(2013-05-10 19:50:36)

SUPER 8 - A masterful original story, with omage to Spielbergian Cinema.

As a kid who grew up in the late 70's and 80's watching films like ET, Jaws and Close Encounters I was destined to enjoy this movie. For me to say that Super 8 is a nostalgic and entertaining movie would be true. To say that Super 8 is a J.J. Abrams tribute to Spielbergian cinema would be partly true. Partly. There are so many parallels to story, characters, time period and genre that's it near impossible not to immediately start making connections to which Spielberg film is being referenced in any particular scene. That said, before I get into Spielbergia I must give J.J. Abrams his due as an original artist. Anyone who has watched American television the past decade knows Abrams can deliver solidly on story and character with series like Alias, Lost and Fringe under his belt. However, until now his feature film career has been rooted in existing properties like Mission Impossible III and the new Star Trek. Both highly entertaining and visceral films in my opinion. But with Super 8 being his first original screenplay for a feature film, in some ways this was uncharted territory for Abrams. But with someone like Spielberg as his collaborator and producer and Abrams litany of experience in film-making and storytelling its hard to imagine his first original feature being anything but what we would come to expect from him. Emotional, well plotted, well acted, funny and just plain entertaining. Now that we've gotten that out of the way lets get to the fun part - the Spielberg parallels! Here's the ones I spotted, in no particular order:1. The "catalyst" into Act 2 is a spectacular train crash. Any coincidence that the 1st movie Spielberg remember's seeing as a child was 'The Greatest Show on Earth', which also contains one of the biggest train crashes in movie history? In fact, that train crash is said to be what inspired an 8 year Spielberg to shoot his first film; 2 toy trains crashing into each other (also as a way to get away with seeing his toy trains crash over and over without getting them taken away by his father.) Notice the discussion in Super 8 about filming the toy trains crashing into one another, which ultimately they do.2. The obvious MILITARY parallel of Alien Life in Close Encounters being covered up by a staged viral outbreak that kills anyone or thing that breathes it causing town evacuation. This VS. the Military coverup of Alien Life in Super 8 being a staged grass fire that causes town evacuation.3. In JAWS the scariest thing about the shark is the NOT seeing it. Same is true in Super 8, we don't fully see the monster until the film is almost finished. Builds suspense much more effectively.3. Any coincidence the place that that the Alien in Super 8 makes his final takeoff into space from a water "tower". In Close Encounters the Alien Mothership arrives and takes off from Devil's "Tower", Wyoming.4. The town hall meeting in Super 8 is very reminiscent of the town hall meeting in Close Encounters. All citizens EXCEPT the sheriff seem to be clueless and way off base about whats really going on.5. The sound that the Alien makes is VERY similar to the sound of the T-Rex in Jurassic Park (as well as the sound of the dying truck in Spielberg's 1st feature 'Duel'.)6. The main kid, Joe doesn't make good grades, as evidenced by him throwing his C+ papers aside when the Alice sees them (this could easily be a J.J. Abrams childhood connection too however.)7. In ET & CLOSE ENCOUNTERS the alien makes a "psychic" connection of some kind with the people it interacts with. In ET its Elliott "feeling" what ET feels (i.e. classroom scene with frogs & Elliott getting drunk & Elliott getting sick when ET gets sick, etc.) In Close Encounters its Richard Dreyfuss and Melinda Dillon being obsessed with the image of Devil's Tower, which ultimately draws them to it. In Super 8 every human the Alien touches "sees" what the alien feels and has been through, thus sympathizing with it.8. In ET a group of underdog kids led by Elliott "save the day" for ET. In THE GOONIES a group of underdog kids led by Mikey "save the day" for Mikey's families home which is about to be sold and bulldozed. Same here in Super 8 with Joe, the main kid taking one of the cubes which is close enough to the Water Tower to be drawn to it, thus creating a foundation for the Alien's ship to work from. Remember all the other cubes had been taken away by the government until the very end. And Joe is the one who tell the Alien to "GO" and that he understands and that bad things happen and its OK. This could be seen as the alien's motivation to leave. (my brother mentioned a parallel to 'Stand By Me' underdog kids, which is also true.)9. Slight Spielbergian cinematography connections - 2: a. The way both the gas station attendant and the airfare bus driver are "pulled away" feet first screaming by the Alien is very similar to the first death in Jurassic Park, where the gatekeeper is "pulled away" feet first screaming by the Velociraptor. b. The side tracking dolly shots of the kids running through neighborhood "up and over" hills, fences, etc is very similar to side tracking dolly shots in ET of kids riding their bikes through neighborhood "up and over" hills, fences, etc trying to get ET to the forrest.10. And here are a random sampling of other various connections I saw to Spielbergian cinema - the use of smoke and light, the conversational cadence of the kids interrupting each other & using cuss words poorly, loss of a parent, military being overly "big brother" in hiding alien, tracking and dolly shots, overhead shot of bus. I could go on and on.Without question Super 8 has a multitude of connections and parallels to Steven Spielberg films but it is also good to keep in mind that good story elements are good story elements no matter when, where or who they are used by. Many times the good ones pop up over and over again, precisely for that reason, because they work. Overlap to previous archetypes or story mythologies is inevitable because the ones we like are the ones we like, whether they are set in space or in the old west. Good storytellers are drawn to these same archetypal stories, they just flavor them differently each generation. In summation, all of these parallels could simply be a MASTER STUDENT (Abrams) following his MASTER TEACHER (Spielberg) with such skill that it comes off as an omage, which it very well may be and does not keep it from being a truly original work. BONUS!#. Not a Spielberg omage but the name of the gas station KELVIN is the 2nd reference J.J. Abrams has made to his grandfather in a feature film, the 1st being the name of one of the spaceships in Star Trek (the "U.S.S. Kelvin") And of course all LOST fans know Kelvin is the name of the guy that was in the Swan Hatch before Desmond.#. Also not a Spielberg parallel, but the kids zombie file "The Case" pays omega to George A. Romero, the godfather of zombie films by naming the chemical plant 'Romero Chemicals'. Loved that.

