Oookay my internet friends! It is a discussion for the movie Cloverfield.
Just saw it in theaters. It was preety good. Though the camera work could have been a bit better (Was Hud drunk or something?)

Any way, just a few questions we can have theories on.

Did Rob and Beth die? I mean, we know that the Military nuked the place, but we hear their voices for a second and then it cuts to their date at Coney Island.


Where did the monster come from? I heard from my friend that in the last scene that if you look at the top right corner something lands in the water. Did the monster come from space then?

What happened to whatsherface? The one that was bitten by the mini-monster? Did she explode or what? And why did everyone freak out when they heard 'We've got a bitten one!!!' ? And what happened to everyone else that was in that store/hospital?

What up with Hud? Did the monster eat only the bottom half of him? Or did it not like how he tasted :)? And where were Rob and Beth during this?

Did that one girl (Robs brother's lover) Make it out alive? We know they were in the chopper (I was fully expecting Arnold to come out and say "GET IN DE CHOPPA!" :)) But they never explained what happened after that.

Boy, that beggining sure spoiled everything. We learn in the very beggining that central park and everyone in it dies!

What happened after everything? The 'Government Film' could have explained wether the mission to kill the monster was successful or not. What happened to New York? Did any other place in the world get attacked by A similer monster?

Were there two monsters? The one that destroyed the bridge seemed different to me. How would it be in the middle of the city at one time, and then the next it's in the water.

Anyone hear any sequel rumors?
Thankies.

I'm just going to skip the spoiler tags, since the thread title clearly proclaims that this thread will contain spoilers.

Did Rob and Beth die? I mean, we know that the Military nuked the place, but we hear their voices for a second and then it cuts to their date at Coney Island.

I think so.

Where did the monster come from? I heard from my friend that in the last scene that if you look at the top right corner something lands in the water. Did the monster come from space then?

Either it came from space, or it was in the ocean the whole time and the meteor woke it up. Still, I'm inclined to say it came from space.

What happened to whatsherface? The one that was bitten by the mini-monster? Did she explode or what? And why did everyone freak out when they heard 'We've got a bitten one!!!' ? And what happened to everyone else that was in that store/hospital?

She did indeed explode. Apparently its a side-effect of getting bitten by one of the creatures; like swelling up after an allergic reaction. Everyone freaked out when they saw she had been bitten because they knew she was going to explode, and didn't want to get blood all over the place.

Everyone else in the hospital was evacuated.

What up with Hud? Did the monster eat only the bottom half of him? Or did it not like how he tasted :)? And where were Rob and Beth during this?

I'm inclined to believe that the monster wasn't so much eating him, but picking him up and tossing him. I'd imagine that Rob and Beth were cowering in fear not far away.

Did that one girl (Robs brother's lover) Make it out alive? We know they were in the chopper (I was fully expecting Arnold to come out and say "GET IN DE CHOPPA!" :)) But they never explained what happened after that.

In all likelihood, I'd say she made it out alive.

What happened after everything? The 'Government Film' could have explained wether the mission to kill the monster was successful or not. What happened to New York? Did any other place in the world get attacked by A similer monster?

It doesn't matter. The point of the film wasn't the monster attack, what caused, or what happened afterward. What mattered was showing what happens to normal people in abnormal circumstances. The monster could have been cut in half by Voltron after the credits, and it wouldn't have mattered.

Oh, but the monster isn't killed. I only found this out afterward, while digging around the internet, but apparently after the credits you can hear distorted radio call. When played backwards, it says "It's Still Alive".

Were there two monsters? The one that destroyed the bridge seemed different to me. How would it be in the middle of the city at one time, and then the next it's in the water.

Only one monster. There's no real explanation for it, but they never actually got all that far away from the bridge, especially by the monster's standards.

Anyone hear any sequel rumors?

I haven't heard anything. Though the backwards radio message I mentioned earlier does imply that they're open to the idea. Personally I don't think they should; it'd take away from the atmosphere of the movie.

What happened to whatsherface? The one that was bitten by the mini-monster? Did she explode or what? And why did everyone freak out when they heard 'We've got a bitten one!!!' ? And what happened to everyone else that was in that store/hospital?

