Reviews & Ratings for
Super 8 More at IMDbPro »

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329 out of 430 people found the following review useful:
Elements cobbled together from other Spielberg films ***spoilers, 12 June 2011

Author: mkc1218 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Super 8, derivative and disappointing at its best, can be summarized using elements from the other sci-fi/thrillers that Spielberg either directed, produced, or exec-produced.

Some annoying kids find a map (Goonies) – including a fat kid who likes to eat (Goonies) – and they come up against the military which is trying to track down an alien on the loose (E.T.).

The creature has created issues for the townsfolk who express concern at a meeting with the sheriff (Jaws) and they eventually have to evacuate because of a made-up disaster (Close Encounters).

The alien, who is a really a spider (Arachnaphobia) that has been collecting items so that he can get home (E.T.), has the ability to make a psychic connection with humans (Close Encounters). One of the kids has a seemingly useless obsession that winds up helping to save the day in a climactic sequence (fireworks here and inventions in the Goonies) however the creature is much too smart to fall for such a trick (Jaws - "he's either very smart or very stupid"). An old guy, who is an expert on this creature (Jaws) winds up dying while the army shoots through the town and tanks roll (War of the Worlds).

Then the characters put the story together in one long expositional scene and we are not really sure how they figured it all out (Minority Report). It seems the monster is really a misunderstood good guy (Goonies) who makes a connection with our hero (ET, Close Encounters) and then flies home (E.T), but not before a lot of missing people are returned (Close Encounters) and lots of appliances fly around (Poltergeist).

The End.

370 out of 572 people found the following review useful:
Been there, done that, 14 June 2011

Author: bruce-149 from Chicago

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.

266 out of 386 people found the following review useful:
I was expecting so much more..., 19 June 2011

Author: Michael Trudgeon

I don't make movies or review them. I am simply someone who loves going to the movies and have seen more than I can count. I was waiting for Super 8 for about 6 months. I saw the early trailers, was involved in the viral campaigns. I was amped to go and experience another great JJ Abrams film.

Like many reviewers I started on a high then at about half way my opinion of the movie had gone down a lot.

I watch a lot of movies and like to think I know a good movie when I see one. For me it's simple. Was it interesting? Was it entertaining? Was it original? This is what makes a great movie to me. Super 8 was not a great movie.

The best way to describe Super 8 is take ET and put it in a blender with Cloverfield. But it just doesn't feel like it blended how it should have.

The are too main stories...little kids having adventures, growing up and falling in love. Other the other side a monster attacks the city cloverfield style. The kid parts are filmed in a very ET 80's cinemas style. The alien parts are modern with CGI and at times it honestly doesn't feel like you are watching the same film.

Don't even get me started on inconsistencies of this movie... like a man driving into a speeding train derailing it and SURVIVING? lol... seriously?

Super 8 feels very much like a fan made dedication to Spielberg but it just didn't quite work.

I will say the kids were excellent actors and I would have been more entertained just watching a movie about them with no alien. Elle Fanning out acted every one, even the adult cast. She proved to be an amazing young actress portraying a maturity far beyond her age. But with the other characters I had no real emotional attachment to them. I didn't feel sorry for the alien, was I supposed to?

Like I said I am simply a movie buff and to me this was not anything special. I'm surprised by all these 10/10 reviews, because this movie had nothing new that you haven't seen in 50 other films. I think it would have made 2 great separate films, where they could have taken their time to build the story. Combined though I would say wait for DVD.

243 out of 345 people found the following review useful:
When you see a bike fly, walk out of the theater and make up your own ending, 11 June 2011

Author: Abraham Torry from New York, United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The film is about a town mystery looked through the eyes of children. From the early part of the movie, you feel like something powerful and dangerous is lurking around and is going to jump out on you at any moment. Ever-multiplying questions tease your brain and a suspense is building up at the back of your mind right up to the end of the story.

The acting was very convincing and drawing although the movie suffers from its mediocre ending. A few times I felt that the logic and the flow of the plot were a bit unrealistic and artificial. I wish that the story was focused more on the mystery and the children's reactions without all the insignificant distractions and one-dimensional minor characters.

After being disappointed by a series of recent movies, this one was refreshing and heart-fluttering. It flings us back to the adventure-seeking and truth-chasing time of our childhood. If you are into tantalizing sci-fi thrillers like this movie, I recommend 'Somewhere carnal over 40 winks' as your summer read.

143 out of 197 people found the following review useful:
first 80 minutes : great!!! last 30 minutes : horrible!!!, 9 August 2011

Author: ghomeishy from Germany

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

140 out of 203 people found the following review useful:
Supremely disappointing and shallow, 9 June 2011

Author: ryanslice from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Although I could create an extensive list of cliché one-liners, obvious inconsistencies, and totally unrealistic occurrences (even for a PG-13 sc-fi movie), the underlying reason that I will influence friends to not see this movie is because the plot was weak and shallow.

First of all, there are actually 4 subplots that a viewer has to juggle between!

1) A budding romantic relationship between the two main (middle school) characters 2) Mending a tense father-child relationship(s) (also with both main characters) 3) A group of early teens helping the alien return home and... 4) A son finding a way to cope with the loss of his mother *I might not have deemed 4) as a plot line if it wasn't for the intentionally-dramatic "letting the alien take mom's locket" scene as the last scene in the movie*

These plots were all given fairly even amounts of attention and while they did have some connecting, because there is not much screen-time or time dedicated to deepen dialogue within the individual plots, they all come off as unimportant.