(2013-05-10 12:52:25)

lost 1.1

This review is from: Super 8 (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) (Blu-ray) if u loved lost then this will bring back a lot of memories especially the soundtrack and the way the story unfolds. jj abrams does a fantastic job with the movie and charcters. i cant wait for his next release. definitely recommend this movie to all jj fans. You wont be disappointed. maybe someday he will make a movie for lost.

Pavan Gangawane

(2013-05-10 00:43:10)

A repeated subject though a fresh movie

SUPER 8:while shooting for their movie 6 school child witness a trainaccident after which strange things starts to happen in their townwhich have some connection with U.S. AIR FORCE,air force officersprovide no information about the accidents but they spread a wild fireso that they can evacuate the town.though we have seen such movies manytimes,super 8 provides freshness,the way the secret is kept that,whatis it that is causing this destruction is amazing,in final 20 minutesthe secret reveals and me n my brother completely failed in guessingwhat is it?which is the biggest victory of the movie.super 8 doesn'tentirely depend on heavy special effects,the main strength of the movieis its well written script and screenplay which reminded me of THEMIST,all the kids have delivered a v,natural performance and wholecredit goes to j.j who just didn't wrote a good script but alsoexecuted it by directing it well,but i didn't understood why movie isin time period of 1979 and why is it called super 8? but indeed a goodmovie and worth a watch.

james-2133

(2013-05-09 10:59:25)

Excellent story, plot, characters

I saw this film, careful to go in not knowing too much about it. Andit's not my intention to ruin things for anyone else by explaining itall here. This is a great Summer film, and a film with enoughexplosions and scares to keep a broad audience on their toes. Yet thereis a great script, and an original plot that is not that common to theexpected Summer Blockbuster.I know the director is keen to point out that it is not a Spielberghomage, but you can not avoid drawing comparisons. However, if you werea painter, would the odd influence or comparison to Da Vinci be allthat bad? The influence as I see it, is on great casting, fabulousdetails in the development of the supporting cast, and a plot thathonestly leaves the audience guessing until the final reel. Hats off tothe writer/director, and hopefully he wont mind passing a little ofthis appreciation on to the Executive Producer.

