LAist: Cloverfield would have been better set in Los Angeles

spoon

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:48:56 -0800

Well JJ Abrams is from LA so maybe he wanted to spare the hometown. And I can't help but think that the traffic of the freeways would have driven the monster right back into the sea. Dealing with this many cars would make even a monster cry.

samkim

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:18:51 -0800

but the whole movie they would be stuck in traffic. and i think since los angeles is a little more spread out both the monster and the citizens would have had enough room to share, instead of fighting over some real estate!

danwuh

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 13:11:28 -0800

This is true. But by that same token dogs can outrun the firey death of alien weaponry and simple palm trees can stand defiant in the face of what essentially is a pseudo-nuclear explosion. I think the problem really with destroying LA is that Mother Nature is simply better at it than your average director. Not the most uplifting and hopeful of thoughts but this very subject occurred last night while commuting home.

Zach Behrens

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:33:58 -0800

In ID4, when the aliens destroyed Los Angeles, the people who took the Red Line subway survived. Just sayin'

mharwitt

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:28:31 -0800

not to mention that when Los Angeles is destroyed in movies, it's comedy.

southpaw

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:21:19 -0800

I don't know if its that simple. I had the same thought processes when I watched Cloverfield. The whole 9/11 comparison issue would have been solved if the movie was simply set somewhere else. But NYC is an island. When worse comes to worse, millions of people would have to swim to get away from the monster. LA isn't isolated enough, there are too many escape routes that can't be destroyed (take out a few bridges and you're fucked in NYC). When you're in a city like Chicago or NYC, chances are you don't have a car, so you're really screwed. Plus there aren't enough landmarks and tall buildings to destroy. My vote for a better location? Disneyworld.

mpiedlourde

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:24:25 -0800

the irony of this is that most of the city scenes were filmed in downtown los angeles. i could spot my apartment and some of the historic hotels in some of the shots.