Super 8 - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Super 8



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
I’m not always a fan of J.J. Abrams work, and while I LIKE Star Trek 2009, he’s just fallen flat too many times for me to really consider him a master film maker. That being said, 2010’s Super 8 was a veritable slam dunk for the director, as it allowed him to use his trademark puzzle box film making style (one that made shows like Lost and Fringe both loved and hated at the same time) as well as blending in an homage to the Goonies all at once. It was a flick that was pure Spielberg sci fi fun (and even though Spielberg was only credited as a producer, you can feel his creative input throughout the entire thing), and a well crafted story to boot. And of course it didn’t hurt that the Blu-ray disc was a demo disc for YEARS in both audio and video. I remember after Star Trek and this film J.J. fans were thinking he was going to be the next big thing in movies, and then we watched him sputter and grind his gears with mid level stuff (and his wince worthy pandering in the latest Star Wars trilogy). Sad, but while I can say that his accolades were certainly over hyped, it doesn’t take away from the fact that Super 8 is probably his best film outside of Mission Impossible III.

They say an accident is nothing but a day away from happening, and that day is here for a small steel town in Ohio back in 1978. A female worker from the Lillian steel plant has just been crushed to death by a falling beam, leaving grieving husband Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler) a widow and father of a teen boy named Joe (Joel Courtney). Joe is as crushed by his mother’s death as his police deputy father is, but instead of wallowing in drink and sorrow, he puts all of his time into finishing up his best friend Charles’ (Grabriel Basso) Super 8 film project. A film that Charles intends to put up at the local amateur film festival in hopes of being noticed. They have one critical scene to shoot of the film, and the only one that fits the part happens to be the daughter of the man who was indirectly responsible for Joe’s mother’s death. Begrudgingly working with the boys, Alice (a 13 year old Elle Fanning) films the scene that Charles really wants, only for a MASSIVE life altering accident to happen. The boys watch (and catch on film) the local school teacher run head long into the train, derailing the entire train and spilling boxes of military labeled crates all over the field.

Running for their lives, the children soon find out that the accident was anything but. The accident draws in a contingent of Air Force soldiers who start taking over the town, scanning for mysterious objects, and generally being the suspicious types. At the same time things just start disappearing all over town. Dogs, cats, microwaves, engines from cars, and all sorts of technology. Determined to find out the truth, the group of children do their best to track the clues from the crash down and uncover a conspiracy that very well may rip the veil off what we believe in terms of sentient life from outer space.

Super 8 feels a lot like Lost in many ways. It uses that trademark “puzzle box” approach to storytelling, with Abrams keeping things incredibly close to the vest, giving us pieces as the film unfolds. It’s partially a habit of Abrams and how he likes to tell a story, but my suspicion is that it’s also because showing the monster too early would have been a massive drain on the CGI, as the train sequences and the monster was INCREDIBLE expensive to do at the time. But no matter the choice, Super 8 is a fantastic coming of age story that infuses Spielberg esque excitement and childlike innocence, with mysteries, Goonies like adventure, and good old fashioned sci-fi.

While Super 8 was billed as a sci-fi version of the Goonies, it’s also a great take on the classic 1950s monster movies that I grew up on. It has all the earmarks of those flicks, with the stylized era that Abrams put it in, down to all the tension and excitement as the mysterious monster wrecks havoc all over the small town. Abram is a HUGE classic nerd for sci-fi and classic monster movies, and much like many directors, this was his big homage to all of the movies that he grew up watching, and he did it WELL.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and some drug use




4K Video: Video:

The 10 year old Blu-ray was known for its exceptional picture quality, and for good reason. Shot on actual film stock and given a painstakingly fantastic encode by Paramount, it was one of the demo discs of the early format days for Blu-ray. Now the new 4K UHD was given a new 4K remaster for the re-release, and it’s a doozy. The dark and sometimes heavily stylized film is given new life with a fantastic representation of what judicious HDR/Dolby Vision and new mastering techniques can do for an already great looking film.

The 4K UHD is very organic in nature, showing great film great, but so tight and so clean that it’s barely noticeable unless you’re super sensitive to grain. It doesn’t swarm, it doesn’t feel bloated, but rather tight and very natural looking. Textures and fine detailing is superb, as you can see every bit of sweat and grime on Elle Fanning’s face after the underground encounter, or the dog hairs on the deputy’s shoulder when he’s at home. Black levels are silky and incredibly revealing, even in the pitch black of light. The opening scene with the train crash is shown with razor sharp clarity despite the heavy cloak of darkness, and not once did I notice any black crush or smeared highlights in the shadows.

