# "Super 8" is super lame (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978 "2011-06-18T22:44:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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 19, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/21 "2011-06-19T21:20:57Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Aliens never come to the inner city, but either out in the sticks or the nice suburbs where all the neighborhood kids are friends. Well, it’s not like the aliens arrived in the air. It was brought on a train. But, you may want to check out the trailer [Attack The Block](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD0gm7dHKKc) ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/22 "2011-06-19T22:30:14Z")
I just got back from seeing the flick – my kids treated me for Dad’s Day. I pretty much agree with the entire OP. However … here’s the only interpretation of the thing that I could come up with that even approaches an original idea and makes the movie make any sense at all. You see … the entire movie is not real. What it actually is, is the movie that’s in the kid’s head. This is the super-8 movie he would make if he could … if he had all the ‘production value’ you could get your hands on. It’s the only thing that makes sense. For one thing, why even call the movie Super 8 otherwise. I mean, apart from the first 20 minutes, super 8 cameras, films, movies, whatever have fuck-all to do with what’s going on. The movie is as though written by a hyperactive 13 year old. Evil military … nobody really dies, even when their pick-up truck hits a speeding train head on … kids are the heroes … the alien is just a lost sympathetic traveller … pot makes you pass out like it was roofies … I’m convinced that this script was written by a 13 year old Steven Speilberg, unearthed, and given the full-on Hollywood treatment, just because they could. That aside … I thought it sucked super hard. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/23 "2011-06-19T23:01:30Z")
Oh, also, when people get hurt, it doesn’t really hurt that bad, even when they have a compound fracture of the leg that causes them to mumble, “guys, I think something’s wrong with my leg,” and then limp down the street on it 10 minutes later. That was my favorite part. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/24 "2011-06-20T01:30:09Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > It’s a _summer movie_. You’re supposed to go along for the ride. Of course the main characters aren’t going to actually die .. what kind of a movie are you looking for here, _Shoah_? This illustrates the difference between artistry and hackistry; a “summer movie” like _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ or _Galaxy Quest_ works not because the plot makes sense (it doesn’t) or because it offers impeachable continuity (it doesn’t) but because the characters are so compelling and the plot is so well-paced that the viewer doesn’t stop to question any holes or discontinuities in the story. If a viewer is watching the film and is not sufficiently engrossed that they are able to find critical holes in the story, the film is not well made. Arguing that the film falls into a genre of film that should be outside the typical range of film criticism is skirting the issue of the deficiencies of the film. Just because a movie is not “serious” does no except it from satisfying basic criteria in terms of engaging the viewer and crafting an internally plausible storytelling world populated with compelling characters. In the case of the o.p., he doesn’t reflexively object to the film because it is popular; he presents eleven lucid reasons why the film was, to him, not compelling or entertaining. I have not seen the film, but between what I’ve seen of the trailers and the previous work of the director the o.p.'s issues with the film don’t surprise me in the least. J.J. Abrams is a hack extraordinaire who has yet to demonstrate originality in his highly derivative work. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_In_Black)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/25 "2011-06-20T16:58:24Z")
Super 8 was great. One of the best movies of the year so far. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/26 "2011-06-20T17:08:26Z")
I think you’re in the wrong thread. [This one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=611804) is for fawning. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/27 "2011-06-20T17:27:49Z")
I’m going to start a “Super 8 Was Mediocre” thread. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/28 "2011-06-20T17:31:26Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I think you’re in the wrong thread. [This one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=611804) is for fawning. Neither is, IMHO. The OPs of the two threads have diametrically opposed views on the movie, but I think movie threads should expect to have dissenting views expressed. I see nothing wrong with disagreeing with **Diogenes** in this thread or with **Equipoise** in the other. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/29 "2011-06-20T17:35:01Z")
I disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/30 "2011-06-20T18:07:43Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I’m going to start a “Super 8 Was Mediocre” thread. That’s one that I’d have to post my thoughts. It was an allright flick to see at a matinee but even a week later I find it rather forgetable. Nothing I really want to see again or make a note to recommend to others. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/31 "2011-06-20T18:36:11Z")
I actually thought it was the best movie I’ve seen in a while - certainly this year, anyway. I think the OP was expecting the movie to be something it didn’t intend to be. It wasn’t supposed to be scary, or plausible. This was a throwback to the kid-friendly monster/alien movies of the '80s – ET, The Goonies, Close Encounters. _Of course_ the kids aren’t seriously hurt. And naturally you’re going to have an anti-drug message in a movie aimed at 13- and 14- year olds. I loved the innocence and earnestness of the kids, the humor, and (maybe above all) the lack of cynicism in the film. The evil military guy was over the top, but that’s part of the genre - think of the authorities in _ET_ or _Wargames_. I came out of the movie smiling, trying to think of someone I could bring back to see it with again (since my own kids are still too young). ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/32 "2011-06-20T19:23:31Z")
