Super 8

Super 8

A group of friends are making a film about zombies for a competition. They decide that it would be a good Idea to go to a train stop to do some filming. When they see a train approaching, they decide that this will add production value. When one of them spots a car driving along the tracks, the train hits it, and derails almost killing the children. The train dumps it's cargo everywhere, small shapeshifting cubes, and something appears to be alive in one of the trailers. They find that the driver was a biology teacher, who told them to tell nobody about this, as the police arrive they drive away.

The next few days are chaotic, people and dogs disappearing all over town, power cuts, the camera broke too. The main boy is told that he cannot go outside with that girl anymore, who is then taken by the alien, and his dad is captured by the military. Who then start an artificial fire to evacuate the whole town, the boys now know that the military is hiding something.

The strangely escape back in to town, to find the biology teachers room. They find classified film's about an alien landing in a ship made of shapeshifting cubes. They are caught and are on the way back to the evacuation site, when the bus is attacked by the alien. This is the first time we see the aliens face, just before he bites the commanders head off. The boys escape and decide to try and find the girl and save her.

They get to a spot where there is a garage with mud on the windows. They break in and find tunnels leading to a spot under the water tower, where the alien keeps the bodies of the stolen people. They find the girl and cause a distraction by setting off all the fireworks. They are trying to find their way out of the lair, when the alien spots them he chases them and picks up the main boy. He tells the alien that not everybody is mean and that he will help him. They get let out and the alien starts up the auto rebuild mechanism for his ship. When they get outside the small cubes are being attracted together on top of the water tower. But it needs extra materials to work, so bicycles and other metal objects are attracted to the base. The alien climbs in to the ship, but it needs one more bit. So the main boy lets the necklace of his dead mother go and pierce the water tower, setting the space ship off in to space.

Characters

Joel Courtney : Joe Lamb

Ryan Lee : Cary

Zach Mills : Preston

Gabriel Basso : Martin

Elle Fanning : Alice dainard

Filming Styles

Mostly this film was Sci-fi and at some times it was quite scary. Also a mystery film because the boys were trying to find out what was going on. There were some funny moments in the film, but quite allot of it happened in dark conditions.

War of the worlds 2005

War of the worlds (2005)

Plot:

In new york, Mr. Ferrier has to look after his children for the weekend. There is a strange lightning storm, which has silent lightning that strikes only in one place and cuts of all electricity, phones, watches and cars. As people run to the spot where it hit, a huge tripod emerges from the ground, gets out some disintegrator guns and starts destroying the city.

Everybody runs away, but Mr. Ferrier finds a working car. And drives to a house with a basement, during the night a plane crashes in to the house. So they decide to get the boat to boston. As they have one of the only working cars, there is a fight and they lose the car, so they have to walk.

When they finally get to the boat, an alien tripod comes from under the sea, and sinks the boat. They manage to swim to safety, and run for the hills, where the son decides to join the army. The remaining 2 find a house with a man, who is obsessed with trying to kill the aliens. He nearly gets them killed on many occasions, then he goes crazy, and Mr. ferrier decides to kill him.

The aliens find them in the house, and put them in cages that hang full of prisoners. Luckily he throws a grenade inside the tripod, and blows it up, freeing everybody. When he manages to get to boston, he finds aliens dyeing all around him. They find the house and he returns the child, to find that the son has already got home. Bacteria had killed the aliens.

Character

Tom Cruise : Ray Ferrier

Dakota Franning : Rachel Ferrier

Justin Chatwin : Robbie Ferrier

Miranda Otto : Mary Ann Davis

Filming Styles

Quite modern, allot of close ups, and slightly copied story line. There were allot of “edge of your seat” moments. The effects were very good, although the aliens were a little blurry.

Background Research

9/11 is the date when the twin business towers were bombed by commercial aircraft, killing many people. A sleeper cell agent is an undercover terrorist, who stays in a country for years until given orders to commit an act of terrorism. Guantanamo bay is a prison where bad people are trained, the enemy within is knowing that bad things are inside you.

War of the worlds 1953

War of the worlds (1953)

Plot:

One night in california, an object falls from the sky. People are very exited because they think it could be a tourist attraction. Later that night, three men that stayed behind to make sure it didn't set fire to anything, spot the meteor unscrewing itself. A robotic head emerges, and as they wave the white flag, it shoots them with pure heat. Cutting all electricity signals and phone signals it also changes the magnetism in the area.

The people of the village soon find out that this is happening all over the world. And as more capsules land, and robots emerge, the army intervenes. But they find themselves defenceless against their weapons and force fields. As the aliens destroy cities all over the world, the government decides to bomb the aliens, but that does nothing either.

All cities are evacuated, and all people run for the hills. There are riots everywhere, so everybody who could not escape goes to church and pray's for a miracle. As the aliens are about to destroy the church, they all fall from the sky. People go outside to discover all the aliens had died. Simple bacterium had killed them off, and the world was saved.

Characters

Gene Barry : Dr. clayton forester.

Ann Robinson : Sylvia van Buren.

Les Tremayne : Maj. Gen Mann.

Robert Cornthwaite : Dr Pryor.

Filming styles

Very old fashioned film. With all women screaming and all men fighting. The effects I suppose, were pretty good for the time. And they must have put allot of time and effort into making all the aliens and their ships.

Background research

After the war, the russians and the americans both saw that they had immense power. They sometimes threatened to nuke each other. But that would have been stupid, because if one bomb was launched, the other country would respond back before it hit them. You can almost replace martian with russian every time it is said.

District 9

District 9:

Plot : An alien ship arrived on earth 20 years ago, and humans put the aliens in a slum.

During an evacuation warning, the main character spills a mystery black liquid on his face. He get's infected, and when the government finds out that he has the power to activate alien weaponry, he becomes a test specimen and is about to be dissected. He manages to escape and finds the alien that created the black liquid, who says that he will be able to turn him back to normal. As long as he finds the liquid that can turn him back and power their ship. They run in to humans in the city, but they are soon dealt with with their superior weapons. When they get back to the alien base, mr prawn says he will have to wait 3 years. Wikus gets angry and tries to escape in the mini ship but crashes it. Wikus helps mr prawn get to his ship so it can levitate. He wears the robot suit to help protect him. Mr prawn and his son get to the mother ship and escape the earth, leaving Wikus alone.

Characters :

• Main character: Wikus Van De Merwe.
• Grey Bradnam : UKNR Chief Correspondent.
• Sociologist : Sarah Livingstone.
• Dr : Katrina McKenzie.
• The Father.
• The Wife.
• Prawn friend and son.

Filming styles : It is a docu-realist style with some CGI aswell.

Background research

The apartheid system : Apartheid was a system of racial separatism enforced through legislation by the National party governments, who were the ruling party from 1948 to 1994, of South Africa, under which the rights of the majority black inhabitants of South Africa were curtailed and White supremacy and African minority was maintained.