21 May 2012

Stupid 8

Is anyone else sick of Speilberg using that same shot of people peering up at the sky with wondrous looks on their faces. I mean he used it in Close Encounters, etcetera etcetera. And is anyone sick of his terrible plot. Watching his movies are like reading Stephen King. Lots of fluff and amazing pyrotechnics by no story, no plot. He just be banned from movie making. What was this movie about? A monster is trapped on earth, and waits to the movie to be made to build a spaceship? What? Stupid. Just plain stupid. And by the way, the little vignette of a Super 8 movie of the title made by the kid main characters and shown at the end with the credits was far better than the stupid movie which preceded it.

20 May 2012

worst movie

This review is from: Super 8 (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) (Blu-ray) I so wanted to like this. I mean with names like Speilberg and JJ Abrams, I thought this would be great. I'm a huge "Fringe" fan, but this movie lacked any of that vitality. The kids were okay, but the plot line was weak, the acting poor and it never seemed to work, for me anyway. For being blu-ray, and having a few action scenes, particularly the train accident, it could have been so much more intense.Sadly, all this taught me is this: I will be more cautious of future movies with these names attached.

nickmesafilms

19 May 2012

Super 8 (2011) - A Breathtaking Sci-Fi Spielberg Tribute!

Written and directed by J.J. Abrams, accompanied by producer StevenSpielberg, "Super 8" is a sci-fi thriller about creatures from theunknown. But at it's heart, it's a movie about forgetting the terms ofthe past, and growing up. Set in the late 70s, the movie is about agroup of kids who experience a deadly train crash while filming a movieon a Super 8 camera. Then, when something breaks out of the train, noneof the children has any idea of what has just emerged. Then, the cityexperiences unexpected disappearances, a power outage, and missingdogs. For all we know, that thing could be an alien. "Super 8" is aclassic tribute to Steven Spielberg's classic sci-fi flicks like "CloseEncounters of the Third Kind" and "E.T.". Every moment feels likewatching a classic nostalgic sci-fi. This is a thrilling, suspenseful,and masterfully accomplished film, directed beautifully by J.J. Abrams.Every moment kept me on the edge of my seat, because I was entertainedby the heartbreaking drama, suspenseful action, and all the amazingspecial effects, music, and sound. The performances by the young castincluding Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, and Riley Griffiths were alljust special, when they do things that any adult actor would do. Fromtheir feelings of freaking out, and their inappropriate swearing, theymake this movie stand out for what it really is. The only problem withthe film was it's cheesy ending. It was disappointing, that it feltlike it was too quick to end the movie already, and it's really silly.The rest of "Super 8" is crystal clear perfect. This is a spectacularfilm, and it's one of the best of 2011. The young performances, thespecial effects, the classic storyline, and that Spielberg touch helpsmake a classic sci-fi. "Super 8", in my review, "a thrilling tribute ofSpielberg sci-fi".

19 May 2012

Action/Adventure...With A Human Element

"Super 8" is not a deep movie. It will not make you re-evaluate your life priorities or questions yourself on a deep level. What it does, however, is provide top-of-the-line action/adventure that will also make you care about the characters in the end.For a basic plot summary, "Super 8" focuses on a group of 15-something young "filmmakers" (basically a group of adolescents with a simple film camera) who, while acting out their nerd-film fantasies, stumble across a government conspiracy of the deepest order.What really makes this film pop off the screen is the passion that JJ Abrams put into it. JJ knows how to craft an expert screenplay filled with multiple layers of meaning. Even more importantly, though, is that Abrams was once one of those "film nerds" himself, so he knows the culture. As such, it is clear that he truly poured his heart into this project and the effort shines through.The acting is also top-notch, if not from the adults as much as the six-person kid troupe. They are a joy to watch and add the requisite goofiness/humor to a movie of this magnitude.Production-value wise, it doesn't get much better than this, either. The action is heart-pounding, the visuals are stunning, and the adventure sprawls from beginning to end. There is never a boring moment or letdown throughout.Overall, "Super 8" is an incredible "popcorn flick" that adds a great storyline, characters, and multi-genre appeal. It may not be "deep", but it doesn't matter...it's just too engaging not to enjoy.

al

18 May 2012

Nonsense.

