-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Monsters (Trailer / District 9, Cloverfield-esque)
- Thread starter Blablurn
- Start date
- Status
ChackanKun
Member
How the heck did I miss this thread!
Looks freaking awesome! Hope it's as good as Cloverfield
Looks freaking awesome! Hope it's as good as Cloverfield
MickeyKnox
Member
Cool, I'll totally catch this when it comes through
way more
Member
harSon said:
I would rather have any movie be less Cloverfiled. District 9 at least delivered and gave us alien mech vs sniper battles. Clovefield gave us trust-funders in love.
This movie looks like an aesthetic copy of D-9. That's not bad by any stretch but they better have some worthwhile plot to make it stand out.
Looks like this is hitting U.S. PSN this Friday, just got this in my inbox:
It's also hitting HDNet Movies next month:
It's also hitting HDNet Movies next month:
Expendable.
Member
yep! comes out Friday on most VOD services.
Expendable.
Member
Rei_Toei said:
Studios are doing it a ton now for smaller releases. Magnolia especially.
Expendable.
Member
The District 9-esque marketing is throwing people off. This basically a relationship movie with a minor sci-fi backdrop from what I've heard.
WordAssassin
Member
I gotta say, I'm kinda upset that this movie is called "Monsters". These aren't monsters. It even says that on the poster itself. They are aliens. I want a movie called Monsters that's about actual earth-bound monsters like Cloverfield and Godzilla, not creatures from outer space.
WordAssassin
Member
Except it wasn't. I don't want to start this whole debate up again but Clovie was from earth. The thing that fell into the water at the end of the movie was a satellite, not an asteroid, and it's what woke her up. The creators have said so on record.Tieno said:
iamaustrian
Member
ugh, CGI can suck a dick
will we ever get handmade stop-motion back?
will we ever get handmade stop-motion back?
Expendable.
Member
got in on VOD.
I really liked it. If you go in knowing this is a low-budget film about two people coming together, it is very satisfying. The "monster" bits are very well-done and it Edwards gives a great foreboding sense throughout the whole thing. Nice, little movie. He has a great future.
I really liked it. If you go in knowing this is a low-budget film about two people coming together, it is very satisfying. The "monster" bits are very well-done and it Edwards gives a great foreboding sense throughout the whole thing. Nice, little movie. He has a great future.
Anton Sugar
Member
:loliamaustrian said:
I think you need to go watch some stop motion again. It's charming and effective in certain films, but the best CGI will always trump the best stop motion. It's only when CGI is abused that it looks horrible...but the same goes for bad stop motion.
Expendable.
Member
I'm doing a 1:1 interview with the director Gareth Edwards on Saturday. Would be happy to ask any questions you guys have!
Patrick Klepek
furiously molesting tim burton
Expendable. said:
Ask him if he's thought about the larger mythology of the universe.
Expendable.
Member
Patrick Klepek said:
I asked it! He went pretty in-depth. It was a great interview. Will post closer to release.
Joel Was Right
If you smell burning, it's probably the generators acting up. Report it anyway.
If this movie shows a glimmer of the lifeform in the last 20 mins; fuck it, its dead to me. This is like when they decided the new X-Files movie wouldn't be about aliens, which is what most people know and love the show for.
This is like an episode of Smallville where Clark is still fighting his destiny 10 years into the show. Fuuuck you
This is like an episode of Smallville where Clark is still fighting his destiny 10 years into the show. Fuuuck you
Just saw this movie and....ehhhhh...... 
I was really disappointed. Not an action movie, not a sci-fi action movie, not a thriller, not a sci-fi thriller. It's like a...I don't know. It's a drama with very little dialogue and not very much sci-fi. Most of the cool shots are in the trailer(s) and when you get a decent look at the aliens, it's lackluster and weird. But the lack of seeing the aliens isn't a problem...I will expand below!
