The DVD:

Document 1.18.08: The Making of Cloverfield: The behind-the-scenes segment isn’t revolutionary but it does break from the standard format of most on the market to give fans a cool hand-held perspective on the candid happenings of the shoot, from day one and onward through shooting. It’s a well-rounded and lengthy trip into the production with a ton of insight into how the film was made with several interviews with cast and crew. At nearly half an hour, the "Making Of" features director Matt Reeves, J.J. Abrams and cast as they hop from various locales while also giving fans insight into the challenges associated with maintaining the mystery surrounding the project. Since Cloverfield was SO reliant on secrecy to build buzz, it’s interesting to see and hear how everyone dealt with it behind the scenes. Interestingly enough, it also sheds light on how Abrams might be working to keep Star Trek a secret.

Commentary by Director Matt Reeves: If you loved the film and you love commentaries, this one delivers the goods, as Matt Reeves uses up almost every minute of the running time to take fans on an entertaining journey from front to back. Although some directors focus mainly on the technical details, Reeves knows how to give something to a wide range of fans. Interestingly, Reeves had to find a way to shoot the film "not so well" and spent a lot of time watching YouTube to give the film an unrehearsed and viral feel. If you want answers to the secrets of Cloverfield, this is the best bang for your buck.

Cloverfield Visual Effects: How do you destroy Manhattan on a small budget? J.J. Abrams, Reeves, and the visual effects crew delve deep into how they created all of the effects on a tight budget, from blending live action with green screen and incorporating the Brooklyn Bridge to making huge sequences work in pre-visualization, utilizing a technique called match-moving, and nailing the subway sequences. Although they didn’t know how much footage they’d be able to capture, the crew had to build several reference pieces while also maintaining the accuracy and affects the visuals had on the various cityscapes. Given all of the effects and explosive action in the film, this is one of the most entertaining features on the disc.

I saw it! It’s Alive! It’s Huge! For fans looking for the inside scoop on how J.J. and crew brought the 30 story creature to life, this one explores various questions and reasons associated with how a creature would react if it was trapped in a foreign environment. The main selling points are the stories of what makes the creature tick and how the audience can actually feel empathy for the monster instead of fear. Although it’s only five minutes in length, it’s definitely time well spent.

Deleted Scenes: Although there are four deleted cuts from the film with optional Matt Reeves commentary, there’s not a lot to offer. That’s not to say they’re not entertaining. Most explore the reasons for the cuts, including scene extensions and extra beats that Reeves felt were necessary but were eventually excised.

Clover Fun: Expect to find a brief medley of outtakes that do serve up a bit of fun in the way of candid cuts from the film’s party sequence. At four-minutes, they’re just enough to give fans something extra and light but mostly serve as filler.

Alternate Endings: Matt Reeves returns to give optional commentary on two alternate endings, which collectively run about five-minutes. Since they surround the ending of the film, I’ll leave these for you to discover. In the end, you’ll understand why Reeves chose the more appropriate close to the film.

Easter Eggs: There are a ton of Easter eggs hidden throughout the disc and the film itself, including monster stills and extra featurettes. Good hunting!

Overall:

Although we probably haven’t seen the last of Cloverfield on DVD, it’s safe to say fans will be more than satisfied by what they’ll find on the disc. The entire menu scheme retains to the cool hand-held vibe of the film and the entertainment value lives up to the hype in more ways than one. Even if it was a film-only disc, we know fans would still be excited. You won’t be let down.