Super 8

This film is an interesting mystery sci-fi that revolves around a small group of teenagers with a passion for cinema. They have a common project for a film, but end up witnessing a major rail disaster while filming. It is immediately clear that the accident is very unusual, and that the military's interest in what happened is far from normal. Set in the late Seventies, a remarkable decade for sci-fi thanks to the fascination of aliens and technology in general, it is a film of familiar contours where mystery is well used.

The film is skillfully directed by J.J.Abrams, and presents a good story, with young teens taking the lead. The film strives to portray teenagers, the way they relate and even the family environment and the relationships between families, which are important for a very small community like this small town. I don't think sentimentality is bad, I think that in the right measure it brings depth to the film.

Elle Fanning and Joel Courtney are the main actors in the film, which gives a lot of scope for young actors to show what they are worth, and these two young actors have definitely done a good job here. Riley Griffiths is good, but not so good. In the adult cast, Kyle Chandler and Ron Eldard deserve an especially positive mention, the latter giving life to a character that is rather unfriendly to the audience.

Technically, the film invests a lot in the environment, in creating tension. It is not that kind of film loaded with thunderous effects, but one where what is suggested matters more than what we see. Honestly, I think it's more interesting than most big-budget sci-fi films, which are basically shot on the green screen. This does not mean that it was not used here or that there are no effects: the film has good special and visual effects, a competent CGI and good sound, but it knows how to use these resources without exaggeration. The good soundtrack also deserves a mention.

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.

Steven Spielberg and J.J Abrams working on a project together. That idea alone is great however the finished project is a masterpiece. I was expecting a lot when I walked into the theater, when I walked out, not only were my expectations met but it was much better than i thought it would be. Let's start off with the actors, they all did a great job, but I was really impressed with Elle Fanning's acting, she added lots to the movie. I know it won't happen for this movie but I think she deserves an Oscar for her performance. Next, let's talk about the overall movie, it was great, it had, action, comedy, Mystery, romance, and suspense. The special effects were amazing, best this year. Now, the ending, i'm not going to say what happens, but many people hated it but I thought it was perfect, great way to end the film. Overall, suspense, action packed movie with great special effects and great acting from underrated stars makes the best movie of 2011, and one of the best movies ever. 10/10

Look, I'm biased. When I first saw the movie in 2011 while I was still just in middle school, I was enamored. Now, 8 years later, as a film student inspired by this movie, I can honestly say that it still holds up. A lot of the love I have for this movie is purely fueled by nostalgia, but even aside from that, the thrills and heartstring tugs this movie delivers still stand up to the test of time so far. This movie is always going to mean the world to me, and I hope someone out there sees this and gives it a shot. It's so criminally underrated and under-appreciated.

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