Inside Movies & DVD with Drew McWeeny

Watch: Astonishing new trailer for JJ Abrams' 'Super 8' teases, sets up the story

Vintage Spielberg attitude makes this feel very special, indeed.

By Drew McWeeny Friday, Mar 11, 2011 6:15 AM

The young cast of 'Super 8' is going to face down a threat that is only hinted at in the new trailer for the JJ Abrams film

Credit: Paramount

I've been on the road since early on Wednesday, and I apologize for how light the blog's been on content during that time. I spent most of Wednesday and much of Thursday in a place without any internet or phone, which made it impossible to write anything up or post anything.

And then tonight, as I landed in Austin, a real-life disaster movie began to unfold on the opposite side of the world, and like many of you, I've been watching this horrifying footage from Japan unfold, and I'm once again reminded just how powerful nature really is. When I hear people talk about how mankind is going to destroy the earth, I just shrug it off because when the earth really does decide to get rid of us, it will be effortless. Nature is still so incredibly powerful, and we are still able to do so little in the face of a natural disaster, and all we can do right now is hope that the people in the path of these quakes and these waves and all the other things resulting from this are as okay as possible.

It almost feels wrong to have post movie news right now, but then again, movies are often our escape when the real world is too tough for us, and so I'll do this anyway. Especially since what I'm posting is kind of awesome, and highly anticipated by many of you.

Paramount has just released the full-length trailer for "Super 8," the new film from director JJ Abrams, and it is a stunner. You get a good sense of general plot from this film, and it looks like there's a little bit of "Close Encounters" in there, some "Jaws," and a whole lot of small-town Spielberg as well. It's the story of a group of young friends who get together to make monster movies on super-8 film back tine '70s, when a train derails in their town, releasing something dangerous into their community.

It's as good a trailer as I can remember seeing recently, and here it is for you:

I'm excited to hear your thoughts about the trailer, and to see the movie for myself in June. So far, though, it's incredibly exciting to see this much footage and to know that we still haven't seen any of the good stuff.

My coverage of the SXSW festival will get underway here later today, and I hope you enjoy it. It's going to be a busy but hopefully amazing few days of movies and BBQ and good friends, and I'm going to share as much of it as possible with you guys.

"Super 8" opens June 10, 2011.

Related Searches: JJ Abrams, Steven Spielberg, Super 8, alien invasion, Kyle Chandler, Spielburbia, traler

George

Major goosebumps watching that. It's looking amazing.
March 11, 2011 at 8:13AM EST Reply to Comment
- yup, goosebumps here too... radical!
  March 11, 2011 at 10:02AM EST
DefRef

It is so weird to see a trailer that doesn't spell out every plot point and story beat, thus mooting the need to come back for the whole movie. Rather it just sketches the broadest outlines and shows a bunch of cool-looking shots and gives a sense of the film's vibe. Worked for me. I'm interested as all get out now.
March 11, 2011 at 8:20AM EST Reply to Comment
ed w

Police officer parent in a small town deals with a roaming predator terrorizing the locals while trying to keep his boy safe. I kept waiting for Richard Dreyfus and Robert Shaw to show up. ;)
March 11, 2011 at 9:39AM EST Reply to Comment
Chrissy

Is it going to be a problematic that I find Coach Taylor to be such a comforting presence that I'm pretty sure nothing too bad will happen to those people?

Neat trailer, thanks for posting.
March 11, 2011 at 9:44AM EST Reply to Comment
Fawst

The hairs on my arms went vertical watching that. It made me feel like a kid again, only for me, that meant reminding me of seeing movies like "The Goonies," "Monster Squad," "Cloak and Dagger" and "The Quest" (both starring E.T.'s Henry Thomas, I might add). I know that E.T. was the first film I ever saw in theaters, but I don't remember that experience AT ALL. I feel like I'll get to make up for that when I see this one opening night.
March 11, 2011 at 9:56AM EST Reply to Comment
I had that space shuttle poster!
March 11, 2011 at 10:18AM EST Reply to Comment
echos myron