For anyone who really knows Spielberg's work -- especially Close Encounters and ET -- this film is nothing more than a bad copy, and comes off to me as a sort of sickening hero worship of Spielberg by JJ Abrams. It's completely derivative -- in its cinematography, editing rhythms, music. What is different is its awkward, cloying emotionalism. Spielberg could do this stuff and not make you wince at embarrassing moments between characters. The final scene is a perfect example. The boy "talks" to the monster face to face, as if he's his shrink, giving him a pep talk! What nonsense. Spielberg would have tossed that idea in the garbage (and surprising he would want his name on this). One of the most ridiculous scenes in any movie I've seen, and for whatever was good about Super 8, that completely ruined it. Terrible movie. If you haven'et seen Spielberg's great movies from the late 70s and early 80s, don't see this! see the originals!

konaglen

18 May 2012

Boring

Found it hard to believe this movie got high reviews. I love Scify, butexcept for a couple funny lines I was bored stiff. Took my wife with meand her comment was that this was the most stupid movie she has seen. I saw X-men and thought that was great, but don't waste your money onthis one. Sure the special effects were great, but these days you come to expectabout the same in most movies of this type. The movie may be liked moreby the younger crowd, but the mature audience will see a boring moviewith a simple, silly plot. I went to see Super 8 because of thereviews, but will be a little more cautious in the future.

15 May 2012

Movie made for kids and then the rest...

Good little monster movie. But instead of a monster movie with kids you get a kid'smovie with monsters. Good for a view or two, it keeps you interested to the end.As another reviewer stated...its 75% kids and 25% monster.

15 May 2012

All the right ingredients, but not memorable

Great acting by all, particularly the kids. I liked the story line and the setting. The train crash was really well done. The extras kept me busy for another 2 hours. I particularly liked learning about the making of and the day in the life of a new kid actor. Overall it's a very good movie that I"ll probably watch again in a few years as I won't remember much about it.But, like others have said there are a lot of similarities to other movies, except for stand out moments like in ET or Stand By Me that I am going to remember. You can tell in the Extras that J.J. was shooting for that, but just doesn't quite get there. I started out confused in the beginning due mainly to the trailer showing a train crash that I thought someone died in the crash, but I wasn't sure who or why until much later. Other than the boy looking at his mother's necklace throughout I didn't see a lot of emotion about the loss. The girl showed much more emotion acting in their little super8 movie then he did and the scene at the end where the boy goes from being totally scared to being totally calm facing the monster down a leap in direction emotionally. Also what was with the dogs, were they just scared and running off. What was the monster doing with the people? The violence in which he took them and then the pristine health of the victims didn't seem to match, particularly if they had been drug through tunnels. I guess they wanted a scary movie that was politically correct or didn't scare little kids too much.Maybe it's because I am much older and I don't see the memorable moments with the same eyes that I saw ET or Stand By Me. I hope JJ keeps making more though as he's on the right track and hope to see the kids in more movies as they were naturals.

13 May 2012

Good movie, big BUT...

I would seriously like to slap the snot out of whoever did the sound on this film. We rented this from Amazon. We have a home theatre system. The quiet conversations interspersed with frequent DEAFENING crashes, explosions, screams, etc. make it nearly unwatchable! I rode the remote the ENTIRE time, which is absolutely no fun, and my upstairs neighbors actually stomped on their livingroom floor at least 3 times because some of the scenes were so suddenly loud I couldn't possibly keep the volume at one steady level and still hear what the actors were saying. Why do filmmakers do this? It's obnoxious. And this film is one of the worst offenders. I guess if we'd gone to see this in a theatre, we'd have come home with blood streaming from our ears. I'd really like to watch it again because the cast was uniformly great and the story attention-grabbing -- but I won't, because of this one issue. Had it not been a streaming rental and a DVD instead, I might have watched it again -- with English captioning and NO sound.

