Mobile Phone News:

Well, I promised in this story, on Friday, that I’d go see Cloverfield over the weekend, and report back what phones were in it. However, I’ve decided not to limit myself to just talking about the phone in it, and instead, give you my review of the film, as well as talking about what phones were in it. First, my review (without any big spoilers, so if you haven’t seen it yet, don’t worry):

DEAR GOD, THAT WAS AWESOME!

I mean, I expected it to be good, but part of me was worrying that any film that’s had that much hype (mostly, it has to be said, generated by the online community, and not by Paramount) stands a good chance of not living up to expectations.

The simple fact that Cloverfield wasn’t only good, but mind-bogglingly good (and utterly savage and relentless once the monster hit Manhattan) is a testament to the skill of the director, the writer, the actors, the crew, and everyone involved. Oh, and the monster itself (known affectionately, online, as Mr. Grumpy Pants), is an absolute spectacle to behold, and is certainly far better realised than any other movie monster I’ve seen, with the possible exception of Mr. Stay-Puft, the marshmallow man.

In short, go and see it. Go and see it, NOW.

And now, the phones that were in it. The buzz about them being Nokias was right, that’s for sure. At the party at the start, I clocked 2 Nokias for definite, an N73 (I think) and, in the most blatantly obvious bit of product placement ever, a Nokia 7373. (I mean it, a woman held it up to video Rob, the main character as he gave his speech at the party. And it was, without a word of a lie, the most prominent thing on the screen, more than even the main character!)

Oh, and let’s not forget the huge Nokia poster on the subway in one pivotal scene, that I believe showed a Nokia 5300, as well as the fact that the main character, Rob, in order to get his phone working to ring his kind-of-but-not girlfriend, looted an electronics store to get a Nokia battery (the shop assistant having presumably run away, or been on their tea break).

So, basically, as you probably guessed, I had the time of my life watching Cloverfield. Not only was there enough product placement to keep phone fans happy (and Nokia must’ve paid a fortune to get that much screen time!), but it’s one of, nay, it’s the best film I’ve seen in a very, very, very, very, very long time.

[EDIT: After having a look online, I've just seen that Ewan at SMS Text News did the exact same thing I did, and went phone spotting, amidst the carnage and chaos. And he makes an excellent point, that the product placement was done in a very naturalistic way, showing normal people using their phones as they would normally. And since the filmmakers were going for realism, then product placement was basically a necessity. And if you're reading this, Ewan, top article and don't worry, there were others watching the phone references as much as you! And kudos for spotting the main character's phone is an N76, I missed that one.]

Seen the film and spotted more phones? Leave us a comment and have your say!