It's trailers like these that make me remember why I stopped watching big blockbuster films over ten years ago. This movie has already been made 200 times before.
March 11, 2011 at 10:33AM EST Reply to Comment
- Jeff seriously... plucky kid in the perilous center of what should be a global situation way over his head? way to change things up spielberg...
  March 11, 2011 at 10:48AM EST
- May as well stop breathing, right? I mean, it's been done approximately 2,615,385,600,000,000 times in the past year in the U.S. alone. It's so played out...
  March 11, 2011 at 10:59AM EST
- echos myron Very stupid analogy.
  March 11, 2011 at 11:19AM EST
- Yet mathematically accurate, unlike your "made 200 times before" hyperbole. So my sarcasm aside, nothing about this trailer hit you in the right spots? You don't think this looks good at all? That's cool. Enjoy whatever cave of jaded torment you must be living in, and be sure to write when you get the itch...
  March 11, 2011 at 3:15PM EST
- ECHOS MYRON Next to the many films by Kieslowski, Fassbinder, Ozu, Herzog, Cassavetes, Leigh, Costa, and Bergman that I've watched, I'm absolutely positive that this movie will be complete generic garbage. "Cave of torment"? What a clown you are. Go watch Inception for a tenth time.
  March 11, 2011 at 5:50PM EST
- Barry Convex Well, it's not "Citizen Kane", but still...
  March 11, 2011 at 8:36PM EST
- Nice name-dropping, Echos. Desperate to be the cultural elite, eh? I assure you, it's okay to enjoy both pop and fine art. They both have value. Please calm down now.
  March 15, 2011 at 4:48PM EST
Kyle Chandler... enough said
March 11, 2011 at 10:50AM EST Reply to Comment
- Agreed. The instant I heard coach Taylor say, "I've got nothing against your friends, I like your friends," I was hooked. Perfect "everyman" character actor.
  
  This looks like a great tribute film from Abrams to Speilberg. I'm not expecting it to change the history of movies but I do expect it to remind me why I love the ones that I do.
  March 11, 2011 at 11:46AM EST
- Ryan Amen to that man. As a kid I watched Early Edition but Chandler blew that out of the water with FNL. He'll be Coach Taylor from here out. I enjoyed seeing him popup in movies like King Kong, Kingdom, and Day the Earth Stood Still. I anxiously await this film. Hopefully he can gain some cred as a leading man.
  
  As for the films, it does look amazing. Like a Spielberg film of old. Just the trailer where the logos flash in time with the quaint music? Wow, I can't wait to see in IMAX
  March 12, 2011 at 4:12PM EST
Monterey Jack

"Get me Steven Spielberg!"

"I'm afraid he's not available, Sir."

"Then get me his non-union Mexican equivilent!"
March 11, 2011 at 12:20PM EST Reply to Comment
- Well done, Monterey Jack.
  March 15, 2011 at 4:06AM EST
- Bryan "From producer SENIOR SPIELBERGO"
  March 16, 2011 at 1:53PM EST
Durban73

I got a Stand By Me vibe for some reason.I'm looking forward to this. Is this the only original big budget geek movie this summer?
March 11, 2011 at 2:09PM EST Reply to Comment
- Ryan In the early part of the trailer, I was getting a strong E.T. feel.
  March 11, 2011 at 3:15PM EST
- If by original, you mean non-sequel/non-remake, then I think you're right. I dunno that I'd call it original, since it's a riff on Spielberg's golden era of films (and to agree with someone from AICN, it looks like a live action The Iron Giant in a way).
  March 11, 2011 at 3:18PM EST
- echos myron Spielberg's "golden era" very much resembles a pool of boozy piss filling a clogged urinal.
  March 11, 2011 at 5:52PM EST
- Brian Echos, you sad bitter individual, what's a towering intellectual like yourself doing wasting your precious time writing comments on a movie website? Spielberg's best days may apparently be behind him, but you would hardly rate against the excrement-stained toilet paper he flushes down his golden toilet. Sure this movie may not be crazy original, but that doesn't mean it can't be good. Abrams has talent to spare.
  March 11, 2011 at 7:46PM EST
Mr. Merle

It is nice to know that we're bought off that cheaply.
March 11, 2011 at 3:32PM EST Reply to Comment
JoeK

Does its job very very well and amazingly is even better than the Super Bowl spot - which was just great. This is no doubt calculated to crush the resistance of most any movie fan of a particular age (spectacularly really) but it sure looks worthy of notice on its own. Our family's tickets are sold.
March 11, 2011 at 3:55PM EST Reply to Comment
Ace Hunter

