Super 8 Movie Discussion Thread

[Kerr Avon]

I liked the movie, but wish they didn't make the alien unlikeable. It's kinda hard for me to root for the alien to get to the ship when I see him having a feast with the towns people.

Unlikeable? He was just trying to survive and get home. He was tortured and held captive for decades by the military, and when he escaped he still needed to eat. Why not eat people from the very race that has been torturing him all this time? His entire exposure to people had been to the jackasses poking and proding him. It was only after he made contact with the sheriff's kid that he saw in a human the kind of loss and pain that he has experienced, hence the kid saying "sometimes bad things happen." After actually having reason to believe humanity might not be so bad, he set the kid down and when his ship reassembled, left peacefully.

 

[DarkHelmet]

Unlikeable? He was just trying to survive and get home. He was tortured and held captive for decades by the military, and when he escaped he still needed to eat. Why not eat people from the very race that has been torturing him all this time? His entire exposure to people had been to the jackasses poking and proding him. It was only after he made contact with the sheriff's kid that he saw in a human the kind of loss and pain that he has experienced, hence the kid saying "sometimes bad things happen." After actually having reason to believe humanity might not be so bad, he set the kid down and when his ship reassembled, left peacefully.

JJ Abrams failed to develop that part of the story. He was too focused on the retro thing and making it into a mysterious monster. I too had no sympathy for the alien even if it was poked and prodded for decades. He tried to do too much.

 

[blip]

Unlikeable? He was just trying to survive and get home. He was tortured and held captive for decades by the military.

Yeah, like the Ymir from 20'000000 miles to earth. Also the creature was a bit crazy and had reverted to a primal mode, hence the eye covers. The kid snapped him out of his haze. But, yes, that leg chewing scene was not a good look. Forces you to take a "respect for the beauty and harshness of life" type of view. Similar to how we see the big cats, a triumph of nature, yet you know they will rip your head off given half a chance.

 

[jarvis]

Just saw this one and it was a breath of fresh air. It really took me back to a time before every big budget summer sci-fi/adventure movie looked like one extended computer generated 3d action sequence. Before people excused the quality of terrible blockbusters as 'mindless popcorn flicks.' Before every movie trailer revealed every action sequence and almost every plot point months in advance and the movie was plastered on every consumer good imaginable.

 

[ShadowX81]

Unlikeable? He was just trying to survive and get home. He was tortured and held captive for decades by the military, and when he escaped he still needed to eat. Why not eat people from the very race that has been torturing him all this time? His entire exposure to people had been to the jackasses poking and proding him. It was only after he made contact with the sheriff's kid that he saw in a human the kind of loss and pain that he has experienced, hence the kid saying "sometimes bad things happen." After actually having reason to believe humanity might not be so bad, he set the kid down and when his ship reassembled, left peacefully.

Alot of horror movies portray a serial killer having been abused by his parents while growing up. Doesn't mean we root for them to get away with thier plan in the end.

Regardless of the fact that it was humans that made him into a homicidal monster, he still was a monster and didn't deserve the audience's sympathy.

 

[jarvis]

Alot of horror movies portray a serial killer having been abused by his parents while growing up. Doesn't mean we root for them to get away with thier plan in the end.
.

This was an alien on an alien planet who seems to have no sinister plans other than getting back home. It's not analogous to a human who is a product of his upbringing.

A more accurate comparison would be if an American astronaut crash lands on planet-X and is immediately imprisoned. He's then subjected to cruel experiments for years in a cage. Would you not be sympathetic to the human astronaut if he eventually broke out of the prison and has to make his way through what he perceives as aggressors back to his ship?

 

[rodneyfaile]

Sometimes things don't always end nice and neat, tied in a bow. Sometimes bad things happen, the way it comes to an end isn't perfect, and we have to accept the way it happened.

 

[Alan Castillo]

This premiered here yesterday, and just got back from seeing it.

Saw it tonight..Thought it was great.

