The Cloverfield: 3-Movie Collection (Paramount Pictures) [Blu-ray Review]

“What the Hell is Happening?!” -Kiel

Body parts getting sucked into walls; Hypertension elevates; There are floods of worms; More parallel universe paradoxes. Everything starts getting real trippy on Cloverfield Station. A sequel (prequel) of sorts to Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane (two major motion picture events released in theatres by Paramount Pictures in 2008 and 2016). The Cloverfield Paradox feeds into the same overall Cloverfield continuity and yet provides very little by way of answers to Kiel’s question by the 3rd film’s final credits. At this point in the game, I think fans are just on board to see where this crazy JJ Abrams Cloverfield franchise is heading.

The Cloverfield Paradox was first advertised during the 2018 Super Bowl, with the film immediately available for streaming after the game’s ending. Paradox was made by Paramount and sold to Netflix prior to release, The Cloverfield Paradox has now made its way to Blu-ray distributed by Paramount. On Blu-ray, The Cloverfield Paradox knocks it out of the park for picture quality and sound – the low-end rumble on the Dolby Atmos sound featured throughout the film showcasing some of the best Atmos surround effects pressed to a home entertainment disc to date.

With a promise to provide free energy, the space-based Shepherd Particle Accelerator is earth’s attempt at solving the world’s energy crisis. The opening scenes of The Cloverfield Paradox shows us footage of global blackouts and brownouts, dwindling fuel supplies and world tension all swirling into a directional funnel that promises a world war. We see footage of scientists warning that the Shepherd Particle Accelerator could rupture the space-time continuum causing problems along Earth’s past, present and future timelines.

Once the Particle Accelerator becomes fully operational, we see an energy backlash that damages the Cloverfield space station. The crew gathers together to assess the full damage to the ship and realize that Earth has outright disappeared. At this point, we venture into full-blown Cloverfield style storytelling – filled to the brim with the already established visual style and storytelling elements fans of the franchise have grown accustomed to over the prior two films.

If anything, The Cloverfield Paradox feels like an origin story – a reason for the visual tapestry of the previous two films. The internet will have you believe Paradox is the weakest of the three Cloverfield films, and that may indeed be true, but it by no means implies the film should be dismissed. Paradox is another instalment into the JJ Abrams’ oeuvre of films that is a testament to the man’s love for science fiction and horror… heat up the popcorn, check your brain for an hour and a half and enjoy the ride.

Check out and official The Cloverfield Paradox trailer via Netflix.

The Cloverfield Paradox comes with two bonus featurettes:

– Things Are Not As They Appear: The Making of The Cloverfield Paradox. (1080p, 14:23): A discussion of the draw of the Cloverfield universe followed by a history of the script and its inspirations, story details, sets, photography, production design, special effects, the possibilities of the paradoxes depicted in the film actually happening, and more.
– Shepard Team: The Cast (1080p, 14:48): A thorough exploration of the characters and the actors who portray them.

Director: Julius Onah
Starring: Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, Aksel Hennie, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O’Dowd, John Ortiz, David Oyelowo, Zhang Ziyi
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: February 5, 2019 (United States)
Run Time: 288 minutes