This past week, I had the unfortunate experience of contending with Hurricane Sandy. As a result, I lost power. I couldn’t watch any movies (bummer) so I did the next best thing – I watched movie trailers on my iPhone. (Thanks again YouTube!)
I went back and watched trailers for tons of movies – films I had seen, films I want to see, etc. Then I realized something: a great many movie trailers are actually better than the movies themselves. Some trailers are so masterful in their goal of putting asses in seats, that they effectively hide the fact that the movies they’re showcasing are lacklustre.
So I went back to find movie trailers that I thought fit into this category. Check it out.
5. GARDEN STATE
This film bugged me greatly. I appreciated the effort of Zach Braff as a director, but I thought the film itself was mostly a collection of recycled “indie movie” mainstays (moody indie rock soundtrack, hopelessly quirky characters, in-your-face metaphors). Now I know this film has a very devoted following, so I’ll sum up my criticisms by simply admitting “it wasn’t my cup of tea”.
That being said, after viewing the trailer the first time, I couldn’t wait to see it. The trailer is beautiful, affecting, and anytime you throw the film festival name drops in there, you had me at Fox Searchlight. See below.
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la53nY41c9M’]
4. SUPER 8
Anytime J.J. Abrams makes a film, my interest is piqued. Needless to say, SUPER 8 was high on my list of priorities in 2011. Sadly, I thought the film dropped the ball. I felt like the second half of the film was a cop out, and a waste of a pretty great premise. The kids in the film were amazing, but the creature was “meh” and the payoff was even… uhh… “meh-er”?
That doesn’t stop the trailer from being extremely cool. Whoever cut this trailer is a genius. It was a total throwback to the Spielberg canon of the eighties with films like E.T. and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. (They even used music from the great COCOON) It featured snippets of all the best scenes in the film and sparked a brilliant speculative campaign amongst the fanboy crowd about what the story was since the plot was so secretive. Brilliant trailer.
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqt9L4fIExA’]
3. SPIDER-MAN 3
I guess it would be pointless for me to explain why I disliked this movie so much. At this point, I think we’re all in agreement that the third installment in Sam Raimi’s SPIDER-MAN trilogy is one of the worst superhero films ever made. With that out of the way, let’s talk about the trailer.
I thought the full-length trailer for SPIDER-MAN 3 was surprisingly good. I mean, we all went to see it right? Was it the draw of Venom’s appearance? Maybe. Was it Topher Grace? Definitely not. At any rate, this trailer had something to do it. This same case could be made for Marc Webb’s THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, but I’ll give him a break since he’s new at this whole superhero thing.
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCmMLfXdURs’]
2. STAR WARS – EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH
Easily the most disappointing entry in the STAR WARS saga, REVENGE OF THE SITH should have actually been the opposite. I mean, this was supposed to be the film that we STAR WARS fanatics were most eager to see. What did we get? The most convoluted, trite, laughable story that was worse than anybody could have ever imagined. Apparently George Lucas isn’t privy to the term “massive plot hole”.
However, the trailer for the film was enough to make me want to grab my fake lightsaber and Darth Maul mask and head to the theater. It could have been a total waste, but it gave us a peek at some Wookiees, evil Palpatine, and Vader himself. Not to mention a little “Imperial March” to get our pulses racing. Perfect example of how effective a trailer can be.
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4qPB3h1QFE’]
1. PROMETHEUS
I’ll probably catch a fair amount of hell for this, but I thought PROMETHEUS was a massive letdown. So many questions proposed, and then abandoned. So much hype, minimal delivery. What was the black substance in the beginning of the film that killed the engineer? Why do the engineers hate humankind so much? I did think it was a beautiful-looking film. The cinematography and special effects were mind-blowing.
The trailer, is easily the most effective trailer I have ever seen. Again, this is a scenario in which the plot of the film was unknown. Couple that with its connection to the much beloved ALIEN franchise, and you’ve got trailer gold. The music is frightening. The clips are ambiguous. It’s practically an advertisement for word-of-mouth marketing. It creeps you out, and you watch it over and over again to try and dissect it for information. Brilliant.
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GafUOaCE4M&feature=relmfu’]
Well that’s all folks. Any trailers you can think of that are better than the movie? If so, hit us up in the comments below.
