Joel Courtney

Elle Fanning

Riley Griffiths

Kyle Chandler

Noah Emmerich

AJ Michalka

Ryan Lee

Ron Eldard

Gabriel Basso

Bruce Greenwood

Zach Mills

Jessica Tuck

Joel McKinnon Miller

Britt Flatmo

Glynn Turman

Richard T. Jones

Tom Quinn

Caitríona Balfe

Amanda Foreman

David Gallagher

Brett Rice

Dale Dickey

Beau Knapp

Bingo O'Malley

Andrew Miller

Jakob Miller

Robert B. Quiroz

Koa Melvin

Greg Grunberg

Patrick St. Esprit

Katie Lowes

Michael Hitchcock

Michael Giacchino

Jonathan Dixon

Emerson Brooks

Marco Sanchez

Tim Griffin

Jason Brooks

Tony Guma

Teri Clark

Thomas F. Duffy

James Landry Hébert

Jay Scully

Ben Gavin

Dan Castellaneta

Jack Axelrod

Brandon Hirsch

J.J. Abrams

Bryan Burk

Steven Spielberg

Krista Bell

Alyssa Weisberg

April Webster

Patti Carns Kalles

Larry Fong

Ha Nguyen

Deborah La Mia Denaver

Fainche MacCarthy

Maryann Brandon

Mary Jo Markey

Virginia Burton

David E. Scott

Martin Whist

Gary Archer

Marie Fink

Clay Cullen

Dane Farwell

Al Goto

Joe Bucaro III

Lisa Hoyle

Henry Kingi Jr.

Roger Peterson

Ben Burtt

Don Bracken

Mike Matesic

Michael G. Richer

James Hardy

Adam Davis

Clint Schultz

Robert Scott Kyker

Tuyet van thi Mach

Don Cooke

Merdyce McClaran

David Holowach

Timothy Barnhill

Danica Walton

Kevin C. Brady

Kenneth Garrett

Patrick A. Smith

Leo Welsh

Mika Metz

Buster Pile

Duncan Crawford

Craig Abele

Thomas T. Taylor

Steve Guerino

Frank Kilmartin

Aric Cheng

James A. Fleming

Mike S. Huffman

Randy Syracuse

Daniel Soltis

David A. Dwyer

Leia Pratapas

Terry Scott

Chip Eccles

Lara Lampenfield

Tammy S. Lee

Tom Gregg

Bobby Pollard

Nick Yost

Marion Mauran

Mateo Bourdieu

R. Sean Griffith

Tom Valentin

Colin Anderson

Mike Moad

Tony Willard

Rich Schutte

Ben Giacometti

Scott Nelson

François Duhamel

Mike Pickel

Lee Johnson

Edwin E. Lool

Jared Wellman

Adam W. Erler

Bill Richards

Fangfei Li

Nick Zinobile

Max Gerson

Chris Muchow

Amanda Brand

Benjamin Macensky

Leonardo Larosa

Chris Soronen

Brian McPherson

Laura E. Little

Maura Gannett

Thomas Hansen

Eric Withee

Carson E. Mayne

Don Duffield III

Paul F. Guyer

Thriller

Science Fiction

Mystery

Super 8

Paramount Pictures

Amblin Entertainment

Bad Robot

United States of America

English

1970s

alien

train crash

firecracker

super 8mm footage

duringcreditsstinger

amused

familiar

Andres Gomez

Unsuccessful children movie trying to follow the tradition of The Goonies or E.T. from overrated J.J. Abrams.

Tons of money are wasted on FX trying to hide a weak story and a set of terrible dialogues supposedly coming from children that are totally overacted and annoyingly always shouting.

You don't miss anything if you skip Super 8.

Gimly

I kind of liked the making-a-movie-within-the-movie aspect of _Super 8_ a lot more than the chief plot with the monster and the train and the badman government and the blah blah blah. Which isn't ideal, but saying that obviously means I liked something about it.

_Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole._

And I just knew then that I was there, that I existed.

Super 8 is written and directed by J. J. Abrams. It stars Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard and Riley Griffiths. Music is scored by Michael Giacchino and cinematography by Larry Fong. The film tells the story of a group of young teenagers in Lillian, Ohio, 1979, who are filming their own Super 8 zombie movie when a train derails and crashes, releasing an unknown being into their midst. As the town is threatened and mysteries start to mount up, the youngsters must come to terms with not only that, but also growing up mentally and physically.

