it is a found footage film it’s meant to look grainy and amateurishly shot. So in this format we get those same inconsistencies that we’ve seen in the past but with a slight improvement in color and sharpness and to be perfectly honest I’m okay with that because of the type of film it is.
Special Features:
Special Investigation Mode – A cool Picture In Picture mode that gives great facts as well as a radar mode that shows the location of the monster in NYC.
Document 01.18.08: The Making of Cloverfield – A pretty good feature that goes in depth about the production of the film. Cast and crew interviews are included as well.
Cloverfield Visual Effects – A look at how the CG effects were done and how the monster was created.
I Saw It! It’s Alive! It’s Huge! – A nice but short feature about the monster itself and it’s design and background.
Clover Fun – A collection of outtakes.
Deleted Scenes – Just a few scenes here that are kind of decent but don’t offer anything extra.
Alternate Endings – A few endings that are just slightly different than the theatrical one.
