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SUPER 8 Pre-Release Thread

post #1 of 89
5/11/10 at 9:29pm
Thread Starter 
So, anyone else catch the teaser in front of Iron Man 2? Nice, old school vibe to it by not seemingly showing any footage from the movie. This is a curiosity to me because Abrams wrote it and Spielberg's producing and it's supposedly low budget. Can't wait to see actual footage.
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post #2 of 89
5/12/10 at 11:35am
As long as this doesn't come off as a Sodenberg, cold, analytical film-as-study, I'm there. (Haven't seen trailer though.)
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post #3 of 89
5/12/10 at 11:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JetManX View Post
As long as this doesn't come off as a Sodenberg, cold, analytical film-as-study, I'm there. (Haven't seen trailer though.)
There seems little chance of that; nothing Abrams has done before has ever been accused as coming off as cold or clinical.

The trailer's really very slight, but does a great job selling the premise. I live/work very near Wright Patt AFB, so hearing it in the comm transmissions was pretty cool.
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post #4 of 89
5/12/10 at 12:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelM View Post
The trailer's really very slight, but does a great job selling the premise.
What premise does it sell other than "here's a film directed by JJ Abrams". We know nothing about the content of the movie.
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post #5 of 89
5/12/10 at 12:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather View Post
What premise does it sell other than "here's a film directed by JJ Abrams". We know nothing about the content of the movie.
Aliens escaping. Seemed pretty clear to me, with the references to Area 51. Or something escaping - something not human and scary, covered up by the military.

Good enough for me.
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post #6 of 89
5/12/10 at 12:10pm
That's not a premise, that's a single plot point. Shit, if that were the whole premise this thing could be MY FAVOURITE MARTIAN.
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post #7 of 89
5/12/10 at 12:20pm
Certainly intrigued, but the set-up seemed just a bit wonky; I could buy the pick-up accidentally crossing the tracks when the train passed and causing the wreck, but why on earth did it get on the tracks and deliberately play chicken with it? Even my six-year-old wondered about this when we saw it in the theater. Since this is supposedly non-film footage just setting up a premise, will that ever be explained? Or did we miss something?
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post #8 of 89
5/12/10 at 2:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather View Post
That's not a premise, that's a single plot point. Shit, if that were the whole premise this thing could be MY FAVOURITE MARTIAN.
Alien lifeform/sentient technology escapes en route to new secure location's not a premise?
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post #9 of 89
5/12/10 at 2:04pm
Those shots of the truck felt like they came straight out of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS.

I really, really admire J.J. Abrams trying to keep the manner of surprise and the thrills that those 70s/early 80s Spielberg films had. If that's what he's going for, I'm completely sold. I liked the teaser quite a bit, as you can see.
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post #10 of 89
5/12/10 at 2:17pm
Great, we're all getting played by J.J. Abrams yet again. There will be speculation, and many clues that don't lead anywhere. I wonder if the Slusho tactic will be seen in this marketing campaign; as in, an invented product (a MacGuffin?) that has nothing to do with anything. Sometimes a viral campaign may legitimately stir interest. But it's marketing tricks. You won't know what this film is about until a month before its release. The marketers have to be especially skilled to pull off a viral campaign, though - they need to convince people to spend a lot of time looking at "clues", and when the big reveal suddenly happens, the target audience cannot feel cheated out of their effort, though they are - because the objective is to leave them pleading for information about a movie. But I guess we can allow our [limited] imaginations to run wild. I know, think about what "Super 8" could be, and then try to make that idea into a film...that would be constructive.
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post #11 of 89
5/12/10 at 2:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dreary louse View Post
You won't know what this film is about until a month before its release.
What's wrong with that? Hell, I'm going to try not to know any more than I know now if I can.
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post #12 of 89
5/12/10 at 2:20pm
Then you're not a target for the viral campaign.

