Super 8 Unspools On Blu-Ray And DVD November 22nd

In a summer of super-heroes and sequels, Super 8 stood out. Whether you were on board with J.J. Abrams ode to Spielberg and the "Amblin-style" movies many of us grew up with or not, there's no question that Super 8 was ambitious and original. If it failed, it certainly didn't do so for lack of trying. Thankfully, I'm in the camp that thought it worked remarkably well (with, granted, a few flawed spots), so I'm giving thanks that Super 8 has been announced for Blu-ray and DVD this November 22nd.

If you didn't check it out this summer, Super 8 is a love letter to both adolescence and the movies that still make many of us feel young, flicks like E.T., Close Encounters, or The Goonies. A group of young friends in the midst of shooting their own homemade horror movie unwittingly wind up in the middle of something much greater after witnessing a terrible train crash. Soon it becomes clear that the train was military in origin, and that it was carrying...something. Current It Guy J.J. Abrams directs alongside producer/muse Steven Spielberg.

Paramount Home Entertainment will release Super 8 as a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack ($39.99), as well as a single-disc DVD version ($29.99). Here's what you'll get on the bonus features front:

Blu-ray

• Commentary by writer/director J.J. Abrams, producer Bryan Burk and cinematographer Larry Fong
• Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes
  • The Dream Behind Super 8
  • The Search for New Faces
  • Meet Joel Courtney
  • Rediscovering Steel Town
  • The Visitor Lives
  • Scoring Super 8
  • Do You Believe in Magic?
  • The 8mm Revolution
• Deconstructing the Train Crash
• Deleted Scenes

DVD

• Feature Film
• Digital Copy

The single-disc version will include the commentary and the "Dream Behind Super 8 and The Visitor Lives featurettes. Not bad considering many single-disc DVD editions roll out bare-bones. The one big disappointment with the set is that Mr. Spielberg didn't sit in on the commentary. Still, this one will be a guaranteed purchase in my household.