‘Super’ duper

It’s the summer of 1979 when a group of young friends attempting to make their own zombie movie witness an explosive train crash that threatens their lives. But the danger doesn’t stop there in Super 8, the new adventure from Star Trek director J.J. Abrams, new on DVD and Blu-ray this week. After the wreck, their small Ohio town is plagued by strange happenings and unexplained disappearances. In a film clearly inspired by E.T., could an extraterrestrial be to blame? Friday Night Lights star Kyle Chandler plays a local lawman that makes it his business to get to the bottom of this bizarre series of mysteries while the five precocious child friends are put through a coming of age gauntlet under the most extreme circumstances. Somewhere star Elle Fanning leads the group of intrepid filmmakers, and Bruce Greenwood and Jessica Tuck co-star. Rated PG-13.