Great trailers and Lousy Trailers (1 Viewer)

[Scott Simonian]

Everyone is so right about all these trailers. (I like the Pearl Harbor trailer too)



OMG! So true. I remember buying the soundtrack just for the music from the trailer. AND IT WAS ON IT! Dark City is a great example of how a trailer should be done. Don't explain [rant]anything[/rant]. I get it by the visuals. I don't need a movie spelled out for me.

Great movie, great trailer.

 

[Zack Gibbs]

The original Spider-Man teaser was great (the one with the WTC). I love trailers that don't spoile anything from the movie. The two Goldeneye Trailers were both excelent as well, "You can still depend on one man!"

 

[Kain_C]

I absolutely loved the trailers for the Special Edition Star Wars films. They actually made me feel all teary-eyed. I also like the trailer to Saving Private Ryan. The particular Sin City trailer was effective as it made me want to see the film.

For bad trailers, just watch any one featuring a film directed by Uwe Boll.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

I did the exact same thing!

Back on the theme of cool trailers, bad movie, I really liked all of the Godzilla 98 teasers. The first one at the museum with Godzilla stepping on the T-rex skeleton. There was a rarely played New Years Eve one with Godzilla smacking the ball at Timesquare with his tail. And then the first one that showed actual footage from the movie with the old guy fishing and Godzilla smashing into the dock finishing off with the unused shot of Godzilla looking at the two old guys with his giant eye.

 

[Shad R]

Fun with Dick and Jane made me laugh my butt off when I saw it before Serenity.
It sucks you into a kind of " oh boy, this looks like a lame Jim Carrey comedy." Then, as soon as they are talking about getting something to drink while they are putting on their masks, I was like "YES!" Then when he tries to rob the guy he knows! Great stuff.
King Kong and Chronicles of Narnia:LWW look fantastic!
Bad ones include Lady in the Water (my friend and I actually groaned when "a film by M Night Shamalyan" came onto the screen. I actually turned to my friend and said " Great, over melo-dramatic movie with a bad anti-climatic twist ending" and everyone around us started laughing). Boy that one looks BORING!

 

[Laura Nicholson]

The movie didn't live up to the them, but I love the two teasers for Godzilla 98. :b Those teasers were awesome!

Edit: Jason beat me to them!

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

One of the worst trailers I have ever seen was for the Jeff Bridges thriller Arlington Rd., it gave away EVERYTHING!!

And for the record, IMO Zemeckis' theory about audiences wanting to know everything in the trailer couldn't be more freakin' off if he tried.

I'm just glad that he doesn't really do any films lately for there to be trailers for, his films are great don't get me wrong, but if the trade off is seeing everything in the trailer, it's better if he just stops making movies.

 

[Brian-A]

X2. I was in the theater for one of the LotR movies when it came on with the chess scene from the end of the first movie. Then the rumblings of Holst's "Mars" begin. Great trailer.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Funny - the Matrix trailer made me very DISinterested in the movie. I thought it just looked like all those other "cyber flicks" that were hip - and lame - back in the 90s. I needed the reviews and public reception to want to see it because the trailer REALLY turned me off...

I echo the comments that the Sith and T2 teasers were great...

 

[dailW]

when i was six or seven i saw a preview for the movie magic about the puppet it was in black with the puppet in the foreground talking and the only word i remember was the puppet saying was in a sinister voice DEAD and it closed its eyes freaked me out i put my hands over my eyes it was scary saw the movie like ten years later and thought it was crap. bur that preview was scary.worst preview to a fun flick was bill and Ted's excellent adventure.

 

[JohnRice]

Completely agree about that teaser. The full trailer is the typical crap. However, I disagree that the movie is bad. I just think pretty much everyone misunderstands it because it is not at all what they expect.

One of my favorites is the trailer for Far from Heaven which you can get to HERE. You need iTunes to play it.

 

[Brian.L]

I used to really like trailers, now I find 90% of them annoying or passable at best. A couple that stood out for me recently were ones that sort of messed with your expectations:

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the "internet-only" trailer) - say what you will about the movie, the meta-trailer where they basically deconstruct why most trailers are so stupid (e.g. deep voice saying "in a world...", lots of images displayed so fast you can't keep up, etc) was great. Not sure why this wasnt the normal trailer.

Red Eye - The trailer where it starts out like any other romantic comedy. I was rolling my eyes and leaning back in my theater seat and then all of a sudden, WHAM! they pull a 180 on you.