Dan Franzen

(2013-05-04 20:30:57)

Too much JJ, not enough Steven

Super 8 is partly about growing up and partly about aliens. J.J. Abramsdirected it, and Steven Spielberg produced. I expected a sentimentalbut exciting coming of age tale, derived somewhat from E.T. and frommovies like Stand by Me. Then I remembered that J.J. Abrams wasinvolved.The year is 1979. A group of kids, making their own movie using a Super8 camera, are present when a freight train crashes in their town. Butthe train's carrying some odd-behaving cargo, and soon the kids areswept up in an alphabet soup of conspiracy, mystery, death, unhealedemotional wounds, and love. You can see Spielberg's fingerprints on thesweet stuff, but the heavy lifting falls, unfortunately, to Abrams, whohere gives us an unofficial follow-up to his last over-hyped ball offire, Cloverfield.You see, Super 8 is really two movies. One is sort of your standardsomething-is-amiss-in-a-small-town-and-the-military-is-hushing-it-upplot. The other is a more subtle, gentle look at growing and departingrelationships, of loves past and present. And that's sort of where theproblem lies for me; although the two genres can mesh well, here onepart works very well and the other is a pile of predictability.The protagonist is young Joe (Joel Courtney), best friends with Charles(Riley Griffiths). Joe's mom was killed in an accident at the localplant, an event that has had quite the effect on Joe and hisrelationship with his dad, the town's deputy. As you might guess, Joe'sdad has grown distant with the loss of his wife, which he blames on thetown drunk, leaving poor Joe sort of rudderless. That's one of thereasons he pals around with Charles and the rest of his friends, toescape.The boys are making a movie with Charles as the director, and they askone of their classmates, Alice (Elle Fanning) to play the female lead.Charles secretly likes Alice, but it becomes clear she has an eye formodest, unassuming Joe, who does makeup and lighting. At any rate,while they are filming near an old train station, a speeding trainpasses them by, then derails. After the kids emerge from the wreckagerelatively unscathed, they recover their film.Of course, the train wasn't carrying ordinary cargo, as the film soonproves. But what is it? This is where the influence of Cloverfieldkicks in. Abrams tries hard not to show us the creature in its entiretyuntil near the end of the movie, but that didn't make it any scarier.The shots of the alien were amateurish, sometimes ridiculously stagedas if straight out of a particularly poor B movie from 1953. I know theinnocence of youth was a recurring theme, but I expected to be jumpinga lot more than I was. In fact, here's an example of just shoddyfilmmaking: there would be this intense, suspense-inducing musicplaying while the camera focused on one character, then sudden silence.And then, wouldn't you know it, an attack out of nowhere. No sir,didn't see that coming! So the exciting action scenes lacked a lot,like panache, creativity, chills, and even logic. Here's anotherexample. During the trainwreck scene, the kids flee as debris rains allaround them. Not just pieces of wood but rather entire cars, hugechunks of metal, and so on. They're never hit. All this stuff flyingaround, and they may as well have been in the perpetual center of agiant tornado. Sure, you have to suspend your disbelief, but there werea few howler scenes in this movie that really sort of forced you tometaphorically unhinge your jaw in order to properly suspend saiddisbelief.The real upside to the movie, though, is the group of kids: they're aterrific, convincing lot. Luckily, we don't get stereotypical kids,like The Fat One or The Brain or The Slob, etc. Each isn't terriblydefined, but they're not meant to be, and they're still memorable intheir own way. They exist less as window dressing and more as a runningcolor commentary on their various relationships.Fanning is terrific as Alice. I almost didn't recognize her; at thisage, she looks like a young Martha Plimpton, and if Ms. Fanning everreads this, I mean that as praise. In a few scenes, she's playing agirl playing an actress, and she nails it. I have to believe it's noteasy pretending to be something you're not anyway, so pretending topretend just doubles the difficulty.Spielberg's touch is evident in the way the kids relate to each otherand to adults; there are no cardboard caricatures, just honestcharacters. We see the wonderment and guileless glee that most of ushad in grade school. We see kids being kids, in awe and curious but notterrified of the world around them.Spielberg's contribution works; Abrams' doesn't. If you likedCloverfield and its poorly edited action scenes, this will be your bag.The bad guys are obvious, the impetus for the creature's existence isclear, and it's all telegraphed well ahead of time. They must havespent a fortune in CGI, mucking up what might have been a tendergrowing-up story set against an alien-invasion backdrop.

Brandon Oberdorf

(2013-05-04 13:55:23)

A Movie we have been waiting for! In many ways...

