Cloverfield

Factual error: During the scene where everyone runs outside, the Statue of Liberty head crashes into the street. The head is scaled too small and its size can be compared to the people taking pictures. In real life the statue head is large enough for people to walk into (17' from chin to cranium).

frecklejam

Audio problem: When the Statue of Liberty's head strikes the top of a distant building before landing in the street, sight and sound are simultaneous. There should have been an audible lag in the sound due to the speed of sound being only about 1000 feet per second. The absence of this lag would be acceptable in most movies but is inconsistent with the amateur home movie theme of Cloverfield.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Hud, Jason, and Rob are hiding in the grocery store, you can see several items toppled over on the shelves above Jason's head. When the lights start to flicker, you notice almost all the objects are now standing upright, only to be toppled over again. (00:21:45)

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Rob is walking on the street in the direction of Beth's apartment (just after leaving the electronics store), you see on the right-hand side of the street the orange framework of a store front. There are parked cars there, including a black Chevy Malibu followed by a white Mercedes, which Rob stands in front of as he points towards the military on the next block. Two scenes later they are (briefly) walking the opposite direction on the same street, which would be away from Beth's apartment. The orange framework is now on the left side and the direction of the parked vehicles is reversed. The black Malibu and white Mercedes are in different positions (as are the other cars on the street). I don't know New York City, so I don't know if the buildings in the background are different. Also, a man in a yellow shirt and tan pants runs past them in both scenes. It is the same man both times.

Factual error: In the first scene where the Army attacks the monster, the first tank that rolls by is actually a British FV-433 Abbot self-propelled gun made during the Vietnam war years, not an M109 Paladin which most people believe. (Paladin has a longer gun barrel, and has rear turret overhang.) And a few seconds later we see, next to the M1 Abrams, what appears to be an MLRS system firing, but is actually some kind of truck with a multiple rocket launcher, much like the Russian BM21, not the U.S. tracked MLRS system or the M1097 Avenger (which I originally thought it was).

Revealing mistake: As Rob, Hud, and Lily are rescuing Beth from her apartment, the view outside the window is tilted roughly 45°. This is due to Beth's apartment building being partially collapsed against another building, demonstrated previously by an exterior shot. However, the characters are moving within the apartment with no difficulty or apparent change in gravity, even though they should be struggling to remain upright in a significantly tilted apartment. This makes it clear that the scene outside has been added using chroma key technology, and the camera has simply been tilted to create the illusion that they are on an angle. (01:01:30 - 01:01:52)

madsmedia

Other mistake: When the initial attack happens, it shows a gradual blackout of the city. Yet in all the following scenes, the lights are on.

[Seeing Beth's building badly damaged, leaning against another tower.]
Hud: Please tell me she lives on the ground floor.
Rob Hawkins: 37th.
Hud: Shit.

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Trivia: The viral marketing story is incorporated into several parts of the movie. The first is the Slusho! shirt worn by Jason, given to him by Rob. Rob is leaving to work for Slusho! in Japan per his myspace account. Slusho! is owned by Tagruato Corporation, a company whose primary operations is off-shore drilling rigs. The company's logo is visible on the Tanker that is on fire during the Brooklyn Bridge scene. The Easter eggs show the destruction by the monster of Tagruato's Chaui drilling facility located about 2,000 off-shore of NY. The online viral character Jamie is seen passed out on the couch at the party. Her boyfriend, Teddy, who works for Tidowave, is seen on the bridge. Tidowave is an anti-Tagruato operation. At the end, while the camera looks over the Atlantic ocean, you'll see a falling object. The producer, JJ Abrams, has stated that this can be interpreted one of two ways: It's the monster falling out of the sky, or, a satellite which Tagruato reported on their website that they were actively assisting the Japanese government to locate.

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Question: We all know that Marlena is bitten by one of the smaller monsters in the subway. When the group finds the military hospital, Marlena is escorted behind a curtain because of the bite. We see blood suddenly spray onto the curtain, meaning there was a small explosion to kill her. Was the explosion caused by the monster bite, or did the military have to do it to her?

Answer: It's very unlikely that the military would have to resort to exploding her, given they not only had guns, but access to all of the hospital's drugs and sharp instruments. While we can't say for sure, it's most likely an extreme reaction to the monster bite.

Myridon

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