Misleading Trailers? (1 Viewer)

[Edwin-S]

I'll agree with you there. I rented the film. It is a good movie, but it is definitely more drama than comedy. It did have its moments though....cough* the hot tub scene *cough.

 

[Yee-Ming]

TREASURE PLANET - The trailer made this film look pretty bland. The film was not nearly as bad as the trailer made it look.

That has got to be a first, it's usually the other way around, no?

As for Pearl Harbor, IIRC they did a completely different trailer for Japan focusing solely on the romance, for obvious reasons.

 

[Josh Pounds]

Someone, I think it was Terry Gilliam, said that marketing people for studios feel it is their job to "save" the movie.

This leads to either misleading trailers, or trailers that give away the entire plot.

 

[Chris_Eff]

I have two trailers that come to my mind that made me not want to see a movie but then I ended up loving because it was nothing like the trailer.

Almost Famous The trailer was about this dorky kid following a band trying to be cool. When the movie was about a band and what they go through thru the kids eyes, as well as a great retrospective on the classic rock scene.

Austin Powers The trailer made the movie look like a goofball 60's guy wakes up in the 90's what would happen? Once I watched the movie as a Bond spoof it was one of the funniest movies I ever saw.

My 2 cents

 

[TedT]

Fight Club. Trailer made it look like a really stupid movie where people just join a club and beat each other up. Of course it was much, much different (and better) than that.

I only saw the movie after everyone started telling me that I needed to see it.

 

[TommyT]

Gone in 60 Seconds - Promised a ton of car action but didn't deliver nearly as much. 1 friggin' car chase that begins at the end & it ain't really that good.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Actually....

I saw the trailer for Gigli on
one of the DirecTV High-Definition channels.

Don't know if it was because the resolution
looked so good, or the trailer had some really
snappy dialogue -- but I actually thought it
looked promising. I wanted to see the film
by the time the trailer was over.

The rest, as they say, is history.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

I saw the trailer for Gigli on one of the DirecTV High-Definition channels.

Don't know if it was because the resolution looked so good, or the trailer had some really snappy dialogue -- but I actually thought it looked promising. I wanted to see the film by the time the trailer was over.

But you didn't see it, did you?
Please tell me you didn't see it.

 

[Dick]

I have some suggestions for the firms that create trailers:

1) Go back to the forties style of trailer-making, if only for a few select titles. Use the bold graphics and the dire warnings and the superlatives. Such trailers would definitely stand out among the current crop of 5-frame bites stacked end to end with big Dolby "whooshes" and stupid voice-overs.

2) Put Don LaFontaine and all sound-alike voice-over artists on leave of absense for, oh, ten years. We've had enough.

3) Try a female voice-over on occasion. Seems to me there was some study done decades ago suggesting that people don't pay attention to female voices in trailers. I think this is hogwash. And again, this would so-o-o- attract attention amongst all the boring and redundant LaFontaine-type voices ("In a world where...") used today.

4) Here's something novel: Slow down the action. We know you only have 2 or 2.5 minutes to get all you want into a trailer, but subtlety can be effective! Lengthen the cuts so we don't have to try to absorb 214 scenes in 145 seconds. Take out the overloud bangs and "whooshes" used to emphasize every damn thing and use your skills as editors and sound design technicians imaginatively. Use darkness to suggest horror rather than bombarding us with flashes of the monster or killer. Use music sparingly to hint at rather than spell out (In other words, create enough suspense and anticipation that those of us watching will find it hard to wait to see what happens).

5) Add a little wit. The trailer, for GODZILLA, to use one example, was twenty times better than the movie itself!

6) STOP GIVING AWAY THE PLOT POINTS. If you have to reveal these secrets in your trailer, the stupid movie isn't worth releasing anyway.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

A twist on this idea, the trailer for Stuck on You starts out by misleading you into thinking it is another end of the year Oscar bait type movie.

"Academy Award Winner Matt Damon"
"Academy Award Winner Cher"
"Academy Award Nominee Greg Kinnear"
"4 time Academy Award Watchers the Farrelly Brothers"

 

[MattThiel]

Face/Off - The original teaser gave me the impression that John Travolta would be the only one to change his appearance. I never thought this would be a "body swap" movie (so to speak), I thought there would be two Nic Cages walking around for 3/4 of the movie.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

No, I did not see Gigli.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

No, I did not see Gigli.

Glad to hear it.

 

[MattThiel]

Reign of Fire - the TV ads told us that the movie would take place in the year 2084, but 95% of the movie takes place in the year 2020. Not a single frame of film takes place in 2084, nor is it even mentioned!

 

[TommyT]

Ho man! How could I forget Alien 3? I remember the trailer had dialogue that went something like this with a Don LaFontaine voiceover:

In 1979, we learned that in space, no one can hear you scream. In 1986, we learned that everyone can hear you scream. Next summer (1992) we'll learn that on Earth, everyone can hear you scream.

It was quite good, with an alien eggs slowly cracking & an evil green light pouring out but of course the film took place on yet another distant world & the studio was so obsessive about controlling the film that it turned out to be substantially less than everyone was expecting & a nasty experience for David Fincher. Funny thing is that I actually LIKE the film, it works well as existential drama.