Dolby Vision and HDR color grading are appreciable and very impressive as well. The film is comparatively limited in it’s color spectrum due to the darkness and the grading to look like the muted colors we associate with the 70s, but the colors are richer and deeper than I’ve ever seen them before. The blue and red neon shades of the beasts ship at the end stand out with deep saturation levels, and even the more muted colors just seem to be more lifelike and nuanced. I’ve seen the Blu-ray a dozen or so times over the years, and while it is a good transfer, it just doesn’t hold a candle to the new Paramount remaster.







Audio:

Once again, Paramount has decided to not do a Dolby Atmos or DTS:X audio remix for the film, but rather ports over the original 7.1 Dolby TrueHD track from the Blu-ray, and it’s not a bad thing at all. The track was a powerhouse demo mix on the Blu-ray, and I’m glad that they decided to keep the original mix and not mess with perfection, especially for us bass heads who were slightly disappointed with the new Atmos remixing of War of the Worlds. For those who haven’t hear the mix before, you’re in for a treat. The 7.1 mix is nothing short of jaw dropping and legendary in the audio world. The opening scenes are rather dialog heavy, and the surrounds don’t really kick in until the train derailing, but oh boy, once it does things really take off. The train crash is one of the most legendary audio demo scenes of the last 10 years, with the entire sound stage being used with full force. Train cars flipping end over end rip the walls down in the bass department, and every….single...speaker… is being used at once. It’s almost intoxicating to listen to. Then the rest of the movie just takes off, with the mysterious beast tearing through the town, shaking the walls with each impact and blow, not to mention the simple ambiance of hearing the wind whistle through treetops, or the barking of a dog in the background. Yeah, it’s 10 years old, but this mix is nothing short of amazing and continues to impress a full decade later.






Extras:

• Audio Commentary by J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, and Larry Fong
• The Dream Behind Super 8
• The Search for New Faces
• Meet Joel Courtney
• Rediscovering Steel Town
• The Visitor Lives
• Scoring Super 8
• Do You Believe in Magic?
• The 8mm Revolution
• Easter Eggs
• Deconstructing the Train Crash
• Deleted Scenes

Final Score: ​

Super 8 is an instant classic, and J.J. Abrams near perfect attempt of creating his own Goonies (just with aliens, as said above). It’s a fantastic genre film, and still holds up a decade later without being cheesy or dated. The action is a blast, the kids interactions are relatable, and the disc itself is just demo worthy. The only thing I need to really mention is that this is the 3rd 4K UHD in a month that paramount has not done the combo pack deal with. So if you don’t own the Blu-ray and were hoping to have it packaged in, you’re out of luck (and those who have the disc will probably want to keep it). Still, a minor quibble and definitely still makes the 4K UHD disc a great buy.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Elle Fanning, AJ Michalka, Kyle Chanlder, Joul Courtney, Riley Griffiths, Ron Eldard
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Written by: J.J. Abrams
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, French, DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Paramount
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 112 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: May 25th, 2021

Recommendation: Great Buy

 

[Todd Anderson]

I need to give this a watch. When it came out on BD, I only made it 1/3rd of the way through the film because it sounded so harsh and bright. Zero clue as to why.... as many, like Mike, point to its reference Capable nature!

That was quite a few systems ago... hoping it sounds better this time around ;-)

 

[Michael Scott]

I need to give this a watch. When it came out on BD, I only made it 1/3rd of the way through the film because it sounded so harsh and bright. Zero clue as to why.... as many, like Mike, point to its reference Capable nature!

That was quite a few systems ago... hoping it sounds better this time around ;-)

it's a bit on the bright side in terms of recording, but if you have a capable system it handles well. that train scene at the beginning though... oh my. I honestly felt like my entire room was caving in

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Will check it out. Never saw this prior.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

Love this movie. Kinda bummed we just watched the blu-ray a few months back. This will definitely be an upgrade I’m doing.

 

[Michael Scott]

Love this movie. Kinda bummed we just watched the blu-ray a few months back. This will definitely be an upgrade I’m doing.

lol, I almost watched the movie a month or so ago and the same week I saw the press release... held off till now and glad I did. great looking disc

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

lol, I almost watched the movie a month or so ago and the same week I saw the press release... held off till now and glad I did. great looking disc

If you want to know what is about to be released, just check my viewing history on my Plex account.
I just spent entirely too much money on a blu-ray of Dogma from eBay, so you should be hearing about that HDR4K remaster supervised by Kevin Smith and Stanley Kubrick any moment now.

 

[Michael Scott]

If you want to know what is about to be released, just check my viewing history on my Plex account.
I just spent entirely too much money on a blu-ray of Dogma from eBay, so you should be hearing about that HDR4K remaster supervised by Kevin Smith and Stanley Kubrick any moment now.

lol, I know that feeling. every time I buy a Blu-ray that "we'll never see in 4K!" it shows up the next month