# Greatest movie trailers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230 "2011-06-03T19:04:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/21 "2011-06-06T18:34:25Z")
[Scooby-Doo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaiuYnB1HUo) ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/22 "2011-06-06T18:59:20Z")
It feels odd to type “greatest”, but [Schindler’s List](http://youtu.be/aR9RbkiafY4) is one of the most powerful. It promises something bleak, hellish, and moving. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/23 "2011-06-24T09:55:47Z")
I always thought the trailer for [The Strangers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lm2hZ50sN4) was one of the best. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/24 "2011-06-24T15:36:57Z")
Not that the movie was great, but this [**Godzilla** teaser](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXUOdgxiP18) was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/25 "2011-06-24T16:09:31Z")
I don’t know about “made your blood run cold,” but Alfred Hitchcock’s trailer for PSYCHO (link to YouTube: [Psycho Trailer (1960) - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps8H3rg5GfM) ) is one of the funniest of all time. If you’ve seen the movie, he basically tells you the whole plot. If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s a teaser that tells you very little. His trailer for THE BIRDS is also quite wonderful: [The Birds Trailer - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZjaVdJt59U) ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/26 "2011-06-25T16:14:24Z")
[Batman (1989)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AdEHOta-Uc) In hindsight, it isn’t the most well-edited trailer in history, but at the time it convinced me this movie was worth seeing (I’ve always been more Marvel than DC). The end bit, with Jack’s “Wait’ll they get a load of ME!” and that laugh, still sends chills up my spine. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/27 "2011-06-25T16:24:56Z")
The trailer for [White Noise](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haHHr5_VX7I) was a lot better than the movie turned out to be. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/28 "2011-06-25T16:35:33Z")
> [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > I love this trailer for [Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnSgSe2GzDc&feature=related). Great use of the E.L.O. song Mr. Blue Sky toward the end. I can’t find it now, but The Spotless Mind trailer I remember didn’t include any footage from the actual movie, but instead was done up as an advertisement for the mind-erasing company in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/29 "2011-06-25T17:39:56Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I can’t find it now, but The Spotless Mind trailer I remember didn’t include any footage from the actual movie, but instead was done up as an advertisement for the mind-erasing company in the movie. There was a viral marketing blurb that was an advertisement for Lacuna, Inc. (the fictional memory erasing service that is the central to the plot of the film) but there was also a more normal trailer (if anything from a Kaufman-penned script can be described as “normal”) which features scenes from the film. Admittedly, they don’t really explain or condense the film (an impossible task) but it is still a very energetic trailer. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/30 "2011-06-25T17:53:19Z")
[_Hardware Wars_](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9059800655908790019#) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/31 "2011-06-25T23:22:45Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I can’t find it now, but The Spotless Mind trailer I remember didn’t include any footage from the actual movie, but instead was done up as an advertisement for the mind-erasing company in the movie. Sounds like this one: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Meam4ixHR3s/hqdefault.jpg "Lacuna Inc.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Meam4ixHR3s) This one is a combination of Lacuna commercial and regular trailer: https://www.youtube.com/embed/5idOTvUbl_E?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque They’re all good! ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/32 "2011-06-25T23:40:50Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [_Hardware Wars_](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9059800655908790019#) > > 😃 I’ll see your _Hardware Wars_ and raise you [_Darktown After Dark_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJYRJhopcy4). (Here’s a little context for you youngsters who don’t know who [Earl Butz](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Butz) was!) ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/33 "2011-06-25T23:52:14Z")
The [Tron Legacy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4RiUy23e9s) trailer with the Daft Punk score was really cool. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/34 "2011-06-26T00:29:41Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [_Hardware Wars_](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9059800655908790019#) > > 😃 Not to mention its [spritual(if not actual) sequel.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grs4acx-3SU) ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/35 "2011-06-26T00:42:02Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [_Hardware Wars_](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9059800655908790019#) > > 😃 I was going to mention the trailer and comercials for the 1977 Star Wars movie, but I’ve been outdone. Though my high school buds and I would watch afternoon TV for hours just to see the Star Wars commercial. I watched the trailer on YouTube earlier today and it doesn’t convey the excitment I remember. Alas, lost youth! At least Lucas did not sully my fond memories of the 1970s/80s flicks series by producing a lame and souless set of prequels containing one of the most annoying characters in cinematic history. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/36 "2011-06-26T03:15:24Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > Not to mention its [spritual(if not actual) sequel.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grs4acx-3SU) Somewhere, in a box, I have a VHS tape containing that. It also has _Hardware Wars_, _Bambi Vs. Godzilla_, and _Porklips Now!_ Unfortunately, I don’t know which box it’s in, nor where the box is. Thanks for finding _Closet Cases Of The Nerd Kind_. I’ve been wanting to see that again. To continue the hijack, here’s _Porklips Now!_: [Part 1](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrnNeIIumJg) [Part 2](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVdxJrKgKBQ) [Part 3](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvwOw2Y--pQ) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/37 "2011-06-26T17:19:35Z")
> [@](#): > > I was going to mention the trailer and comercials for the 1977 Star Wars movie, but I’ve been outdone. I saw the Star Wars trailer in January 1977 (while seeing **Network** , and was extremely underwhelmed. It used a brooding, non-John Williams score and they managed to choose clips that really didn’t make me want to see the film. And they had a different logo, as well. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/38 "2011-06-26T17:35:27Z")
Undoubtedly one of the greatest trailers was the original one for **Superman** It used footage reportedly shot for **Ice Station Zebra** , with an impressive score and simply the names of the featured players, shot with the slit-scan camera. You had no idea what it was for until the end, when you saw the slit-scanned Suiperman “S”, and at the end the word “Superman” rendered with the same technique so that it looked as it did on the comic book covers. The ad _made_ R/greenberg associates, who went on to do titles for films like **Alien, Altered States, Flash Gordon** , and many others, as well as doing effects work for **Xanadu** and **Flash Gordon**. it might not look all that impressive now, when we have CGI that can do all this faster and easier, but it’s really a matter of style – slit-scan had been around since the late 1960s, when it had been used for the trip sequence in **2001** and the opening credits for **The ABC Movie of the Week** , so it was arguably old-hat then, but they made something exciting and new. And the ad didn’t reveal any of the film. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/c8UP0UeqcIg/hqdefault.jpg "Superman The Movie official Teaser Trailer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8UP0UeqcIg) Runner-up: The original Star Trek the Motion Picture trailer, narrated by Orson Welles: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Et7Cji7y1uY/hqdefault.jpg "Star Trek: The Motion Picture Teaser Trailer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et7Cji7y1uY) ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/39 "2011-06-26T18:39:25Z")
I can’t think of a better trailer to make your rusty water run cold than that for [The Shining](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piQFD4gz9l8). The excellent fake “Shining” trailer gets so much play it’s almost forgotten how good the simple original one was. ---
**Author:** ![Whiteknight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whiteknight/32/4962_2.png) [@Whiteknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiteknight)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230/40 "2011-06-27T12:30:43Z")
[Braveheart](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j53_WxqPZ7c) That segment after, “…they’ll never take our freedom!” Goosebumps every single time, even after 17 years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-trailers/584230.md?page=3)