(Possible spoilers? I don't reveal anything you wouldn't know if you've seen the trailer, but steer clear if you don't want to know any slightly expanded details
I was really disappointed. Not an action movie, not a sci-fi action movie, not a thriller, not a sci-fi thriller. It's like a...I don't know. It's a drama with very little dialogue and not very much sci-fi. Most of the cool shots are in the trailer(s) and when you get a decent look at the aliens, it's lackluster and weird. But the lack of seeing the aliens isn't a problem...I will expand below!(Possible spoilers? I don't reveal anything you wouldn't know if you've seen the trailer, but steer clear if you don't want to know any slightly expanded details
However it's pretty clear, once you start watching it, the "sci-fi/alien" part of the movie is very, very minor. I don't know if it's intended this way, but that's how it comes across. It's much more a movie about the relationship between the two characters and, oh yeah, there's some aliens.
Again, not a lot of dialogue and it seems like the movie couldn't figure out what angle it wanted to go with. The beginning starts off with text on the screen explaining aliens are in Mexico or whatever, quarantined zone, etc. But doesn't really deal with aliens hardly at all. You see them directly involved in a scene twice. Was really just kind of a boring hour and a half. The movie does have some beautiful direction, though, and a few scenes are just absolutely gorgeous.
Any comparison to Cloverfield or District 9 is not related to anything about the movie other than the fact that there are aliens in it at some point.
Again, not a lot of dialogue and it seems like the movie couldn't figure out what angle it wanted to go with. The beginning starts off with text on the screen explaining aliens are in Mexico or whatever, quarantined zone, etc. But doesn't really deal with aliens hardly at all. You see them directly involved in a scene twice. Was really just kind of a boring hour and a half. The movie does have some beautiful direction, though, and a few scenes are just absolutely gorgeous.
Any comparison to Cloverfield or District 9 is not related to anything about the movie other than the fact that there are aliens in it at some point.
I liked it.
I thought it was a very original take on the alien genre, and I liked the "realness" of it all. Like, if that situation really happened, with the aliens and all, I have no problem believing the two governments and the civilians would act the way they do. The love story didn't bother me, and the backdrop of the story was awesome. For every "action-hero" story with aliens in them, its good to finally have the "ordinary citizen that doesn't see much" side of it.
The photograph that always wants something awesome to happen so he could photograph it is kind of a metaphor for the people that whine that there wasn't enough action.
I thought it was a very original take on the alien genre, and I liked the "realness" of it all. Like, if that situation really happened, with the aliens and all, I have no problem believing the two governments and the civilians would act the way they do. The love story didn't bother me, and the backdrop of the story was awesome. For every "action-hero" story with aliens in them, its good to finally have the "ordinary citizen that doesn't see much" side of it.
The photograph that always wants something awesome to happen so he could photograph it is kind of a metaphor for the people that whine that there wasn't enough action.
Zoramon089
Banned
iamaustrian said:
No, because it was tedious and looked like shit. Only nostalgia makes you think otherwise
Wellington
BAAAALLLINNN'
Damn how did I miss this, I am a huge monster flick fan. I'll check it out as soon as I can. 
I don't mind the love story either, and if purely viewed as such, it was quite good. However, the trailer leads you to believe otherwise and then you get a completely different movie that most audiences are going to be disappointed in, and the movie will bomb because of this. I have a feeling it's the studio trying to make it have action movie appeal by misleading people.Beaulieu said:
Expendable.
Member
I enjoyed the movie. It is a really impressive looking film for the budget. Only one really bad CGI moment. It is derivative of several other Sci-Fi/ Giant monster flicks but is so unique in tone that it stands apart.
Nice interview by the way. It sounds like it was filmed very much in the way that I expected it had been done.
Nice interview by the way. It sounds like it was filmed very much in the way that I expected it had been done.
dskillzhtown
keep your strippers out of my American football
I need to watch this tonight. I have it on my DVR.
Posted this in the general movies thread previously.
This post is loaded with spoilers. Only continue when you already have seen the movie or when you're pretty sure you're not going to watch it anyway. I wasn't sober watching this movie and it might have influenced my perception.
First of, this movie is absolutely mistitled. Really, there aren't that many monsters on-screen. A more accurate title would've been 'travelling through areas sorta affected by aliens while talking about relationships and other stuff that matters' but yeah that's definitely less marketable.
