J.J. Abrams' Super 8

[The Ween]

I thought it was great. It did feel like a Spielberg movie from the 70s or 80s without feeling like a ripoff.

I was the same age as those kids in 1979, so I was really able to connect with it. There were so many things in their rooms that I recognized from when I was a kid. Except that I had a lot more SW stuff. And I loved that they mentioned D!ck Smith's Do-It-Yourself Monster Make-Up, and that they actually used it. The zombie movie was awesome!

My one gripe is Abrams' stupid use of lens flares. I actually thought they worked well in Star Trek, here they were unnecessary distraction.

I also thought the score was a little underwhelming. It wasn't bad, but afterward I couldn't remember any of it.

I agree about the lens flares, I hate them too. I was waiting for them to flare off that kid's braces!

I didn't like them in Star Trek either because they were a bit overdone.

 

[fuzzylojiks]

Pretty good movie. Strangely, I kinda liked the lens flare, sort of his signature. I didn't think it was overused. It did seem more appropriate in Star Trek tho.

 

[Nuka Cola Kidd]

Light flares are Abram's thing. . . every director has something.

 

[Flipsk8emerica]

This was a great movie. It had the whole Stephen King's IT and ET feel to it. I wouldn't mind seeing it again.

 

[beeshaw]

I caught this flick last night, and I gotta say, I loved it! That said, I'm a J.J. fanboy. I loved Alias, LOST is my all time fave show, M:I 3 is the best of the bunch IMO, Fringe is fantastic, Star Trek won me over and I loved Cloverfield to death.

I looked at this one as Cloverfield by way of Stand By Me. I loved the mix of 'coming of age' and the 'monster' stuff. And I liked that it was nostalgic without it being distracting. 'Cooper's' design/fx didn't bother me one bit, nor did the lens flares. Both have become trademarks I guess. But all in all a solid, well acted flick that I'm looking forward to adding to my Blu-ray collection. My fave movie of the summer thus far!

 

[plasmid303]

Saw this last night, kinda disappointed. 6.5/10

There's very little emotional connection between the kids' story and the monster's. It's like two films were made and then they were left to congeal together. The creature's design is boring and not memorable. No amount of nostalgic pandering will make up for that. If it weren't for Abram's direction and the outstanding performances of the kids, I'd have scored this lower.

 

[Moonloop]

This movie sucked ass. Well no it didn't, it was a well done film; but I did not enjoy it because I really thought this movie was gonna be the movie that was advertised as in the trailers, but it wasn't.

Yes it is filmed well and the emotion is there but it is lacking in a lot of departments. There were too many separate scenes/things going on to be shown in such a short period of time. There was not enough character development and no real emotion in the characters as a result. I expected Nelic to become the 'bad guy', but he had like two scenes and died like no-one cared.

The story is about the kids and it just so happens that the Alien is let loose in their town. The Alien's story is all background to the kids story. Thus for those wanting a actual thriller with the Alien at the center of the story, your not gonna get one. Which is disappointing because it seemed stupid to have the Alien as the background story if we didn't really get to know the creature, or fully understand it more than what we saw.

I guess Abrams really wanted to make a movie about childhood and the sufferings of life, but in order to sell tickets and make it interesting he included the Alien story. The first trailer for the film and even the 2nd trailer definitely gave the audience the impression that this was a thriller monster movie, but it wasn't.

Super 8 could have been an amazing film that would last for generations. I believe the story went in the wrong direction and what could have been an amazing ride/journey, was not.

The Alien also looked like a Michael Bay Transformer had sex with the Cloverfield Monster.

 

[CelticPredator]

Glad you were disappointed. Kids >>>> Aliens. Way more moving story.

 

[Moonloop]

Glad you were disappointed. Kids >>>> Aliens. Way more moving story.

Just depends what each person is interested in seeing from the movie. It is just a movie after all.

 

[Something Sexy]

I dunno, I really enjoyed this film. Probably the best casting for kids in a long time. Not a single one of them annoyed me. I think I enjoyed this more than First Class.

 

[MarfMaster]

The alien served as a catalyst for the reparation of several relationships in the movie, as well as the growth of some of the main characters. I can see why some people might be disappointed by the film, if they were expecting a monster movie. I just went in open minded and was not disappointed at all.

 

[beeshaw]

The alien served as a catalyst for the reparation of several relationships in the movie, as well as the growth of some of the main characters. I can see why some people might be disappointed by the film, if they were expecting a monster movie. I just went in open minded and was not disappointed at all.

It's exactly the movie I thought/hoped it would be.

That said, I hope J.J. does end up doing a straight up Monster flick at some point. The few parts where the monster was featured (gas station, bus, scrap yard) were actually pretty tense and very well done.

 

[CelticPredator]

Just depends what each person is interested in seeing from the movie. It is just a movie after all.

Sure...but I mostly see movies for the characters, and weather or not i'm invested in them.

But for some movies, I see it for the giant robots fighting with hot chicks.

 

[Batty]

I went with my dad...he was expecting more of a monster movie. He was also disappointed it wasn't in 3D.

 

[tomandshell]

I saw this and liked it. Not the film of the summer or year, but it was good and worth seeing.

 

[Giant Chicken]

Saw this a few days ago. I had no idea what to expect when going in and I thought the movie was very fun! It had a Goonies/ET/Iron Giant vibe to it that I really enjoyed. The group that I went with was split. 1/2 liked it 1/2 hated it. I am glad that I liked it since I am not able to get out to the movies as much as I would like.

 

[automaton]

i didn't like it. the film is simply a pale reflection of its influences minus any heart and soul.

 

[VoidDweller]

I just got back from seeing Super 8 this afternoon on my day off. I really enjoyed the film. I think they did a great job with the kids they cast.

I liked how it was set in the 1970's. Seeing some of the props like the "Big Jim" action figure vehicle packaging they had in one of the kid's bedroom reminded me of some similar stuff I had as a kid in the late 70's and early 80's.

 

[Gruson]

Yeah, I loved it.

Kids were great in it and had awesome chemistry. The whole thing really reminded me of my childhood since we were into the same things. Fireworks, home videos, makeup, monsters, etc. Very cool! Life before the Internet and video games.

Highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys 80s movies. The only thing missing was a more memorable score. Wish Williams would have done it.

 

[Kuzeh]

Finally saw it last night!!
What a great movie!! As everybody said, the chemistry between the kids is what makes this movie awesome...
My only 2 nitpicks, the lens flare, J.J. needs to stop that... I thought he acknowledged it was too much with Star Trek...
and

Spoiler

the dialogue between Joe and the alien... that kind of kills it a little bit IMO

But other than that... a great ride of a movie! !