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Saw Cloverfield… It was awesome… Now, the questions.
The movie lived up to the interent hype for me. The hand-held camera stuff did make me a bit queasy, I’ll admit. I am happy that it ended the way it did. Certainly creates some questions for me, though… Stop reading if you don’t want spoilers…
- What company was Rob going to work for? Was it the company in the viral sites for the movie? Tagruato? Seems like it would make sense, but maybe be to convenient/cheesy.
- What stirred the monster up? Offshore drilling? Is this an environmental statement?
- Is the “hammer-down” a tactical nuke strike?
- Was the monster destroyed?
- How was the camera/tape not destroyed in the “hammer-down”?
- What is in the parasites bite that causes the victim to burst/explode?
- What were those air sac things on Clover’s head?
- How much would a monster that size need to eat?
- If the monster is living at a depth sufficient to hide it for millenia, what kind of food could be available down there?
- Does it eat this stuff (used to make Slusho)?
- Did Tagruato’s harvesting of the “Seabed’s Nectar” cause it to come looking for food?
- Did the monster actually come from outer space?
- Or did the parasites come from outer space and wake the monster?
- Did the parasites eat the monster’s food causing it to leave it’s habitat?
I’m really interested in hearing from other people that have seen the movie… What do you think? So many questions… Maybe Cloverfield 2 will answer ‘em… hmmm.
Posted on January 20, 2008
Lars Jan 20
Judging by every other JJ Abrams franchise, you are never getting any answers.
Just drink your Slusho and stop asking so many silly questions.
Chad Jan 20
Ha. Very true… what do you think, though, Lawrence?
Chris Jan 20
I agree - totally awesome, but so many questions. I want to see it again and again just to pick it all apart. The action was great and the comic relief was timely. I really liked it.
Eric Jan 21
for those who played the halo franchise, doesnt the monster remind you of the scarab machine?
Acro Jan 21
Rob was going to work for Slusho, which is a subsidiary of Tagruato.
The drilling of Tagruato is, apparently, at least partially to blame.
Hammer-Down… not entirely sure. Either a tactical nuke or some serious carpet bombing. I was thinking it was the former, but a tac nuke would’ve erased the SD card in the video camera… among other things.
Speculation is that the parasite bite causes some nasty infectious/bacteria reactions within the victim - causing the body to over-produce various fluids… which leads to a violent explosion.
Jaco Jan 22
I would hazard a guess and say the monster came from space, together with a meteor shower - near the start when they were all on the roof, it suddenly started ‘raining’ meteors and everyone ran for cover. It certainly wasn’t the monster sneezing, right?
Nick Jan 22
there are some good answers from u ppl but i just saw it and i might need to see again so i can really catch every thing like at the end when they are on the ferriswheel somthing falls behind into the ocean or wat ever it is
John Jan 22
Yes, in the last scene of the movie behind the boat in the water you see something fall from the sky into the water. I am not sure how the tape survived the bombing, or for that matter how they survived the heli crash. Overall I thought it was a good flick. I was never in to the whole viral aspect of the movie, but in hindsight I wish I would have been. I did think it was a little weird how the ground shook when ever Clover walked but in the park scene it came out of nowhere.
justin Jan 26
-Rob worked for slusho
-in the last scene u see how the monster was disturbed( a satillite is scene crashing into the ocean)
-hammer down was an old russian term for a tac nuke striek but the americans still use it as a tac nuke strike
-the monster was not destroyed at the end of the film past the credits u here rob on a radio saying “its not dead”
-the camera was covered by the rocks which protected at least the tape within the camera and the plastic coating of the camera protected the tape (not SD card) from the nuke radiation
-the parasite bites caused an over production of bodily fluids and cause ppl to explode
-yes those were airsacs on its head they moved in and out like lungs, second its not called cloverfeild thats the name of the site cause clovers are the first thing to grow after a nuke explosion
-alot
-it was dorment like hiberating it didnt eat
-yea supposedly the monster aint this stuff and according to slusho myth it makes things huge
-no again it was a fallen satelite that casued the monster to awake
-no it came from the bottom of the ocean
-no the parasites are on the monster its a give and take relationship like all parasites
-no
spartan015 Jan 26
ok so we don’t actually know she exploded for all we knows she mutated and knocked the other guys head off its definitaly extraterestrial judging from its make up cause theres notheing even remotly liek that on earth and other evidance suports it like the crashing into the ocean in the final scene as well im pretty sure theres more than one considering there all over the island and apear in diferent sizes (smaller under the bridge when they were running to the helicopter) and the hammer down was a blanket bombing
Nick Jan 29
My thoughts:
# Is the “hammer-down” a tactical nuke strike?
No. It’s non-nuclear, and likely involves a thermobaric ordinance.
