Super 8

As an homage to the Spielberg films of the 80's, this movie succeeds. As a piece of original entertainment? Nothing happening, folks. Now, if you're a kid and have never seen The Goonies, Jaws, ET, War of the Worlds, and Cloverfield, you may think this film is absolutely wonderful. And judged through the lens of cinema history, it may well be looked upon as a culmination of all that came before.

Let's just hope that the future is filled with something in rare supply: originality.

It's not that I wasn't entertained, it's just that I expected something more.

And I suppose that's another problem with getting older. There aren't as many surprises left in the world.

J. J. Abrams' Super 8 isn't just a sci-fi thriller-it's a bittersweet time capsule of childhood, loss, and the fleeting magic of innocence. Set in 1979, the film follows a group of kids making a zombie movie on their Super 8 camera, only to witness a catastrophic train crash that unleashes something far beyond their understanding. But beneath the lens flare and monster mystery lies something far more poignant: a story about broken families, grief, and the inevitable passage of time.

At its heart is Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), a boy still reeling from the loss of his mother, and his complicated relationship with his emotionally distant father. The film beautifully captures that aching, unspoken void between them, where words fail but silence speaks volumes. Elle Fanning delivers a breathtaking performance as Alice, a girl with her own painful burdens, and their shared moments feel raw and real-two young souls quietly searching for connection in a world that feels too big and too cruel.

While the sci-fi spectacle unfolds in thrilling ways, it never overshadows the movie's core theme: growing up means learning how to say goodbye. Whether it's to a parent, to childhood dreams, or to the belief that life will always be simple, Super 8 reminds us that some things-like an old film reel-can only be cherished as memories.

Super 8 is more than just a Spielbergian homage-it's a deeply human story wrapped in a monster movie. The alien may be terrifying, but the real fear lies in the things we can't control: loss, change, and the painful beauty of growing up.

Entertaining film with funny situations , state-of-art special effects and interesting screenplay ; according to J.J. Abrams was homage to the producer of the film, Steven Spielberg, and his films of the 1970's ranging reverence from Spielberg's directorial films . This Spielberg production is a fun movie concerning a feisty bunch of underprivileged kids whose Super 8 filmmaking project is about to be destroyed by weird events . During the summer of 1979, in a small Ohio town a group of friends (film debut of Joel Courtney and Riley Griffiths) while making a super 8 Zombie movie (since the kids were making a zombie movie, there are several references to director George A. Romero , as the poster for one of his movies in Joe's bedroom) witness a catastrophic train crash and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy (Kyle Chandler, Jeremy Renner declined the lead role ) tries to uncover the truth - something more frightening than any of them could have thought - and investigate subsequent unexplained events in their small town. They spend one last adventure-filled Saturday Afternoon together when one of them is kidnapped (Elle Fanning , sister of Dakota Fanning who during the town hall meeting, for a brief second you can spot among the assistants) . This happens after they find a film about their teacher , that could be the solution to all their problems .

This is an amusing mess made in Spielberg style, the goal was to pay homage to the science-fiction movies of the '70s and 80s . The story results to be an emotive homage to Spielberg -as the famous bicycle from Steven Spielberg's movie E.T. can be seen as a part of metal junk that is being attached to the water tower in one of the final scenes- and to cinema of the 80s , taking parts here and there from various film as ¨E.T.¨ , ¨Close encounters of third kind¨ and specially ¨The Goonies¨ , though directed by Richard Donner was written by Spielberg . Imaginative and rousing musical score by Michael Giacchino in John Williams style . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Larry Fong . Top-notch FX , Bruce Greenwood provided the motion-capture performance of the alien , as J.J. Abrams insisted that the train station scenes were actually shot at night outside, instead of in a studio , though the train is completely computer-generated , in fact , the train crash was purposely made much more sensational than a train crash would actually be. Lavishly produced by Steven Spielberg was reportedly on set many times throughout the course of filming , Director J.J. Abrams and Spielberg have both gone on record stating that the filming of this production was some of the most fun they have ever had on set. The motion picture will appeal to Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams buffs . Rating : Better tan average , well worth watching .

I have never seen a movie which could be divided to two parts of "absolutely amazing" and "boring and childish". The first 80 minutes is awesome, I was shocked by how good this movie was as I had seen some bad reviews on IMDb but then the cheesy part kicked in and ruined the whole thing.

First thing that comes in to everybody's mind when they see the first scenes is that this movie is so similar to et! The style is the same, the theme is the same, it even happens in the same era with the same kind of neighborhood which is kinda cool and nostalgic for my generation. Super 8 seems like a fan-made dedication to Spielberg but it just didn't work quite well.

From the actor's performance perspective; Elle Fanning's performance was breath-taking, and she saved some scenes. She's got potential to be a big star in the future. Kyle Chandler on the other hand was just plain and simple awful. He made the whole thing look kinda funny and stupid.

From special effects and sounding perspective, I'd say it was stunning. One of the best I have seen in the genre in years as you would expect when you see Spielberg's name on the screen. There's this big scene at the first half an hour into the movie where you just get nailed to your sit due to the load sound which should have been annoying but it was not. It was awesome. You don't see this in Germany often but after this specific scene, the audience gave Abram an standing ovation!!! It was awesome. Of course at the end, everyone was angry because he ruined the whole thing with a very cheesy "et-like" ending but all in all it was worth the money, better than most of the movies in the last 6 months, I would say.

I'm giving it 6/10 because first of all, I expected so much more from the creator of Lost and second of all, the last 30 minutes is really bad and the ending is just pure garbage. They used some cgi stuff which was very impressive but didn't quite go with the theme of the movie and was really inconsistent. All in all, it doesn't deserve the crap that it's getting in the reviews but it quite doesn't deserve the praises either. It's only OK

I'm just going to say this upfront, Super 8 is now one of my favorite movies. It is one of the most thrilling , emotional, well-acted and just all around entertaining movies I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot of movies. It brings back that old school movie feel of wonder and innocence that made movies like E.T. , Stand By Me, and the Goonies , the classics that they are now and I think Super 8 is right in the same league. But Super 8 has another side to it as well, it's a monster movie. This aspect is obviously modeled after other Spielberg classics like Jurassic Park and Jaws and uses some of the same techniques to great effect.

As I said above, the acting is amazing. All the kids are absolutely fantastic they really act like real teenagers- the way they talk, the way they act and all their different quirks are all hilarious. It's so fun watching them all together. The adults are all great too particularly Kyle Chandler who plays the main character, Joe's, father. He perfectly displays his difficulty in the situation he is in and his lack of communication with his son.

Super 8 is actually a very emotional movie. Joe and his father have been through some tragic events and they are still trying to cope with their loss. There is some real depth in the emotional scenes and this makes you care more for the character and it makes the movie much more intense when the action starts heating up. That brings me to the next great aspect of the movie, the action.

There are some very intense scenes in Super 8. The movie has one of the most awesome scenes of destruction (the train crash) I have seen in a movie, and its in the first thirty minutes. After this is when the unseen monster starts causing havoc. What's great is that you hardly ever see the monster. It's just like Jaws, the less you see, the scarier things are. This makes it so that once you see the monster it is very satisfying.

There are flaws in the movie such as the drastic change in tones between the lighthearted events with the kids to the pretty dark and violent scenes with the monster, and the movie ends a little bit too soon, but this is all negligible because the movie is so entertaining, moving, and heartfelt.

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