They don't mak trailers like they use to ! (1 Viewer)

[Ushabye]

The US version of the MOULIN ROUGE trailer is just bloody fantastic. It was slightly cut and rejigged when it turned up in cinemas in Europe lessening its effect.

The twin towers SPIDERMAN teaser was great, not just because of what befell the towers afterwards, it was simplely a cool way to sell Spidey as he's from NY. Plus the "You're not Superman you know." traler was the best of the summer. (What was the music in that, it didn't turn up in the film, it wasn't Danny Elfman's was it?)

The KISS OF THE DRAGON trailer, edited to those drumb beats. MONSTERS INC charades.

Though if I was to vote for the best trailer I've ever seen, it would go to the french trailer for FEMME FATALE. Now, hot chick on chick action aside...that is just a great piece of creative thinking. The US edit of it just mucked up the whole idea.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

And how many times are we going to hear old rock & roll songs borrowed for a movie trailer?

Hello, "Bad to the Bone"!

 

[Iain Jackson]

I think the Dark City trailer is one of the best I've ever seen. No voice-over, no dialogue, just music and lots of quick flashes of various scenes and a few slogans written across the screen.

 

[Iain Lambert]

Other than the ones already mentioned (though watching the Panic Room teaser again nearly persuaded me to stop waiting for the SE and just buy the Superbit, and the French Femme Fatale one is almost worth buying the disc for) I'd mention

Scooby Doo teaser - I nearly shouted obscenities at the screen when I realised I'd been conned by that one.

28 Days Later - wow thats some impressive shots of deserted London.

AI teasers - both of these did what was needed; told nothing but that had an atmosphere that just guaranteed I needed to see the film.

 

[Todd_B]

Oh and don't forgot the overused Drowning Pool track: "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor".

Todd B

 

[Nathan V]

Moe,

Lawrence Fishburne and Keanu Reeves were not marketable stars in 1999. Recognizable, yes, but not marketable.

FYI, the guy who does the "trailer-voice" is Don LaFontaine.

"Only one man..."

 

[Bryan Tuck]

yelling that they want their money back, because no-one told them that there'd be reading involved.

We actually had people doing that at the theater I work at when we had Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Comments like "They're speakin' Chinese in there!" and "I didn't know we were going to have to read the whole movie!"

As for trailers, I enjoy watching them, but it does bother me when too much is given away. But seeing one that makes the movie look cool without revealing all the surprises.

Examples:
Bad - Cast Away: The teaser for this was brilliant. "Hello!...Hello!!!!:" But I could not believe how much of the movie was given away in the full trailer. They showed literally every twist, every plot development, and even the last shot in the film! It was a decent movie, but I kept thinking how much more I would have enjoyed it if I didn't know exactly what was going to happen.

Good - As have been previously mentioned, the trailers for both The Matrix and Dark City made me sit up and say, "I have no idea what this thing is about, but I have to see it!" And I was blown away by both of them when I finally saw the films.

 

[Adam_ME]

Best (worst?) example ever: Contact. When I saw that clunker theatrically, I couldn't believe how LITTLE of the movie we didn't learn in the trailer. A two and a half hour flick, all neatly covered in a two-minute trailer. Yuck!

Makes sense. After all, it's a Zemeckis film. That guy's notorious for spoiling the entire movie in his trailers(Cast Away, anyone?). At the complete opposite end of the spectrum is Steven Spielberg. In all of his trailers, the 3rd act of the film is strictly off-limits. I wish more folks would take a cue from the Berg.

As far as the my pick for the best trailer ever, that's easy. The teaser for T2.

 

[EricW]

yeah, Contact and Dark City were great trailers. another classic: Sphere.

as for recent memorable trailers, i'd go for Blade 2.

i used to LOVE watching trailers, but now i'd rather skip them. partially because they give away too much, the other thing is now they're such big business that it's 'mainstream', boring, and predictable. i'm not saying there any worse than ones from a few years ago, but it's just that they haven't gotten any better and it's stale.

the trailers i enjoy most are for comedies i know i won't see so i can enjoy because the best jokes are on the trailer. examples: Dude, Where's My Car and Sorority Boys

 

[Michael Martin]

Put my vote in for Dark City as having one of the best, if not THE best, trailer in recent years. The music and editing were just perfect, and for me they sold the film on atmosphere. It was a great nonverbal representation of the movie.