I still remember little over a year ago seeing Iron Man 2 and theteaser for this film popped up during the previews. I was intrigued onit and followed the Viral marketing Campaign ever since. Though Iobviously wanted more on it because seeing two of my favorite names inHollywood J.J Abrams (Director) and Steven Spielberg (Producer)attached made me ache in anticipation. Today was the day I finally gotto see it. To be honest I was never so hyped up to get a movie stub.For a reviews sake I'll inform you of the story. In the late 1970's aboy named Joe helps his friend Charles make a Movie after he suffers a"Loss". They film at a train station, someone crashes into the train,and a "Creature" escapes. That is just one concept for there arestories and themes of grief, love (A little Romeo and Juliet going on),and closure throughout the movie.. The movie was everything I wantedand more! People say this is pretty much E.T because it has an alienand there's kids in it. No, no, no! E.T didn't go blowing S*** up!Anyways, seeing raw talent from the next-to-nobody young actors (Evenyou Fanning!) showed off some of the best premature acting in yearswhich created definitive characters that we are some of the mostenjoyable since The Goonies (Amblin Irony). The film will not fallshort of entertainment at all. These kids are rather providing funnycomedy, filming their movie, or running for their lives. But sure, thefilm does mix up genres a little bit but it NEVER distracts from theoverall story, it just makes it more suspenseful. Which is why I wouldlike to state that the full train sequence was one of the mostthrilling scenes in blockbuster History. I feel sure people willreflect on it in the future as a classic scene for this (And I nevermake this statement) is a true classic film. The Story is strong,acting is far from moderate, and I will not lie, I shed a tear in onespecific scene. Abrams and Spielberg have really outdone themselvesbecause this may be influenced from other films, it is a true classic!Movies like this make us feel that Hollywood has some hope in providinggood old entertainment that is not drawn out from adapted stories,sequels, or prequels. For this I highly respect those two as Idols.Don't question the unknown mystery of the story and just go see it. Ican't think of a reason not to like it.

PhillipMichaelH

(2013-05-02 04:35:30)

A unique and refreshing film.

I saw this movie in New York on opening day and I loved every second ofthis film. I was already a huge fan of Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abramsso I knew that this would be a unique experience and it turned out tobe everything that I hoped it would be. I won't go into detail in thisreview and let everyone else make up their own mind about the film.I thought that this was a very refreshing movie that does a good job atcombining different genres without being too obvious. Even though themovie does have elements of Science Fiction, action and fantasy. Italso is a very heartfelt coming of age story and I believe it's one ofthe essential elements of the film. Without these characters, Iwouldn't have believed in the film as much as I did. J.J. Abrams does anice job and making the characters and what they go through the mostimportant part of the story and it works. The movie also has elementsof comedy, their are plenty of moments that will have you laughing orsmiling. I don't want to give anything away for those who haven't seenthe film but stay in your seats when the credits roll at the end of thefilm, you won't regret it.I love E.T., Close Encounters and The Goonies and this movie brought meback to those films and how much I loved them as a child and still do.Go see this movie, it may be the most fun and delightful time you willhave at the movies this year.

BAMF

(2013-05-02 01:10:31)

go to ****.com and read about the alien

it's just an alien that's been captured by the air force trying to escape and return to its home...save yourself the money and go to ****.com and read about it!

napierslogs

(2013-04-30 07:44:30)

Like it for its nostalgia, cuteness, or possible aliens

Building a film out of nostalgia is exactly what "Super 8" is.Nostalgia for the Steven Spielberg films from the '80s, jokes about the'70s, and the pure joy that Spielberg and Abrams would have had forfilmmaking as young boys. A movie about movie making. It might also beabout aliens.We start by getting to know our six young protagonists and the lovethey have for making a movie. As Charles always says, "Production valueis key." In the real world, I can't imagine production value is aconcern anymore for Abrams. The budget for this movie is $50 millionand it shows with trains crashing, over and over again, and cars flyingthrough the air, over and over again. From there we go to the mainHollywood story which involves a teenage love story, strangeoccurrences in the town with dogs missing, and a mysterious Governmentcover-up. Hint: It might involve aliens.I liked "Super 8" because I like nostalgia. The jokes about the '70swere quite funny (I could be wrong, it might not be aliens, but theRussians!). Kids making a low-budget zombie movie is funny, especiallywhen all six of them can actually act. If you ignore the wholeGovernment conspiracy angle, then everything was quite cute, even thepossible aliens.Follow my blog Napierslogs' Movie Expositions athttp://napierslogs.blogspot.com

(2013-04-29 12:22:47)

super 8

This review is from: Super 8 (DVD) great movie and fast shipping...I would buy again from the person. Super 8 is a must see film for 2012

Ducksoup_1

(2013-04-24 07:41:51)

Don't judge a book by it's cover they say.

