Super 8

J.J. Abrams' 2011 blockbuster is so much more than a sci-fi thriller - it's a love letter to making movies, to watching movies, to the wonder of adolescence and the power of compassion. The fact that there's a massive, mysterious creature on the loose, a small town in peril and six young friends determined to save the day? Well, that's just gravy.

1. Plan your pilgrimage, but not to Ohio: the movie was actually filmed in Weirton, West Virginia and surrounding areas.
2. Stay 'til the end! The kids' completed movie "The Case" plays during Super 8's closing credits.
3. It starts with an idea: long before coming up with the idea for an alien on the loose or kids making a movie, J.J. Abrams imagined starting a film with the image of a factory's "Accident-Free" sign.
4. J.J. Abrams originally had concepts for two separate movies - one about kid filmmakers in the 1970s, and one about an alien invasion. Magic happened when he combined them into one.
5. The sleepy town where the film takes place, Lillian, is named after J.J. Abrams' grandmother.
6. Shout out: the film's evil corporation Romero Chemicals pays homage to legendary zombie film director George A. Romero.
7. Callback easter egg: a "Slusho" sign can be spotted in the gas station scene; Slusho was part of the viral marketing campaign for the J.J. Abrams-produced alien flick Cloverfield.
8. Veteran actor Bruce Greenwood, who also played Captain Pike in J.J. Abrams' big screen Star Trek adaptation, provided the motion-capture performance of the alien.
9. How do you follow that?! Super 8 was the film debut of young stars Joel Courtney and Riley Griffiths.
10. Creative geniuses just want to have fun: both Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams have said that filming Super 8 gave them some of the best times either have ever had on a movie set.