Of course in some cases you can only do so much, like the trailer I saw a couple days ago for Cheaper By the Dozen 2 which involved Steve Martin falling over or crashing into things repeatedly. (I should point out that the audience in the theater laughed at all the "antics", destroying my faith in humanity a little in the process, but maybe it confirms that Hollywood knows what they're doing.)

 

[Holadem]

Was that not the teaser for The World is not Enough rather?

I remember vividly the digital clock counting down (very fast) on the screen, with a voiceover playing on the fears of the Millenium bug (this was in 1999), something like (paraphrasing) "As we count down to the Millenium, it is good to know, that there is still one number, you can always count on" and the countdown stops at 007. Cut various shots of Mr Bond kicking ass and taking names.

Badass trailer.

This thread has prompted me to dig out the Pearl Harbor DVD and watch the trailer. I haven't touched the DVD since my one screening in 2001, but I remember loving the trailer when I saw it in front of Traffic. Absolutely brilliant trailer, really emotional stuff.... which then prompted me to actually watch the movie again today. Whoa. To think that I actually gave this thing a positive review - what an enormous pile of shite. Ugh!

--
H

 

[Robert Anthony]

Anyone mention "ALIEN" yet? That trailer is almost as creepy as the movie itself, and that's quite a feat. Trailer D for Alien3 was almost as good, if wholly misrepresentative of the movie itself. It REALLY sold the idea that Alien3 was an action movie, and it's most definitely NOT that.

The Two Towers trailer simply for the re-orchestration of "Summer Overture" from "Requiem for a Dream" It was well cut together, but I remeber actually saying "holy shit" when the music kicked in and I realized what I was listening to.

The Superman (1978) teaser is oddly stirring in that it's nothing but clouds and music and those swooshing titles. I SHOULDN'T get excited by that, I dont' think, but I did when I first saw it.

Similarly, the Spider-Man 2 trailer (with "Lacrimosa" as the cue) was so perfectly edited I watched it like, 4 straight times in a row the day it was released and spent a lot of time trying to track that music down.

As far as current horror flicks go, the remakes to "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Dawn of the Dead" were ridiculously effective when I first saw them. "Chainsaw" especially. The movie was pretty damn empty and un-scary, but that trailer was unnerving. And the "Dawn" remake trailer employed similar techniques, but employed even more expertly. Bonus for me, I REALLY liked that movie.

 

[Nicholas Vargo]

My favorite trailer is the one for the film "Jackie Brown." I think that has a lot to do with its tagline. I could just memorize its opening now.

"For centuries, Americans have gathered together to celebrate the holidays, reaffirm family ties, and wish good will to all man...but This Christmas....Santa's Got a Brand New Bag!"

I think also the uses of The Temptations and The Grass Roots helped that as well.

Now, a lousy trailer would be the one that was done for the remake of "Yours, Mine, and Ours." It makes the film look terrible and makes you want to run for the exit doors. In fact, after seeing the original version, I already know that there is no way it can top that. In fact, the trailer makes it look like a direct "Cheaper by the Dozen' rip-off.

Sorry, just had to blow some steam off from that one.

 

[Michael Martin]

Agreed as well about the use of "Mars" for the X2 trailer. Absolutely brilliant.



Preserve the mystery. Let my imagination fill in the blanks, and just communicate the tone or feel of the movie.

Loved the trailers for Unbreakable and Signs; great examples of why directors should have creative control over the content of the trailers.

 

[TheLongshot]

Well, that doesn't always work. I think Zemeckis also have control over his trailers, and look at what we get... :frowning:

Jason

 

[Michael Martin]

Understood. I'm just hopeful that, more often than not, a director would choose to keep his storytelling cards close to his vest.

I'd almost like for there to be an ironclad rule: "Footage from the last 20 minutes of the movie will NEVER be used in the trailer."

 

[Jason Seaver]

In terms of trailers I really like right now, I love this one for Akeelah and the Bee. I'm at a loss to remember the last trailer for a kids' movie that had that much youthful entergy while also not looking stupid to the grownups.

On the other side of the ledger, we have Nanny McPhee. Of course, I admit that I was going to hate that on "what the hell have they done to Emma Thompson" grounds, anyway.

Of course, the current King Kong trailer seems pretty likely to violate that, but I'm okay with it, since part of what that trailer has to sell is that Peter Jackson & company have not f'ed one of the most memorable screen images in the history of the medium up beyond all recognition.

 

[JohnRice]

Oh yeah, there's logic for you.