Super 8 Trailer Breakdown and Analysis

The countdown is still a few days away (update: or is it?), so we have a bit of time on our hands in the Super 8 viral. Let’s take a closer look at the trailer, thanks in part to our friends at Unfiction and Super 8 News. While a lot of what goes on is either straightforward or a blur, there’s definitely a few tidbits to pull out of it. Join us in taking a closer look at the Super 8 trailer after the break.

The Obvious

Let’s get this out of the way first. The trailer shows a train speeding down the tracks at night. A truck breaks through a crossing arm and drives down the tracks directly at the train. The truck rams into the train head first, causing an explosion. The truck is ripped apart, and the train derails, causing major destruction. One the turned cars of the train starts to make noise, and we hear pounding as the wall becomes deformed until it looks to break open, then a flash of images turn into the lens of a Super 8mm camera. The titles on the screen read:

IN 1979, THE AIR FORCE CLOSED A SECTION OF AREA 51. ALL MATERIALS WERE TO BE TRANSPORTED TO A SECURE FACILITY IN OHIO. FROM PRODUCER STEVEN SPIELBERG. AND DIRECTOR J.J. ABRAMS. NEXT SUMMER. IT ARRIVES. SUPER 8.

As you can guess, there’s more to the trailer than that simple explanation, so let’s dig a little deeper.

THE TRUCK AND OHIO

What could this “secure facility in Ohio” be, and where along the way might the train have crashed? Thanks to a relatively clear shot of the truck’s Ohio license plate, we know the train almost made it to its destination (Area 51 is in the middle of Nevada, almost 2,000 miles away from the Ohio border), so the movie most likely takes place somewhere in the Buckeye State. The train’s likely destination might actually help us narrow down the location even more. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base looks to be the best option, especially since it sits right on a major railway. The base is just outside Dayton, which is near the western border of Ohio, so they were real close. Unfiction even found a train derailment in Oxford, Ohio in 1979 that seems to fit nicely. Since the viral seems to be using a real person (Dan Morris), maybe a real train accident is also part of it. We have further confirmation of the location from the radio transmission we hear:

“Groom Lake One, Wright-Patt (something) [SITREP?] ETA. Over.”
“Wright-Patt, Groom Lake One actual. Cargo intact, ETA on schedule.”
“Copy Groom Lake One, expect your..OH MY GOD.”

Speaking of the truck, why was it on the tracks anyway? It obviously wasn’t an accident, as the truck deliberately broke through the crossing arm and headed right for the train, not turning away even at the last second. Though it’s hard to tell, it doesn’t look like anyone was chasing the truck, so was it simply a suicide, or was the driver trying to derail the train on purpose for some reason? This might be an interesting plot point in the viral or the movie (depending on when movie starts off from). Based on the “E 6425K” license plate, we know the truck was registered in the Akron area, though that might not be significant.

THE WRECKAGE

Let’s take a closer look at the wreckage. The first thing that gets your attention is the soon-to-be-aggressively-massaged train car, but the wreckage itself has some interesting clues. First, if look at the image above, you’ll see in the bottom lefthand corner a computer terminal that looks somewhat like the PDP-11 model that is featured on the Super 8 viral site. Also, many have noticed a set of numbers on the (telephone?) pole leaning across the frame. It looks to be either “2147044”, “21+70+4”, or something similar, but no meaning has been found for any of the possible combinations.


As far as the car goes, the only real interesting thing is the word “BONHAM”, which is a bit of a puzzle. There’s only two references to Bonham and the Air Force (there are none connecting Bonham with trains). The first one is a missile range and base in Hawaii, and the other is Bonham, Texas, where Perrin Air Force Base is located. However, the Hawaii base was turned over to the Navy 13 years before the movie takes place, and Perrin closed down 8 years before.

THE BLUE FRAMES

Intercut throughout the trailer are weird frames that are blue with white and black. They images are distinct yet abstract, and it’s hard to make anything out of them. They are basically a Rorschach test, with each person seeing something different, though everyone probably sees the alien head in the first one. These may just be just a simulation of warped film reels to give it a more gritty and timely appearance, but you never know. Check out the more clear frames below.

THE CAMERA ZOOM OUT

At the end of the trailer, we zoom out of a camera lens just before the “thing” has a chance to break out of the train car. There are images in the lens (seen above), but from what I can tell, they are just images from the wreckage. However, right at the beginning of the explosive transition, there’s the following image that looks like a child’s face (which we showed before from the bootleg version).





Of course, our eyes could just be playing tricks on us, or we could just be looking too deep into these. Things check out the Unfiction forums for a lot more analysis and speculation, and let us know what you found, as well as what you think about what’s already been “found”, in the comments below. Keep up with our Super 8 coverage by going to our Super 8 Viral Page.