Seven Reasons To Be Excited about Abrams/Spielberg's Super 8

by Sophia Savage
February 7, 2011 6:12 AM
5 Comments

There's no question that the movie spot to break out on Super Bowl night, in all its Spielbergian glory, was Super 8 (both the trailer and spot, in which a voice warns, "Do not speak of this, if you do, they will find you") are below.

J.J. Abrams finally pops the lid off his collaboration with Spielberg via Hero Complex's Geoff Boucher. If Abrams' resume wasn't cause enough for Super excitement (exec producer-creator-writer of Lost, producer-director of Star Trek, writer-director of M:I 3), herewith we list seven reasons to be excited about Super 8 (June 10):

1. It speaks to filmmakers, young and old.
Explains Boucher:

"Super 8 takes its name from the Eastman Kodak film format that became a sensation with amateur movie-makers in the late 1960s and represented a rite of passage for several generations of aspiring directors, among them Spielberg and Abrams."

2. It's sci-fi monster fun:

"...set in Ohio in 1979 and introduces a troupe of six youngsters who are using a Super 8 camera to make their own zombie movie. One fateful night, their project takes them to a lonely stretch of rural railroad tracks and, as the camera rolls, calamity strikes — a truck collides with an oncoming locomotive and a hellacious derailment fills the night with screaming metal and raining fire. Then something emerges from the wreckage, something decidedly inhuman."

3. It's a multi-genre:
Acccording to Abrams, the film is in

"...the hardest genre to define…because you could say — and be right — that it’s a science fiction movie; or you could say — and be right — that it’s a love story; or you could say — and be right — that it’s a comedy; or you could say — and be right — that it’s a special-effects spectacle. That sort of cocktail is for me what I love about movies…that was the beginnings of this movie coming together."

4. It's a hybrid:

The film merges two of Abrams' ideas that were initially separate concepts: The first, Boucher describes as: "a non-fantastical tale of youngsters and the way they see the world and each other through the viewfinder of their Super 8 camera," and the second: "a spooky film about the 1970s scrutiny of Area 51 and how anxious government officials decided the best way to protect the classified possessions of the increasingly notorious military base was to ship them off to other sites aboard midnight trains — one of which never reaches its final destination."

5. It echoes E.T.:
Producer Spielberg liked the hybrid concept, because it "has a similar backbeat approach to heartache. The film begins with a small-town factory death that is very much of the real world." Adds Abrams, "“This is a movie about overcoming loss and finding your way again and finding your own voice. A boy whose lost his mother and the man whose lost his wife. There’s this father who, because of the era, never really had to be the parent. He’s a good man, he works hard, he’s a deputy in the town, but he’s never stepped up as father.”

6. Abrams is keeping it old school:

Says Boucher:

"While contemporary peers such as Iron Man director Jon Favreau reach out to fans, bloggers and journalists throughout the filmmaking process for a thoroughly transparent view, Abrams longs for the muscle-car days of 1979 when movies had far more mystique."

7. It's not based on anything-- just ideas:
And Abrams is nervous; "Yes we’ve got Steven’s name on it and my name on it — for what that’s worth — but we’ve got no famous super-hero, we’ve got no pre-existing franchise or sequel, it’s not starring anyone you’ve heard of before. There’s no book, there’s no toy, there’s no comic book. There’s nothing. I don’t have anything; I don’t even have a board game, that’s how bad it is. But I think we have a very good movie.”

More: Box Office, Directors, Franchises, Genres, Headliners, Studios, Video, Daily Read, Media, Marketing, Summer, Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Sci-fi, Action, Paramount/Vantage/Insurge/CBS, Trailers

5 Comments

| Reply
Yenni | February 9, 2011 5:22 AMReply

Michael Giacchino scoring is the reason I will be buying a ticket this summer.
Jojo | February 8, 2011 9:47 AMReply

#8 The brilliant composer Michael Giacchino is scoring the movie.
nanooksvinyl | February 7, 2011 8:35 AMReply

addendum: The piece of score they used is from Cocoon. Howardian can be Spielbergian.
nanooksvinyl | February 7, 2011 7:56 AMReply

Great post. Absolutely, the Super 8 spot was the clutter buster in an otherwise drum-heavy bag full of theatrical tv spots. The magical Spielbergian score and choice dialogue are enough to make the clangy Robots, Pirates, Aliens and Gods feel small and unimportant compared to the kids with a super 8 camera.

Yes, ET. Also, Goonies. Sign me up!
mitch | February 7, 2011 6:42 AMReply

it has kyle chandler. after friday night lights the man can do no wrong in my book.

Seven Reasons To Be Excited about Abrams/Spielberg's Super 8

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