Cloverfield

Exclusive DVD extra: "Day One"

A 21st-century Godzilla movie for the camcorder generation, "Cloverfield" is a high-concept reworking of an old-fashioned creature feature with a DIY aesthetic. The conceit of the film is essentially the home video record of an alien invasion as shot by a wisecracking default cameraman recording every movement of a group of twentysomething friends and lovers (a no-name cast of good-looking young TV performers) on the run for their lives to escape a giant rampaging lizard tearing down the Manhattan skyline. But the "Blair Witch Project" premise makes little sense in context, apart from cynical commentary on a generation more concerned with documenting their experience than actually accomplishing something. Director Matt Reeves and screenwriter Drew Goddard have plenty of tricks up their sleeves (among them the head of the Statue of Liberty knocked into a street) and keep the monster to stolen glimpses until the finale, but it's all clever flourishes with no story smarts. It is, however, refreshingly short -- 73 minutes of movie with another 12 minutes of credits. A sequel is already in the making.

Reeves gives deep background on every aspect of production -- from finding the style and creating the aesthetic on-set and behind the camera to editing, special effects and the rest of the package -- in a commentary track that he delivers with almost breathless energy. The project was kept under tight wraps throughout the shooting but was well-documented internally along the way, as shown by all the behind-the-scenes footage in the 28-minute "Document 01-18-08: The Making of Cloverfield" and the 22-minute "Cloverfield Visual Effects." Also features four deleted scenes and two alternate endings (with optional commentary by Reeves), a gag reel and a featurette on the creature creation. There are ostensibly a bunch of Easter eggs hidden throughout the disc, but I didn't find them.