SUPER 8 is not CLOVERFIELD 2...

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

'Super 8' has nothing to do with 'Cloverfield' says The Playlist, who have seen the footage of J.J. Abrams' top secret trailer, and have a play-by-play on their temporarily located site. So instead of another shaky cam monster movie, 'Super 8' is described as a nostalgic evocation of the imaginative and epic 70's and 80's works of Steven Spielberg, specifically the awe inspiring 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. The movie is set in 1979, just two years after Spielberg's movie. In fact, Spielberg is himself producing at Amblin Entertainment, and J.J. Abrams has written and will direct it, something he is likely busy with right now. The movie will be out next summer. The info below is detailed, and will tell you everything about the trailer, so if you want to experience it without any knowledge of what it's about (as J.J. Abrams' initial intentions) then don't read any further. I kinda wish I hadn't and I wonder if I have spoilt have the fun of seeing it with a loud and unsuspecting crowd but I didn't really have much choice as I've seen 'Iron Man 2' (wasn't impressed) and it is of course only attached to U.S. prints for the moment. Here's the reveal of 'Super 8', the 1 minute and a half teaser trailer from J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg...

It starts off with a shot of an open field. This is middle America, for sure. The text then pops up that says in 1979, the government decided to move the contents of Area 51, the famous Nevada air force base that's supposedly home to a whole host of otherworldly artifacts, including the crashed space saucer from Roswell, New Mexico. We cut back to the action, which has a very "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"-vibe, with a vintage pickup truck racing down a railroad track. (Truth be told, it also looks very J.J. Abrams-y, with lens flairs galore and his patented, slightly slick hand held camerawork. There's also a really cool shot from underneath the truck as it rumbles towards the train.) Is the truck being driven by a drunk driver? Or is it a deliberate act of sabotage? These are the things we're left to ponder. Somewhere in here we get the words "From Producer Steven Spielberg and Director J.J. Abrams." The truck is careening towards the train. They collide. It's a massive pile-up, with explosions, wrecked train cars, and it's all very well realized. This doesn't look like some crummy pre-visualization stuff, it looks like finished, polished, straight-from-ILM business. The words "Next summer" appear, as we get a closer look at the wreckage. It's clearly the train that was transporting all that mystical mumbo jumbo from Area 51. As we near an overturned train car, we hear something pounding from within. Something is trying to get out! "Super 8." And boom, we were very excited. According to the credits, J.J. is writing and directing this beast, too.