Super 8: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''There's a reason that ''Super 8'', its cool thrills, also seems a work of innocence: it takes incidental inspiration from the films of a director who, back in 1979, was the J.J. Abrams of his day. Look closely and you'll see that ''Super 8'' [[George Lucas Throwback|is a medley of tropes from the films of Spielberg's early prime.]]''|'''Richard Corliss''', [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]]<ref>[http://entertainment.time.com/2011/06/02/super-8-movie-review/ ''Super 8:'' Just as Great as You Hoped It Would Be] (June 02, 2011)</ref>}}

''Super 8'' is a 2011 [[Science Fiction Films|science fiction film]] written and directed by [[JJJ.J. Abrams]] and produced by [[Steven Spielberg]]. It is an homage to classic "adventurous children" movies, particularly those made/produced by Spielberg like ''[[E.T. the Extraterrestrial (Film)Extra-Terrestrial|ET the Extraterrestrial]]'', ''[[The Goonies]]'' and especially ''[[Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]''.

An interactive version of the teaser trailer is bundled with ''[[Portal 2 (Video Game)|Portal 2]]'', found in the game's Extras section. There's also a prequel comic book that was bundled into the second issue of the ''[[Batman: Arkham City]]'' comic book tie-in. It details the 1958 events referred to in the film and how Col. Nelec got involved with the situation. It can be read [https://web.archive.org/web/20131211192128/http://www.super8comiccontest.com/ here] (SPOILERS ALERT).

** Naturally there'd be one. It involves a site about Ice Cream Lollipop called [https://web.archive.org/web/20130112064404/http://www.rocketpoppeteers.com/ Rocket Poppeteers]. There's [http://scariestthingieversaw.com Scariest Thing I Ever Saw], [https://web.archive.org/web/20121231080117/http://www.Hooklineandminkerhooklineandminker.com/ Hook, Line and Minker] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20121114133429/http://www.super8-movie.com/editingroom.html S8 Editing Room].

{{quote| "[[Lampshade Hanging|How could a pickup truck derail a train, man? That's impossible!]]"<br />

* [[Badass Teacher]]: Dr. Woodward -- theWoodward—the biology teacher at the main characters' school -- isschool—is revealed to be the infamous "Truck Guy" seen crashing into Groom Lake One in the trailers. The best part is that he survives the crash. {{spoiler|Turns out he's also one of the scientists who studied the monster.}}

* [[Black Dude Dies First]]: Somehow, both averted and played straight. The first violent scene in the movie involves a train crash, in which Dr. Woodward -- aWoodward—a black guy -- isguy—is apparently killed when his truck gets hit by the train. However, despite appearing dead at first sight, he is actually alive and scares the crap out of the kids who come to investigate. Many people in the town die, but the first of the soldiers on the bus to die is the black guy, who appropriately gives the Colonel an indignant look when asked to go outside and shoot the alien with a tracking dart. {{spoiler|Though it is notable that three black characters -- Dr. Woodward and two soldiers -- die, with the former getting euthanized by one of the latter.}}

* [[The Cameo]]: [[The Simpsons (animation)|Dan Castellaneta]] as the car dealer and composer [[Michael Giacchino]] as one of the deputies.

* [[Cluster F-Bomb|Cluster S Bomb]]: As summarized by none other than [[James Rolfe]], "Coming from a [[The Angry Video Game Nerd (Web Video)|guy that says shit a lot]], these kids say shit ''all the time''."

* [[Deconstruction]]: Of a sort. The plot shows a [[Darker and Edgier|grittier]] realization of an ''[[E.T. the Extraterrestrial (Film)Extra-Terrestrial|E.T.]]''-style alien arrival and some ''[[The Goonies|Goonies]]''-esque meddling kids' entanglement in it. {{spoiler|Ultimately, the kids have next to nothing to do with the alien's escape from Earth. Rather, the story is about the ''humans'' learning to forgive and move on with their lives. Whether or not the alien learned about human emotions it's likely unable to comprehend is pretty much irrelevant. In fact, the kids' and the alien's paths only briefly intersect a couple of times.}} There's also a few fatalities, something that wouldn't happen in a kid's movie.

* [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]]: {{spoiler|Alice when she is captured by the alien.}}

* [[Dressing Asas the Enemy]]: After being detained by the Air Force, Jackson tricks a guard and knocks him out, stealing his uniform to escape the base.

* [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin]]: How Carey explains why talking is bad in the silent reading section.

* [[Face Death Withwith Dignity]]: {{spoiler|The Colonel appears to.}}

* [[Freeze -Frame Bonus]]: The alien is first briefly seen in the reflection of a gasoline puddle.

** ''[[E.T. the Extraterrestrial (Film)Extra-Terrestrial|ET the Extraterrestrial]]'' (the kids on bikes, coping with an alien {{spoiler|that only wants to go home}}, and dealing with uncaring military authority figures).

** Even Deputy Lamb trying to find out what's going on with the disappearances in town is reminiscent of Chief Brody's investigations in ''[[Jaws (Filmfilm)|Jaws]]''.

* [[Headphones Equal Isolation]]: A gas station attendant is so busy rocking out to [[Blondie (Musicband)|Blondie]] on his brand new Walkman that he doesn't hear the monster attack, nor feel the shockwaves from a police car being bounced off the ground 50 feet away.

* [[Humans Are Bastardsthe Real Monsters]]: {{spoiler|Basically, the creature itself has been stranded on Earth since the 1950's, and has been imprisoned and experimented on for the last couple of decades, and has only wanted to return home via its ship. More or less the reason for its aggression is because every human it sees (sans Dr. Woodward, with whom it establishes a mental link) is a potential threat, or expendable for the most part.}}

* [[Mugged for Disguise]]: Joe's father has to punch out the soldier guarding him and steal his uniform to pull off [[Dressing Asas the Enemy]].

{{quote| '''Donny:''' [''looking at wreckage of bus''] What the ''fuck?!''}}

* [[Prequel]]: The comic bundled into the second issue of the ''[[Batman: Arkham City]]'' comic. Long story short, it's revealed that {{spoiler|the alien's ship had been monitoring Earth for quite some time and humans only discovered it with Sputnik; the Russians were scared shitless and so were the Americans, through OSS intelligence. The Russians sent Sputnik 2 (with Laika on-board) to investigate, while the Americans sent a probe of their own, which the alien ship promptly atomized. The U.S. response? [[Nuke'Em|A nuclear warhead]].}}

* [[X Meets Y]]: The movie is ''[[E.T. the Extraterrestrial (Film)Extra-Terrestrial|ET the Extraterrestrial]]'', ''[[Cloverfield]]'', ''[[The Goonies]]'', ''[[Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]'', and a few dashes of ''[[The Blair Witch Project]]'', ''[[Star Trek (Filmfilm)|Star Trek (2009)]]'' and ''[[Independence Day]]''. Shake well.