While it does have a fair amount of suspense, the action sequences are typical at best.

Overall, just a flat-out poor showing by high profile names (and a $45m budget).

Like I mentioned in the beginning sentence, there are so many things that just don't make any sense. But the biggest question I had walking away is why did the Air Force end up killing Dr. Woodward??? There was no reason for his murder whatsoever! (Not considering the fact that he was still alive after a head-on collision with a speeding freight train). It's almost funny how drastic that decision was by the "evil Air Force Sargent," Nelec.

130 out of 190 people found the following review useful:
Not Super Great, 17 June 2011

Author: guitaresee from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I created an account just so I could do my duty as a citizen of the world and warn others not to see this horrid piece of garbage called super 8. Save yourself 2 hours of life and 8 bucks and do anything else.

Here is the plot summary: a group of annoying kids (with the squeaky- obnoxious-puberty voice) are trying to make a movie. They witness a train wreck and capture an alien on camera. They run around for 70 minutes yelling profanities and telling each other to "shut up". Dogs run away. Lights flicker. The military gets involved. There are numerous explosions. The alien is going to eat people. The main kid tells the alien through a psychic connection "you can survive hard times" and the alien builds a spaceship and leaves.

Very slow moving, nothing ties together. Extremely BOOOOOORRRING.

As mentioned by others, the characters are like those from "The Goonies" and "The Sandlot". To make this movie: Take the token fat kid, small annoying blonde kid, nerdy kid with glasses, and a normal kid and throw them into "War of the Worlds", give them fireworks and watch what happens.

The end of this movie is very similar to "Knowing"... yeah...

Overall, the movie was just plain awful. I honestly do not know how any reasonable human being could give this movie an 8/10.

139 out of 210 people found the following review useful:
Trying to be what it's not, 9 June 2011

Author: chris-76-20944 from New Zealand

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This movie wants to take you on a ride, it wants to take you back to a time and a place where the world was that little more innocent.

This movie wants your heart to skip a beat when danger is near, and wants you to lose your breath when the heroes are in peril.

This movie wants to be a lot of things, but ultimately there's just something missing. You feel like a spectator just waiting to get involved, but as the movie creeps along and goes through the motions you begin to realize that the sidelines are as close as you're going to get.

There's virtually no back story to what's on board the train and when do finally learn more about it it's then too late to care. The father and son have both been impacted by a traumatic and life-changing event, but aside from a few passing encounters we don't ever really feel their pain.

There are some moments in the movie that stir something deeper down, but they're over almost as quickly as they begun and you're back to the bleachers watching a fairly boring, simple story unfold.

I think what is at fault here is the plot - it's seemingly non-existent. The director has taken a bunch of things that on their own sound like a great recipe, but some vital magic got missed from the mix and it just never comes together like it should.

179 out of 307 people found the following review useful:
Pathetic waste of time, 11 June 2011

Author: macjoubert from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Wish there was a 0 rating. The movie was absolutely awful, how many times will directors try to stuff ugly alien with amazing technology down our throat.Very slow narration and build up. Reminded me of Ang Lee trying to put a personality behind The Hulk. So many loopholes in this movie , we are to believe the thing kills its victims, okay it doesn't, what does it use them for? Just too predictable. We see the thing getting out of the train in the first bit and we have to almost wait an eternity to see its ugly head again, and its not worth it. For all the hype that was thrown its way it hasn't delivered, and anyone comparing it to ET, get a grip , a bit of bottle and see the doctor. The movies are poles apart.

190 out of 334 people found the following review useful:
Mixing Their Trademarks, 11 June 2011

Author: MBloodT from Philippines

The concept of "Super 8" is combining the elements of J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg. The trailer made you think it's like E.T. plus Cloverfield. Well, it's true. There is nothing new about "Super 8" but it brought us back to the good old classic times, it's funny, it's exciting, and it's amazing.

"Super 8" is another intriguing monster movie by J.J. Abrams. Yes, you really wanna know what it looks like but I'm not gonna tell you. The sad thing is it's not as intriguing as Cloverfield. But It's easy to ignore that problem because there is something better than being another Cloverfield. It feels like you are watching a good old classic movie. Great characters, Good old fashion score, and kids intrigued by the situation.

The story is really about the characters' zombie movie making and the family tragedy while there's a monster attacking their town. The monster is like the background or the subplot of this film. But the movie still got suspense. The movie is indeed beautiful and plenty of heart. The movie is just nostalgic stuff. It's not trying to be new. It just wants to show how J.J. Abrams is inspired by Steven Spielberg's movies.

There are some amazing scenes in this film. Example, the train collision was breathtaking. The movie sure has a lot of humor. It's like a relic to the old family movies. The CGI is good enough. The performances were good. The kids gave a lot of personality to their roles.

"Super 8" is a J.J. Abrams film with Spielberg's trademarks all over it. It's not a blockbuster that has a lot of action and less talking. This movie is made in old fashion style. Yep, this movie is nostalgic if you saw Spielberg's old movies and it's good to see another one like it.

Note: There is something interesting in the credits. You might wanna check it out.

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