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[The Stray]

War. All of the time.

[theShaggy]

Good lord, this turned into a flame thread pretty suddenly.

I love franchise-style films like Godzilla and the like. That you could see the same character over huge budget films over the years, watch how it changes and develops, that's awesome. Non-linear stuff, like Bond films... it's great.

But the thing is, the format of CLOVERFIELD itself is what prevents this from actually making a great sequel. It's what happened to Blair Witch Project, because you can't in any reasonable sense go from handheld realism to sleek Hollywood film, nor can to use handheld realism to show off what really happened concerning this monster.

I mean, there are ways, but they'd be better suited to other mediums. Like television specials... or viral marketing. I'd love to get another, "President is authorizing the nuking of Manhattan," perspective on the monster, but I am terrified of what it would turn in to. The Book of Shadows, anyone?

So my opinion is to keep the Alternate Reality going on here, keep telling us what's going on. It may not make as much money as, say, the theatre release, but after a little while of running, the producers could probably put together a reasonable Direct-to-DVD followup compiling the important aspects of the game in a documentary-style film. Don't even mention the movie, just deal as if EVERYONE knows the monster destroyed New York.

Seriously, I'd like to think that the movie was just on other chapter of the larger mythos revealed on the net. That'd do the newness of the Cloverfield concept justice, and give people a wicked new way of approaching ongoing stories.

[JadedMax]

One question I'll always have about this movie. From the onset Abrams and Co wanted to go against the Hollywood norm. And since that bar was set it seems like some people have set out to constantly subvert that.

Cloverfield again, was not a simple monster movie. But from the beginning the traditional minded wanted it to be that way. Cloverfield is a survival movie. Plain and simple. And it's a unique one.

But yes there are those that can't satisfy. They want the steady cam, the long shots, the aerial shots, the tried and trite traditional nonsense that has been a monster movie staple since the beginning of time.

They want the evil Dr. Frankenstein type with the cat in his arm and the one gold tooth that has the bellowing laugh and the cruel intentions. They want the infinite shots of the monster where you get to see everything and you're burned out by mid film.

Now that Cloverfield set out on a different path, and was successful doing so, let's see what we can do to make it hacky. Oh I know, let's do two more...

Originally Cloverfield clocked in at 90 minutes. Paramount said great, you sure that's long enough? Then they screened it and said, "shit, that final edit that came in at around 84 minutes, keep it. That's perfect because we can't be sure we'll keep the interest of the audience longer"

Because this is the generation of the Youtube clip, the quick fix. The era of attention deficit you have to be short, impactful and sweet.

Can we please stop trying to take Cloverfield and cornball it up? Make it all hackneyed with bloated extra stories because we can't stand actually having to work for an answer.

Oh I remember the Sopranos ended and people shit a brick. No little wrapped in a bow ending. I Am Legend's last 30 minutes was altered because they wanted to add that scene where Will Smith described the death toll of the virus and the scene about the survivor colony.

Cloverfield worked, like it is. Now we all back away, leave it be, and move on. Life never promised you a happy ending, nor closure. You're not owed one by this film. If you want closure, read the production notes.

[theShaggy]

JadedMax speaks good cookies.

[ScubaSteve1717]

For the record, I never said I wanted steadicam, long shots, aerial shots, the cliche monster sitting on top of the building roaring in anger and frustration, the dr frankenstein/ernest blofeld hybrid, or the president issuing the order to nuke the planet to kill the beast, i dont care if theirs an unhappy ending, this isnt the first movie to do that.

Their is no answer to work for here because their is no evidence to sway you either way, you either do think they die or dont just because. Their is no reason that this movie could not make an equally successful sequel in terms of what you are talking about other then the fact the others have failed in the past. I trust them to make the right production choices. JJ and Co. are smart, they did good by you on this one, why do you not have enough faith in them to make a good sequel. They blew everyones expectations with this movie, i think they can do it again.

[JadedMax]

Anything extra having to do with this film should be done online, or in the DVD, or both. But to make a full length feature film just to sum up answers to questions that were there before the movie and the movie makers refused to address is asinine.

Let's break down the minority consensus. Half of the people that want a sequel want it basically because of their desire to legitimize this "game" they believed in before the movie even came out. Obviously the makers of this film refused to legitimize it, maybe it's not there.

The rest want to see this monster fate scenario dragged out. What happened to the monster, monster, monster monster. From the beginning there was such fixation on the monster. As if it's the only thing that matters. Obsession almost to the point of ruining the movie before the movie came out trying to show everyone what the thing looked like.

Maybe I've gotten past that point in my life. I don't know. I'm perfectly content with my own machinations of where the story went. To me there's just not enough left of the plot, barring something really major that no one has talked about to warrant making another feature length film

[theShaggy]

[The Stray]

Whaaaat?

[JadedMax]

Yep. I'll show you how effective this whole campaign was. I am not a fan of monster movies. I despise horror movies, and never have been a fan of obverblown monster movies.

Cloverfield, hooked me. With it's mystery. I'm sitting there like an idiot following this thing for six months.

And when I watched the film. I loved it. And I fucking hate monster movies.

It was the spontaneity and the rush of discovery that kept me. It was a fresh approach to movie marketing and a basic move by Abrams to basically keep something sacred as opposed to every other movie where if you watch the trailer you get everything up front.

You can't recreate that kind of magic again. Maybe you can attempt to with enough different people to bring in a respectable number. But you can never get that first kiss back.

[The Stray]

Well How About This

[JadedMax]

Re: Whaaaat?

[The Stray]

Yeah. Yeah?

[Headman]

Some of you people on here crack me up. This is not some artsy fartsy movie from some snooty film festival. This was a giant monster movie, plain and simple. Most of us will not agree that it should be "left to stand on it's own." You had your word and stated your opinion and I hope you offer us the came courtesy and leave us to ours. We all agree that it was a very cool and unique style of film. Sequel or not I have no idea but we all must keep in mind two things. One, this could be Paramounts "sugar daddy". We all know money talks and is the ultimate end game for film companies. Two, we are talking about JJ and DG, they think outside the box when it comes to storytelling in film. If they can change the way one giant monster movie is made then why not a series of films? Do you think that they would "sell out" and make a sequel the old fashioned way? No! They would continue to do things completely different and change the way sequels are done. It is a whole new re-envision of film making.

Just my 2 cents.

[OliMango]

Paramount turn down a chance to make more money?

Not a chance.

[Little Albatross]