# Was the monster destroyed?
No. This is revealed at the end of the credits. “it’s still alive…” is heard in reverse.
# What is in the parasites bite that causes the victim to burst/explode?
The only explanation I can reasonably think of, given how the symptoms present as dizziness, bleeding, then rapid swelling and finally tissue rupture, points to a massive gas embolism. Perhaps the bite contains bacteria that rapidly metabolizes something in your body that liberates a gas as an end product. I don’t think it’s something the parasites necessarily intend to happen.
# What were those air sac things on Clover’s head?
External lungs. Similar to an axolotl.
# How much would a monster that size need to eat?
Given it’s size and activity, a helluva lot.
# If the monster is living at a depth sufficient to hide it for millenia, what kind of food could be available down there?
Not much, unless they live below the thermocline in a trench, in which case the abundance of food somewhat increases. Keep in mind also that any creature is not nearly as active at those temperatures.
Also, this is NOT a sea-faring creature. At least, by any conventional definition. And I think conventional definitions are appropriate considering that the creatures head designer had a background in zoology.
The knuckle-walking, brachycephalic head, completely pronated front arms indicate something that CLIMBS.
adam Jan 29
actually the movie is called cloverfield cause thats the name of the street the films directors work out of in california
Ruud Feb 11
I think most of the question can be answered apart from the most important ones. But I have several others. Does noone wonder how Rob survived to able to tell the monster is still alive ? Wasn’t the monster right on top of them when the executed the hammer down protocol ? How do you survive the blast , heat and possible radiation ? I’m not really sure if it was a tact nuke , how could the camere have survived and Rob ? But then again what else is left ? The army pretty much hit it with every other possible weapon. Second of all what the hell is the monster made out of ? it gets shot at by M16 , stingers , tanks , f-16 and stealth bombers and I don’t remember seeing it bleed…maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention ? Thirdly , alien or not ? Something does fall from the sky but several sources claim it is a satelitte , if so what made it crash ? One thing I KNOW for sure is that it didn’t arrive on the night of the party the 01-18-08 website shows pictures of the army attacking something at sea near the oilrig so they know it was there before it hit New York. And if it came from the ocean how does it breath on land ? Could it have both gills and lungs ? And how are the parasites related ? they don’t really look like the big monster… Anyway this will probably give you guys something to chew on lol.
Travis Feb 11
“I would hazard a guess and say the monster came from space, together with a meteor shower - near the start when they were all on the roof, it suddenly started ‘raining’ meteors and everyone ran for cover. It certainly wasn’t the monster sneezing, right?”
Nope, it was debris from the explosion during the roof scene. The monster emerged from the ocean, as the shots of the sinking tanker and the mauled Statue of Liberty will tell you. Also, many promotional posters depict the a wake leading from New York Harbor (beside the Statue of Liberty) and then ending at the shoreline, where there is a path of destroyed and damaged infrastructure.
“Does noone wonder how Rob survived to able to tell the monster is still alive ?”
We don’t know if it’s Rob on the radio, but one could hypothesize that it is indeed his voice. He was hiding under the bridge when the Air Force attacked the creature, so there’s a decent possibility that he wasn’t killed by the rubble or the explosions themselves.
“Wasn’t the monster right on top of them when the executed the hammer down protocol ?”
No, after killing Hud, the monster leaves the immediate vicinity, allowing Beth and Rob to escape. Remember, Central Park’s a fairly large area, and the strikes are non-nuclear.
“How do you survive the blast , heat and possible radiation ? I’m not really sure if it was a tact nuke , how could the camere have survived and Rob ? But then again what else is left?”
Again, the strike was indeed powerful, but showed none of the effects of a nuclear detonation. The camera itself is likely destroyed by the rubble from the shock waves of conventional explosive ordinance, but should a nuclear detonation have occurred, it’s likely that Rob and Beth would have been killed instantly from the radiation and overpressure, to say nothing of an already damaged camera.
“The army pretty much hit it with every other possible weapon. Second of all what the hell is the monster made out of ? it gets shot at by M16 , stingers , tanks , f-16 and stealth bombers and I don’t remember seeing it bleed…maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention ?”
The military would most likely not resort to the nuclear option, as the rest of New York City (the mainland and other islands) is relatively undamaged. Add to this the fact that most of the Northeast is heavily urbanized, the nuclear option is most likely out of the question until the monster reaches a less densely populated area.
As for the point of conventional weapons not being able to kill it, well, there’s not much of a sequel if they can, eh?