I award this trailer five jetcycles and a kiss-the-thumbs-up. --Ace
March 11, 2011 at 4:05PM EST Reply to Comment
It's a good trailer. I want to see the movie. I hope it's good. But "astonishing"? Let's ratchet down the hyperbole just a tad.
March 11, 2011 at 5:55PM EST Reply to Comment
This is why I love movies!!!
March 11, 2011 at 7:05PM EST Reply to Comment
chris

this is the type of hyperbole that just irritates me,
"astonishing"? "as good a trailer as you can remember"? a list of trailers that are, as trailers, much, much, better than the trailer from super8:
-Tron Legacy
-the Social Network, the one with the version of creep
-Inception
-Where the Wild Things Are, the one with wake up
-A Serious Man
-Benjamin Button, the one with my body is a cage
-Dark Knight
-There Will Be Blood
-300 (shit movie, great trailer)
and that's the last four years off the top of my head. all these trailers are much better than the super8 trailer. just as trailers.
astonishing. please.
March 11, 2011 at 7:45PM EST Reply to Comment
TimB

I think I would've been a lot more blown away had they held back the Super Bowl teaser and just debuted with this. Its nothing against either piece of advertising... but this trailer, despite shedding light to some plot points, doesn't seem to elevate the stakes from that of the teaser trailer. I must admit, I was born in 1989... I am, by no means, a "child of the 80s." I didn't grow up on E.T. or Close Encounters, and frankly neither of them are films that would ever be in my DVD collection(there's plenty of other Spielberg in there, though). So, clearly, I'm not the demographic they're aiming for. I am a HUGE sucker for 90% of alien flicks, and Abrams has entertained me thus far, so I'll probably be there on opening day regardless.

PS: The whimsical score in the trailer really adds to the 80's Amblin vibe of the film. Is that stock music, or is it original score? And if it is original, is it Michael Giachinno? Its off topic, but I recently re-watched "Let Me In" for the first time since seeing it in theaters, and I realized that the ONLY negative I could draw from that film is Giachino's score. Which shocks me, because I've openly praised almost everything he's done("Speed Racer," "Star Trek," "Up" and his Cloverfield "Roar!" overture are some of my favorite film scores of the last 5 years). He just didn't seem to get the tone of "Let Me In"... such a sterile, visceral and calculating film... he played it with a broad, bombastic score that would've been more at home in some 80s, by-the-book slasher film.
March 11, 2011 at 8:02PM EST Reply to Comment
- It's Horner's score from COCOON, "Through The Window" from 0:00-0:40 and a looped edit of "The Ascension" from 1:37-2:21.
  
  P.S. Loved the '80s Amblin logo right up front.
  March 11, 2011 at 9:05PM EST
- Strike my last, it's all from "Through the Window". Wasn't listening to my CD closely enough.
  March 11, 2011 at 9:17PM EST
Barry Convex

New Super 8 poster posted at AICN:
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/48838

March 11, 2011 at 9:21PM EST Reply to Comment
I will see this just for Kyle Chandler, that the rest looks fabulous is just a bonus. Also, the best trailer of the recent past is the one for The Social Network accompanied by the choral version of Creep.
March 12, 2011 at 2:23AM EST Reply to Comment
jack

looks like an updated, retrofied ET. and I'm all for it. just goes to show how great a movie ET was that I'm excited to see what will, presumably, be a lesser version of it.
March 24, 2011 at 8:53AM EST Reply to Comment
tony

Haha. Not the Super 8 I was hoping for. Pass.
March 24, 2011 at 12:03PM EST Reply to Comment

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Watch: Astonishing new trailer for JJ Abrams' 'Super 8' teases, sets up the story

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George Major goosebumps watching that. It's looking amazing.

yup, goosebumps here too... radical!

ed w Police officer parent in a small town deals with a roaming predator terrorizing the locals while trying to keep his boy safe. I kept waiting for Richard Dreyfus and Robert Shaw to show up. ;)

Chrissy Is it going to be a problematic that I find Coach Taylor to be such a comforting presence that I'm pretty sure nothing too bad will happen to those people?Neat trailer, thanks for posting.

