It’s been a decade since the J.J. Abrams nostalgia-fest entitled Super 8 hit theaters, and fans will be thrilled to know that it’s received a 4K remastering for its 10th anniversary. The film was Abrams third major picture, with his first being the giant blockbusters that were Mission: Impossible 3 and Star Trek. Super 8 tightens things up a bit and focuses more on ordinary characters who are placed in an extraordinary situation.
The film takes place in 1979 Ohio and focuses on a group of friends who are trying to get a movie made for an upcoming short film festival. The group are out filming one night at a small train station after midnight when a train is seen approaching in the distance. The film’s director, Charles (Riley Griffiths) gleefully screams, “Production value!” and races to get the scene filmed as the train flies by. As the scene is being filmed, Super 8’s lead protagonist Joe (Joel Courtney) notices a truck drive onto the tracks and steer towards the train. He screams for everyone to look out just as the truck and train collide and we get to witness one of the loudest, coolest train crashes in film history.
Joe hears loud banging coming from one of the railroad cars like something is trapped inside and looks over just in time to see the door fly off landing just a few feet away from where he stood. It turns out that the train belonged to the Air Force who are seen approaching the wreckage in full force. Alice (Elle Fanning), who drove the gang there, yells at them to get in the car so they can get away before they’re caught. The group collect the camera and their belongings, jump into the car and take off just as Colonel Nelec (Noah Emmerich) and his team arrive on scene. Even though our young heroes have escaped undetected, their town is about to become ground zero to mysterious events that all seem to lead back to the disaster they just witnessed.
The film’s story gives off nostalgic vibes that harken back to some fantastic movies such as E.T., Stand by Me, Close Encounters and The Goonies. That’s not to say that it takes something from each of those, or that one would compare it outright to any of them, but it’s definitely inspired by those films and Abrams never really shies away from that. At the same time though, Super 8 is its own film that has a great young cast who really carry it with ease. It’s hard to find child actors who can not only nail a role, but also carry an entire film but Courtney, Fanning and Griffiths – as well as the other members of the group, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills, and Gabriel Basso – do just that.
There are a lot of emotional storylines that Abrams has woven into the story, and the ones with the children work a lot more than the ones with the adults. The film begins with an absolutely brilliant scene that shows that something terrible has happened without the need to show anything. We open inside of a steel mill, where an “Accident Free” sign is shown having its numbers reset to one. We then cut to a funeral receptions where the neighbours are looking out at Joe, who is alone on a swing outside, talking about how they’re not sure how he’ll get along without his mom being around. It’s incredibly effective and works so much better than having any sort of scene where Joe’s mom goes off to work, or we see the accident itself.
One of the things that’s held against the film is that it doesn’t really break any new ground, and while that may be true, it’s still a nice coming-of-age story that may not be as classic as Stand By Me, but very few films will be. Plus, Abrams has created a visual and atmospheric feast that’s accompanied by loads of suspense, mystery and explosive action that should appeal to audiences of double-digits and above. The highlight, however, truly is the young cast, who really do carry the film and make it a captivating journey from start to finish, even if it is a similar ride that we’ve been on before.
4K Blu-ray Video and Audio Review
For those who have experienced Paramount’s 4K remasters in the past it should be no surprise that they’ve once again delivered a product worthy of upgrading to if you own the 2011 Blu-ray release. This is a movie that benefits greatly from looking like it’s taking place in a real town with real people, and this remastering does let Abrams style shine (and not just because of the 4K lens flares.) There’s a filmic quality that remains, though it’s endearing and never distracting. There’s a solid mix of daytime and nighttime scenes, but both are welcome as both look gorgeous here, with the night shoots coming through incredibly clean, with deep blacks, which are important in a film like this that’s trying to up the suspense through the unknown in the shadows.
The audio mix is also superb with its Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless track, and if you’ve ever wanted to test your speakers then the train crash scene is the perfect one to do it with. It’s incredibly loud, yet clear and incredibly intense. The score works beautifully alongside the dialogue and sound mixes throughout the film, and it works harmoniously with the 4K remastered footage.
Special Features:
Audio Commentary – We’ve got everyone behind the scenes that you would want to hear from on this track, which includes Abrams, Producer Bryan Burk, as well as Cinematographer Larry Fong. This trio delve into everything across the board that those interested in the filmmaking process of Super 8 would want to hear.
The Dream Behind Super 8 – This feature kicks off a string that can all be viewed in one “Play All” motion if you’ve got 90-minutes to invest. If not, you can chip away at them individually. This one is just over 16-minutes in length and focuses on Abrams, how he got into filmmaking and why making movies appealed to him from a young age. We also get to see how he was influenced by Steven Spielberg, as well as how his influences growing up made their way into Super 8.
The Search for New Faces – This feature is just under 18-minutes in length and is about the hiring of the child actors for the film, and how Abrams wanted to go the fairly unknown route when doing so. We get to see audition clips, as well as interviews with the actors. It’s a fun piece and the movie shows Abrams made the right call here.
Meet Joel Courtney – This is a just under 15-minute piece that centers on the film’s lead actor, showcasing how he got into acting, how he got the part, what it was like working on set and his experience working on the film.
Rediscovering Steel Town – This piece comes in at just over 18-minutes in length and focuses on the film’s shooting location of Weirton, West Virginia.
The Visitor Lives – This feature is just over 12-minutes in length and focuses on creating the creature in the film from concept to screen.
Scoring Super 8 – This featurette is a bit shorter in length, coming in at five-and-a-half minutes and focusing on the film’s extremely talented composer, Michael Giacchino.
Do You Believe in Magic? – The shortest of the featurettes comes in at four-and-a-half minutes and briefly focuses on Cinematographer Larry Fong, who is also a magician.
The 8mm Revolution – This feature is just over 8-minutes and talks about how influential 8mm films were to filmmakers of today, as well as a brief history on the now dormant format.
Deconstructing the Train Crash – Here we’ve got an interactive feature that lets viewers take a look at arguably the most memorable scene in the film. We learn more about all stages of production on the scene, and viewers can click through to learn about bits that they’d like to know more about.
Deleted Scenes – There are 13-minutes of deleted scenes to be found here if interested.
Paramount Pictures Presents Super 8. Written & Directed by: J.J. Abrams. Starring: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills, Gabriel Basso, Ron Eldard, Noah Emmerich, Glynn Turman, Joel McKinnon Miller. Running time: 112 minutes. Rating: PG. 4K Blu-ray Released: May 25, 2021.
About Brendan Campbell
