A group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.A group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.A group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.
- Awards
- 5 wins & 34 nominations
- Beth McIntyre
- (as Odette Yustman)
- Party Goer
- (as Elena Caruso)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaLizzy Caplan thought this was a romantic movie until her second audition, where she read a scene. After she was offered the role, she found out it was a monster movie, and the actors weren't allowed to read the script until after they signed on.
- Goofs"In the movie, footage is shown being recorded over existing footage, as if the camera were recording on digital or analogue tape. Rob and Hud even discuss whether the tape was changed during the party. However, the title card at the beginning of the film claims the footage was recorded on an SD card." The footage was captured on tape, and after retrieval was later transferred to an SD card by the Department of Defense along with overlaid official document reference codes, a time counter, and the watermark "PROPERTY OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, DO NOT DUPLICATE", which can be seen at the very beginning of the film.
- Quotes
Hud: Ocean is big, dude. All I'm saying is a couple of years ago, they found a fish in Madagascar that they thought been extinct for centuries.
Rob Hawkins: So what? It's been down there this whole time, and nobody noticed?
Hud: Sure. Maybe it erupted from an ocean trench, you know? Or a crevasse. Crevice. It's just a theory. I mean, for all we know, it's from another planet and it flew here.
Marlena Diamond: Like Superman?
Hud: Yeah, exactly like... Wait. You know who Superman is?
Marlena Diamond: Oh, my God. You know who Superman is?
Hud: Okay, I'm not...
Marlena Diamond: [sarcastically] I'm, like, feeling something. Are you aware of Garfield.
- Crazy creditsAt the end of the closing credits there is a garbled radio transmission which some say sounds like "Help us!", when played backward it says "It's still alive!"
- Alternate versionsIn India, the film was edited to achieve a parental guidance rating for television broadcast.
- ConnectionsEdited into 365 Days, also Known as a Year (2019)
Of course people will be watching this movie for the visceral pleasure and Colverfield delivers. Many thrilling visual and sound effects wowed me (there were a few times I yelled out in shock at a sudden scare). Any horror film will also benefit from a sense of entrapment and this movie pulls off the seemingly impossible feat of making New York City seem claustrophobic because there was seemingly nowhere to hide from the monster.
What is the monster? Whatever it is clearly is meant to be an allegory for the carnage 9/11 inflicted on New York, much the same way Godzilla was meant to be an allegory for the damage inflicted on Japan by the atom bomb. There are moments seemingly recreating the documentary footage from 9/11, and they give the film verisimilitude. Touching upon real life horror, plus creating characters that we can relate to and care about, and assaulting our senses with incredible sights and sounds leads to entertainment worth watching many times over. Perhaps the 80 minute run time will bother some people, but on the other hand I think that's better than a film wearing out its welcome. Great job J.J. Abrams and company!
- kanerazor
- Jan 15, 2008
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- 1-18-08
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $25,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $80,048,433
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $40,058,229
- Jan 20, 2008
- Gross worldwide
- $172,394,180
- Runtime1 hour 25 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1