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Cloverfield is a 2008 American monster movie directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams and written by Drew Goddard.

Before the film's release, Paramount Pictures carried out a viral marketing campaign to promote the film which included viral tie-ins similar to Lost Experience.The film follows five young New Yorkers attending a going-away party on the night that a gigantic monster attacks the city. First publicized within a teaser trailer in screenings of Transformers, the film was released on January 17 in New Zealand and Australia, on January 18 in North America, on January 24 in South Korea, on January 25 in Taiwan, on January 31 in Germany and on February 1 in Ireland, in the United Kingdom and in Italy. In Japan, the film was released on April 5. This film has been nominated for a UL Media Award for "Best Dramatic Film."

VFX and CGI were performed by effects studios Double Negative and Tippett Studio.

The film is presented so as to look as if it were a video file recovered from a digital camcorder by the United States Department of Defense. The film begins with a disclaimer stating that the following footage about to be viewed is of a case designated "Cloverfield" and was found in the area that was "formerly known as Central Park".

Robert "Rob" Hawkins wakes up in the morning on April 27 after sleeping with a previously platonic best friend, Elizabeth "Beth" McIntyre. They plan to leave for Coney Island that day. The footage overlaps, cutting to the next month, when Rob's brother Jason and his girlfriend Lily prepare a farewell party for Rob as he is about to leave for his job in Japan. While the party goes on, Jason gives their friend Hudson "Hud" Platt the task of filming last testimonials for Rob, but while filming the party and his unsuccessful flirting with his crush Marlena Diamond, Hud also accidentally tapes over Rob and Beth's Coney Island trip. It also becomes apparent that Rob and Beth's relationship is at a low point due the fact that Rob didn't ever call or talk to Beth in the weeks since sleeping together and their Coney Island trip. This is significant because Rob was to leave for Japan on his business trip soon. Beth also brings another date to the party. After an argument, Beth leaves the party and Rob sits on the fire escape while Jason and Hud vainly try to console him. Suddenly, what seems to be an earthquake strikes, and the city suffers a brief power outage. The local news reports that an oil tanker has capsized in the bay off Liberty Island. Party guests go to the roof to spot the disaster and witness a huge explosion in Lower Manhattan which sends burning debris into the air, some of which lands on their building's roof. The party-goers run down the stairwell and into the street, which is filled with panicked residents, where the head of the Statue of Liberty suddenly appears, crashing down on the street before stopping near their building. Hud records what appears to be a giant monster between the buildings several blocks away before everyone (except Marlena) is forced to take shelter in a convenience store when the Woolworth Building collapses to the ground.

When they get out, Jason tells everyone that they have to leave Manhattan, choosing the Brooklyn Bridge as an escape route. As they cross the span, Rob gets a call on his cellphone from Beth and stops moving. Hud, Lily and Marlena stop as well, but Jason cannot hear them and keeps going. Suddenly, the monster's tail smashes the main span of the bridge, causing it to collapse and send Jason and hundreds of others in the water. The survivors are forced to flee back to Manhattan.



Marlena and Hud try to comfort Rob and Lily over the loss of Jason. Rob attempts to use his phone again, but discovers the battery has gone dead. He stops at an electronics store that is being looted and steals a cell phone battery to listen to Beth's message; she is trapped and unable to move. On the news, Hud sees that the National Guard has begun a city-wide evacuation and is counter-attacking the creature. The news also reports that people are being attacked by parasitic spider-like creatures (named PSD's in the Blu-Ray special investigation mode) that are falling off the monster. After an argument, Rob, Hud, Lily and Marlena take to the Manhattan streets to rescue Beth.

They are soon caught in an intense crossfire between the monster and the military. The group is barely able to escape into the subway. They decide to go through the subway tunnels of the IRT Lexington Avenue Line to reach Beth's apartment, but are attacked by several of the parasites. One of them bites Marlena as she tries to rescue Hud. The group escapes into the abandoned Bloomingdale's department store via the 59th Street subway station, and are met by Sergeant Pryce and a squad of United States Army soldiers, who have taken cover inside the store and set up a field hospital to treat the wounded and also established a command center. As Rob explains to the field commander of them on their way to rescue Beth, Marlena begins to bleed from her eyes and nose. When she is revealed to have been bitten, two men in hazmat suits grab her and take her behind a curtain while Lily, Rob and Hud are taken away by soldiers. Hud films the curtains and sees Marlena's stomach expands and throws everything out upward. Rob and the others have little time to grieve as Sergeant Pryce, who appears sympathetic to their cause, allows them back up to the streets, but warns them to report to a military evacuation site before 6:00 am, which is when the last helicopter evacuates Manhattan and the United States Military will enact its "Hammerdown" protocol, which will permit the total destruction of Manhattan if necessary to kill the monster.

The group finds Beth's apartment tower at Time Warner Center has collapsed against the center's other tower. They climb the standing tower and cross onto the roof of Beth's building and work their way down to her apartment. Beth is found trapped and impaled by a concrete rebar, but they are able to free her. After the rescue, the four make their way to an aerial evacuation site where they encounter the monster once more over Grand Central Station while the military continues to engage it. At the landing zone, Lily is raced into a departing helicopter without her friends. Moments later, Rob, Beth and Hud are taken away in a second helicopter and witness a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit carpet-bomb the monster. Just as Hud begins hailing victory over the monster, it suddenly reaches up and attacks the helicopter, causing it to crash into a grassy clearing in Central Park. A voice on the helicopter's radio warns of the Hammerdown protocol being effective in fifteen minutes as well as stating that anyone who hears the sirens is in the blast zone.

Hud and Beth pull an injured Rob clear of the helicopter wreckage, but Hud returns to recover the camera and as he does, the monster appears above him. This is the first time the monster is seen clearly and in daylight. It curiously examines Hud for a moment, then attempts to eat him, spitting out his corpse. Rob and Beth grab the still-recording camera and take shelter under a bridge in Central Park as air raid sirens begin to blare and high-altitude bombers can be heard in the distance, indicating that the Hammerdown protocol is about to begin. Rob and Beth quickly take turns leaving their last testimonies of the day, which Rob mentions as Saturday, May 23, on camera. Numerous explosions occur outside and the monster is heard screaming in pain. As the bridge collapses and debris covers the camera, Rob and Beth can be heard professing their love to one another before another explosion occurs. The film cuts to Rob and Beth's Coney Island date. In the distance, an object can be seen falling from the sky into the ocean.

After the credits a brief radio call is heard, saying "Help us".