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'Whatever It Is, It's Winning' - J.J. Abrams' Cloverfield is Back!!

by Alex Billington
November 15, 2007

After 4 months of absolute silence, J.J. Abrams' secret monster project is back! 1-18-08 aka Cloverfield has a new trailer debuting in front of Beowulf - I can confirm it's true and you will see it. I was shown the trailer and I watched it myself in digital down at my local movie theater. It picks up right where the first teaser trailer in front of Transformers left off and damn does it deliver! It is also officially now known just as Cloverfield. It's not as shocking as the first trailer, as it's very much a real movie trailer showing clips and flashes of all kinds of scenes and elaborating a bit more on the story and the monster, or should I say monsters.

The new trailer is up and can be watched on FS.net right here!

This is one of those trailers that is really, really hard to describe (even CHUD tried). It flashes so many quick scenes so fast that you can hardly make sense of it or remember anything that just flashed in front of your eyes, but I'll go over as much as I saw.

Multiple sightings of case designated 'Cloverfield'
Camera retrieved at incident site 'U.S. 447'
(Area formerly known as Central Park)

It starts out (after showing that text above) by going over the very first trailer again, by rewinding backwards quickly through Rob's entrance at the party. The intro ends again when the statue of liberty's head hits down and then it shows a completely destroyed building that's falling over, which I think was the Empire State Building. Then it shows Rob speaking into the camera saying his name, "Robert Hawkins," and continues on with the rest of the story through all kinds of scenes. Basic rumors are confirmed: it is a completely hand-held camera movie with Rob and a small group of friends traveling all around Manhattan. There are some awesome, awesome shots that perfectly use that concept of the hand-held cameras, including a guy being killed and falling to the ground (you see his feet) and then it shows Rob running up picking up the camera.

Some of the other great moments that stick out were Rob and his friends running everywhere down streets, including into the medical tent that was described on AICN. That's where Rob asks one of the military guys if they know what it is and he replies with, "Whatever it is, it's winning." There is also a shot 2/3 of the way through where Rob and his friends come up near Central Park and the streets are entirely empty and the buildings are all destroyed around them and a horse-drawn carriage, like they offer rides in in New York near Central Park, slowly walks by being drawn by horses but with no one (or presumably dead bodies) in the cart. Rob then says, "People are going to want to know how it all went down..." Which explains why they want to capture it all on their own video cameras.

As for the monster, there is a moment where you can see it run behind a building that it just destroyed, but it's a quick flash. There is also a moment where you see a white sheet or piece of plastic up and via silhouettes someone being attacked and killed by two smaller monsters that are almost human size, although it was a very quick shot and hard to make out. This confirms the rumor that there are smaller monsters in addition to the very big, main monster. There is also another part where Rob and his friends are running down a dark street and you hear some buzzing-like creature noises in the background/air and you hear them say "did you hear that" as the noises get closer.

Now for my own favorite parts of the trailer! Everyone has seen the poster (shown below) that shows the head of the Statue of Liberty ripped off. There is a camera shot that somehow zooms up and shows the head ripped off, which I think ties into the helicopter scene that is near the very end of the trailer. At the end it shows some people get inside and fly up in a helicopter and then a bit later it shows the helicopter being whirled at very high speeds spinning around and around in circles and roars and noises going on all over outside of it. My guess is near the end as they're being evacuated they get attacked by the monster in the helicopter and it grabs/throws them around. This is one of those most intense and energetic parts of the entire trailer, as everything is just going crazy at this point.

There is also a part that plays on the whole "it's alive" versus "it's a lion" argument. They are in a small convenience store somewhere holding out while the monster passes by outside and you hear the guy next to Rob (on the camera) say very loud and very clearly "Rob, I saw it..." and then there's a pause and then he says "It's alive." It's very debatable again what he says again, which I think is part of fueling the argument that maybe it is a lion. Maybe they're emphasizing that part so much that maybe it isn't just alive. However, we'll need to see it again multiple times to figure it out.

Overall this new trailer just kicks ass. I walked out fully pumped up and nothing but good things to say. I'm pretty damn excited, which is interesting given the hand-held concept didn't work so well with George Romero's Diary of the Dead. I've just got a feeling from this trailer alone that Cloverfield will be The Blair Witch Project x100 combined with J.J. Abrams' brilliance from "Lost" and everything else all packed into a modern day monster movie. I really can't wait! It's not a blockbuster tentpole movie, it's one of those that's so incredibly unique and so awesome that it changes Hollywood forever once it debuts. Like Rob says, "People are going to want to know how it all went down."

I've heard that the trailer will be online on Monday, but I strongly suggest you go see Beowulf! Not only is that movie worth it, but this is a trailer you need to experience for the first time in the theaters. Let us know your thoughts!! We'll be updating the site with the trailer once it debuts next week.

The new trailer is up and can be watched on FS.net right here!

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