J.J. Abrams' Super 8 - Part 2

[WarBlade]

So is the movie more atmosphere/tension than action/monster? Is it more ET than say Cloverfield? The trailer makes it seem like it's an actionfest.

Atmosphere/tension.

I think this is a valid, non-spoilery question that someone should answer.

It's already been answered (aside from the Cloverfield bit), but you're wrong. It's a spoilery question. You'll understand when you see it.

 

[BrollySupersj]

Huh, going from that viral vid...I'm gonna guess the alien is a humanoid. I mean, all you saw was the hand, but still it looked like a humanoid hand.

At any rate, soon as someone sees the movie in full, PLEASE PLEASE PM your description of the beast.

 

[WarBlade]

Not very humanoid...

Spoiler

It can stand on its hind legs, but once it starts galloping around it hunches down with elbows rising up above the body to give it a spider-like locomotion.

 

[Matt]

How badly will it scare someone who fears [blackout]spiders[/blackout] Warblade?

 

[Nightmare]

Im hoping to see it sometime this weekend. Is it BETTER than cloverfield?

 

[WarBlade]

How badly will it scare someone who fears [blackout]spiders[/blackout] Warblade?

No idea. I'm not an expert on irrational phobias.

 

[Matt]

Is it terribly [blackout]arachnidish[/blackout]? On a scale from 1-10, how [blackout]spider-like[/blackout] is it?

 

[SuperSoldier985]

So is the movie more atmosphere/tension than action/monster? Is it more ET than say Cloverfield? The trailer makes it seem like it's an actionfest.

Maybe you haven't seen the trailer in a while, but that's definitely not the vibe you've should've gotten.

It's a straight up fantasy adventure movie with horror and comedy elements mixed in with sci-fi action and drama of course.

 

[SuperSoldier985]

What's kinda annoying me is how so many people only seem interested about the details of the creature, like it actually means something to know what it is and what it looks like before watching the movie.

Anyway,..Good, strong film...not great, but very solid. The writing needed some work somewhere after the midway point, but it's got great acting, it's beautifully shot, very enjoyable and quite funny. It's quite creepy and scary at times, like watching a monster movie as you'd imagine...I'd recommend it and I'd pay to see it again, but it's not quite making my top 5 list of 2011. Maybe my top 15 (Note: I've seen 40 movies of 2011 so far).

Decent trailer list with my showing:

-Cowboys & Aliens (#2)
-Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1
-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II (#2)
-Captain America
-Rise of the Planet of the Apes (#1)
-Transformers: Dark of the Moon (#2)

 

[roach]

this movie was amazing...take ET/Close Encounters and Goonies and blend it together and you have Super 8

and for those with

Spoiler

arachnophobia....the creature wont trigger it

my film school is giving us a 16mm camera and a roll of film to shoot over the weekend.... i cant wait

 

[Asr]

Saw the movie earlier tonight at a theater with one of those pseudo-IMAX screens - huge, but not as huge as at a genuine IMAX theater.

The first thing I have to say is that the sound levels were off the charts in this IMAX format! Damn, I might go so far as to recommend seeing it in IMAX for the sound alone. There were parts of the movie that were literally deafening, most obviously the trainwreck. The girl character also screamed a few times and her screams were practically decimating! I've never heard audio with this sort of dynamic range at a movie theater - it was totally awesome and added to the movie.

The 2nd thing I have to say is that the music instantly reminded me of Lost (the TV series). No offense to the Lost composer (I know he's the one who did the score) but IMO he could've been more original.

That said, this was a really all-around great movie. It did feel like an 80s throwback back to a time of childhood innocence (primarily from the kids playing around and biking in the streets) and a strong focus on the family element, and more focus in general on the human characters than the monster. So it didn't really feel like a "monster" movie, it felt more like an adventure/drama movie with a monster in it, and even then, there wasn't really that much of the monster.

Not that it took away from anything - the movie was filled with tension and suspense along with old-fashioned character moments, like kids just talking.

I can't really pin down any one thing that made the movie great, it was overall just a really fun/scary/dramatic type of movie that felt odd coming out this decade. The pacing overall felt very methodical - not fast, but not slow either. And the acting by all the kid actors was really good too - no complaints there. No cases of annoying kids talking too much or chewing comedy scenery - just kids straight-up being kids with realistic portrayals.

The movie didn't even feel like a "summer blockbuster" type of movie, it was that much of a throwback. Sure there was a monster and explosions, and other sub-plots involving the military, but they were shoved to the background enough that they were almost afterthoughts. Kind of a similar vibe that ET had, actually. So not an actionfest, for those who might be expecting that.