Colin George

13 May 2012

Gr8

It's getting harder and harder to make movies like Super 8. Without themarketing muscle of a comic book superhero or a million dollar mug toslap on the poster, director J.J. Abrams gave the Hollywood beancounters dangerously little to count on. Even after Star Trek provedAbrams could direct the hell out of a summer blockbuster, the budgetallocated for his pet follow-up is as diminutive as its young cast.There is one megaton name Abrams drops on the Super 8 one-sheet: StevenSpielberg. But then, even his involvement means little when stinkerslike Transformers and Eagle Eye regularly reappropriate his reputationfor their own nefarious purposes. Fortunately, Abrams' connection toSpielberg is more personal.Super 8 is a tribute to the early accomplishments of the famousfilmmaker, and to his ilk who fell under the Amblin Entertainmentbanner in the 1980s. Abrams draws thirstily from their well, andprecedes his film with that iconic E.T. over-the-moon title card. Hiscontribution isn't quite the missing masterpiece many might have hoped,but it is a fun sci-fi throwback with modern flourishes and plenty ofheart. Imagine that.Like Richard Donner's Goonies, the pint-sized protagonists of Super 8are kids. Not the angsty teenage set that Twilight has cornered, butkids. Cute, flawed, and endearing, the cast and casting directordeserves a lot of credit. Two of the youngest stars make their debuthere, including Joel Courtney as Joe, a boy dealing with the untimelydeath of his mother, and Riley Griffiths as Charles —Joe's (token bigboned) friend with directorial aspirations.Hence the title, a love of filmmaking permeates Super 8 — not just inAbrams' confident, informed direction, but among his characters aswell. Set in the summer of '79, our heroes sneak out by night to shootscenes for Charles' schlocky zombie detective short, The Case. Anyonewho's messed around with a camcorder as a kid or endured an amateurfilm festival will immediately recognize the beats. Armed withapproximations of professional equipment that would put my friends andI and our Mickey Mouse operation to shame, these characters areseriously creative. But then, being written by J.J. Abrams doesn'thurt.It's no real spoiler that Super 8 is an alien flick, and Charles'little project takes a dramatic turn when he records something he wasnever meant to see. A loosed extraterrestrial menace stirs up troublein the close-knit community, but with the subsequent governmentinvasion, the first act's micro-focus begins to blur. Spielberg's ownE.T. benefited from an exclusively adolescent perspective. Bycomparison, Super 8 wanders.Though we're never parted from Joe long, the unfolding alien dramararely meshes with the human story. Creature characterization should bemarried to his coming-of-age, but instead, exposition usually amountsto an isolated attack on a tertiary character. The scenes play wellwith suspense and camera trickery, but in hindsight, the plot is prettymuch paused for action.Super 8 is still a summer movie to aspire to. Like Inception, itdefiantly forgoes franchising in favor of an as-yet untapped creativereserve. Of course, Abrams draws from the same wellspring thatSpielberg, Donner, and Dante drank from, but even when he borrows, hereminds us why so many films made for triple the price aren't half asenjoyable — heart. Call Abrams overambitious, but his is a story oflove, reconciliation, and friendship. How exactly do you quantify that?

wadechurton

13 May 2012

Ideal entertainment for the timid and unadventurous!

If you've ever wanted to see a cinematic mash-up of the Goonies andCloverfield, then look no further. That's about the best you can sayabout 'Super 8', and it's not a compliment. Honestly, I regret evenpaying half-price rental for this candy-assed load of sticky-sweetbubblegum nonsense. 'Super 8' was total cornball pap from start tofinish, and an ideal flick for the kids' slumber party. Rest assuredthat youngsters won't be getting too many bad dreams after this one. Ohlook, I've said all I need to, but since I have to spin this review outto a minimum of ten lines of writing, let me just say in closing thatokay there we go that's ten lines, see ya later.

Drathman3000

12 May 2012

Fun but disappointingly straight-forward.