“Thirdly , alien or not ? Something does fall from the sky but several sources claim it is a satelitte , if so what made it crash ?”
Nope, the monster is definitely terrestrial, as the viral marketing campaign and manga will tell you. The object that falls in the final sequence has been revealed to be a satellite, not the monster. A monster the size of the Cloverfield creature would have created a significant shock wave, and would have likely been severely injured if not killed from the heat of a de-orbital entry and the impact itself.
“One thing I KNOW for sure is that it didn’t arrive on the night of the party the 01-18-08 website shows pictures of the army attacking something at sea near the oilrig so they know it was there before it hit New York. And if it came from the ocean how does it breath on land ?”
Yes, the pictures do show the Navy and Air Force attempting to take down something at sea, and the speed at which National Guard and Marine units mobilize suggest that they had advance warning of the attack. Something that large and that unstreamlined would possess a huge signature to Navy passive SONAR systems, and it’s likely the Second Fleet would have attempt to investigate and engage the unknown before it could reach the shore of the United States.
As for the question on how its respiratory systems work, it’s likely the creature is an amphibian, possessing both lungs and gills.
“And how are the parasites related ? they don’t really look like the big monster…”
The idea for the parasites came from early concept art of the creature which showed it as whale-like in design. Real whales have parasitic organisms that attach to the skin, and the original parasites were shown to be the size of a small car and bearing a strong resemblance to real world ticks and weevils. They evolved, like the monster itself, into the dog sized entities you see attacking humans in the movie.
“Anyway this will probably give you guys something to chew on lol.”
Always enjoyable.
James Feb 21
So if the picture of the Navy attacking it was before the setting of the film? How come the Army seemed so unprepared?
My opinion is that those pictures on 1-18-08.com are from after the film, perhaps the monster went back to the ocean, severely injured from the ‘hammerdown’ and the Navy managed to finish it off. This would also explain the other pictures of the big pool of blood in the ocean and the festering beast corpse being fed on by the gulls.
Just a suggestion, but it makes sense to me…
James Feb 21
So if the picture of the Navy attacking it was before the setting of the film? How come the Army seemed so unprepared?
My opinion is that those pictures on 1-18-08.com are from after the film, perhaps the monster went back to the ocean, severely injured from the ‘hammerdown’ and the Navy managed to finish it off. This would also explain the other pictures of the big pool of blood in the ocean and the festering beast corpse being fed on by the gulls.
Just a suggestion, but it makes sense to me…
One thing about the film was the fact that the characters seemed to be a bit deaf. Ok, maybe perhaps ill give it to them that all the guns and explosions damaged their hearing a bit.
But…. after the subway tunnels about 15 army guys appear from nowhere..you telling me there were no footsteps with those guys wearing all that military gear? Also, they take them about 10 METERS to a hospital / command post full of people shouting, but in that shop they heard nothing.
And then of course after the crash, they get snuck up on by a 500 foot behemoth…. hmmm, maybe ill give them some leeway for disorientation but still
Buddy Apr 22
Only one word comes to mind after seeing this movie….
CTHULHU
Stephanie May 10
Someone’s already said it, but I sort of want to elaborate on it. Near the end of the movie Rob has the camera pointed out towards the ocean and you can see something falling down through the sky and into the water. I’m pretty sure something in the viral campaign talked about a satellite being lost before the movie debuted.
My guess is that the satellite crashed into the water, woke up the monster, and pissed it off enough for it to come up into New York. What was funny about this is that like a week or two after the movie came out there was a news article about the US losing a satellite.
RobbyLove Jun 23
For the knuckleheads out there who think that they didn’t nuke Cloverfield:
Did you not hear the air-raid sirens going off? That’s a warning to anyone on the street to get your ass to cover because the mushroom clouds are about to start sprouting. Anyone who grew up in during the Cold War is very familiar with that sound.
They nuked it. Period.
hunter ballantine Jun 29
What website doe it swow the US Navy and posobly the Airfore attacking the clove (name of monster)? Were did u hear Rob servived? Now, the Hamer Down Protocal is real. It is NOT A TAC NUCE but can be a heavy ordinance bomb like the MOAB or the biggest non nuce bomb the fuel berst bomb evan biger than the FOABs. The goverment would not use a nuce on that type of area. The were just going to “contan it” The monster was from a trench in the sea those orang red things on its head were like ater lungs, its anfibeaus. On the web site (haven’t sceen) was the Navy actacing after or before?
hunter ballantine Jun 29
The thing that fell was a satlight.
hunter ballantine Jul 3
the creatures were not part of the monster they were like barnicles and they didn’t use F-16s and M16s they use F-18s and M4s.