Her chest exploded most likely. Remember the dude with the exposed chest on the cart? I think your blood is like the acid when you've been bitten.

Anyone hear any sequel rumors?

They're al over but none of them can really be that reliable.

I thought they lived. At the end after the credits I thought it was I'm alive.
Anyways don't over think cloverfield. It's not like watching a really deep movie. It is an example simple but effective writing.

The monster attacked the city why? Because it wanted to.

The crabs are there because they are

The focus of this movie was not really the monsters but the people trying to save Beth in the middle of this disaster. Hell the entire movie could have taken place during an earthquake and had a threat of crazy people or looters and you would still have the same story line but he wouldn't have been that good of a movie.

Also another I'm kind of glad that most of the viral marketing did not really affect the movie. Because let's face it, any explanation of the monster's origin would have been silly no matter what. Radiation Ha! Space Ha! In the ocean Ha! Government conspiracy Ha!

Also was it just me or did anyone else realized that the ending was going to be like in the Blair Witch. Though I'll argue that the last two people in Manhattan were still alive.

Even the exploding humans idea is stupid. Think about it? I know there's a fungus that grows inside insects and pops out of them but it's a slow process and they don't explode. It's more like a leak.

Seeing as the monster is based on a blue whale, presumably it's adapted for very high pressure (ocean planet/bottom of the sea) and extreme low pressure environs (space vacuum). That would mean its parasites would be similarly adapted.

So people exploding from bites becomes a little more logical. If they're laying progeny or transferring their bodily parasites to the frail bodies of the humans, once these creatures reach some kind of developmental stage, they'll be expecting to come into a body used to containing/living in high pressure. The human bodies can't contain it so they rupture. ^_^

-That's fanciful, but it's a fanciful film.

I wonder why the parasites so closely resemble genital lice? huh!?
---------------------------------
The monster must be covered in titanic pubes...

Atom Apple

What happened to whatsherface? The one that was bitten by the mini-monster? Did she explode or what? And why did everyone freak out when they heard 'We've got a bitten one!!!' ? And what happened to everyone else that was in that store/hospital?

Her chest exploded most likely. Remember the dude with the exposed chest on the cart? I think your blood is like the acid when you've been bitten.

It all makes sense now -- I'm going with your theory and claiming it as my own. And out of all of the deaths in the film -- she was the only one that made me say, "Awwww, that sucks."

---

Also, my LOST connection was dispelled : (

Ah well.

A new manga prequal to Cloverfiled is now being printed in Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Shonen Ace magazine. Artist Yoshiki Togawa centers the Cloverfield: Kishin manga around a Japanese high school boy named Kishin. Kishin's fate is tied to the apocalyptic events that take place half a world away in New York City. Togawa will draw four installments in the manga, but each installment will be taken offline as a next one appears. The second installment will be posted online in late February. The first installment is now online [kadokawa.co.jp], but in Japanese.

Hm, well, whatever the Hell is happening to the main character in the manga I can't rightly tell. I mean, aside from the fact that he's being picked on and some cute girl helps him, but I don't really give a shit about that.

The important part is that the ending seems to show some deep sea fishermen/researchers/chain enthusiasts (don't really have enough context to know without reading Japanese) have pulled some kinda monster out of the sea. If that's the origin, then I guess the meteor during the Coney Island scene is a red herring.

I've actually heard about the manga and saw a picture from it. If only someone would translate it...

But yes, I was looking around and one of the producers (I think) said that if there were a sequel, it would be the same incident but from a different camera.

Also read some production notes, and the reason that Hud was really eaten was because it was sort of a... fanservice, if you will. What Horror fan wouldn't want to end up on the inside of a monsters mouth?

I will admit, now that some of you are saying that the point of the movie wasn't the monster but in fact the partygoers survival makes sense.

I'm reading a bit into what J.J. and everyone that made this film were going for, and it seems to work out nicely ('Cept the part were America has its own giant monster. J.J. went to Japan and into a toy store and saw a bunch of ailes of Godzilla toys and though to himself 'Why doesn't America have it's own giant monster?)

All in all, a good film.
Reminds me a lot of J.J.'s LOST. How we get some of the story but want more.