The movie started like almost any other old-fashioned action, with adistressing situation with a kid and his dad. And with that lame notewhile sitting in the cinema, I guessed that the movie was going to bevery generic. I was right.I was quite disappointed when I finished watching the film. Though ithad its moments, it also had cringe-worthy parts to it. The wholestructure of the story was clichéd and predictable, especially theselection of characters and turn of events during the middle. At leastthe idea is rather original in its own way I suppose, but too many ofwhat it had to offer was reused too often in other films of a similargenre (romance between kids, change of heart for the alien, awesome dadetc) and it was very, very straightforward. Though the action wasplenty of fun, I have to admit. Something of teenager's local sci-fifantasy. At least it felt like a bad-ass version of E.T. A good watchif you preferred a more action-filled and deadly situation than of theugly but admirable E.T fella. Luckily for me, my money wasn't wasted.

nicktgr15

12 May 2012

Far below my expectations

After reading many reviews on IMDb about how classic and how emotionalthis movie would be I felt really disappointed from what I saw lastnight. The plot was very predictable, the actors' performances were nottouching and the alien was ugly and stupid.For me, it's probably the worst movie I've seen this year. If you likedclose encounters but didn't really like E.T. just stay away from thismovie. The only positive was the special effects in the train crash scene..The rest of the CGI didn't fit to the movie ..especially thetransformer like robot-monster-alien..

John Frances

11 May 2012

Stay Home And Watch A Movie

Yep I said it stay home. There is so much hype about the movie and then a big drop to earth when you see the movie. I know there are different strokes for different folks. They got my money dont let them get yours.

freemantle_uk

07 May 2012

There is only one J.J. Abrams!

Super 8 was one of the most anticipated films of 2011 but like with anyfilm with high exception there is the risk becoming a majordisappointment. Luckily it delivered and is both a highly entertainingfilm and has a heart.Set in the late 1970s in the town of a Lillian, Ohio, Joe Lamb (JoelCourntney) is a 13-year-old boy whom mother dies in a work placeaccident. His father (Kyle Chandler) is the Deputy Sheriff of the townand obviously struggling with the lost of his wife and having to carefor his son. Joe's friend Charles (Riley Griffiths) is directing azombie film, wanting to ever it into a film festival. Joe helps hisfriend and one night they film at a train station with Alice Dainard(Elle Franning) and the rest of their crew when a truck drives into atrain and derails it. Quickly strange things happens in the town; dogsrunaway, people disappear and there are power cuts. The military rollsinto town. But whilst all this goes on the teens attempt to completetheir film and Joe and Alice become closer.J.J. Abrams is a highly skilled writer and director and modelled hiscareer on Steven Spielberg, not a bad model. But unlike say M. NightShyamalan who did the same thing Abrams is able to vary his style.Whilst Super 8 is an entertaining, first pace film, Abrams made surethat the family and human drama was central to his film. We got to knowhis characters and their issues. We basically see the mystery and theevents through the eyes of children and original people some unusual ishappening. Some critics have compared Super 8 to Spielberg's earlyfilms, which makes sense because of his influence on the director andproduced it, but I personally was reminded by of Stephen King stories,a group of original kids who get cause in some extraordinary event.There was fast paced action, the train clash was a really well madesequence, but the social drama was also interesting, whether it was Joeand his father having to face up to their relationship, theinvestigation by the police or Joe and Alice's budding relationship.Abrams was able to make his film a success without the need to cast bigname actors. His young cast were skilled and natural, they actuallyfelt like they were ordinary kids, not what some Hollywood hack thinkswhat they are like. They are made out to be individuals, they areslightly nerdy but Abrams avoided the clichés of cliques and bullies.The adults too are made out to be normal, ordinary people trying tocope with their domestic issues and affects on their communities.Super 8 is not perfect, there is a bit too much comic relief involvingthe characters for its own good and there are a few clichés: but itstill a whether movie.

siderite

07 May 2012

A modern E.T. with some interesting ideas

In 1982, Steven Spielberg produced a movie called "E.T." which went tobecome an instant classic. In it, an alien is stranded on Earth and achild is helping the frightened creature return home, defying authorityand following his heart. This film has an eerily similar plot.There are differences, though. This alien is huge, has no problemkilling people and only in one scene seems to blend into a semblance ofthe E.T. we know and love. The effects are obviously better and thekids are brilliant in their play, especially Elle Fanning, who at 13seems to be an already well established actress.Bottom line: this is more of a thought provoking film, rather than akiddie, heart melting, "Awww" thing. It might be one of the fewJ.J.Abrams scripts that I liked. I actually waited so long to watch itbecause he directed the film. It is not a masterpiece, but itaccomplishes every goal set.