EDIT: I shouldn't even complain that much, viral is the most passive marketing tactic around, but when your favorite websites may devote a lot of coverage to them.....it's unfortunate. JJ Abrams isn't about to make a surprising mind-blower like "Memento" or something.
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post #13 of 89
5/12/10 at 2:24pm
I've never followed viral marketing campaigns. I can't remember a single one that added to what the film was.
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post #14 of 89
5/12/10 at 2:29pm
Indeed
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post #15 of 89
5/12/10 at 2:31pm
Oh Alan. You're so not web 2.0, man.

But yeah, lately I've been more and more inclined and successful at going to movies as clean as humanly possible.
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post #16 of 89
5/12/10 at 3:54pm
Anybody who says "We don't know anything about it" is missing the point. The point of the teaser was to get us excited and the fact this thread exists means it's working. I'm pretty psyched, and relieved it's not handheld like I was led to believe it would be. I liked it in Cloverfield but it's a pain when it's overused.
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post #17 of 89
5/12/10 at 4:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse The Mind View Post
I could buy the pick-up accidentally crossing the tracks when the train passed and causing the wreck, but why on earth did it get on the tracks and deliberately play chicken with it?
- And Bucho, can you also tell us why the alien waited for the train to stop to punch its way out?

I'd be delighted to. The terrified cries coming from within the truck suggest that the alien has taken control of it in order to cause the train to stop.

- But Bucho, then why didn't he just take control of the train and use the brakes?

First, don't jump so hastily to the assumption that the alien is a he. Second, the reason the alien wasn't already busting his way out is that it was secured in that carriage in some way. The alien needed a sizable slam to provide enough inertial force to break whatever was securing the alien in place within that carriage and simply braking the train wouldn't cut it.

- Wow Bucho, you sure are smart.

You're not wrong my friend. You're not wrong indeed.

- And handsome.

It's come to my attention that you have impeccable taste.
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post #18 of 89
5/12/10 at 4:53pm
Didn't do anything for me. Cloverfield 2, please.
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post #19 of 89
5/12/10 at 4:58pm
So the genius of J.J. Abrams is taking something that would have been a plot point on one episode of The X-Files and making it a movie that everyone will trample over themselves to see.
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post #20 of 89
5/12/10 at 5:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xion View Post
Didn't do anything for me. Cloverfield 2, please.
Agreed.

Also agree with Nordling about viral campaigns and being surprised. I stayed away from IM2 and thankfully went into that blind outside of knowing about Rockwell and Rourke being the villains.

A film plays on its own or it doesn't. Viral campaigns and studio hype (trailers/tv spots) are meaningless to me.
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post #21 of 89
5/12/10 at 5:39pm
Will this be a first person shaky-cam thing like Cloverfield?
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post #22 of 89
5/12/10 at 7:44pm
Abrams has actually shot this movie to follow the cameraman who's shooting while being shot by Abrams' cameraman, who's being chased by his cameraman
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post #23 of 89
5/12/10 at 7:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sebastian OB View Post
So the genius of J.J. Abrams is taking something that would have been a plot point on one episode of The X-Files and making it a movie that everyone will trample over themselves to see.
Genius all the way to the bank.
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post #24 of 89
5/12/10 at 8:35pm
Looks interesting, but Cloverfield 2. Seriously.
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post #25 of 89
5/12/10 at 10:25pm
Oh man, I so don't want to see a sequel to Cloverfield. Unless they get really inventive and come up with really tense sequences.

Thinking about it more: JJAbrams made a pretty good episode of MI and I his sincere, fun take on STAR TREK was pretty entertaining. So this could be good.

Somehow the alien thing is about a decade or two too late though... '90s were freakin' saturated with that stuff.
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post #26 of 89
5/12/10 at 10:26pm
This is essentially the step before actually becoming Steven Spielberg by getting plastic surgery to look like him.

Oh, JJ...
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post #27 of 89
5/12/10 at 10:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JetManX View Post
Oh man, I so don't want to see a sequel to Cloverfield. Unless they get really inventive and come up with really tense sequences.

Thinking about it more: JJAbrams made a pretty good episode of MI and I his sincere, fun take on STAR TREK was pretty entertaining. So this could be good.