Best way to describe it Goonies+ET+Close Encounters+War of the Wolrds = Super8

This is exactly what I was going to say :lol

It was a good film, but not 'awesome' though.

7/10 for me

 

[StevenRogers84]

Super 8 wasn't all that great. (poet and didn't know it)
My main issues with it were it was goofy trains don't derail after hitting very small trucks, the acting was sub-par....the biggest gripe for me was the alien. Enough CG aliens. I would have enjoyed the movie if the alien didn't look like a cartoon. Same gripe with cowboys vs aliens. Super 8 however was a cinematic masterpiece compared to cowboys and aliens. (Sigh) I truly hate hollywoods reliance on CG it cheapens everything.

 

[Alan Castillo]

OI !!!

I haven't seen Cowboys and Aliens yet !!! It doesn't premier here till the 17th, and I've avoided opening the threads related to the reviews at all costs :angry





:lol .. kidding mate, but I really have been avoiding the threads :lol

 

[StevenRogers84]

OI !!!

I haven't seen Cowboys and Aliens yet !!! It doesn't premier here till the 17th, and I've avoided opening the threads related to the reviews at all costs :angry





:lol .. kidding mate, but I really have been avoiding the threads :lol

OOPS! I didn't know I swear. I won't ruin anything for you go see the movie. I am a minority in not liking it. Go see it, I will say no more about it.

 

[Alan Castillo]

Just pulling your leg a bit

Of course I'll go see it, even if everyone says it sucks :lol :lol :lol

 

[thewiseone91]

Awesome movie love J.J. Abrams

 

[blip]

Something about this film reminded me of Twenty Million Miles to Earth.

 

[PHArchivist]

Late to the party, but caught this one on Blu last night. Enjoyed it. Fun tabulating all the Spielberg nods:
--Kid perspective
--Kid-driven plot
--Kids making movies
--Broken homes/singular parents
--Alien trying to get home
--Government cover-up/falsified evactuation
--Obscuring the monster until the third

And so on...

 

[Probe Droid]

It was fun enough. I enjoyed it.

 

[wannab]

Well I have to step in here and say I liked it, and my son (9.5 yr) loved it. My son loved it so much he had his friends come over and watch it. As a result they formed a movie making club. They are also starting a movie making forum just for kids (I'm helping to get that rolling). My son was already into learning how to make movies and stop motion shorts, and Super 8 really stoked the furnace for him. As a group they have already started on a zombie script (funny stuff so far). Their group has about 9 boys and 5 girls (9-12 yrs old) involved, and an older cousin who volunteered to do makeup. It is really neat to see these kids inspired and being creative even though most sessions devolve into nerf gun fights after about 45 minutes. lol I have to give Super 8 and its creators a big thumbs up just in the inspiration category. :thumbsup


Doug

 

[DARTH SABER]

Late to the party, but caught this one on Blu last night. Enjoyed it. Fun tabulating all the Spielberg nods:
--Kid perspective
--Kid-driven plot
--Kids making movies
--Broken homes/singular parents
--Alien trying to get home
--Government cover-up/falsified evactuation
--Obscuring the monster until the third

And so on...

I cant be sure, but when Joe is wandering around the wreckage looking for the girl, he comes across a tank that's about to explode....is it me or was the sound of the tank exploding the same explosion used in jaws?

BTW, Im not talking about the new explosion sound in the newer Jaws DVD...The orignal explosion.

 

[SupernaturalFan]

Anyone have any stills of any of the kids bmxs? I'm a huge fan of old school bmx and well pretty much anything retro, so I really enjoyed Super8. I think the main kid had a black pk ripper with red tuffs, can anyone confirm this?

 

[TheMechanic]

I like 'Super 8' and Michael Giacchino's score was brilliant. So good to hear some actual themes in a movie again. Far too many so called 'scores' are nothing more than noise these days.

Did you catch Elliot's bike from 'E.T.' stuck to the water tower at the end?