chris-rogers2

06 May 2012

Outstanding young actors carry affectionate tribute

It's 1979, E.L.O. and The Knack are on the transistor radio and theWalkman, Three Mile Island is on the TV, but five young teenagersescape from school at the start of the summer vacation with nothing ontheir mind except finishing their zombie home movie, shot on a Super 8movie camera. Well, not quite: one of them fancies the pretty blondedaughter of the local bad boy, and – having added the character of awife for the zombie-hunting detective – asks one of the others topersuade her to join the crew. They assemble at the local train station at midnight to shoot thetearful wife begging her detective husband not to leave her. Areal-life train thunders its way toward the station, and the team,eager to embrace the concept of 'production values', spring into actionfor a take. But a truck suddenly appears on the track, driving straightfor the train….What follows sees the town experiencing mysterious vanishings ofmachines then people, the military taking a close interest in the trainwreck and something very nasty in the woods, before an ending that…well, more on that later.Produced by Steve Spielberg but written and directed by JJ Abrams,Super 8 is essentially a tribute to that far-off golden summer, whenAbrams would have been thirteen himself. It's a tribute, too, to thesmall-town American values that Spielberg, of course, championed, toold-school movie making before digital age, and to friendship, and love(old and new), loss and letting go. Perhaps something more original could reasonably have been expectedfrom Abrams, creator of Alias, Lost and Cloverfield; certainly much ofthe film's plot will be familiar to fans of Poltergeist, The Goonies,Explorers and all of those kids' adventure films of the mid-eighties.There are many inconsistencies, and many very very lucky co-incidencesthat keep things moving along. The adult performances are only adequateand the ending will be not at all unfamiliar to anyone who saw acertain Big Film of 1982.But it would be churlish to complain, and here's why. There are some neat nods to film-making techniques and tropes, such asthe scientists' documentary footage that screams of fifties B-movies.In an echo of both Cloverfield and Spielberg's War of the Worlds, thereare some inevitable 9/11 references and there is some blood and guts.Just as Spielberg portrayed this milieu and these emotions straight andwithout cynicism, so to does Abrams; there is nothing ironic orspiteful about the relationships depicted and the teenagers are eachcarefully drawn. Importantly, though, and to recognise that things dochange in a generation, these teenagers are smart, snappy and modern,without being unpleasant or super-saccharine.Critically, the acting of every one of the six friends is, quitesimply, superb. Joel Courtney is the quiet Joe, grieving for his motherbut too confined by his father's reaction to the loss; Riley Griffithsis ballsy Charles, putative film mogul whose love for the girl nearlyspoils things; Gabriel Basso is Martin, whose reactions as eventsspiral into an abyss shows real, genuine fear and pain; Ryan Lee istalkative firestarter Cary; and Zach Mills is world-weary Preston, withwhom things are always safe. Improvisation shows in some of thesequences, and everyone gets their moment. It's Elle Fanning, however, as that Girl – Alice – who really shines. She delivers an exceptional performance throughout the film, but in twoscenes in particular is absolutely heartbreaking. Both are enhanced bythe sensitivity and skills of Abrams' direction. Early on, when thefriends rehearse the film-within-the-film's station farewell scene,Abrams conjures a magical moment of young love emergent as, at the endof the take, all five of the boys are surprised to find lumps in theirthroats and the need for excuses to look away, the better to wipe theireyes. In contrast, when Alice later confesses her personal link toJoe's mother's death, it is made all the more powerful by thesimplicity of its staging, Alice facing only the flickering screenshowing Joe's father's home movies whilst Joe sits silently a littleapart from her. I challenge anyone not to shed a tear at either scene,played to the hilt by an actress who was just twelve when the film wasmade.As if that wasn't enough to recommend it, don't miss the end credits.You don't get any outtakes or sneak peaks or dance numbers; but whatyou do get is The Case, the complete film-within-the-film that thecharacters started making at the beginning, with all the wise innocenceyou'd expect. It's wonderful.For all its flaws, this film's heart is absolutely in the right place,and if the direction and writing are a little lacking from theirincendiary best at times, I think we can allow that.

