Movie Reviews

‘Super 8’ 4K UHD Blu-Ray Review – J.J. Abrams Sci-Fi Adventure Throwback Offers Up Heart And Thrills

By Dillon Gonzales
June 22, 2021
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The movie critique portion of this review was written by my colleague Michele Arbir.

While I was busy chasing a 1-year-old grandson around, I never got to go see the sci-fi thriller Super 8 from director J.J. Abrams with Steven Spielberg as one of the top producers. Boy did I miss out! At the time this film came out in 2011, it made an impact as a science-fiction, summer blockbuster with a very nostalgic feel to it. It feels like a mish-mash of Cloverfield with Stranger Things and with an appropriately heavy Steven Spielbergian touch, akin to his previous films Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. The Extraterrestrial from decades past.

In 1979 Ohio, several youngsters (Elle Fanning, Joel Courtney, Gabriel Basso) are making a zombie movie with a Super-8 camera. In the midst of filming, the friends witness a horrifying train derailment and are lucky to escape with their lives. They soon discover that the catastrophe was no accident, as a series of unexplained events and disappearances soon follow. Deputy Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights), the father of one of the kids, searches for the terrifying truth behind the crash.

The film features some good performances from child actors, like Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning whose chemistry was great. The filming itself was well shot. I loved the nostalgic feel. I felt like it was 1979 and while it is an alien movie, it surprisingly has quite a bit of heart and moving elements to it. It’s a movie that tackles themes of grief and letting go, as well as the self-centered nature of mankind.

Super 8 taps into the childlike nature inside its audience and can be enjoyed at any age. The humor in it is natural and immature, like the preteens this movie portrays. There are times of real humor and drama. There is a bit of meta-humor as well since there is a movie-in-a-movie element to it. The acting is great and the soundtrack was awesome, they really couldn’t have picked better music.

This movie has practically everything. A first crush, a coming-of-age story, perilous adventure, heroes, villains, and family angst. Not to mention there is a mystery to be solved that only those pesky kids can accomplish. If you liked Goonies, Cloverfield, or E.T., you’ll love Super 8. Not sure how I let this one get past me back in 2011 but for me, it’s the original Stranger Things. Great movie!

Video Quality

The 4K UHD Blu-Ray of Super 8 offers a pleasing uptick in quality over the already-impressive accompanying Blu-Ray, most notably in its gains in fine detail and well-defined textures. The new disc offers some strong improvements in the black levels so that some of the darker scenes on the Blu-Ray present more clearly in 4K. This new presentation feels like you are seeing things perfectly for the first time (or at least the first time since you caught it in theaters). Elements such as the train crash or ending onslaught taking place in the cover of darkness are more vivid and finely delineated. The black levels are especially strong in this presentation, staying deep and inky with great detail. The highlights in the film are more defined with whites more pure and balanced with no instances of blooming to be found.

Skin tones appear more natural with healthy doses of crisp detail apparent on faces such as pores. Abrams did not make this a film bursting with color, but the specific pops in color in the production design appear with greater intensity than ever before. The increased range of the color spectrum is stunning to behold. Important details like fiery explosions look incredible and quite vivid here. The transfer reveals an increase in the depth of field in the varied locations that we visit around the town. In the wake of the various scenes of destruction, you can more clearly make out textures within the rubble and similar such elements. There does not appear any noise reduction or black crush that we detected at any point. The Blu-Ray has done its job until now, but Paramount has made that disc obsolete with the wonderful new 4K release.

Audio Quality

This 4K UHD Blu-Ray release boasts a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless track that packs one hell of a punch. This disc brings the chaos right into your living room with a depth and clarity of sound that is staggering. As Joe and company move throughout the city, the sounds of the environment flow out of your side and rear speakers. Each sound is precisely placed with perfect spatial awareness. The track engages all of the channels with panning effects and sounds of destruction that really makes you feel like you are in the thick of the fight. The epic train crash sequence is one of the best sounding sequences we have heard on disc with the impeccable sound design coming through flawlessly. The implementation of environmental effects such as thunder and wind come through in a natural way. There is an insane amount of activity in the low-end which will keep your house shaking with every massive stomp. Dialogue comes through clearly without getting muddied by the score or any sound effects. Paramount knocked it out of the park with this track, so those with a good surround sound setup should have a blast with this one.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Director J.J. Abrams, Producer Bryan Burk, and Cinematographer Larry Fong provide a really entertaining and informative commentary track in which they discuss trying to get Spielberg on the commentary track, things they fought for in the film, the greatness of Kyle Chandler, working with the young performers, the mixing of digital and film formats, practical vs. visual effects, how they got around a 12-year-old Elle Fanning driving a car and much, much more that you will want to check out if you are a fan of the film.

The Dream Behind Super 8: A nearly 17-minute piece in which Abrams discusses his lifelong love of movies and his childhood filmmaking experiences that informed the plot of the film. It is fun to see how he brought his personal experiences into this larger than life tale. This piece also explores his collaborations with Larry Fong, Bryan Burk, Matt Reeves and more. There are also discussions about how Spielberg influenced his filmmaking and what he brought to the production.

The Search For New Faces: An 18-minute piece which examines the process of casting the young performers and why Abrams preferred to look for relative unknowns to inhabit this world. The best part of this featurette is getting a glimpse of the audition tapes.

Meet Joel Courtney: A 15-minute piece which takes a closer look at the young lead actor of the film including his early life, his audition process, committing his lines to memory, his relationship with his costars, his time on set and more that reveals a lot about this talented performer.

Rediscovering Steel Town: An 18-minute piece that examines the history of Weirton, West Virginia and some of the benefits of having it as a shooting location.

The Visitor Lives: A 12-minute featurette which explores the development and realization of the film’s creature along with all the work that had to go into making it a reality.

Scoring Super 8: A nearly 6-minute look at the amazing contributions from Composer Michael Giacchino along with his attachment to the story.

Do You Believe In Magic?: A nearly 5-minute playful featurette which shines a spotlight on the magical talents of Cinematographer/Magician Larry Fong.

The 8mm Revolution: An 8-minute love-letter to 8mm films and the importance of the format to a generation of burgeoning filmmakers. This also delves into the history of the format which is quite fascinating.

Deconstructing The Train Crash: An expansive interactive extra which allows the viewer to take a self-guided tour through one of the pivotal moments of the film by exploring storyboards, interviews, and more in areas of pre-production, production and post-production. There is a lot of good stuff to check out within this.

Deleted Scenes: Fourteen scenes of unused material totaling 13 minutes are provided here which includes Joe trying to learn about Alice, a cute puppy, some more moments with Kyle Chandler, Joe and Alice growing closer and more.

Final Thoughts

Super 8 is one of the most satisfying films to come from the mind of J.J. Abram thanks to all of the personal elements he includes within the narrative. By using specific memories from his childhood, he has created something very emotionally resonant to a universal audience. The performances from the young ensemble are the right degree of precocious and endearing. Plus, any film with Kyle Chandler is automatically elevated in stature by his mere presence. Paramount Home Entertainment has released a 4K UHD Blu-Ray that features a stunning A/V presentation and an engrossing array of legacy special features. This is a summer blockbuster that holds up really well in all respects. Fans will be delighted to own this one in the best format possible. Recommended

Super 8 is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray and Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Paramount Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.