I had that space shuttle poster!

echos myron It's trailers like these that make me remember why I stopped watching big blockbuster films over ten years ago. This movie has already been made 200 times before.

Jeff seriously... plucky kid in the perilous center of what should be a global situation way over his head? way to change things up spielberg...

May as well stop breathing, right? I mean, it's been done approximately 2,615,385,600,000,000 times in the past year in the U.S. alone. It's so played out...

echos myron Very stupid analogy.

ECHOS MYRON Next to the many films by Kieslowski, Fassbinder, Ozu, Herzog, Cassavetes, Leigh, Costa, and Bergman that I've watched, I'm absolutely positive that this movie will be complete generic garbage. "Cave of torment"? What a clown you are. Go watch Inception for a tenth time.

Barry Convex Well, it's not "Citizen Kane", but still...

Nice name-dropping, Echos. Desperate to be the cultural elite, eh? I assure you, it's okay to enjoy both pop and fine art. They both have value. Please calm down now.

Kyle Chandler... enough said

Monterey Jack "Get me Steven Spielberg!" "I'm afraid he's not available, Sir." "Then get me his non-union Mexican equivilent!"

Well done, Monterey Jack.

Bryan "From producer SENIOR SPIELBERGO"

Durban73 I got a Stand By Me vibe for some reason.I'm looking forward to this. Is this the only original big budget geek movie this summer?

Ryan In the early part of the trailer, I was getting a strong E.T. feel.

If by original, you mean non-sequel/non-remake, then I think you're right. I dunno that I'd call it original, since it's a riff on Spielberg's golden era of films (and to agree with someone from AICN, it looks like a live action The Iron Giant in a way).

echos myron Spielberg's "golden era" very much resembles a pool of boozy piss filling a clogged urinal.

Mr. Merle It is nice to know that we're bought off that cheaply.

Ace Hunter I award this trailer five jetcycles and a kiss-the-thumbs-up. --Ace

It's a good trailer. I want to see the movie. I hope it's good. But "astonishing"? Let's ratchet down the hyperbole just a tad.

This is why I love movies!!!

It's Horner's score from COCOON, "Through The Window" from 0:00-0:40 and a looped edit of "The Ascension" from 1:37-2:21.P.S. Loved the '80s Amblin logo right up front.

Strike my last, it's all from "Through the Window". Wasn't listening to my CD closely enough.

Barry Convex New Super 8 poster posted at AICN: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/48838

I will see this just for Kyle Chandler, that the rest looks fabulous is just a bonus. Also, the best trailer of the recent past is the one for The Social Network accompanied by the choral version of Creep.

jack looks like an updated, retrofied ET. and I'm all for it. just goes to show how great a movie ET was that I'm excited to see what will, presumably, be a lesser version of it.

tony Haha. Not the Super 8 I was hoping for. Pass.

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George

Major goosebumps watching that. It's looking amazing.

ed w

Police officer parent in a small town deals with a roaming predator terrorizing the locals while trying to keep his boy safe. I kept waiting for Richard Dreyfus and Robert Shaw to show up. ;)

Chrissy

Is it going to be a problematic that I find Coach Taylor to be such a comforting presence that I'm pretty sure nothing too bad will happen to those people?

Neat trailer, thanks for posting.

echos myron

It's trailers like these that make me remember why I stopped watching big blockbuster films over ten years ago. This movie has already been made 200 times before.

Monterey Jack

"Get me Steven Spielberg!"

"I'm afraid he's not available, Sir."

"Then get me his non-union Mexican equivilent!"

Durban73

I got a Stand By Me vibe for some reason.I'm looking forward to this. Is this the only original big budget geek movie this summer?

Mr. Merle

It is nice to know that we're bought off that cheaply.

Ace Hunter

I award this trailer five jetcycles and a kiss-the-thumbs-up. --Ace

It's Horner's score from COCOON, "Through The Window" from 0:00-0:40 and a looped edit of "The Ascension" from 1:37-2:21.

P.S. Loved the '80s Amblin logo right up front.

Barry Convex

New Super 8 poster posted at AICN:
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/48838

jack

looks like an updated, retrofied ET. and I'm all for it. just goes to show how great a movie ET was that I'm excited to see what will, presumably, be a lesser version of it.

tony

Haha. Not the Super 8 I was hoping for. Pass.

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