By the way, Ozoneocean's theory about the parasitic crabs thing makes perfect sense to me... somehow... except the last part about the pubes.... :P

Wills42
I'm reading a bit into what J.J. and everyone that made this film were going for, and it seems to work out nicely ('Cept the part were America has its own giant monster. J.J. went to Japan and into a toy store and saw a bunch of ailes of Godzilla toys and though to himself 'Why doesn't America have it's own giant monster?)

All in all, a good film.
Reminds me a lot of J.J.'s LOST. How we get some of the story but want more.

It was a good movie, but the monster is so... forgettable. I don't see how it could ever be America's "Godzilla".

I've also thought that this movie does have that LOST method of keeping quiet about what the Hell is actually happening at any given moment, but the difference is that in this movie, it doesn't really matter. In Lost, learning new information could completely change the focus and plot of the show, or throw the whole thing wild. In this movie, if someone did discover that the monster came from space or if it came from the ocean, it wouldn't matter in the slightest. The origins of the creature are basically a nifty little trivia thing for people to talk about, but ultimately would mean nothing in a narrative.

Really this movie doesn't need a sequel or any other explanation I would be pretty happy if there would be no explanation. I don't think the monster is forgettable. I mean it's no where near a classic as Godzilla was, but it was unique and interesting but it doesn't need to be a franchise like Godzilla. Plus another thing that made this monster cool is that we are only given hints of it until the end when we really get some really good looks at it.

ozoneocean
I wonder why the parasites so closely resemble genital lice? huh!?

Because whale lice are an actual thing. (Click Here was the picture that was leaked months before the movie was released. I haven't seen the movie, but judging by what people are saying, I assume this is accurate?

This whole thing was slightly remeniscient of the Korean movie The Host , of which the monster in it looked very similar too the Cloverfield one, a fish monster with a pair of upright froglike legs. Although in The Host, we find out where that came from. Here, it's like its just one of the Evangelion Angels which just shows up outta nowhere.

I'd bet the monster was out to kill Hud. It seemed to keep following him through the whole movie, even when they were going across the skyscrapers. That one last facehugger one they ran into on the way back down was a little tacked on. They didn't see any on the way up, and then all of the sudden, Ripley! Aaaaaaah!

SpANG

ozoneocean
I wonder why the parasites so closely resemble genital lice? huh!?

Because whale lice are an actual thing. (Click Here was the picture that was leaked months before the movie was released. I haven't seen the movie, but judging by what people are saying, I assume this is accurate?

Actually, it bears very little resemblance to that pic, which is too bad because I personally think the whale-monster angle looks cooler than the actual creature. It's a little tough to describe, but basically the monster is kinda spindly looking, and the lice don't actually look anything like the whale lice pictured. If anything they look like smaller, wireyer versions of the bugs from Starship Troopers.

I thought it was fine, it seemed more of a disaster documentary more than anything. I missed it too, the splash in the last scene and the reverse talking at the end of the credits. What's with Abrams and the backward talk anyways? :P

My take on the questions:

Rob and Beth are dead. I think the I'm Alive is meant towards the monster. I think Lily made it out okay, but was there something in the downed helicopter, a transmission that says that all copters are down?

Hud was a dumb but loveable guy who didn't know when to put the camera down. Of course, without him, we don't have a movie to watch. I sincerely doubt that the monster was after Hud, after all Hud was the dummy that kept hanging out in the vicinity of the monster. Still, at the end, when Hud saw the monter I woudl've bolted. Is anyone else surprised that he wasn't eaten or at least torn apart?

That's why the audio blurb at the end of credits was so important. It changes the ending a bit because it was Rob's voice.

How does it change the ending? Rob is definitely dead.

Yeah, the person I missed the most was that Marlena girl. Cuz she was cool. Not yuppie. Cuz y'know, we want as many dead yuppies as possible in any given monster flick.

But, in truth I don't think any of the charas are annoying, actually.

@ Spang:

The actual movie monsters (big one and lil ones) are reduced in size (by 60-70%) compared to your leaked sketch. And the finalized monster's skin was way too smooth in that final shot. Which made it look CG. Where are all the whiskers and barnacles and seaweed?

And did you see those puffy red gills? Give me a break! If any giant monster ever had such an obvious weakness, the USAF would've had a field day with it. The thing is a giant landbound target without AA capability. Just laser-tag the gills and then missiles away from 20,000 feet.