Also, I think Signs had a wonderful trailer. The anonymous, 1970s-era voiceover, teasing with the premise but no solid details. And I love how the "g" in the trailer turned around and "boomed" at the end.

I, for one, do not prefer the old trailer style - what someone called a "short film." I prefer a collage of sounds and images that communicate the tone and style of the film, and the basic premise. Older trailers - even as recent as the 70s - simply were too long and too talky.

 

[Sean Laughter]

I think the X-Men 2 trailer is the best one I've seen this year. I'll have to check out my Dark City DVD because I don't remember that movie's trailer at all.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I hate trailers from back in the day (being defined as the 70's).

They practically give away the whole movie. And you all thought Zemeckis was bad. Just watch the one on The Deer Hunter DVD.

 

[Kristoffer]

FYI, the guy who does the "trailer-voice" is Don LaFontaine.

Cool! So he has a name...
Also the teaser for Kill Bill on the Japanese Website is really good!!!

okay maybe not in the old days then! Also the trailer for what lies beneath was awful! It reviled the whole movie, every twist! I was so pissed of over that cause i like Zemekis...

 

[DavidAC]

I think the X-Men 2 trailer is the best one I've seen this year. I'll have to check out my Dark City DVD because I don't remember that movie's trailer at all.

Yeah I agree, I like the first one where Xavier is saying he feels sorry for the poor soul looking for trouble then cuts to Wolverine getting ready to slice and dice, intense and the shots of Nightcrawler, can't wait.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Makes sense. After all, it's a Zemeckis film. That guy's notorious for spoiling the entire movie in his trailers(Cast Away, anyone?).

Yeah, I read somewhere that he thinks it's a smart idea for some reason I can't recall. Personally, I don't see how it makes sense - it just pisses off people when they realize they spent eight bucks to re-experience everything they already know...

 

[Jason Seaver]

Yeah, I read somewhere that he thinks it's a smart idea for some reason I can't recall. Personally, I don't see how it makes sense - it just pisses off people when they realize they spent eight bucks to re-experience everything they already know...

The people on this forum, yeah. Apparently, though, these kinds of trailers work; a different article said that Zemeckis doesn't particularly like this style of trailer, but has basically given in to the marketing folks who showed him some kind of study saying it was effective.

 

[Richard_D_Ramirez]

- Kind of a spin on the "tell all" trailer, but much better handled, was the Femme Fatale international trailer.

- The visuals and the music (especially) in Trailer A of Treasure Planet really set the mood.

- The female vocal in the last third of the Black Hawk Down is truly haunting.

- Better than the film itself, who could forget the ID4 countdown trailers?

- I don't know why, but I just love the trailer for Heat. It must be the music...

- The japanese teaser of The Matrix: Reloaded is much better than the american version.

- The best trailer for a film never made? Benicio Del Toro's Lucky Star! Taking a cue from the BMW series of "short films", Mercedes Benz created a trailer for this fictional film. If only they would make the movie!

8^B

 

[George_W_K]

I think the Dark City trailer is one of the best I've ever seen. No voice-over, no dialogue, just music and lots of quick flashes of various scenes and a few slogans written across the screen.

That trailer really made me want to see the movie! I couldn't wait the few months until it came out. I wasn't disappointed.

 

[Jason Adams]

You wanna know two really spoiler filled trailers? The Godfather original trailer, and Scarface! They frickin' WALK YOU THROUGH THE MOVIE!

 

[Kami]

The LOTR: FOTR and TTT theatrical trailers are some of the best ever IMO. The teasers were alright, but those theatrical 3 minute ones they release in Sept/Oct are legendary. When each one came out I literally watched it 100+ times up until the film's release.

I remember the original Men In Black trailer being pretty cool. ID4 of course. Dark City was excellent as well (I remember the movie being entirely different than I thought though, but I still love it). The Signs teaser and trailer also got me excited to see it.