Super 8Super 8... What kind of a movie would one expect, reading the titlewhile never heard anything else about it. With the currentsuperhero-movie exploitation that dominates our cinemas, it's very easyto make a link towards that genre. it's what I thought at first,something among the likes of "Heroes" meets "The Fantastic 4".The only thing I heard about it before watching, was that it wasdirected by Steven Spielberg (you know, that epic director who justseems he can't make a bad film.) and the word "Sci-fi" was associatedwith it. Steven Spielberg and Sci-fi... Now - I was born in the late80's and grew up with sci-fi films alike "ET", "The Goonies", "CloseEncounters Of The Third Kind" and "The Iron Giant" (And "Predator" and"Aliens" of course, but let's just keep on track here). I remember, asa youngster, sitting in my living room wearing my pajamas's, putting invideo-cassettes of those films in the VCR. I loved those movies. Theyhad a certain friendly mood in them and delivered a great atmosphere. "Super 8" reminded me of those movies.This is classic Sci-fi Spielberg, like it could have been made in thelate '80s or mid '90s.The soundtrack is very good, reminded me a bit of "Invaders From Mars".Very moody and fantasy-like. It's being used well in every scene too.Some scenes involve illogical behavior and dialog here and there. Butyou're too busy enjoying and being carried away with it. It has somescary parts every now and then, but nothing really to keep your kidaway from the TV-screen (well, except your Amish or so - ow wait, theydon't watch TV) I'd give it a 7/10 and would watch it again.Don't judge a book by it's cover? Well, I'm glad I didn't.

steve_ford53

(2013-04-23 16:10:27)

See it on the "BIG" screen

As we grow older and hopefully wiser we seem to look back to our pastas "simpler" times. A time of innocence. It is during this "simpler"time, 1979, when Charles (Riley Griffiths) - a want-to-be director,enlists the aid of his junior high friends to make a "Super 8" movie.His dream is to enter his movie in an upcoming contest and of coursewin fame and fortune. It is during the filming of an all importantscene when Joe (Joel Courtney) notices a white pick-up truck enter thepath of a speeding freight train. As the kids run for cover, the camerais left running and films the entire crash. The train disasterunleashes a secret that has been kept from the American public since1958. The arrival of the military and their very hush hush demeanor hasthe town deputy looking for answers.The group of young filmmakers continue on and when the original role ofsuper 8 film is returned from the lab (remember when you had to waitfor film to be developed?), Joe and Charles get a look at why themilitary has occupied the peaceful burg of Lillian, Ohio.Government conspiracy, man's inhumanity to anything different thanourselves, rivalry between friends, young love and most of all beingable to let go of your past to grow and move into the future are allexplored during the 112 minute run time.This film is definitely worth a trip to the theater to see on the bigscreen. The special effects would loose some of their impact - even onthose 55" and 60" full HD TV's.The "secret" is kept hidden enough to keep the audience guessing andads to some "shock" moments that may make you jump.Overall and enjoyable film - rated PG-13 the film could be disturbingto some younger viewers - I recommend you go see this one.

Henrik L. Grund

(2013-04-14 08:18:02)

Shallow, predictable and cliché

As far as production value goes, this film has a certain appeal.Unfortunately for us, everything else is so bad that it doesn't reallymatter. It is watchable, but in all fairness it sucks pretty hard toactually sit it through.A couple of examples: instead of making us care about the protagonist(who is a kid) through actual good writing, identification andcharacter development, they throw in a back story about how his motherdied in a supposedly tragic accident. It's just cheap.The ending is I guess symbolic in a way, but so cliché I actuallysquirmed in my seat. It's just cheap melodrama. It's very obvious thatthe makers WANT us so badly to sit on the verge of tears and marvel atthe wrapping of the story, like they can just snap their fingers andget us involved on cue--"OK, feel sad now, OK, laugh now. See thisscene? You're supposed to be thrilled now, as evidenced by the stocksuspense music."I don't recommend this movie for anyone who feel they have anintellect.

