# Super 8 is great! (boxed spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 9, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899 "2011-06-09T19:17:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/61 "2011-06-16T23:00:15Z")
It’s one of those movie things you either have to go with, or drive yourself crazy nitpicking. I saw **Starship Troopers** last night in the theater with a bunch of other fans. I started to think about how Denise Richards seems to become a pilot in something like 3 weeks but shut down that part of my brain. For me, there’s just no nitpicking allowed in certain movies. It takes the fun away. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/62 "2011-06-17T07:24:56Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > You’ll hate it. Hated it. Should’ve listened to you. On the bright side, my wife loved it. Then we got home and watched **Sin Nombre** , which I thought was incredible, but my wife hated it. I also really liked the new X-Men movie. Not sure why you all needed to know that. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/63 "2011-06-18T17:40:09Z")
We went to see this instead of Green Lantern, and I would say that my wife and I made the right choice. Nothing groundbreaking, but generally well done. The train was a little much. To **Rand Rover** > [@](#): > > 2. I wondered why there was so much tension between the two dads just because bad dad missed his shift–I agree with the person above who said that the original version must have been much worse as far as his culpability. Makes sense to me that he would blame the drunk. Just because he didn’t directly cause it, a grief-stricken husband might still pin it on him, in a “it should’ve been you” way. Only 4 months had passed, so the wound was still fairly open. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/64 "2011-06-18T22:07:02Z")
I saw it today and loved it. Hated the lens flare, though. That was annoying. > [@BottledBlondJeanie](#): > > You’re wrong and right. The woman didn’t say “step” the man did. I think the man said something about the father ‘stepping up’ to be a father to the kid now that the mom was gone. I got the impression he worked a lot, and was never around. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/65 "2011-06-18T23:17:52Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > There are a couple of drug references as well, especially regarding one character who smokes a joint and calls out “I’m soooo stoned!” This isn’t a major character however, so he’s not on the screen for long. Well, yeah, but then the kids yell out, “Drugs are bad!!” in a really high-volume voice clip, so it’s clear that this is not recommended behavior. 😉 Also, I went to Middle School between 1975-78, so that label is not anachronistic at all. Loved the movie, by the way. It’s weird to say a Spielbergian homage should feel “retro,” but this does. In a good way. Right from the beginning I felt like I was in the same world as _ET_ or _Stand By Me_ or _Close Encounters_-ish (and yes, I know _Stand By Me_ wasn’t a Spielberg film). And yes, those lens flares aren’t as cool as JJ Abrams thinks they are. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/66 "2011-06-20T00:37:31Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Since the movie takes place in June 1979 (as established by the headstone for the mother saying she died February 1979) the mention of Rubki’s Cubes is another anachronism. Interesting – I took it as happening in the mid '80s, since there was a bit at the beginning where I’d swear you overhear a newscaster talking about Chernobyl. Though perhaps I misheard; the kids were singing My Sharona like it was the new catchy song, and that came out in '79. Huh. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/67 "2011-06-20T00:40:35Z")
Early in the film, we see a television showing the network news anchor talking about the Three Mile Island incident, which occurred at the end of March, 1979. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/68 "2011-06-20T00:55:01Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Early in the film, we see a television showing the network news anchor talking about the Three Mile Island incident, which occurred at the end of March, 1979. Aha. I must have conflated that with Chernobyl. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/69 "2011-06-20T01:01:43Z")
It has Ronald Reagan as President, so it can’t happen before1981. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/70 "2011-06-20T02:26:56Z")
If that’s the case then they got the year of mom’s death wrong by at least two years. But I don’t recall ever seeing Reagan in the movie, though that doesn’t mean he was there. Could you refresh where he was seen and what the context was it was clear he was president (since he was a national political figure long before he was elected)? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/71 "2011-06-20T02:30:59Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > If that’s the case then they got the year of mom’s death wrong by at least two years. > > But I don’t recall ever seeing Reagan in the movie, though that doesn’t mean he was there. Could you refresh where he was seen and what the context was it was clear he was president (since he was a national political figure long before he was elected)? There were two or three scenes where he was shown on televison in the background, and I’m like 90% sure (though not 100%) that in at least one of those scenes he was being introduced before a speech as “The President of the United States.” ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/72 "2011-06-20T02:44:42Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > There were two or three scenes where he was shown on televison in the background, and I’m like 90% sure (though not 100%) that in at least one of those scenes he was being introduced before a speech as “The President of the United States.” You are mistaken. The film was very explicitly set in 1979. The mother died in February (as per the tombstone) and the train wreck and subsequent events happened “four months later,” i.e., June, 1979. The Three Mile Island incident was featured in the news. I was very watchful for anachronisms, and would have noticed if Reagan had been mentioned as president. He wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/73 "2011-06-20T02:48:26Z")
Yes he was. Watch it again. ETA he’s at least shown on television multiple times, and I’m reasonably sure he’s explicitly called the POTUS at least once. Why would he be shown on tv so many times if he was NOT POTUS? 1979 would have been too early for campaign appearances. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/74 "2011-06-20T02:50:08Z")
Perhaps he was mentioned as a presidential candidate? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/75 "2011-06-20T02:54:04Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Yes he was. Watch it again. _You_ watch it again. You are mistaken, **Dio**. As I said, I watched very carefully for anachronisms. IMDb vets its “Goofs” before they get listed. [From IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1650062/goofs): > [@](#): > > Anachronisms: **This movie takes place during the summer of 1979** (we see a TV with Walter Cronkite discussing the Three Mile Island nuclear accident). One character is listening to a portable cassette player he says is called a “Walkman.” The first Sony Walkman was not introduced to the US until June 1980. My emphasis. If Reagan had been depicted as president, believe me, it would have shown up at IMDb as a “Goof” by now. It’s not there. You are mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/76 "2011-06-20T02:59:19Z")
I honestly don’t remember seeing Reagan once. The only time I remember them watching TV was the coverage of the train wreck. No talk about the president. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/77 "2011-06-20T03:02:30Z")
I’m certain they showed Reagan on TV. I specifically remember it confusing me as to the date. I could be wrong about him being called POTUS, but I’m positive he was shown on television. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/78 "2011-06-20T03:04:34Z")
In 1979, he was running for president so perhaps he was mentioned as a candidate? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/79 "2011-06-20T03:30:07Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > I spotted an anachronism: the school should have been a Junior High, not a Middle School. I went to Middle Schools in California, Texas, and Tennessee from 1979-1982 (we moved a lot), so I don’t think that the name of the school is anachronistic at all. I also remember getting a Rubik’s Cube for Christmas in 1980, and a Walkman a couple of years later, so 1979 did seem a bit early for both of these. The handheld electronic game that the teacher had confiscated was right on the money, though–I was playing those too in 1979. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899/80 "2011-06-20T11:46:25Z")
Like **Spoke** , I was looking for anachronisms, too. I was the same age as the kids in the movie in 1979. I remember seeing a clip of Reagan on the TV, but there was \*never \*any mention of him being President. He would have been in the public eye as a presidential candidate, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-great-boxed-spoilers/584899.md?page=5)