Back in the 70s and early 80s, anyone with pretensions of becoming a filmmaker would be out shooting with the family’s Super 8 camera. Forget about the ubiquitous mobile phones that shoot HD video that can be played back instantly, this was shooting on cartridges filled with 50 feet of Kodak’s finest celluloid, in a tiny format. We’re talking just over three minutes of shooting that would take a week to be developed and posted back in those yellow envelopes. The other inspiration for wannabe (geeky) filmmakers of that era was without doubt Steven Spielberg’s films especially ET and Close Encounters. Filmmaker JJ Abrams is clearly from that generation if his follow-up to Star Trek is anything to go by.

Super 8 is not only homage to classic Spielberg (who was producer), but also a logical, retrograde successor to Abrams’ Cloverfield. Instead of the obnoxious, preppy, New York 20-somethings with a videocamera running from a mostly unseen monster and the military, we have a group of slightly less annoying teenagers in small town America (another Spielberg favourite setting), armed with a Super 8 camera and being pursued by a mostly unseen monster and the military. Does make you wonder if his next film is going to involve wild-west frontier children with zoetropes being pursued by aliens and cowboys. Hang on…

Under Spielberg’s auspices, Abrams has definitely captured the look and feel of an '80s movie, but with the advantages of 21st century special effects, which belie the low-tech charms of the film’s title, and action sequences. The initial train crash, which sets the story in motion, is certainly on a par with that of The Fugitive, although the escaping prisoner is a lot more dangerous than Harrison Ford’s Dr Kimble. Despite all these contemporary additions, and some conspiracy theories, it is still very much a nostalgic sci-fi movie that adds in some dysfunctional family dynamics and the requisite unrequited teenage love with a happy ending.

This film doesn’t break any new ground, and doesn’t need to as it supposed to entertain, which it does well. It is also unlikely that it is going to cause a resurgence in the the use of Super 8 film either, partly because (ironically) a Super8 app was released to promote the film that lets you shoot “Super 8” footage on your iPhone. However, make sure you sit through the credits to watch some actual Super 8 filmmaking.

Super 8 is in cinemas now.

See it at Apollo Piccadilly and get up to 30% off the ticket price by quoting SCI FI when buying your ticket at the box office or booking by phone on 020 7451 9944.