TUSfan213

(2013-04-13 12:51:06)

Abrams At His Finest

When I first saw the teaser trailer for 'Super 8' I was blown away. Iknew from the start that i wanted to see this. There was no moment inthis film that I regretted going to see it. It was worth every minuteof my time. It wasn't exactly what I expected after viewing the teasertrailer, but I must say I was pleased to see how well it turned out.The monster design was just spectacular. The trailer doesn't show youmuch of the monster making it better to wonder what it was to the veryend. The visual effects were also amazing, especially with a$45,000,000 budget. The movie was loud and some points had weaker soundquality. 'Super 8' wasn't like most monster movies. There was actuallycharacter development and spent some time building relationshipsbetween each character. Other monster movies usually spend time onsuspense and thrills and only that, 'Super 8' had it all.Word of advice, for your own good, go to see 'Super 8', it is anabsolute J.J. Abrams masterpiece and is worth every minute of yourtime.

dan stevenson

(2013-04-06 22:28:22)

1/2 good 1/2 awful

all in all a mess. It's like the movie couldn't find it's groove or identity. Acting from the young folk was great. the first 2/3 of the movie was pretty cool, but then just lost any sense of credibility with it's monster theme. like another reviewer stated --it has a million holes in the story line. I wish I would have spent a buck on it at redbox

anyhowe

(2013-04-06 08:39:51)

Spielberg clichés fail to produce a coherent and credible story

Apparently, this movie had all the formulaic trappings of a Spielbergblockbuster. Unfortunately, it did not hit the mark. The storyline lefta lot to be desired with a number of improbabilities, not the leastbeing the alien, who after many years of tormented imprisonment by theU.S. government/Air Force, is suddenly able to re-assemble his ship andblast off -- as in ET goes home. How does an empathetic exchange withour young hero facilitate this miraculous re-construction of the spaceship? The plot is left hanging at the end of the movie because we havean implied happy ending but an alien that is fleeing home with a prettybad impression of Earthlings. God forbid that he comes back with aninvading fleet with vengeance in mind.Fortunately for Spielberg, he is only credited with the production andnot the direction. Whereas this movie's concept had potential,Spielberg and Abrams simply excreted a real stinkeroo.

(2013-04-05 14:25:27)

Can't believe I paid to watch this!

This review is from: Super 8 [HD] (Amazon Instant Video) The movie has no real plot, and the characters are not believable at all. The 'alien' is kept in shadows at all times like used to happen in the really old sci-fi movies where it was done due to how hard it was to make the alien believable. Attempts to communicate with the alien are just absurd, and lead to an anti-climatic ending. This is like a modern version of those really, really bad sci-fi B-movies of the 50's and 60's.

(2013-04-05 00:00:30)

Disappointing

This review is from: Super 8 (Amazon Instant Video) If I was 8 or ten maybe this would be better. I feel a movie filmed mostly in the dark is done so they save money. Much of the time one does not know what is going on and can barely see the alien in any of the shots. How this is so highly rated is beyond me. Do American audiences expect so little? At least it did not have the usual bathroom humor or scenes of urination. I think this movie was weak if one compares it to other Spielberg films. He has rather insulted his abilities with this film. Compare it to E.T. or Stand By Me. I heard so much hype about this movie I really looked forward to watching. Now I am just disappointed. Glad I didn't spend a ticket price at the theatre. Definitely not a the producers best. I rented it from Amazon for only $1.99 which is all it is worth. Sorry folks. They should try again. Mr. Spielberg, you are worthy of so much more. Even the special effects are just copies of other recent movies that rely on cars and trucks flying through the air and/or blowing up. Really dumb...suspence....only about when was it going to end.

roger-718

(2013-03-20 22:41:56)

Not as expected. Didn't quite get it right.

Not going to say to many things about this film, it would offend thepast excellent work of the directors and production staff. I expectedso much more. It just didn't do it for me. What the hell was it allabout. Bits of other films all jumbled up. It even had the nextgeneration of kids from the first films, you know, the one where theyfell down a hole and ET it was not. I have a suspicion it was conceivedover a bottle of bubbly on a large directors boat in Monaco. I can hearthe glasses clinking as i watched it. On the positive side i stayedawake. I feel that the film will be seen by most people and 25 percentwill take it on the nose as a decent attempt to keep ET alive. Most iexpect will forget it.