Really good movie though. It's the human characters that make this movie for sure - mostly from the lead boy character ("Joe"). IMO this movie will probably appeal most to those who still have that inner kid in them or have that sense of imagination.

 

[jnmx2000]

the movies awesome. it's pretty much a modern version of close encounters of the third kind. The stories nothing original but it still feels fresh and new given Abrams style and flair. If you like close encounters you'll like this.

 

[The Shape]

It's already been answered (aside from the Cloverfield bit), but you're wrong. It's a spoilery question. You'll understand when you see it.

I see, I'm just wondering if this honestly has any connection with Cloverfield.

 

[chaseter]

Maybe you haven't seen the trailer in a while, but that's definitely not the vibe you've should've gotten.

It's a straight up fantasy adventure movie with horror and comedy elements mixed in with sci-fi action and drama of course.

Goonies is a fantasy adventure. The trailer has a ton of action in it. The first 20 something seconds set up the characters and location. Then it's huge train explosion, monster escapes train, army comes into town to kill monster, dogs and people are missing and dying, gas station window gets blown out and guy gets pulled out, the cop/dad surveys the damage, a strange cube flies through the wall, army is flame thrower-ing a field, kids decide to investigate, house explosion, kids are attacked in car, more explosions, bus is toppled over by monster, kids are running with fire around them, another window is blown out, guns shooting in bus, more explosions, guy says he saw monster, things floating in the air, car explosion...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vtn5dm9uYi8

So maybe you haven't seen the trailer in a while. It doesn't look like a fantasy adventure with comedic and horror elements thrown in. It looks like a sci-fi fantasy with a ton of tension, action, and horror. The trailer makes it look NOTHING like the Goonies. It looks nothing like a fantasy adventure.

 

[The Morningstar]

What's kinda annoying me is how so many people only seem interested about the details of the creature, like it actually means something to know what it is and what it looks like before watching the movie.

See that's the problem with modern films and modern audiences. The audience wants the money shots, they want to see everything as soon as possible... and the films will give it to them.

Whereas back in the day it was all about building tension, letting your imagination do the work.

From what i hear and read this film goes back to that formula, which is awesome.

 

[Matt]

this movie was amazing...take ET/Close Encounters and Goonies and blend it together and you have Super 8

and for those with

Spoiler

arachnophobia....the creature wont trigger it

my film school is giving us a 16mm camera and a roll of film to shoot over the weekend.... i cant wait

I see. Thanks, Roach.

 

[John Locke]

the movies awesome. it's pretty much a modern version of close encounters of the third kind. The stories nothing original but it still feels fresh and new given Abrams style and flare. If you like close encounters you'll like this.

Solar Flare? Don't get me wrong his Star Trek is one of my favorite movies but there was too many solar flares. Is that the same for this movie.

 

[Asr]

Solar Flare? Don't get me wrong his Star Trek is one of my favorite movies but there was too many solar flares. Is that the same for this movie.

You mean lens flare, right? Solar flares are something completely different. There were a LOT of blue lens flares in the movie. It was really distracting because most movies don't have lens flare, and in this movie they were practically everywhere.

And another thing that took me out of the movie was the constant re-focus from background to foreground along with simultaneous aperture adjustment (to get that zoom-like effect). This got borderline annoying as the movie went on. I don't understand why filmmakers think they have to re-focus at all, as if they have to tell the audience where to look at on-screen - they should just set the camera so everything in the frame is sharp and nothing is blurred out.

Edit: oh and I'm pretty sure jnmx2000 meant "flair", not "flare".

 

[jnmx2000]

Solar Flare? Don't get me wrong his Star Trek is one of my favorite movies but there was too many solar flares. Is that the same for this movie.

lol by flair I didn't mean lens flare, but yes there are lens flares in the film, but only during key scenes of the film. Yes I actually meant flair, was how he visually uses the camera and lighting, even during the slower scenes, he still manages to make the scene visually exciting.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

I'll be seeing this either later today or tommorow.

 

[Solidus]

I'll be seeing it twice today, so hope I like it lol. I told one friend I would go with him, and he can only go at a certain time, then another friend had the same thing, so I will see it twice.

 

[faceplant]

can someone who has seen it sketch the alien and post or send to me?

 

[Marx]

The 'rate the movie' poll has been added!

 

[Prison Mike]

Here's my question. Just how awesome was Kyle Chandler? Very awesome or extremely awesome?

 

[Crockett]

The 'rate the movie' poll has been added!

Wonderful, thanks.

Here's my question. Just how awesome was Kyle Chandler? Very awesome or extremely awesome?

He's excellent in here, I don't watch Friday Night Lights but I heard he's good in there as well.