Super 8

"It arrives."

2011 1h 52m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 7,324

ThrillerScience FictionMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In late 1970s Ohio, a group of friends filming a homemade zombie movie witness a devastating train derailment. Soon after, their quiet town is gripped by unexplained disappearances, strange phenomena, and a growing sense of fear, as they uncover that something terrifying has been set loose.

“It arrives.”

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Cast

Joel Courtney
Joe Lamb
Elle Fanning
Alice Dainard
Riley Griffiths
Charles Kaznyk
Kyle Chandler
Jackson Lamb
Noah Emmerich
Nelec
AJ Michalka
Jen Kaznyk
Ryan Lee
Cary McCarthy
Ron Eldard
Louis Dainard

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: J.J. Abrams
Writers: J.J. Abrams
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 15 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

318+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by J.J. Abrams, shot by Larry Fong. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Michael Giacchino. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Maryann Brandon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning and Riley Griffiths carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

J.J. Abrams directs. Larry Fong behind the camera. Michael Giacchino scores. Maryann Brandon cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Made its money back 5.2× over at the box office.
3Released 15 years ago.
4318+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by J.J. Abrams, shot by Larry Fong. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Michael Giacchino. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Maryann Brandon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning and Riley Griffiths carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "It arrives.".
10IMDB entry: tt1650062 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 13 themes, including "1970s", "alien", "train crash", "firecracker".

The technical file

Cinematography: Larry Fong
Original score: Michael Giacchino
Editing: Maryann Brandon
Production design: Martin Whist
Costume design: Ha Nguyen
Makeup / hair: Deborah La Mia Denaver
VFX supervisor: Russell Earl
Sound: Ben Burtt
Runtime: 112 min · 1h 52m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $50,000,000
Box office: $260,100,000
Return: 520% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Super 8 (2011)

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J.J. Abrams

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Andres Gomez2012-12-09
★ 5/10
Unsuccessful children movie trying to follow the tradition of The Goonies or E.T. from overrated J.J. Abrams. Tons of money are wasted on FX trying to hide a weak story and a set of terrible dialogues supposedly coming from children that are totally overacted and annoyingly always shouting. You don't miss anything if you skip Super 8.
Gimly2019-01-20
★ 5/10
I kind of liked the making-a-movie-within-the-movie aspect of Super 8 a lot more than the chief plot with the monster and the train and the badman government and the blah blah blah. Which isn't ideal, but saying that obviously means I liked something about it. Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole.
John Chard2019-08-28
★ 9/10
And I just knew then that I was there, that I existed. Super 8 is written and directed by J. J. Abrams. It stars Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard and Riley Griffiths. Music is scored by Michael Giacchino and cinematography by Larry Fong. The film tells the story of a group of young teenagers in Lillian, Ohio, 1979, who are filming their own Super 8 zombie movie when a train derails and crashes, releasing an unknown being into their midst. As the town is threatened and mysteries start to mount up, the youngsters must come to terms with not only that, but also growing up mentally and physically. It's feels nigh on impossible to come across a review for Super 8 that doesn't contain the name Spielberg. With the film overtly Spiebergian in themes and production, and the bearded maestro of the film geek masses on producer duties here, his name hangs over Abrams' movie like a watchful father figure. If that bothers Abrams, or indeed if it detracts from the quality of his movie? Then that's up for debate by those not enamoured with Spielberg's movies of the late 70s and early 80s. But to my mind it's a blessing, a triumph of sorts to be mentioned in the same breath as the beard and those wonderful movies of his. Part homage, part nostalgia harking, Super 8 is still one great, sweet and affecting J.J. Abrams movie. Abrams himself is on record as saying that Super 8 is born out of two movie ideas he had, this while also being drawn from his own recollections in childhood, and the two movie idea shows. It's very much a two part picture in structure, part Stand by Me coming of ager, part Goonie like monster hunt. Nothing wrong with that, mind. However, with that comes some form of irritation to those who venture in expecting a big ole alien attack movie. Oh for sure he exists, and he is big and mean, although he has just cause, but the creature is not the centre piece of the movie. It's the human characters that form the basis of Super 8, be it the kids adjusting to their changing emotions and hormones, or the single parent fathers coming to terms with absence of love and grief, Super 8 is brimming with human heart. Yet never is it schmaltzy. PRODUCTION VALUE! Aided by Fong's warm metallic hued photography and Giacchino's beautiful heart tugging score (both energised in Blu-ray), Super 8 always carries a magical mysticism to it. The warm glow of nostalgia cloaks the proceedings, never cloying, always smile inducing, offering comfort as the narrative deals out observations about the need to let go while playing out as a deft, if unsubtle, meditation on grief and growing pains. The cast do wonders for their director, Fanning and Courtney are exemplary, so much raw emotion and energy, it's unfussy and believable acting. Griffith's, too, is wonderful as the booming voiced wannabe director, a tender nod of the head to the many young amateur directors out there; of which Abrams was once one himself. While Eldard and Chandler as the two fathers are most affecting, the pangs of juggling single parenting with loss are deeply portrayed. Of the director himself? He crafts it with care and precision, a knowing of the pulse beat of the thematics to drive it forward. His attention to period details are admirable, from the dialogue sparks involving Walkman's and Soviet paranoia, to the items located within the bedrooms and houses of our young protagonists, he is a man who knows his late 70s and early 80s onions. Spielberg was far from finished as a film maker of note at the time of Super 8's release, but it did feel then that the torch was deftly being passed sideways. After the excellence of Star Trek he followed up with this most delightful of movies, where Abrams showed in his work a love of cinema that's wholly infectious. 9/10