BobbyPG

05 May 2012

The overall product is wonderfully nostalgic, while successfully being its own work of art.

J.J. Abrams has released his first complete brain-child, somethingcompletely his own. Well, sort of. For a long time he's had the ideaand the characters for a movie about a group of kids making movies inthe early 70′s. This was not enough to bring people into the theaters,or to hold a serious plot. So, this second idea of a monster movie,which Abrams also has had in his pocket for a while, was thrown intothe melting pot, and Super 8 was born. The combination of the two ideasis actually pretty obvious while watching the movie. It's almost onehalf characters, one half monsters. But the synchronization andblending of the two was done well enough not to detract from the actualmovie.Something about the story and production of the movie that has gotten alot of attention from critics is the comparison and similarity of thismovie to classic Steven Spielberg movies like E.T. and Close Encountersof the Third Kind. Firstly, the people are right. The camera work andangles, the similar story idea about a kid and an alien, and otheraspects really are very similar to said movies. But the last time Ichecked, those were incredible movies, and this follows suite. It islike a band covering another, and doing it well enough to be calledtheir own. That's the best analogy I can make. Secondly, while verysimilar in some areas, it sets itself apart with it's new-age effects,and I think the characters are immensely deeper than those of moviespast.If there is one thing that made this movie as good as it was, it wasthe cast, the group of kids specifically. Most of them had not seenmuch work, so finding such a great combination of people is awesome tosee. These kids were incredible. They bring thoughts of The Goonies, apack of friends that are just an absolute joy to watch go through somecrazy adventures. These kids' on-screen presence was palpable, beggingto be called perfect. Joel Courtney, the new-coming lead role, wasgreat. You can feel both his pain and his compassion throughout. Hiscast of movie- making buddies, with Riley Griffiths playing the controlfreak director, Ryan Lee playing the wacky pyromaniac and Gabriel Bassoplaying the quirky actor, are virtually a non-fictional group offriends making movies together. Last, but definitely not least, we havethe enchanting Elle Fanning, who from her first time being on-screen inthis movie, completely blew me out of the water. She is an older kidbrought into the gang's movie to play the leading actress, and even herin-movie acting is insane. Since her role in Somewhere, which I thoughtshe killed, she seems so much more mature and grown up. She is solovely and adorable, much more-so than her sister, who is nothing toscoff at herself, I can only wait patiently to see what her extremelyyoung career can blossom into. Kyle Chandler also turns in a very solidrole as Courtney's absent, mourning father.As far as the actual monster goes, there are some holes that can bepunched in it's story-line, but as a whole it does its job to thrill,and even scare us and put us on the edge of our seats. There is moreI'd like to say, but that is flirty with spoiler territory, so I won'tget into it. There is also the ending of the movie, which I thoughtleft questions unanswered, and maybe wanting a little bit more, butwon't take too much shine from the whole thing.One specific scene I was very excited for was the train crashing scene.Abrams and Spielberg both said in an interview that they loved the ideaof doing their own trail derailing scene in a movie someday, and itreally shows in the early part of this movie. The crash scene itself isspectacular, awe-inspiring. The other effects are great as well, with atypical Abrams monster, that you get to see a lot more of thanCloverfield.As a side note, I was really hoping that the soundtrack would match thepotential of the visuals of the movie, but I think it was a littledisappointing. Probably the only forgettable thing about the entiremovie, which is a great thing to say.Be sure to stay for the credits!My Rating- Super 8 is almost a tribute to movies of its own in-story time, witha near perfect cast and characters, and delicious looking specialeffects. While the meshing of two ideas, characters and a monster,struggles at points, and the ending is slightly disappointing, theoverall product is wonderfully nostalgic, while successfully being itsown work of art.Find all of my reviews at robpg.wordpress.com

Polysomno

05 May 2012

Back in time

Super 8 really brings you back to the 70's such as music, lifestyle.The monster part of the movie made me think of those double bills fromthe 50's with a monster from another planet and the army trying todominate it. I liked the friendship between the young kids, theirenthusiasm about film making and their courage to stand up against themonster. The monster from outer space landed in 1957 or 1958. It wasjust trying to go back home, but the army stopped its efforts. The armywanted to do experiments on the creature, so that they could learn moreabout how it ticks. Professor or Dr. Woodward was just trying to helpthe creature get back home. He understood what the monster from outerspace was going through.