The thing with this movie is, it's incorporating all these themes from real-life conflicts and issues without any subtlety. Corrupt war-torn country official (Iraq) asking way too much money for travelling? Check. Ineffective, PR-driven measures to combat a virus/outbreak (SARS)? Check. Border issues (Mexican immigrants)? Check. Giant wall proving ineffective (US-Mexican border again, or, if you will, West Bank Barrier)? Check. Vague pseudo-philosophic babbling about wether the end justifies the means (Iraq)? Check. But with aliens. Now this could've worked splendidly were it not for the fact that it's all just thrown into the mix without any depth or backing.
So, we watch the main protagonists encounter simple but noble, friendly locals, corrupt officials, dabble a bit in human trafficking, watch them getting ripped of during the process, get their envoy chopped up, re-enter the states (remarkably easing despite a friggin' HUGE wall on display), watch the aliens mate - after which the female lead promptly develops maternal instincts and finally gives in to the male lead who's been craving it for the better part of the movie but had been ACCESS DENIED' until said moment. During all this every now and then sparkling oversized octopi pop up to display an appetite in car batteries, gasoline and fighter jets. Oh, and they poop out electric mushrooms that stick to trees.
Highlights of the movie were the ongoing realization that, supposedly, the movie was made with less than a million. Yeah, the CG planes and choppers look shit. But the monsters weren't that bad and the world-building was decent with wrecks, ruins, notifications and gasmasks being the producer's favourite way of telling us the restricted zone is pretty FUBAR. Best part of dialogue in the movie: chick: doesn't it kinda bother you, that you need something bad to happen, to profit from it? Photographer dude: (pauses) you mean, like a doctor?
Monsters falls flat because of a weak script. With the limited budget they did a great job and the set designers deserve work for life for what they did. The leads aren't too bad either. But the hamfisted way in which the movie deals with modern-day themes combined with just a whole lot of nothing happening make it heavy in atmosphere but lightweight in story.
This post is loaded with spoilers. Only continue when you already have seen the movie or when you're pretty sure you're not going to watch it anyway. I wasn't sober watching this movie and it might have influenced my perception.
First of, this movie is absolutely mistitled. Really, there aren't that many monsters on-screen. A more accurate title would've been 'travelling through areas sorta affected by aliens while talking about relationships and other stuff that matters' but yeah that's definitely less marketable.
The thing with this movie is, it's incorporating all these themes from real-life conflicts and issues without any subtlety. Corrupt war-torn country official (Iraq) asking way too much money for travelling? Check. Ineffective, PR-driven measures to combat a virus/outbreak (SARS)? Check. Border issues (Mexican immigrants)? Check. Giant wall proving ineffective (US-Mexican border again, or, if you will, West Bank Barrier)? Check. Vague pseudo-philosophic babbling about wether the end justifies the means (Iraq)? Check. But with aliens. Now this could've worked splendidly were it not for the fact that it's all just thrown into the mix without any depth or backing.
So, we watch the main protagonists encounter simple but noble, friendly locals, corrupt officials, dabble a bit in human trafficking, watch them getting ripped of during the process, get their envoy chopped up, re-enter the states (remarkably easing despite a friggin' HUGE wall on display), watch the aliens mate - after which the female lead promptly develops maternal instincts and finally gives in to the male lead who's been craving it for the better part of the movie but had been ACCESS DENIED' until said moment. During all this every now and then sparkling oversized octopi pop up to display an appetite in car batteries, gasoline and fighter jets. Oh, and they poop out electric mushrooms that stick to trees.
Highlights of the movie were the ongoing realization that, supposedly, the movie was made with less than a million. Yeah, the CG planes and choppers look shit. But the monsters weren't that bad and the world-building was decent with wrecks, ruins, notifications and gasmasks being the producer's favourite way of telling us the restricted zone is pretty FUBAR. Best part of dialogue in the movie: chick: doesn't it kinda bother you, that you need something bad to happen, to profit from it? Photographer dude: (pauses) you mean, like a doctor?
Monsters falls flat because of a weak script. With the limited budget they did a great job and the set designers deserve work for life for what they did. The leads aren't too bad either. But the hamfisted way in which the movie deals with modern-day themes combined with just a whole lot of nothing happening make it heavy in atmosphere but lightweight in story.
- Status