SUPER 8

US, 2011, 112 minutes. Colour.
Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills, Riley Griffiths, Gabriel Basso, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard.
Directed by J.J. Abrams.

Super 8?

Those who were taking home movies before 1980 will recognise the cameras, with film stock, of those days. Probably, the intended audience of this film will not realise at first what the reference is. With video cameras coming in soon after, with young people filming now with I Phones and instant communication through social networks, they might also wonder about the walkie-talkies the youngsters communicated with then. They look like far more fun. The walkman might be more familiar.

This film is set in 1979 – and all the more entertaining for it, a touch of nostalgia for those not as young as they used to be – the Star Wars generation, although there is one lack of credibility in the film – the kids give no indication that they have ever heard of let alone seen Spielberg’s Close Encounters, even though have to live through a variation on this theme. Speaking of Spielberg, he is an executive producer and it is his kind of film. Had the screenplay been around in 1979, he would surely have made it instead of the rather unfunny 1941 – but he caught up in 1982 with ET. There are plenty of nods to ET in Super 8, even in the Amblin Films logo with the boy on his bike. Plenty of bike riding in this one.

J.J. Abrams was 13 when this film is set, so a nostalgia trip for him even though he one of the present whiz kids (comparatively speaking) with Lost, Mission Impossible 3 and Star Trek. The era obviously meant a lot to him.

We are in an Ohio industrial town near air force bases. There has been an accident at the factory and Joe (Joel Courtney in his first screen role proving a likeable hero) is mourning his mother. His best friend, Charles (Riley Griffiths) has Spielbergian ambitions and a super 8 camera and is making a zombie movie with his friends and with Alice (Elle Fanning getting better as she grows up). As they film at midnight at a station, a truck drives on to the rails and crashes into a train. Abrams’ instructions to the special effects crew must have been ‘give me the most spectacular wreck you can manage – and more’. And they did. It’s quite a crash.

Then things get more mysterious. The army intervenes. Things begin to go wrong in the town with power outages, dogs disappearing... But, the zombie film must go on. What complicates matters is that the kids found the driver of the truck on the rails, one of their teachers, who warns them to keep quiet or else danger for them and their parents. Joe’s father is the deputy for the town and discovers some clues about what the army is up to. Alice’s father has a bad reputation and was the occasion (not the cause) of the death of Joe’s mother. Fathers clash, forbid their children to see each other – but, ultimately, have to join forces to find their children.

Gradually, they and we learn more about the alien creature and what has happened. (Those who saw the comedy Paul will find this plot a bit familiar; those who saw District 9 will know that humans do not always warm to aliens.)

J.J. Abrams also knows his genres and their conventions and is able to combine a kids’ peer film (Stand By Me and The Goonies were still to come in the 1980s) with touches of horror (and a couple of jump out of your chair shocks) and with family values – but in an alien on earth setting.

Super 8 could well be round for a long time entertaining both young and old.

1. A film for children? Adults? The appeal to both audiences?

2. The work of J.J. Abrams, television series, Lost, Star Trek…? Steven Spielberg as producer, his style of film, content and production? Amblin films, the logo, children on bikes?

3. The title, the nostalgia for film stock, pre-digital, Walkmans, radio, the indication of the slide into contemporary technology? The 1970s, disco references, Blondie and Heart of Fire? But the children not having seen Close Encounters! The score, the beat, the songs?

4. The Ohio town, industry, the air force base, the detail of the town, homes, school, the railway, the countryside? An atmosphere of realism?

5. The plot details, meaning of the clues – and all coming together at the end?

6. The kids and film-making, their enthusiasm, the cameras, the sound microphone, makeup, effects? Writing the scripts? The team attitude? The director and his persona of director? Rehearsals, filming, the drawing on zombie films, the detective work, the romance? Blending for a horror film? The train? The difficulties, developing the film? The other films in the story, especially those of Doctor Woodward? The 1960s style of black and white film-making? The home movies of Joe’s mother? Super 8’s affection for film?

7. The special effects, the train crash and its aftermath, the alien, the cave, destruction? The destruction of the town? The bus crash? The magnet to draw all the metals to the water tower? The spacecraft?

8. The initial accident, in the factory, changing the number of days without accident? Joe’s mother, the funeral, the Kaznyks and their concern about Joe and his father? Joe and his sadness? Louis Dainard and his visit to Jack? His being thrown out of the house? Jack as the police deputy? Joe sitting and watching?

9. The months passing, the summer, the kids at school, getting out of school, Jack and his camp plan for his son? Joe wanting to work with Charles? The contrast with the yelling at the Kaznyk household, the many children?

10. The film plan, filming at night, going to the station, Alice and her father’s car, Joe and his crush on Alice? Her being very good in the rehearsal? Martin and his contribution, tall and bespectacled, like a young Clark Kent? Memorising his lines? Cary, his teeth, the explosives? Preston and his acting and contribution? Joe and the makeup? The zombie makeup? Charles and his busyness being director?

11. The approach of the train, filming as the train went past, the truck on the line, Joe watching, the crash? The blood – from the makeup box? Taking the radioactive block? Finding Woodward, his threat with the gun, the warnings? His going to hospital? The later discovery about Woodward’s career, his being dismissed from the military? His films, and the reality of the alien? Woodward being interrogated in hospital – and Nelec allowing him to be killed?

12. The air force, searching the wreck, the Geiger counter, Nelec and his attitude, the lies, the military clean-up, assembling the blocks? The town reaction? The plan, ‘walking distance’, Jack and his listening in on the short-wave, discovering the truth? The military setting the fire, evacuating the town? The military and their guns – and drawn to the magnet to form the spacecraft?

13. The kids and doing more filming, taking the film to the shop for development, the slacker behind the counter, wanting to flirt with Charles’s sister? His later help in driving? He being stoned and missing all the action in the town? The cameras, Joe taking his father’s? Jack stopping the filming? Forbidding Joe to see Alice? The characters of the kids, their interactions, their fears and yelling in the car? Panic? Alice at home, her father forbidding her to go out, her confronting him, the bike and her being taken by the monster? Her watching the film of his childhood with Joe?

14. The two fathers, the issue of the shift, Jack’s wife taking Dainard’s place, her death? Their clash, each threatening their child, combining eventually to find their children, the drive and the forgiveness?

15. The beginning of destruction in the town, the failing of the electricity, the lights flickering, the garage man (listening to Blondie), the destruction of the station, the sheriff’s car? The meetings, the people and their complaints? The dogs being lost – and found in a different county? The electric lineman and his fate?

16. Jack, the information, going to Nelec, his being interned, getting out, taking the gun and the uniform, getting into the town, finding his children?

17. The film and the alien, the military background, the explanation, the alien landing on Earth, destruction, being tormented by the military? The children going to the school, watching the film, Martin and his leg injury, going to the cemetery, finding the cave, going down, exploring, rescuing Alice, Cary and his fireworks? Joe taken in hand by the creature, speaking to it, being let go?

18. The creature, tormented, the escape, the visuals, the sense of menace, vengeance against the military? The people taken and hanging upside down, the rescue? His attack on the bus, killing the military? Nelec’s death? His going to the water tower?

19. The magnet, all the metal from cars, guns, sheds going to the water tower? Forming the spaceship, taking off?

20. The reconciliation between parents and children, between the fathers? Joe happy – and letting his mother’s necklace go to form part of the spaceship?

21. Audiences watching the credits, seeing the completed film, the performances, the story, Charles coming on at the end – and the zombie?

22. The film playing with the genre and its conventions – an enjoyable film for most ages?