Well it means they had at least survived the bombing whether or not they were rescued is another story. Also the beginning means that they must have stopped the monster. Seeing as they had to be on Manhattan to recover the tape. Which is probably close to where the monster was (if) stopped.

Yes, because how could a camera survive, but not Rob and Beth?

So I was reading the Production Notes (Again, I have a lot of free time) And the reason that the mini monsters (Who have one of the funniest sounds I've ever heard from a mini monster (Rar rar rar rar rar!)) were made was because JJ wanted the main characters to have some sort of 'intimate' fight with the monster. But since it wasn't like Rob could pull a rocket launcher out from behind him and shoot the monster and kill it, they created the mini monsters for Rob and Co. to fight.

Hud also mentions that 'They were trying to drag me away' I believe. Could they be bringing food to Clover (The monsters inhouse name?)?

And is it just me, or did the monster itself seem to follow Hud around a lot?

-Helicopter
-Near the final scene
-Rescuing Beth (There was even another mini-clover!!!)
-Tunnels

well it was Rob's voice and he said Help Us

Inkmonkey

SpANG

ozoneocean
I wonder why the parasites so closely resemble genital lice? huh!?

Because whale lice are an actual thing. (Click Here was the picture that was leaked months before the movie was released. I haven't seen the movie, but judging by what people are saying, I assume this is accurate?

Actually, it bears very little resemblance to that pic, which is too bad because I personally think the whale-monster angle looks cooler than the actual creature. It's a little tough to describe, but basically the monster is kinda spindly looking, and the lice don't actually look anything like the whale lice pictured. If anything they look like smaller, wireyer versions of the bugs from Starship Troopers.

The monster to me looked like a wraith from Doom 3... hell, the parasites reminded me of the spider things from Doom 3 T_T. Also...the monster did show some resemblances to that monster from Godzilla 2000.

http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Image:Wraithb.jpg
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0188640/3.html?path=gallery&path_key=0188640&seq=6

http://dokiestudioz.deviantart.com/art/SPOILER-Cloverfield-Monster-75228210 -Deviant art pic of the cloverfield monster.

It reminds me the anatomy of a Xen creature from half life 1

That's what NY needed. Godzilla to swim over and kick that thing's ass!

Rob and Beth are deeeeeeeaaaaaaaad.

Anyone caught the ending where you see the splash in the distance?

I didn't. Guess I'm going to have to watch it again : )

Oh, and who else thought the monster looked a lot like the monsters from Resistance: Fall of Man?

And have you guys seen this already?! How could I have missed it:

I prefer my monster movies to have little to no closure at all. I mean, look at what America did to Godzilla. Call me crazy, but I have no questions about it. It is what it is, and it was FREAKING awesome. HAA! You can't expect them to have closure on what they dont know themselves. It's a mystery. I just really really hope they don't have a prequel or sequel to it.

Rob and Beth are dead as fried chicken. The voice at the end isn't necessarily Rob's and even if, the voice says, "It is still alive." Rob says it in his backward voice? For what? Because he survived a bombing in what used to be Central Park and that's given him crazy-backward-talk?

albone
Rob and Beth are dead as fried chicken. The voice at the end isn't necessarily Rob's and even if, the voice says, "It is still alive." Rob says it in his backward voice? For what? Because he survived a bombing in what used to be Central Park and that's given him crazy-backward-talk?

It's a sad sad effect of radiation poisoning. :(

That's your reason for everything!

I'd imagine that, if you wanted to justify a recorded message coming back in reverse, it would likely be some sort of mechanical failure.

IF there were a sequel, I would want it to be from someone elses perspective. Like, from a family that is evacuating. Or from a guy from the military.
That, or they could do a fanservice and on the web have a short video explaining what everyone thinks.
Example:
Like, the film is made after the Cloverfield incident. It's just a bunch of what scientist think happened. Like where they think the monster came from, what the parasites were. ECT. You know, like a documentary on Cloverfield. The after affects and the like.

By the way, I belive that Hud was chewed in half. His myspace page was updated the day the film came out, changing his height from like 6 feet to 2 1/2 feet. :) Evil. So evil...