Thanks for this, **Diogenes**. I almost went to see it last weekend (missed my chance, after overestimating our ability to down an entire pitcher of frozen margaritas in time to make the movie) and was still considering it, but I had some doubts. The effusive praise seemed suspicious, and the short clip I saw on the Daily Show, with the kids basically running (impossibly) unscathed through a rainstorm of CGI debris, didn’t really inspire confidence. You’ve tipped the scale toward “wait for the DVD.” I’m sure it’s impressively **L_O_U_D_!_!_!** in the theater, but that’s becoming more of a drawback than a draw the older and fartier I get. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/33 "2011-06-20T19:31:08Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I just got back from seeing the flick – my kids treated me for Dad’s Day. Aw, no fair… so what do you want to know about Mr. Poppers’ Penguins? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/34 "2011-06-20T19:41:40Z")
There is a pothead in a kids’ movie? ---
**Author:** ![Zhen\_ka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecccb3/32.png) [@Zhen\_ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zhen_ka)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/35 "2011-06-20T19:57:39Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Neither is, IMHO. The OPs of the two threads have diametrically opposed views on the movie, but I think movie threads should expect to have dissenting views expressed. I see nothing wrong with disagreeing with **Diogenes** in this thread or with **Equipoise** in the other. Except that one of those posters frequently gets butthurt if anyone disagrees with his/her erudite and informed opinions of the movie he/she is praising. Makes those threads tough to read. Agree with the other criticism–bitch about all the stupid polls, not a second thread about a popular summer flick. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/36 "2011-06-20T19:57:40Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > This was a throwback to the kid-friendly monster/alien movies of the '80s – ET, The Goonies, Close Encounters. Aha. This is part of the problem I had with it. I definitely got the ET / Goonies vibe, but there was just too much else that washed right over it. If we were going for a light-hearted sci-fi kiddy romp, what’s with the 20 minute train crash at 187 decibels, and the equally loud alien tearing the bus apart thing … there was just too much adult-oriented action sequences to jibe with a kids’ movie. Hence, my analysis above. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/37 "2011-06-20T20:28:30Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I disagree. So you really do think we should have multiple threads for this topic? One for fawning, one for ambivalence, one for “good for what it was”, one for “didn’t like it much”, etc., all the way down the scale to “it really sucked”? No one should have to face disagreement in a movie thread? Anyway. Although I didn’t _dislike_ Super 8, neither did I care for it very much. A little too feel-good for me; I nearly vomited at the final locket scene. Nevertheless I did like it a fair sight better than the OP, and some of his criticisms aren’t necessarily on the mark. > [@](#): > > It isn’t scary, It generates no tension or fear. You never think for a second that any of the primary characters are ever in any real danger. I’ll agree that it wasn’t scary by any means, but how could you know that none of the primary characters are ever in danger? Plenty of tertiary characters seemed to bite the dust (although the filmmakers definitely wimped out by implying that many may have survived). It wouldn’t have surprised me in the least if one of the friends had died. > [@](#): > > The movie reinforces the movie rule that fat guys are not worthy of ever getting the girl, and even has the fat kid sadly acknowledge that it was foolish for him to ever hope otherwise. The movie “reinforces” no such thing. Why is it a filmmaker’s responsibility to ensure that fat kids get what’s due them? Simple fact is that an attractive (relative to her age level) girl probably wouldn’t be attracted to a fat kid. I say that as a former fat kid and a current fat adult. Deal. > [@](#): > > The Deputy dad escaping Rambo style from a locked down military installation. Bull-SHIT. Eh. Unrealistic, maybe rather silly, but it was meant in fun. > [@](#): > > The whole storyline with tension between the deputy dad and the girl’s dad not liking each other and not wanting their kids to see each other is not only predictable, but stupid and calls for the dads to behave irrationally. And this is unbelievable how? I’ve seen real-life examples of people acting much more irrationally about far less serious subjects than blame for the death of a loved one. There was implied history between the two men even irrespective of the accident. The deputy disagreed with his wife’s sympathy for the other man, and when the latter’s bad habits indirectly lead to her death, a hotheaded and short-sided reaction strikes me as pretty genuine genuine. > [@](#): > > The movie gives the alien psychic powers. This is not only (obviously) physically impossible, but cinematically lazy. Lazy storytelling, maybe, but impossible? Extraordinarily unlikely but certainly not impossible, particularly given its massive technological superiority. I read recently about scientists intercepting, and displaying in a limited way, the visual perception of a cat. We don’t know all of what that species is capable of or how much know-how it has about human physiology. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/38 "2011-06-20T20:33:48Z")
> [@Paranoid\_Randroid](#): > > So you really do think we should have multiple threads for this topic? One for fawning, one for ambivalence, one for “good for what it was”, one for “didn’t like it much”, etc., And another one for jokey posts that other posters don’t get. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/39 "2011-06-20T22:10:56Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > There is a pothead in a kids’ movie? And several “shits” and a “fuck.” But don’t forget E.T. had “penis breath.” ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978/40 "2011-06-21T00:59:20Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > The evil military guy was over the top, but that’s part of the genre - think of the authorities in _ET_ No way. Remember the big speech before the chase scene? “Safety above all else. These are _children_ we are chasing after. Put away your weapons and carry only walkie talkies!” > [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > But don’t forget E.T. had “penis breath.” Think that’s bad, you should smell was Elliot’s dick now smells like. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-8-is-super-lame-open-spoilers/585978.md?page=3)