Somehow the alien thing is about a decade or two too late though... '90s were freakin' saturated with that stuff.
Eh, little worries aside, I guess I'm looking forward to this. I'm really a big sucker for these simple, exciting premises, ripoff of Spielberg/Richard Matheson/Rod Serling or not. The whole reason THE MIST works so well for me is how well it throws back to and updates the '50s monster movie.
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post #28 of 89
5/12/10 at 11:26pm
Thats probably what we will get here and there is nothing wrong with that. Show some of the youth of today what real sci-fi/fantasy is all about.
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post #29 of 89
5/12/10 at 11:32pm
I never thought I'd actually type this, but hearing that truck's clutch pop into gear when it gets on the train tracks was awesome.

I'll be there to see the movie.
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post #30 of 89
5/12/10 at 11:48pm
I loved the CLOSE ENCOUNTERS of it all, right down to the anamorphic lenses, yellow '70s truck, railroad crossing and milky star-filled sky.

This hasn't even starting shooting yet, right?
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post #31 of 89
5/12/10 at 11:54pm
I could really care less. Star Trek 2 please.
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post #32 of 89
5/13/10 at 12:14am
I love the "fuck this new original movie, give me some more sequels to stuff I already know I like" mentality.
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post #33 of 89
5/13/10 at 12:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Billy Youngblood View Post
I love the "fuck this new original movie, give me some more sequels to stuff I already know I like" mentality.
Really? You too? I figured I'd be alone on that one!
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post #34 of 89
5/13/10 at 12:25am
Yes because this is so original. What the fuck is wrong with wanting more good/solid studio genre fare like Cloverfield or Star Trek?

This isn't like asking for a remake of Gremlins for gods sake.
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post #35 of 89
5/13/10 at 12:40am
Thread Starter 
For all we know this could be another franchise in the making. Or not.

No way this whole movie is shot on Super 8 film, so MacGuffin maybe?
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post #36 of 89
5/13/10 at 12:54am
Perhaps "Super 8" is a title in the same sense that "Cloverfield" was a title in that it has little or nothing to do with the movie itself. From what I understand, they called it Cloverfield because they couldn't really think of anything else, and they had already used it as the code name for the Government file depicted in the film.
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post #37 of 89
5/13/10 at 3:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Daywalker View Post
Yes because this is so original. What the fuck is wrong with wanting more good/solid studio genre fare like Star Trek.
Fixed that for you.
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post #38 of 89
5/13/10 at 3:19am
No more monster rampaging goodness for you then!
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post #39 of 89
5/13/10 at 9:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bucho View Post
- And Bucho, can you also tell us why the alien waited for the train to stop to punch its way out?

I'd be delighted to. The terrified cries coming from within the truck suggest that the alien has taken control of it in order to cause the train to stop.

- But Bucho, then why didn't he just take control of the train and use the brakes?

First, don't jump so hastily to the assumption that the alien is a he. Second, the reason the alien wasn't already busting his way out is that it was secured in that carriage in some way. The alien needed a sizable slam to provide enough inertial force to break whatever was securing the alien in place within that carriage and simply braking the train wouldn't cut it.

- Wow Bucho, you sure are smart.

You're not wrong my friend. You're not wrong indeed.

- And handsome.

It's come to my attention that you have impeccable taste.
Dickishness aside (I mentioned I could've missed something) thanks for clearing that up.
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post #40 of 89
5/13/10 at 4:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Daywalker View Post
Yes because this is so original. What the fuck is wrong with wanting more good/solid studio genre fare like Cloverfield or Star Trek?

This isn't like asking for a remake of Gremlins for gods sake.
There's nothing wrong with wanting a sequel to a movie you like per se (Star Trek 2 is pretty much a go anyway), what I do think is wrong is the "ugh, wtf is this, give me something I'm familiar with" thing. Seriously, should a person's first reaction to a trailer for a new movie be "meh, give me another sequel"? Have we reached that point as viewers?

As for whether or not this is original: yes it is. As original as any movie can be, at any rate (to a certain extent all films play upon the history of films that have preceded them). This movie does have the advantage of being, in this day and age, a movie that is a)not a sequel, b)not based on any existing property, and c)has a budget low enough that the filmmakers will not have to check a huge number of items off the "Hollywood Blockbuster List" in order to convince the studios that there 300 trillion dollar movie can make back its investment.