DonFishies

(2013-03-20 12:18:03)

A wildly nostalgic and truly spectacular must-see event

As the marketing and hype started to build for Super 8, I decided totry my best to not watch any real trailers or promos for the film. Itwas a difficult task, but somehow I managed to pull off allowing thefilm to be a mystery leading into its release. When I got theopportunity to see the film in advance fell into my lap, I did notsecond guess the hype – I ran to the theatre as fast as I could. Taking place in the summer of 1979, Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) is part ofan atypical group of friends making a film to enter into a local filmfestival. While shooting on a train platform late one night, the groupwitnesses a horrific train crash. They survive the mysterious crash,and do not think much of it. But then strange things begin happening inthe town, and the US military suddenly shows up to clean up the damage,not to mention some bizarre things are being recovered from the crash.I already feel like I have said too much regarding about Super 8, butmy enthusiasm for this ridiculously well done film is too hard tocontain. Abrams, alongside producer and obvious inspiration StevenSpielberg, has crafted something both special and truly extraordinary.What is on the outside a very keenly and nostalgically made film aboutthe loss of innocence and the wonder of personal discovery, is also aperiod picture examining a time when the slightest enigmatic occurrencecould lead to an accusation of Soviet invasion. Many will instantlyequate the film to the early work of Spielberg himself (not onlybecause of the various homages), but this is a film that was nevermeant to draw such easy comparisons.With Super 8, Abrams has matured into a great filmmaker who is veryquickly on their way to becoming a master of the craft. He tenderlyembraces the format of a monster movie and the hard lessons behindgrowing up (not unlike Joe Cornish's significantly grittier Attack theBlock), and never lets either get too far ahead of itself. While it canbe thrilling and fused with electric intensity, it can also be verytender and moving. We know the focus is on these adorable, wide-eyedkids, but Abrams invests enough time into the adult characters likeKyle Chandler's Deputy Jackson Lamb and Louis Dainard, played by theobscenely underrated Ron Eldard as well. By doing this, he allows theaudience to follow in the wonder of the children's vague cluelessnessof the hell that is going on around them, and the adults trying tounravel the mystery. He also lets the script speak for itself,directing the increasing action brilliantly and allowing the actors totruly become the characters they are playing. I just hope he quicklyrealizes his stylish use of lens flare is beginning to border a littletoo close to overbearing.Acting wise, the film fires on all cylinders. Chandler and Eldard areexcellent in their fatherly roles, as is Noah Emmerich's absolutelydespicable Nelec. But the show is completely stolen far and away by thechildren. This is really their movie, and they shine in each of theirscenes. Casting relative unknowns in the majority of these roles, notleast Courtney in the lead, helps give an enhanced sense ofauthenticity and fascination. The looks of fear, confusion, sadness andfun are real in the most flattering way possible. There is not oneinstance where any of these kids look like they are acting against agreen-screen, or acting on a set. They act like seasoned veterans, andwill surprise you consistently from the opening frame right until theend of the credits. Special mention also goes to Elle Fanning, who israpidly proving to be a formidable talent who might be even strongerthan her famous sister Dakota.While I will not give away too many specific details, I can say thespecial effects should already be considered an early front runner forthe best of the year. The train crash sequence involves some of themost incredibly and intensely depicted images of destruction I haveever seen. You will be on the edge of your seat unable to look awayfrom just how amazingly realistic it all looks. With Super 8, thevisual effects are taken to the extreme, and look absolutely astoundingevery time they are employed. Without ruining anything else, I cansafely say you will be both terrified and awestruck by just how mucheffort was put into making these effects look so realistic.If I hold anything against the film, it is the finale. The film isbrilliantly paced and the tone is never taken for granted, but it justcomes off a bit odd when compared to the rest of the film. It is not asdisappointing as some may have you believe, but it was a bit too softand cuddly for my liking – a little bit too close to what Spielbergwould have done. We know the film is a nostalgic homage to those filmsthat so many of us remember watching on weekends as kids, but theending just does not jive as well as it could have. It feels likeAbrams just did not want to commit to anything darker, and just wentwith the safest route he could think of. If you are still reading this review and can see Super 8 now, than youhave made a big mistake. With only his third film, Abrams has made atruly spectacular must-see film that demands to be seen as quickly aspossible. Allowing some of the surprises to be spoiled is simply not anoption. This is the best film of the summer thus far, and will beremembered well into the end of the year. 9/10.(An extended review also appeared on http://www.geekspeakmagazine.com).