Jackson Booth-Millard

04 May 2012

Super 8

From producer Steven Spielberg, and writer/director and creator ofLost, J.J. Abrams (Mission: Impossibe III), I saw the trailer for thisfilm in the cinema, it got a lot of hype, but I wasn't sure whether Iwould want to see it or not, but I did watch eventually. Basically, setin summer 1979, Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), Charles Kaznyk (RileyGriffiths), Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning), Preston (Zach Mills), Martin(Gabriel Basso) and Cary (Ryan Lee) are six young friends making azombie movie with a camera that uses Super 8 mm film. Alice is thedaughter Louis Dainard (Ron Eldard), who Joe's father Deputy Jack Lamb(Kyle Chandler) blames for the death of his wife who died in a factoryaccident, as he did not do his shift in the same factory and she tookover. The youngsters are making this movie which Charles hopes to enterinto a local film festival, and bringing in Alice as a leadingcharacter they continue filming at a train depot, and they aresurprised by her talent. They film the scene they planned with a trainpasses, but Joe sees a pickup truck driving on the track, and itcrashes causing a huge derailment and pileup, and all the kids arelucky to be alive. In the wreckage they find strange white cubes, andthe truck that crashed has their biology teacher Dr. Woodward (GlynnTurman) inside, he crashed on purpose, and at gunpoint he tells themnot to talk about what happened to anyone. The next day the crash siteis surrounded and being secured by the U.S. Airforce, led by ColonelNelec (Noah Emmerich), who comes across one of the Super 8 film reelsand realises someone filmed the accident, but weirder things happenwith dogs, kitchen appliances, car engines, power lines and even peoplevanishing. While Jack is arrested trying to get inside information intowhat is really going on, and the Air Force start preparations toevacuate the town, Joe and Charles look at the footage back, and notonly plan to continue filming, but in the footage they spot an alienmonster creature crawling from the wreckage. It is found out that Aliceis missing as well, so Joe, Charles, Cary, and Martin start their ownmission to find and get her back, and ultimately find out what is goingon in the town. They find out, from looking in the secret files inWoodward's stash that there are aliens, and they have only come toEarth to rebuild their ship and go home again, and the white cubesshape shift to help them, and Woodward had a telepathic connection withthe escaped alien, he crashed the truck into the train to release it.Jack manages to escape his captivity, but he is forced to take Dainardwith him when he finds out that the youngsters have gone back into thecordoned off town looking for Alice, and while travelling together Jackand Dainard resolve their differences. When Colonel Nelec catches thechildren, the alien shows up attacking and the military are firing,creating a big war zone situation, with the children caught in thebattle. While an injured Martin and Charles looking after him staybehind, Joe and Cary go to look for Alice, and they find the alien'slair near the cemetery Joe's mother was buried, and it is there theyfind her, many other missing people, and all the missing appliances andstuff, all put in supposedly for food. The alien is about to dosomething to Joe, but he speaks to it and it understands his wordstelling him to let go of it's bad feelings, and it lets the childrenand everyone else all go. Moments later the people are all reunitedwith their loves ones, and all the white cubes soar into the sky, drawnby huge magnetic force, to build up an alien spaceship which thecreature enters, and it takes off after Joe lets go of his locketcontaining a photo of his mother. In the closing credits we see thecompleted zombie movie that the children made with the Super 8 film.Also starring Kyle Chandler as Jackson Lamb, Jessica Tuck as Mrs.Kaznyk and The Simpsons' Dan Castellaneta as Izzy. All the young actorsdo fantastic in the situations they are put in, especially standing outare Courtney and Fanning who of course have a sweet relationship in thestory as well, I can agree with the critics that the special effectsmoments are fantastic to watch, but at the same time the regular sceneswith the children and other characters interacting is fantastic aswell, but overall it adds up to a great science fiction adventure. Verygood!