The other thing that's head scratching about this: This movie comes from the same creative team as both Star Trek and Cloverfield, but instead of being excited for a new movie from people that have made things that they have liked, there are people responding "just give me more of what you already did".

I just can't fathom it.
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post #41 of 89
5/13/10 at 5:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Daywalker View Post
Yes because this is so original.
Please tell me more about the film you've seen and/or script you've read.

It's "original" as in "not based on any known property that we are aware of".

And I'll kinda paraphrase what Billy Y said, in my own words from another thread:
Quote:
Originally Posted by DARKMITE8 View Post
Well for me, it's the joy of a brand new movie coming from talented folks in a genre I love. And one that isn't a remake or an adaptation (very little preconceptions). And it's low budget (less people to please). The sky's the limit. As a movie fan in this day and age, these moments come all too rare.
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post #42 of 89
5/13/10 at 5:25pm
It's obviously baby Cloverfield on the train. Duh.
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post #43 of 89
5/13/10 at 5:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse The Mind View Post
Dickishness aside (I mentioned I could've missed something) thanks for clearing that up.
All that clowning around wasn't meant as dickishness toward you Jesse, it was really just me having fun with the teaser and JJ's penchant for presenting puzzles as marketing. I figured I had a theory (of which I have no idea of the accuracy) that might be an answer your question, I just don't take myself seriously enough as a sleuth to have presented it in an earnest manner, so I wrote it in a sillygoose manner instead. If anything I was taking the piss out of myself.

That's all, I meant no insult. Confusion at the info in the teaser is normal. That's what its designed for after all.
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post #44 of 89
5/13/10 at 9:27pm
A few of Spielberg's 80s movies were great because of his direction, not the specific plot and character elements. Today his 80s movies like "Close Encounters" seem almost less special than his latest work, because they've been so widely imitated - and usually poorly, as charming naivete can easily seem like pandering to the audience. Nothing that J.J. Abrams has done would suggest he can pull it off.

I don't mind Abrams, he directed a good "Star Trek" movie, and he's more talented than most formulaic directors and, uh, 'brand creators', but ah...his work is kind of boring, isn't it?
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post #45 of 89
5/13/10 at 11:39pm
I'm so sorry some of you have to wait ONE WHOLE EXTRA YEAR for Star Trek 2 so we can get this cool original project.
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post #46 of 89
5/14/10 at 1:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Daywalker View Post
Thats probably what we will get here and there is nothing wrong with that. Show some of the youth of today what real sci-fi/fantasy is all about.
I will see this movie I just also would like to see Cloverfield 2 and Star Trek 2. ST2 of course is on the way.
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post #47 of 89
5/14/10 at 6:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic Boom View Post
I'm so sorry some of you have to wait ONE WHOLE EXTRA YEAR for Star Trek 2 so we can get this cool original project.
It looks about as original as AVATAR. He's not making ETERNAL SUNSHINE here. It seems like some folks only go gaga "original" stuff when it's unoriginal as possible.
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post #48 of 89
5/14/10 at 6:16am
I'm in for this. I just hope the alien is a pissed-off bugger, of the Altered/Xtro kind.

I doubt it will be, but I hold out hope.
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post #49 of 89
5/14/10 at 6:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather View Post
It looks about as original as AVATAR. He's not making ETERNAL SUNSHINE here. It seems like some folks only go gaga "original" stuff when it's unoriginal as possible.
Yup. Judging from the teaser this could go two ways:

1. Escaped evil Alien wreaks havoc. Too many films to mention but I hope if he does that he goes for XTRO.

2. Escaped misunderstood alien tries to get home. This teaser is a fake out. In this case I'm hoping for Starman more than ET.

Edit: Damn, two simultaneous XTRO mentions. This has to mean something.
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post #50 of 89
5/14/10 at 6:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stelios View Post
Edit: Damn, two simultaneous XTRO mentions. This has to mean something.
Yes. Something Xtro Special, I'm sure!
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