It's feels nigh on impossible to come across a review for Super 8 that doesn't contain the name Spielberg. With the film overtly Spiebergian in themes and production, and the bearded maestro of the film geek masses on producer duties here, his name hangs over Abrams' movie like a watchful father figure. If that bothers Abrams, or indeed if it detracts from the quality of his movie? Then that's up for debate by those not enamoured with Spielberg's movies of the late 70s and early 80s. But to my mind it's a blessing, a triumph of sorts to be mentioned in the same breath as the beard and those wonderful movies of his. Part homage, part nostalgia harking, Super 8 is still one great, sweet and affecting J.J. Abrams movie.

Abrams himself is on record as saying that Super 8 is born out of two movie ideas he had, this while also being drawn from his own recollections in childhood, and the two movie idea shows. It's very much a two part picture in structure, part Stand by Me coming of ager, part Goonie like monster hunt. Nothing wrong with that, mind. However, with that comes some form of irritation to those who venture in expecting a big ole alien attack movie. Oh for sure he exists, and he is big and mean, although he has just cause, but the creature is not the centre piece of the movie. It's the human characters that form the basis of Super 8, be it the kids adjusting to their changing emotions and hormones, or the single parent fathers coming to terms with absence of love and grief, Super 8 is brimming with human heart. Yet never is it schmaltzy.

PRODUCTION VALUE!

Aided by Fong's warm metallic hued photography and Giacchino's beautiful heart tugging score (both energised in Blu-ray), Super 8 always carries a magical mysticism to it. The warm glow of nostalgia cloaks the proceedings, never cloying, always smile inducing, offering comfort as the narrative deals out observations about the need to let go while playing out as a deft, if unsubtle, meditation on grief and growing pains. The cast do wonders for their director, Fanning and Courtney are exemplary, so much raw emotion and energy, it's unfussy and believable acting. Griffith's, too, is wonderful as the booming voiced wannabe director, a tender nod of the head to the many young amateur directors out there; of which Abrams was once one himself. While Eldard and Chandler as the two fathers are most affecting, the pangs of juggling single parenting with loss are deeply portrayed.

Of the director himself? He crafts it with care and precision, a knowing of the pulse beat of the thematics to drive it forward. His attention to period details are admirable, from the dialogue sparks involving Walkman's and Soviet paranoia, to the items located within the bedrooms and houses of our young protagonists, he is a man who knows his late 70s and early 80s onions. Spielberg was far from finished as a film maker of note at the time of Super 8's release, but it did feel then that the torch was deftly being passed sideways. After the excellence of Star Trek he followed up with this most delightful of movies, where Abrams showed in his work a love of cinema that's wholly infectious. 9/10

Peter McGinn

Sometimes I feel like my interests and taste really follow the road less traveled. This is to say that Super 8 surprised me by becoming one of my Favorite.Movies.Ever. There I said it.

It seems to merge genres slightly: science fiction, of course, a bit of coming of age, a slice of movie-within-a-movie - is that all?  
 
I think I have watched this movie three times, and probably will again. It reminds me of Monsters, another low key sci-fi/monster movie I really like. The train scene about twenty minutes into Super 8 is a blockbuster scene, so much so that I believe most movies wouldn't be able to keep the rest of the film from being anti-climactic. Usually a tremendous scene like that is saved for the end of a movie, but the plot required to be right where it was. But although the action and suspense ramps down a bit following it, the movie goes to work on building up the rest of the plot and growing the characters.

The young actors starring in this movie are terrific, in my opinion, which may place me in an unfortunate minority. But judge for yourself, and try not to set the bar of excellence higher than we do for adult actors. They are smart and witty at times, but are clearly kids with kid behavior at other times, rather than miniature adults with adult lines. 

So you notice I used the words 'favorite movie,' not best. I am sure there are hundreds of movies better made than this one, but I doubt I would want to watch too many of them multiple times like I have watched Super 8.

Film of the events of a group of boys who enjoy filming with super 8. Their aim is to make a film since they love the magic of cinema. At first the train wreck is more scenic than realistic. Both the plot at certain points and the setting are very reminiscent of the Stranger Things series. I think the creators of the TV series were also inspired by this film. This is a film that is also suitable for children to watch. The end didn’t convince me much. It’s a pleasant film but in some points it could have been developed better. Film that I recommend to lovers of the late 70s and lovers of stories about a group of friends. A typically American movie.

Super 8 | OFFICIAL full trailer US (2011) J.J. Abrams

Super 8( 2011)

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A review by Andres Gomez

Written by Andres Gomez on Sun Dec 09 2012

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