# Ever had a trailer make you tear up? I just did. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 7, 2008, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458 "2008-09-07T05:13:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/1 "2008-09-07T05:13:02Z")
Every now and then I’ll see a trailer that hits me in the right spot and I just tear up. Sometimes it turns out to be embarrassing. For instance, the first time I saw the trailer for **Pearl Harbor** I got goosebumps and teared up. Please don’t laugh at me. It was the first time I’d seen any footage at all, and it was very powerful and emotional. Of course, when the actual movie finally came out, I read the bad reviews and ended up not even seeing the movie. I still haven’t seen it. I can’t help but hold a grudge that, at least according to what I read, the movie didn’t live up to the powerful trailer. A movie that, IMO, held up to the powerful and emotional trailer was, and I know a lot of people disagree, **Titanic**. After months of hearing nothing but bad reports and nasty buzz, fully expecting that it was going to be the worst movie and the biggest bomb in history, we saw the trailer without warning on the big screen and were STUNNED. The trailer, and the misty eyes that went along with it, wiped out all the negative buzz and made my hopes soar for the movie. To me, it lived up to my hopes. I just saw a trailer that made me cry, though it’s not an “epic” the way those other movies were billed. Maybe I’m tired and need to get to sleep, but I sat here and sobbed for a few minutes after seeing it. Please, oh please oh please, I hope this movie lives up to the trailer. [Milk](http://filminfocus.com/focus-movies/milk/movie-splash.php) I remember hearing about this when it happened, but it was all vague and unformed. Some guy killed a couple of other guys and one of them was gay and there was something about twinkies or something. It wasn’t until years later that I learned much much more about what had happened and how important Harvey Milk was and his place in history as the first out elected official. I hope this movie does Harvey Milk, the time and place, and the brave people who were involved in gay rights at the time, justice. The trailer seems to do that. In any case, I cried. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/2 "2008-09-07T15:25:18Z")
I teared up at the trailer for _The Pursuit of Happyness_. I haven’t watched the _Milk_ trailer yet, but I will. ETA- watched it- oh my God. ---
**Author:** ![Genericuser234](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5daacb/32.png) [@Genericuser234](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genericuser234)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/3 "2008-09-07T16:50:09Z")
you should watch pearl harbor. Even though there were a lot of bad reviews you should still see it and get your own perspective on it. Anyways i thought reservoir dogs was a pretty sad movie, atleast at the end when he tells Mr. White that he was a undercover cop after all. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/4 "2008-09-07T19:03:47Z")
The trailers for each LOTR movie & the first Narnia movie. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/5 "2008-09-07T19:12:44Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > ETA- watched it- oh my God. Throughout the trailer I was thinking “this looks good, I hope it’s good” but the trailer was not going for pathos or outrage. Then at the end, at the words “His Life Changed History…His Courage Changed Lives” I lost it. I hope the movie gets a lot of attention. There’s already awards buzz for Sean Penn’s performance, which is good because that in itself brings attention to the movie and the subject. It would be up to those who actually knew Harvey Milk to decide how accurate Penn’s portrayal is. I’ll be very interested in reading what those people, and others who lived and were involved during those times, think of the movie. marochko, I’ve always figured I’d see it one day, it just hasn’t been a priority. Making the focus on a love triangle seems much more offensive in a movie about Pearl Harbor than the Titanic, for some reason. Maybe it’s because DiCaprio and Winslet are much better actors. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/6 "2008-09-07T19:30:54Z")
I’m definitely gonna see Milk. Looks like a great movie, and his story deserves a great movie. I saw the trailer for “We Are Marshall,” that movie where I guess pretty much a whole football team died in a plane crash or something, when I was pretty down in the dumps. It made me tear up. Never saw the movie, probably never will. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/7 "2008-09-07T19:47:38Z")
Opening the Toronto Film Festival is a movie by Paul Gross (Due South, Slings and Arrows, etc.) called [Passchendaele](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passchendaele_(film)). Before seeing the title, but knowing it was a Paul Gross film and patently set in WWI, while watching it I was expecting that it would be about [Vimy Ridge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vimy_Ridge). Gross based it on the experiences of his grandfather who fought in [the Battle of Passchendaele](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Battle_of_Ypres) in WWI. I first saw the trailer for it several months ago, and it was, well, emotive. I note Wikipedia says it will be going into wide release in mid- October. I had previously read that it would open around Remembrance Day. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/8 "2008-09-07T19:55:02Z")
I remember tearing up at the “Free Willy” trailer. Heck, I’ll sniffle at commercials that push the right buttons. I was living in SFO when Milk was elected. The trailer moved me, and I am sure I’ll see the movie. ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/9 "2008-09-07T20:06:54Z")
