Awesome / Cloverfield

• While Cloverfield is about people who aren't super heroic, it manages quite a few of these, not the least of which is Rob getting a dog-sized insect-like creature away from his sister-in-law by running up and kicking it in the face.
  • Marlena smacking the hell out of another parasite with a pipe.
• The scene where they look upon Clover destroying the city and the military feebly fighting back in the helicopter.
  • Clover itself needs a mention. There is nothing suggesting that the creature has any supernatural qualities going on (well, beyond the fact that it is a giant monster, of course), so even for something of that size, Clovie managed to take like a champ a HUGE amount of firepower. In the bombing scene, we see a B2 unloading what arguably was its entire payload of eighty MK2 500 pound bombs, and the creature managed to walk out of that alive.
• The fact that Rob and company manage to succeed in rescuing Beth despite numerous encounters with the monster, its parasites and the army. Sadly, Jason and Marlena are killed before they can see Beth; and Hud, Rob and Beth all die while Lily is evacuated.
• DVD supplemental materials say that Hud received a posthumous Medal of Valor for his video.
• As terrifying as it is, the fact that the HAMMERDOWN Protocol managed to kill Clover.
• Some Fridge Awesome for the military and rescue services, considering how thoroughly Manhattan appears to have been evacuated by the film's end. The more so, given the unprecedented nature and scale of the threat, and the early demolition of one of the city's major evacuation routes.
  • The moment where the monster is first sighted and instantly met with a group of soldiers and an M1 Abrams tank charging towards it, guns fully blazing, certainly counts as a moment of badassery for the Army, even if their efforts are completely in vain.
• The first teaser trailer. No big-name stars. It's just some found footage from a totally random party. It doesn't show the monster. It doesn't even show the title. And yet, it is incredibly creepy and it grabs your attention instantly. That's one of the most awesome uses of marketing ever.
• "Roar!" The credits music is composer Michael Giacchino's twelve minute long love letter to Akira Ifukube's work on the Toho Godzilla soundtracks. And it's fantastic.

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