> [@myskepticsight](#): > > I’m definitely gonna see Milk. Looks like a great movie, and his story deserves a great movie. > > I saw the trailer for “We Are Marshall,” that movie where I guess pretty much a whole football team died in a plane crash or something, when I was pretty down in the dumps. It made me tear up. Never saw the movie, probably never will. You really should. It isn’t the type of film most people praise, but I thought it was exceptionally well done and transcended sports better than most sports movies. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/10 "2008-09-07T20:25:20Z")
_Titanic_ is actually a very good film and set a precedent for epic films to follow. It was only overshadowed in my eyes by _Good Will Hunting_, which incidentally is directed by the same person who directed _Milk_. I am extremely excited about this film. I first learned about Harvey Milk when I read _And the Band Played On_. I knew the film was being made but am surprised to see it’s already here. And yeah, I did tear up at the end – thinking of him, wondering if he could have ever guessed how his courage would change history. Extremely good timing too, I might add. It seems historically apt. I can’t remember tearing up at any particular trailer, but I cry at commercials and stupid cheesy movies, so it all balances out. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/11 "2008-09-07T23:20:21Z")
Great trailer (for _Milk_). I remember the murder; 1978. Hey, another thirty years and we might actually have full civil rights for gay Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/12 "2008-09-08T13:43:09Z")
I knew this was going to be about _Milk_ before I opened the thread. I saw the trailer this weekend as well and it looks fantastic. Thank god Robin Williams never got his furry claws into it like he’d been threatening for decades. > [@myskepticsight](#): > > I’m definitely gonna see Milk. Looks like a great movie, and his story deserves a great movie. His story has already been the subject of a great movie, the documentary [The Times of Harvey Milk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Times_of_Harvey_Milk). It won the Academy Award for best documentary feature. I cannot get through it without crying. ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/13 "2008-09-08T13:53:18Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I knew this was going to be about _Milk_ before I opened the thread. I saw the trailer this weekend as well and it looks fantastic. Thank god Robin Williams never got his furry claws into it like he’d been threatening for decades. The weirdest thing keeps happening to me, everything I see MILK, my mind transposes the letters into MLK. Does that happen to anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/14 "2008-09-08T14:56:29Z")
I haven’t seen the **Milk** trailer, but the real-life story makes me teary and furious at the same time. I instinctively avoid weepies - they make me feel manipulated, it’s my own problem - so if a trailer makes me sniffly, I never see the movie. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/15 "2008-09-08T15:15:37Z")
Wow. I just watched the _Pearl Harbor_ trailer… It looks like the trailer for a completely different movie! ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/16 "2008-09-08T18:38:02Z")
I’d like to add, since this was once pointed out to me and makes perfect sense when you think about it, that the powerful effect of trailers is due mainly to a very skilled film editor. When I learned/discovered this, the point was that while an excellent facial reaction or what have you, is due to the talent of a skilled actor, there’s also a tremendous amount of talent to capture that “slice” of a good reaction shot, and time the length of the shot properly, to capture a certain “mood” in a scene. In other words, timing and juxtaposition. That’s an Oscar category, isn’t it? If it is, I can see why. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/17 "2008-09-08T19:06:35Z")
> [@drpepper](#): > > When I learned/discovered this, the point was that while an excellent facial reaction or what have you, is due to the talent of a skilled actor, there’s also a tremendous amount of talent to capture that “slice” of a good reaction shot, and time the length of the shot properly, to capture a certain “mood” in a scene. In other words, timing and juxtaposition. That’s an Oscar category, isn’t it? If it is, I can see why. For an awesom version of how editing can affect “mood” check out [_Requiem For A Day Off_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vy2aJY6rq8) that turns _Ferris Bueller’s Day Off_ into heavy duty dramatic thriller. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/18 "2008-09-08T19:48:19Z")
> [@drpepper](#): > > That’s an Oscar category, isn’t it? If it is, I can see why. Not only is Film Editing an Oscar category over 70 years old, but no other craft/“technical” category more consistently corresponds with the eventual Best Picture winner. And yeah, I knew **Milk** was the film in question as soon as I saw the thread title. When Van Sant brings his A-game, his films are awesome. Can’t wait. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/19 "2008-09-08T19:51:33Z")
I’ll check this trailer later, if I can. I think the most moving trailer I’ve seen was for The Elephant Man. I saw it just recently on YouTube. You can see why VO heavy Don Lafontaine named it as his favorite. The writing is earnest and it’s something to see. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458/20 "2008-09-08T19:54:17Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > For an awesom version of how editing can affect “mood” check out [_Requiem For A Day Off_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vy2aJY6rq8) that turns _Ferris Bueller’s Day Off_ into heavy duty dramatic thriller. I’ve linked this post to YouTube, which I’m presuming is what **Swallowed My Cellphone** wanted to do. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-trailer-make-you-tear-up-i-just-did/462458.md?page=2)